I fielded an irate phone-call from a concerned punter this week, the caller complaining about the number of odds-on favourites that are getting beaten in KZN. “They should be absolute certainties,” was his opinion, and what were the Stipendiary Stewards doing about it?

Firstly, just because a horse is odds-on in the betting doesn’t guarantee success. There are a host of reasons why an odds-on favourite doesn’t arrive – top jockey aboard often the root cause of most complaints. But physical short-comings of the horse are up to the punter to sort. Horseracing is not branded the ‘brain game’ for nothing.

I cannot defend the stipes who were accused of being the ‘three blind mice’ but I do know that the drop-off in class of horse contesting South Africa’s Champion Season and the next level a mere three days later, is like falling off a cliff. One cannot compare.

Tom Collins (Candiese Marnewick)

The first two races at Greyville yesterday were possibly an illustration of the vagaries of the sport and what may lead to many unfounded conclusions. Top jockey Anton Marcus was one of the riders in the sights of my caller and he was aboard the odds-on favourite On The Bounce in the first.

Marcus has been aboard the filly in all six of her starts, a beaten favourite one three occasions, the last time ahead of subsequent Gr1 winner Lady In Black. But there are some that still feel skulduggery is at play.

The simple fact is that On The Bounce is not very fast and will be beaten more often than not even if she ever manages to win a race in the first place. Just because she is owned by the country’s top owner, trained by one of the country’s top trainers and ridden by one of the country’s top jockeys, does not necessarily make her a “good thing” no matter her 6-10 price.

Enough of the preaching to a race that had all guessing.

The Bird Cage Maiden Plate was a concoction that may have been stirred by the four witches in Shakespeare’s play Macbeth.

There were no clear tactics at play and it was obvious that any instruction given in the paddock had come to naught as all the riders sat back waiting for someone – anyone – to make the play.

It was a jamboree of tactics but for punters at least the result was favourable. Tom Collins, that had been touted as more than useful in his previous three sprint outings, justified market support in getting home in a race that was ‘all over the place’.

“It was tactically befuddling,” confirmed winning rider Ian Sturgeon. No early pace and with all fighting for their head, Marcus on outsider King’s Music and no form to back his claims, made an early move on the turn.

The opposition panicked and as King’s Music played his last chord when disappearing out of the back door it was up to the best horse in the race. “His little bit of ability pulled him through,” confirmed Stuart Ferrie, long-time assistant to Dennis Drier who is enjoying the delights of Ibiza in Spain.

By Andrew Harrison