Azzie stable is the one to follow

The father-and-son partnership of Michael and Adam Azzie are in seventh place in the national trainers log and they can improve that position if Will Pays wins Saturday’s Joburg Spring Challenge at Turffontein.

The grade 2 race with a stake of R400,000 will involve a number of top performers returning from rest so finding the winner is no easy task.

The plus factor for Will Pays is that the six-year-old has had two outings this season, winning his latest race over 1,200m. He also has the advantage of pole position in Saturday’s race.

New Predator is the class act in the field and turned in a fine effort in the Mercury Sprint when finishing just a length behind Bull Valley.

Unfortunately, the stable of Johan Janse van Vuuren has had a lean spell of late, but victory on Saturday would bring the smile back to the young trainer’s face.

Matador Man has been priced up as one of the cofavourites for November’s Sansui Summer Cup and Sean Tarry’s four-year-old is another runner returning from a break.

Tarry will be looking for the Toreador gelding to be doing his best work, but the stable is not firing yet so it would be risky to back him on his seasonal debut.

Coral Fever — trained by Robbie Sage — looks a horse worth following in the coming months and Muzi Yeni will be in the saddle on this son of Judpot.

The five-year-old has not raced since capturing the Jubilee Handicap here in June so falls into the same category as New Predator and Matador Man.

Lyle Hewitson has started the new campaign in hot form and his mount in the sixth race — the Joburg Fillies and Mares Challenge — is the lightly weighted three-year-old, Rockin Russian.

The daughter of Seventh Rock shaped well in her four starts as a juvenile and should progress to greater heights.

Her opposition in Saturday’s 1,450m contest includes Janse van Vuuren’s inmate She’s A Giver who should go well in the hands of Gavin Lerena. The filly is second to Bela-Bela and in top form, but again the worry is whether she will need the run.

Shatoosh is another strong contender from the Azzie yard and — like Will Pays — this Trippi mare has had two races this season. Karl Zechner resumes his partnership with the fiveyear-old.

The Tarry representative in this race is Myfunnyvalentine and it might be dangerous to leave the Captain Al filly out of permutations. The four-year-old will be having only her third start in 2017.