Revamped Durbanville back in action

THE newly laid Durbanville track will be given a searching test when racing resumes at the country course tomorrow.

There are races from 1 000m to the 2 400m Settlers Trophy so every aspect of the newly laid turf will be tested.

All who took part in a series of trial gallops earlier this month were full of praise for the new surface but it was decided to delay a return to the track for a further fortnight to ensure that the racing surface was in tip-top shape.

That said, it won’t make finding winners any easier as punters are faced with a tricky card, no less the Settlers Trophy.

Although it is still early days, Justin Snaith is well ahead on the national trainer’s log as far as the number of winners goes and he has set his sights on a second national trainer’s championship.

Snaith has three runners in the lineup, best of which may be One Direction, the mount of Richard Fourie. The Silvano gelding has some excellent form to his credit and did not contest Champions Season during the winter, rather taking his chances in his home town.

With a string of second placings to his credit it was it was probably a worthwhile exercise but he really came into his own when stretched to 2 400m last time out.

He made all the running under Fourie and never looked like losing.

He faces a tougher task this time around but appears to have found his optimum trip and can follow up.

Our Emperor

Our Emperor was a late starter to his career but has come into his own at recent outings, shedding his maiden and following up with a cracking victory in his first start in handicap company.

He has a handy weight and he should handle the extra ground.

The mare Forbidden Duel has her first outing for Glen Kotzen after a consistent career under Duncan Howells in KZN.

With few races over ground for fillies, she most often found herself up against males.

She finds herself in a similar predicament again tomorrow but she does have a light weight and definitely stays the trip.

Overshadow

Snaith appears to have another good chance of adding to this season’s CV with Overshadow in the Play Soccer handicap where he again has three runners in contention.

Bernard Fayd’Herbe does duty in the saddle and the five-year-old has his third run after a break and looks primed for this event after finishing a close-up third to Catkin last time out.

Snaith has a second arrow in his quiver with Star Chestnut who does not know how to run a bad race.

It has been over a year since his last win and although the handicappers have been reluctant to drop his merit rating by any significant margin in a hurry he has come down a further kilo since his last race and should be competitive off his new mark.