Silver Rose to bloom again

Racegoers are in for a treat today with nine races carded for the Greyville Turf track as well as an eight-race card at Happy Valley.

The Greyville action is scheduled to start at 11:45 while the first race in Hong Kong will see the gates crash open at 13:15 SA time.

All 17 races will be broadcast live on Tellytrack on channel 249 on DStv and TAB will offer a full betting bouquet on both meetings.

The headline act at Greyville is Race 8, a MR97 Handicap over 2000m, where Silver Rose looks the horse to beat.

With 23 top-four finishes from 33 starts, this Silvano gelding has been a model of consistency. Despite the fact that the eight-year-old has gone 514 days without a win, he still has a lot of running in him.

The veteran has been burdened with the top weight of 62kg, but trainer Andre Nel has elected to make use of apprentice jockey Thabiso Gumede for the ride and his 2.5kg claim can make the world of difference.

In Hong Kong, jockey Vincent Ho is hopeful that improving youngster Eternal Harvest can put a barrier mishap behind him when he lines up in Race 8, the Class 3 Cha Kwo Ling Handicap over 1000m.

The Ricky Yiu-trained fouryear-old reared in the gates at his last start back in July, and was scratched from the race.

“He’s a little bit tricky in the gates,” Ho said. “Last race of the season he went in a little bit too early and he just got impatient and started to rear up, and when he did that, we both hit our heads, so we had to scratch.”

The four-year-old’s final completed run of last term was an impressive one, as he defeated a classy field over the course and distance. His rivals that time included Metro Warrior and Flying Genius. He faces the latter again and boasts two wins over 1000m at the city circuit.

“Eternal Harvest trialled well and behaved well in the gates, so he should be fine and he’ll be a bit stronger this time around; he’s still quite immature but you can see his ability already. I liked the way he trialled – he finished off well,” Ho said. –