Caprera is not just an island
DEAN KANNEMEYER has been relatively quiet these past months but his stable sounded a warning with a treble at Greyville yesterday. Favourite Caprera opened their account in the card opener as stable rider Keagan de Melo benefitted from Land Of Mystery taking the scenic route home.
As Land Of Mystery ducked wide out on the bend, De Melo slipped the favourite through inside of him and the race was over in a few strides.
The Sultans Bazaar
The Sultans Bazaar provided the second as he scored a bloodless victory in the fourth where scratchings reduced the field to six runners.
De Melo simply settled at the back of the bunch but once he turned The Sultans Bazaar loose it was just a matter of how far with favourite Blackball chasing shadows as he battled to quick ahead of his younger rival.
Bernard Fayde’Herbe is one of the riders who has been roundly criticised for his seemingly over-use of the stick but he remains one of the finest around. Land Of Mystery may have proved difficult to pilot in the first but he sent Scarlet Chill through the middle of the pack to land the second. This was the filly’s first outing for Alyson Wright and Fayd’Herbe took full advantage of his one draw, always an advantage over the Greyville mile.
Orient Express will come under scrutiny of the handicappers after she rounded off the Kannemeyer treble in the sixth.
Fresh from her maiden win and escaping a penalty, she got home narrowly from the two Duncan Howells-trained fillies Bold Beauty and Crystal Ball who were both closing fast on the winner. The maxim in tough handicaps the world over for the betting desperados is; ‘when in doubt back the top weight’ they obviously being the best performed. In KZN the refrain changes to; ‘when in doubt back Anton Marcus’. His presence in the saddle generally trims a few points off any horse that he rides but you most often get value for money.
Anuchke’s Wings
Glen Kotzen’s filly Anuchke’s Wings was not an obvious choice judging on form in what was a lowly maiden but Marcus, who does his homework and is one of the hardest working riders in the mornings, is generally a good option if you are in a quandary. Anuchke’s Wings, who’s last two runs were in the wet after making a smart debut, made short work of her opposition
Similarly,
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on one-runner one-trainer on the day, cashed in with the Johan Janse van Vuuren. He struck with his only runner with Marcus aboard as filly Giglio cruised to a four-length win in the fifth. SCOTTSVILLE’S holds its annual speed race meeting this Saturday with four Grade 1 races on the day that includes the Gr1 Tsogo Sun Sprint as the main feature. The country’s talented sprinters from the Highveld, Cape Town and KZN will compete for the huge stakes pot.
Search Party is a horse that I have been following closely and he looks to come into this race with an ideal prep. In his last start in the Grade 1 Computaform Sprint, he jumped from a wide draw and was holding his line on the extreme outside.
He did have some trouble in the running because he was switched from the outside to the inside and was low flying late and only hit top stride when the race was over. It was an eye-catching performance.
It’s never easy for a horse to keep finding especially when switching in sprint races.
Fourie
This won’t be an easy task for Search Party as there are some high-quality athletes in this race however the 55kgs on his back will help accompanied by a strong rider in Richard Fourie.
Brett Crawford has four runners in the race and all look to be in with a shout, however Search Party looks a solid place bet at the 28-10 that is currently on offer. The South African Fillies Sprint looks open with Snowdance from the Justin Snaith yard topping the betting boards at 4-1.
The second favourite Schippers from the Woodruff yard comes in with excellent recent form.
The speedy daughter of Var will be ridden by Chase Maujean and comes from a yard who are famous for training top sprinters.
Schippers
The place double Search Party and Schippers works out at inviting odds of 7-1. The day hosts a variety of events like fashion shows combined with high quality racing not forgetting the two Grade 1 races for two-yearolds and racing pundits will be eager to see the unbeaten filly Basadi Faith in the Allan Robertson Championship.
Scottsville is the place to be come this Saturday.