Favourites rule the day
THE eight race meeting at Hollywoodbets Greyville yesterday produced better results for punters than midweek and five favourites won.
It began with a win so cosy for the Johan Janse van Vuuren-trained favourite Blonde Babe, a three-year-old Summerhill Stud-bred Visionaire filly, that jockey Mark Khan was able to smile at the on course camera lady as he passed the line 1,80 lengths clear in the 1 000m Maiden Plate for fillies and mares. The second, a MR 85 handicap over 2 000m, saw Raymond Danielson getting up late on the five-year-old Dennis Boschtrained A P Arrow gelding Samsonite to deny the favourite Gibraltar Green. The win clinched a double for Summerhill Stud.
Leicester Square
The Glen Kotzen-trained three-year-old Jackson gelding Leicester Square ran away with the third, a maiden over 2 000m, and this was the first leg of a treble for Sean Veale. The Riethuiskraal Stud-bred horse was easy to back at 6-1 but won by 4,80 lengths from Just Dixit.
In the fourth race over 2 000m National and KZN Champion Apprentice Luke Ferraris went for home early on the Highveld raider Gottalottaluv but she had been caught one wide of the leader throughout and this told in the end as her big lead in the straight was whittled away by the favourite Perfect Air, who won cosily in the end under Veale, Irish Wonder Girl ran on well for second. Perfect Air, a five-year-old Dynasty mare bred by Lammerskraal, is trained by Dennis Drier, who was crowned KZN champion trainer for the
Friday night.
The fifth race, a MR 70 Handicap over 1 200m, had looked one of the most open on the card but the Nathan Kotzen-trained favourite Tripple Explosion, a six-yearold
9th
time
on Trippi gelding bred by Hugo Hattingh's Triple H Trust, was kept going in fine style by Muzi Yeni to prevail over Great Dictator who had loomed up dangerously.
In the sixth race, a MR 76 Handicap for fillies and mares over 1 200m, there was a thrilling finish as the Mike Miller-trained Klawervlei Stud-bred six-year-old Count Dubois mare French Legend held on grimly from a fast-finishing Ginger Biscuit to win by a short-head under Sereno Moodley.
Mastagambit
Drier scored a double in the next on another Lammerskraal Stud-bred horse and he looks to have a decent sort in Mastagambit. This four-year-old Master Of My Fate gelding has plenty of substance and off a 97 merit rating in the MR 98 Handicap over 1400m he showed a superb turn of foot from the tail of the field and made up the ground effortlessly to convert favouritism. He only beat Stream Ahead by three-quarters of a length but looked to have a bit in hand.
Many were pleased to see former national champion jockey MJ Odendaal get off the mark as a trainer when winning the last, a maiden over 1 400m, with the favourite Cavalieri. This three-year-old Oratorio colt, bred by Golden Touch Thoroughbred Services and M Kidd, showed a fine turn of foot in the straight to easily account for the opposition and win by 1,60 lengths under Stuart Randolph.