Fairview Racecourse takes centre stage this weekend with a double bill of
racing in Port Elizabeth.
The festival begins on Friday with an eight-race card which incorporates
the Listed Dahlia Plate over 1200m for two-year-olds. This race has been
won by the likes of Bold Silvano, who went on to capture the Vodacom Durban
July and then perform on the world stage in Dubai.
Sunday sees the running of the Grade 3 East Cape Derby, powered by Recall
Security, over 2400m which carries prize money of R350,000. The race may
only have attracted 11 runners but it does appear to be a quality field.
Justin Snaith will saddle three runners and although he has yet to race
over the distance, the best of the trio could be True Master.
The son of Jet Master has raced seven times for four wins and will be
ridden by Piere Strydom.
Snaith’s other runners are Skippyjon Jones, who has won at the track and
last time finished a 0.55-length third behind Burlaine Forest over 2000m at
Fairview. His third runner is Parker, who has taken on the likes of Grade 1
SA Classic winner Love Struck and Ze Kaizer.
Mike Bass, who now has a satellite yard in Port Elizabeth, saddles Neartic
Dancer, while Cape Town-based Joey Ramsden sends out Coltrane, the mount of
Glen Hatt.
Of the locally based trainers, Alan Greeff and Yvette Bremner saddle two
runners each. Greeff has top-rated runner Way Clear, as well as Placido,
who is the second highest rated performer. Bremner has Burlaine Forest and
Just Swell.
Navistar was all the rage to win the East Cape Nursery last time but ended
up three lengths behind stablemate Seattle Storm.  He will have the
opportunity to avenge that defeat in the Dahlia Plate. However, also in
that race was Another Idea, trained by Snaith, and he was just 0.75 lengths
behind the Greeff runner.

Final field for the East Cape Derby (Grade 3) Powered by Recall Security
R350,000 2400m
1 - 3 WAY CLEAR (A C Greeff) S Randolph 58.0 - 94
2 - 1 PLACIDO (A C Greeff) A Domeyer 58.0 - 92
3 - 5 SKIPPYJON JONES (S J Snaith) M Yeni 58.0 - 91
4 - 10 PARKER (S J Snaith) K Teetan 58.0 - 90
5 - 8 TRUE MASTER (S J Snaith) P Strydom 58.0 - 90
6 - 11 BURLAINE FOREST (Y Bremner) W Kennedy 58.0 - 88
7 - 4 NEARTIC DANCER (M W Bass) R Khathi 58.0 - 83
8 - 2 COLTRANE (J Ramsden) G Hatt 58.0 - 82
9 - 6 RED SILVANO (G Paddock) K Zechner 58.0 - 76
10 - 9 BOUCHERS INN (M Wiese) L Mxothwa 58.0 - 73
11 - 7 JUST SWELL (Y Bremner) F Herholdt 58.0 - 64
Same Trainer: (1,2) (3,4,5) (6,11)

Dahlia Plate (Listed)(For 2 year-olds) R130,000 1200m
1 - 4 NAVISTAR (A C Greeff) M Yeni 58.0 - 91
2 - 7 SEATTLE STORM (A C Greeff) K Teetan 58.0 - 90
3 - 8 ANOTHER IDEA (S J Snaith) P Strydom 56.0 - 89
4 - 9 BE THE BEST (G D Smith) A Domeyer 56.0 - 83
5 - 1 MASTER OF FATE (Y Bremner) W Kennedy 56.0 - 77
6 - 5 YOSHIE (A C Greeff) G Hatt 55.5 - 84
7 - 2 FOLLOW THE TIGER (M Wiese) L Mxothwa 53.5 - 76
8 - 3 CROWN OF CRIMSON (N Benecke) T Gould 53.0 - 51
9 - 6 ZOBENS (G D Smith) F Herholdt 53.0 - 77
Same Trainer: (1,2,6) (4,9)