RACE 1: Maiden Plate 1000m Straight

BURRWOOD disappointed last time over further. Should fight it out over the minimum trip. GOLD ANGUS (Mike De Kock/Bernard Fayd'Herbe) makes his debut. Has been priced up as Ante Post favourite. FAT CHANCE did show improvement in his best start in nine last time. Could cause an upset. PREACH POWER will have to repeat his penultimate start which was his best in four starts. ROY ROYALE makes his KZN debut. Nooresh Juglall rides.

1st – BURRWOOD (4.5/1) (1); 2nd – GOLD ANGUS (3.3/1 F) (9); 3rd – FAT CHANCE (7); 4th - PREACH POWER (3); 5th – ROY ROYALE (5)

RACE 2: MR 74 Hcp (F & M) 1600m Bend

INJAAZAAT is holding form very well but has not won since August. Watch for a very good finish which could give her something of an edge. GUEST EL GRANDE only won her maiden at the twelfth attempt last time. Appears to have more to find but with Anthony Delpech aboard there could be a small sniff of hope. ARTISTICALLY DONE will be running on and has a shout. ANTONIA'S FORTRESS drops in class but has a massive 62kg to carry. Bernard Fayd'Herbe rides.

1st – INJAAZAAT (5.5/1) (2); 2nd – GUEST EL GRANDE (10); 3rd – ARTISTICALLY DONE (3); 4th - MICHELLE MY BELLE (4); 5th – ANTONIA'S FORTRESS (3.5/1 F) (1)

RACE 3: MR 86 Hcp 1600m Bend

 

MY SANCTUARY (Duncan Howells/Alec Forbes) has run on four occasions for three wins and a third. Two of his wins have been this C & D where she remains unbeaten. She is really speedy and in four races has quadrupled her purchase price. Must have a very good chance of winning the biggest race of her life. ALONG CAME POLLY (Gavin Van Zyl) is still a maiden after a solitary start but that was a very good start in which she ran on really well. She could upset the applecart here were she to surprise and win. HAPPY VALENTINE (Vaughan Marshall) won so impressively on her debut last time that she could win second time up as well. She was very fast over 1000m and drew off impressively to win by almost half-a-dozen lengths. Looks set to give another excellent run over slightly further. One gets the feeling that the further she goes the better she will be, being a daughter of SILVANO. PRINCESS JULIETTA (Gavin Van Zyl) has had two very good post maiden runs and was desperately unlucky not to have won last time up when badly interfered with late. Could make amends. ROYALSECURITYBABY won the Strelitzia on debut last time. May need to be at next level to win this one. Not to be ignored. Blinkers and Anthony Delpech could make the difference.

1st – MY SANCTUARY (6/1) (6); 2nd – ALONG CAME POLLY (1); 3rd – HAPPY VALENTINE (2.5/1 F) (4); 4th - PRINCESS JULIETTA (7); 5th – ROYALSECURITYBABY (9)

RACE 6: Tsogo Sun Medallion (2-Year-Olds) (R600 000) 1200m Straight

WILLOW MAGIC (Sean Tarry/Piere Strydom) looks to be top class. Won the SA Nursery at Turffontein last time with tons in hand and also in authoritative manner. Looks to be the one that they will also have to try and keep pace with, although Scottsville could be a little more difficult. ACE ANTONIUS (Vaughan Marshall/Karl Neisius) won on debut in Cape Town during the Summer Season and then followed that up with two decent post maiden efforts in smaller features. He was not disgraced and should have come on with both of those runs. Could go very close. NORMANZ (Charles Laird/Anton Marcus) won his last two including the Gold Barb at Clairwood over 1100m when winning like a "good thing" by over four lengths. Could go close in this field. CAPTAIN OF ALL (Dennis Drier/Sean Cormack) won his maiden at the second attempt last time. That was by five lengths. Could have won by more that day, but takes on stronger this afternoon. CAPTAIN'S RESERVE (Vaughan Marshall/Bernard Fayd'Herbe) made an impressive winning debut last time. This is decidedly stronger but could earn something decent in this race. Do not ignore!

1st – WILLOW MAGIC (1.6/1 F) (13); 2nd – ACE ANTONIUS (1); 3rd – NORMANZ (9); 4th - CAPTAIN OF ALL (3); 5th – CAPTAIN'S RESERVE (4)

RACE 7: SA Fillies Sprint (R600 000) 1200m Straight

VIA AFRICA (Duncan Howells/Alec Forbes) has excellent form. She is a speedy sort who ran exceptionally well behind WHAT A WINTER in both the Cape Flying Championship in Cape Town and the Computaform Sprint in Johannesburg. No mean feat! She does not have WHAT A WINTER, who is a horse and not a filly, to compete against. Her form reads: 8:(5 - 3 - 0). The obvious one to beat. The obvious danger will be WELWITSCHIA (Mike De Kock/Anthony Delpech) who finished 1.75 lengths behind VIA AFRICA in the Computaform Sprint last time. WELWITSCHIA is ½kg better off than VIA AFRICA. That will hardly be enough to reverse the order but one cannot ignore the Mike De Kock yard on big race days! ALL IS SECRET (Vaughan Marshall/Anton Marcus) ran on well to win the Poinsettia last time. Could feature and will be fighting on. FESTIVAL OF FIRE (Mike De Kock) is currently in good form and did win the Grade 2 Fillies Guineas at Greyville last time. Chance if readjusting to this trip. COUNTER RIDGE is improving, but even with Karl Neisius in the irons, will have a bit more to find. Back end of quartets.

1st – VIA AFRICA (1.4/1 F) (8); 2nd – WELWITSCHIA (2); 3rd – ALL IS SECRET (10); 4th - FESTIVAL OF FIRE (9); 5th – COUNTER RIDGE (11)

RACE 8:Golden Horse Sprint Handicap 1200m Straight

This should be a competitive race. SNOWDON (Ormond Ferraris/Nooresh Juglall) finished second in this race last year. Current form is very good and he will be running on at the business end. Last time she beat DESERT SHEIK (Mike De Kock/Muzi Yeni) by a head was unlucky last time as he stumbled but still managed a strong finish. SNOWDON meets DESERT SHEIK on a ½kg better terms. On paper this means that SNOWDON should still have the beating of DESERT SHEIK. That stumble last time by DESERT SHEIK could reverse that order but it should be desperately close again. NORTHERN EMPEROR (Charles Laird/Anton Marcus) is distance suited and will be right there if running on. COPPER PARADE has very good PE form. Could be out of his depth. Is the rank outsider in the field. PE horses can sometimes cause an upset on major feature race days. Not out of it! CAPE ROYAL (Dean Kannemeyer/Karl Neisius) is classy. He is a weak ante post favourite at 6/1. He will be finishing well and were he to win this sprint, it would not come as any surprise.

1st – SNOWDON (8/1) (5); 2nd – DESERT SHEIK (14); 3rd – NORTHERN EMPEROR (4); 4th - COPPER PARADE (6); 5th – CAPE ROYAL (6/1 F) (3)

RACE 9: MR 80 Hcp 1200m Straight

PANAMA MAN (Dennis Drier/Sean Cormack) was returning from a four month break last time. Will have needed that run. One to respect in this field and should be the one to beat. ISLAND FIESTA also has good form and will have the services of Anthony Delpech. MR HARRY is coming back to form and is definitely not out of it. PIANO MAN takes a drop in class and has a 4kg apprentice claim. Has good form. VICTORY CRUISE disappointed last time after having raced well before that.

1st – PANAMA MAN (3.5/1 F) (3); 2nd – ISLAND FIESTA (2); 3rd – MR HARRY (11); 4th - PIANO MAN (1); 5th – VICTORY CRUISE (4)