Trainer, Candice Dawson and jockey, MJ Byleveld enjoyed four timers on Saturday in Johannesburg and Cape Town respectively. One of Dawson’s charges, D Árrivee (speed score 104) earned the highest figure @ Turffontein, motoring through from far off the pace with a 300m – finish sectional of 16.98 to beat off Tierra del Fuego (s/s 102) and Captain of Tortuga (s/s 102.)
MJ won four in a row as The Cambo (s/s 84) Over the Way, Priceless Ruler and Labyrinth all prevailed on a fast running Kenilworth surface. He cleverly sussed out the nuances of the track conditions – some of these races were not true run, with horses racing handy at a slow early tempo, then quickening up, proving the winning tactical formula.
Other notable Turffontein performances came from promising three year-old, Green Laser (s/s 94 +, who accelerated sharply to win the G3 Sea Cottage Stakes whilst proven speedball, La Bella Mia’s figure of 102 proved too swift for her rivals.
Rebel’s Champ (s/s 101 +) took out the listed Marula Sprint at Scottsville on Sunday after being temporarily stuck for running room. He’s scored as high as 108 before, so duly mowed down Cumulus and Drunken Sailor, who both got 100’s, when Warren Kennedy found a clear passage in a nick of time.
Interbet clients will be looking forward to next week’s SunMet @ Kenilworth. It’s a day of large Tote pools to tempt exotic players shooting for a life- changing score. And, racing purists appreciate seeing high quality thoroughbreds in competition on one of South Africa’s fairest race- courses.
Ante post betting is already up on the Interbet website for the three G1’s – SunMet, Cape Flying Championships and the Majorca Stakes. A strong supporting card of five feature races provides further motivation for punters to start preparing diligently by studying the form of the 155 carded entries.