Whilst we usually focus on weekend highlights, more noteworthy action took place during the past week. The postponed Gauteng Guineas meeting threw up some strong performances on the clock and, down in Cape Town, an unheralded juvenile made a startling debut.

At Turffontein, Safe Passage and Rain in Holland took out their respective Grade 2 Gauteng Guineas with similar speed scores of 103 and 102. In the colt’s version, outsider Pyromaniac launched a late bid but, under a typically strong ride from S’Manga Khumalo, Safe Passage kept on best of all for the victory. The son of Silvano is on a roll and this was his fifth win in succession. He is an obvious candidate for the SA Classic over 1800m.

Trainer Mike de Kock was understandably chuffed with Safe Passage’s score but unimpressed to see highly touted, Desert Miracle getting beat in the Fillies Guineas. She caved in late after racing exposed and handy, allowing Rain in Holland (with Sean Tarry, the conditioner) to sweep by in deep stretch for a fluent win.

Stallion, Cape Town Noir recently achieved his first G1 success when Bohica snuck home in the Cape Flying Champs. Another one of his progenies, Admire Me may not be up to competing at that level yet is winning her fair share of lesser contests. She hit a career best score of 102 in a Pinnacle Stakes over a mile on Tuesday night.

Chimichuri Run is a stalwart sprinter that ran as high as 114 back in his “good ol days.” His career peak was winning the G1 Tsogo Sun Sprint in 2019. After a long while between drinks (his last victory was in February 2021) he suddenly woke up to stun punters at 25/1 in a Pinnacle Stakes with a score of 105 – good enough to deny Invidia, Vars Vicky and Goodtime Guy, all who managed solid 104’s.

Keagan de Melo is riding industriously all around the country and got his reward in the G3 Tommy Hotspur on Gallic Princess (s/s 101, has run 107 @ best when capsizing Rio Querari on the Greyville Poly.) The mare, trained by Candice Dawson, was smoothly delivered by de Melo to easily account for Winter Stories and Sweet Future.

One of the beguiling aspects of racing is that you never really know when you might witness something remarkable. At a routine midweek meeting at Kenilworth, a Gimmethegreenlight juvenile called Countdown made an eye-popping impression despite being relatively weak in the market and starting at 10/1.

In an awesome performance by a baby on debut, Countdown accelerated like a cheetah to obliterate rivals. Described by jockey, Richard Fourie as, “one for the future” Countdown’s career should be closely followed as it’s extremely rare for a young-un” to score 98 + on debut combined with such an impressively swift finishing fraction.

Trainer Glen Kotzen is a very sharp horseman who has picked some brilliant horses in his time, without spending fortunes. Despite Countdown being quite a small and slight colt, he said that he, “loved his supple, athletic walk.” Kotzen is a big fan of sire, Gimmethegreenlight, a champion sprinter/miler renowned for his tremendous turn of foot. Let’s see if Countdown has indeed inherited some of his sire’s most potent attributes.