With SA racing on hold for the time being and most citizens subject to lockdown, this is an opportunity to catch up on some reading. Two excellent books crossed my desk recently and they are well worth sourcing. Pro gambler and writer, Barry Meadow’s The Skeptical Handicapper is a dense, technical treatise based on
SA racing continued over the weekend in spite of the Covid 19 pandemic. Full credit to all those hardy and determined participants who made it happen, enabling isolated, couch- potato fans to wager comfortably from home. It’s quite remarkable that Born to Perform has managed to win half of his 12 starts despite being
Soft conditions prevailed over the weekend at Turffontein, whilst the Durbanville track is currently hard and fast. These varying circumstances aided some horses and worked against others and are just another tricky piece of the puzzle form students battle to solve. The very fast Potalo Palace filly, Singforafa outdueled Che Bella as both recorded
Summer Pudding (speed score 99+) was strongly fancied to win the Fillies Classic and duly got the job done for trainer Paul Peter, to remain unbeaten from five starts. The Silvano ex Cherry on the Cake filly is now poised for the Triple Tiara after seeing off the challenge of Marygold in Saturday’s 1800m
Few casual racing fans truly appreciate the rigors of being a jockey which is a stressful and dangerous profession. Horseplayers are quick to criticize a woeful ride without quite understanding the difficulties of race-riding. Jockeys are subjected to serious pressure throughout their careers, with some handling the demands of their job better than others
The Vasco/Khaya Stables day at the races is always well supported by indulgent fans having a good time, and the program was strengthened this year with five feature races. Golden Ducat prevailed after a duel with Sachdev to win the G1 Cape Derby and extend the extraordinary record of his dam, Halfway to Heaven
The postponed Guineas meeting shifted to midweek at Turffontein yielded some sterling performances. Ikigai (by Vercingetorix) has received glowing write ups here recently, and he duly did the business in the G2 Gauteng Guineas, earning a figure of 99++. He finished powerfully as well and, with a deserving sectional upgrade, can probably run as
With the floods in Gauteng, fans will have to wait till Wednesday night for the two postponed Guineas’ to be staged at Turffontein. The absence of any action on the Highveld left the menu a bit thin, with moderate fields in Cape Town and Durban. Still there were a couple of useful performances. Calvary
Captain Al’s son, One World (speed figure 108) staved off Rainbow Bridge to win the G1 SunMet in dramatic fashion at Kenilworth on Saturday. Pacemaker Head Honcho fell away badly leaving these two, who had raced handy, to fight it out. 300m from the wire it appeared as if Rainbow Bridge would go on to
Heavily punted, G G’s Dynasty managed a fine figure of 102 last time at Scottsville and duly doubled up in the Michael Roberts Handicap which was switched to the Greyville Poly after miserable weather up in KZN. Trained by Peter Muscutt, an integral part of the Interbet sponsored Crawford Racing Team, the bay made