Ikigai (speed score 101 +) was most impressive winning the G3 Tony Ruffel Stakes at Turffontein on Saturday. He raced handy then blasted clear to win by four lengths from Westlife (s/s 92). Alert handicappers who noted that he’d been running way above his official merit rating after good showings behind True to Life
Jockey MJ Byleveld performed a rare feat at Kenilworth when riding all four legs of the Jackpot. The SP four timer worked out at odds over 20 000/1, with the official Tote Jackpot dividend declared being R24 286.00! Afterwards, the modestly spoken MJ said, “Some jocks work smart, but in my case it’s hard work and
Ridden with positive intent from draw 11, Kilindini used stalk and pounce tactics to easily win the G1 Cape Guineas at Kenilworth. The son of Silvano can accelerate quickly and he used that to his advantage by making an early move from a handy position. On his Interbet sponsored podcast, trainer Brett Crawford exuded
Young trainer Adam Marcus savoured his best ever day when his charges Missisippi Burning and Vardy won the G1 Fillies Guineas and G2 Green Point Stakes respectively. And, Brett Crawford, who like Marcus, is also sponsored by Interbet and contributes stable info to this website with total transparency, got amongst the winners too. Run
Zillzaal (speed score 105) went from start to finish under Dennis Schwarz to stave off the centre run of top weight Soqrat and win the G1 Summer Cup at Turffontein. The victor was trained by Sean Tarry, who is an expert at extracting peak efforts from his charges when it counts on big days.
The KZN Summer Challenge series took place at a foggy Scottsville on Sunday over 1200, 1600 and 1950 meters. Celebration Rock (speed score 89) won the sprint race, coming out fit after a ten week pause. He beat off the Mogok filly, Marsanne (s/s 88) who was already a three- time winner from only
This newsletter usually focusses on the best of the weekend’s racing action, but a digression is in order given the return to races on Thursday of two of SA’s elite thoroughbred’s, Hawwaam and Celtic Sea. Hawwaam (speed score 108) resumed over 1200m at the Vaal and had no trouble defeating G1 sprinter, Chimichuri Run
There were three Graded races staged this weekend, with each race throwing up notable performances and good speed figures. Russet Air (speed score 104) took the G2 Cape Merchants, Summer Pudding (s/s 102) clinched the G3 Citizen Fillies Mile and King of Gems (s/s 101) produced a withering run from last to deny Sachdev
Old timers were accustomed to seeing high class horses lump heavy weights to victory. They would have enjoyed seeing Soqrat (speed figure of 108) tote 62kg’s when pulverizing rivals in the G3 Victory Moon Stakes at the Vaal on Saturday. This son of Epaulette has tangled with the very best around in South Africa,
Mike de Kock unleashed a succession of high- class winners at Turffontein, including a stand- out performance by Barahin (s/s 111) in the Charity Mile. The Gimmethegreenlight colt swept past handy rival, Chijmes (s/s 106) to quickly put the result beyond doubt. He is developing into a pretty formidable racehorse in the distance range