Trainer David Hayes was recently presented with the Timeform Horse of the Year and Sprinter of the Year award for his awesome galloper, Ka Ying Rising. Ka Ying Rising’s Timeform rating of 135 pegs him as Hong Kong’s highest-rated horse over any distance since the august institution started keeping figures for the “colony” about
The Last Duke s/s 98 earned a neat figure in a sprint at the Vaal on Saturday. He raced handy in a short field and sustained a good gallop throughout. But he was somewhat fortunate that Zalatoris s/s 97 + managed to get caught in a pocket on the rail and came up narrowly
Splittheeights s/s 102 took out the Gauteng Guineas at Turffontein on Saturday. He finished too fast for Grand Empire s/s 101 and the consistent, Trust s/s 101 thereby confirming recent progress after winning the Got the Greenlight Stakes with a figure of 99. The victor is sired by Vercingetorix (as indeed was the second
Mastership s/s 95 won the Grand Heritage at the Vaal on Saturday, beating off 20 rivals. Being positioned near the outside rail down the straight course seemed to be the best place to be and Diane Stenger’s entry kept on resolutely after racing prominently to stave off the late lunge of Rollo the Viking
Commentator Alistair Cohen added appropriate color to the conclusion of the 2025 Cape Guineas, calling out “Jan van Gooyen says totsiens…” as the Mike and Mathew de Kock trained 3 YO streaked away from rivals. It was quite the training feat to bring the son of Master of My Fate down from Jozi two
Quickstepgal went from start to finish under Gavin Lerena to win Saturday’s G1 Cape Fillies Guineas having been backed from 16/1 into 10/1. This was a personal triumph for affable Tienie Prinsloo, a journeyman trainer. He was “numero uno” at old Flamingo Park in Kimberley and was gutted when that track closed. He relocated
Truth (s/s 105) hit a neat number at the Vaal in a strong sprint field during the week. He kept out Karate Kid (s/s 103), Sheldon (s/s 102) and Taxi to the Moon (s/s 101) with Dreamland (s/s 99) just behind the placed horses. The Candice Dawson trained winner attained a figure of 108
Time analysis helps not only to decipher the outcome but also to uncover what happens “internally” during a race. Speed figures based on final times, placed in context with track variants of course, provide ratings based on the posted result, whilst pace ratios shed light on the sectionals within a race. Using those methods,
Elegant Ice (s/s 101) won a nice race at the Vaal on Thursday, taking advantage of a light weight to narrowly stave off Chasing Happiness (s/s 100) in a Pinnacle Sprint. The What a Winter filly is a credit to trainer Lucky Houdalakis. He is a deft and patient horseman, able to nurse horses
Some punters make it pay by compiling Horses to Follow lists and then only backing those that make it onto their “own team” according to set criteria. Maybe the horse has been “missed” by the official handicapper compared to their own private ratings; ran a snappy sectional; earned a surprisingly big speed figure for