Fans on the Highveld were treated to quality racing at Turffontein's rain soaked track on Saturday. Only really good horses can record triple digit speed figures on the scale I use, so Nother Russia (s/s 105) Rafeef (s/s 103) and Janoobi's (s/s 103) winning efforts gets a big thumb's up. In the Acacia Handicap, Nother
There was some entertaining racing in Cape Town as part of the Vasco Tavern prawn festival. Joey Ramsden trained Just Sensual (speed figure 95 +) took the Prix du Cap headliner as one of many favourites to oblige on the day. The Fillies Guineas winner eventually got past Captain's Flame after a protracted duel with
Irish Pride (speed score 105) proved best in the Wolf Power Stakes at Turffontein after a grueling tussle with Rafeef (s/s 104). Both darted through down the inside and fought out a protracted duel with Irish Pride gaining the advantage. The victor has been most dependable between 1400/1600m - and can be forgiven a flop
After last week's splurge of quality racing at Kenilworth on Sun Met day, the overall standard dropped quite sharply to more mundane fare this weekend. Nevertheless, there were still some notable performances revealing horse's worth following around the country at their next few starts. Kilauea (speed score 100) eked out a slim victory over Shaama
Billed as Africa's Richest Race day, the Sun Met and a host of Graded races went off tremendously well on Saturday, featuring some stirring performances at Kenilworth. Heavily punted, Whisky Baron just keeps on improving and he swept past Legal Eagle to land the big one, with pace-setting Captain America securing third ahead of high
Trip To Heaven (speed score 107) is a very smart performer from sprints up to a mile. He is a tricky character, prone to nodding off in the stalls and troubled by respiratory issues, yet has overcome those deficiencies to compile a clean record of seven wins from 17 starts with four seconds. He added
Legal Eagle (speed score 113) delivered another exceptional performance to record a double in the Queens Plate, racing handy then kicking clear to beat a game Captain America (s/s 109) with Sail South (s/s 108) closing from the rear for third. Marinaresco (s/s 107) was no match for the champion on the day but will
A couple of Grade three races were held over the New Year weekend. On Saturday at Turffontein, Rivarine was most impressive getting a big speed score of 108 in the Lebelo Sprint when bouncing out fresh after three months off track. This was a fourth win from just 10 starts for the super-quick son of
William Longsword (speed score 99 +) won the prestigious Cape Guineas from Gold Standard. They had met before in the Selangor which Gold Standard won with a monster score of 110 - William Longsword attained 101 there after suffering an over-reach injury. MJ Byleveld's inspired ride to quickly get handy from a wide draw was
Jo's Bond (s/s 98) won the CTS Southern Cross Stakes at Kenilworth, going start to finish over her preferred 1000m distance. The daughter of Captain Al was not under much pressure early on, so was able to resist all-comers in the finish. A below- best Carry On Alice (s/s 97) and an unfortunate, Scandal (s/s
