King Regent (speed score 106) dominated a Poly sprint at Fairview on Friday. It’s rare for such a high number to be recorded in the Eastern Cape but Glen Kotzen (who has his string in great form) extracted a career best out of the five-year-old Dynasty gelding.
He will be extremely hard to beat in other legs of the E.C. Poly Challenge if replicating such a fine figure. King Regent was followed in at a respectful distance by Ledell’s Echo (s/s 98).
Best numbers on Saturday’s Turffontein card went to Lead the Charge (s/s 98 +), Key Element (s/s 95 +) and Kings Express (s/s 94).
The first named is a promising three-year-old sprinter sired by Lancaster Bomber and trained by the Azzie’s, who also conditioned the dam, San Fermin. She was pretty good (best speed fig of 105) and her young offspring is worth following during the upcoming Spring season on the Highveld.
Paul Matchett’s in- form Querari filly Key Element looked to have a lot in her favour going into Saturday’s Pinnacle Stakes contest as one of the few with decent recent form plus she figured to be suited by the race shape. She duly justified heavy support into 13/10 to win convincingly.
Tyrone Zackey is another trainer doing well presently and Flashy Apache (s/s 90) ran close to his best rating to snare the exacta slot.
Kings Express supported from 7/2 into 5/2 got the job done for punters in Race 8. Trainer Fabian Habib has the son of Pomodoro in a competitive frame of mind this year with his six-year-old campaigner placing regularly and picking up a couple of wins along the way between 1600 and 1800m.
Three horses attained similar figs at Scottsville on Sunday. Immah (s/s 88) did well in a Maiden at his second start and is one to follow; Bourbon Warrior (s/s 89) won over six panels, then Rugger Lover (s/s 89) claimed the finale for Tienie Prinsloo after being backed from 10’s into half those odds.