Turf Talk Newsletter – 1 October, 2026

Mickaëlle Michel, soon back on our shores. (Picture: TRC).

Mickaëlle Michel has set her sights on a 100 winners and Top 10 finish on the South African Jockeys Log this season, and she expects to be back from Japan and riding at Turffontein on 24 October.

Mickaëlle rode into everyone’s hearts, and into the Top 20 last season with 47 winners, a remarkable achievement considering she only had her first South African ride midway through December and took several weeks to familiarise herself with horses, track and trainers.

Mickaëlle said on Thursday: “I know that 100 winners sounds ambitious, but one has to set yourself high ambitions. I also hope to ride more Graded winners. I’ll be in South Africa for the duration of the season.”

She’s just finished her fifth stint in Japan and has pushed her resident tally to 60 winners overall – which includes 30 in her first season, a standing record for a visiting jockey with a limited-period license.

“They grant licenses in Japan for two or three months at a time. I now have to fly back to France to arrange a work visa for South Africa. I have already received a mail from the authorities, which is a good sign. I hope to be in Paris by the 14^th of October, then a nip back to Japan and on to South Africa.”

Mickaëlle and her husband-coach Fred Spanu will be based in Johannesburg, which makes travelling to Durban and Cape Town for rides, more convenient. “We considered Cape Town as a base, but I ride a lot of work at Randjes and don’t want to miss out.”

She also hopes to reunite with James Crawford’s ace runner, Star Major, the horse many experts believe would have won the 2026 Hollywoodbets Durban July if he wasn’t withdrawn.

Mickaëlle said: “I can’t wait to sit on Star Major again. James Crawford sent me a video of him the other day, he is doing well and looks fantastic.”

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Dave Mollett

He is not the newest name on the block. But the outstanding form of one Randjesfontein-based trainers make him one of the big stories of the first two months of the new season.

Latest statistics reveal 12 winners from his last 49 runners. Any  top stable would be proud of that. His name is St John Gray.

One of the big attributes of the Gray stable is to keep him or her earning past their sellby date

A perfect recent example is nine year-old, After Hours, which Jason Gates partnered to victory at the Vaal on Sept 22. Gates went on to complete a double at the meeting.

This says something about the jockeys Gray likes to use – as with exception of Muzi Yeni – he mainly gives the top flight of riders a miss.

He does use Philasande Mxoli and one of his recent winners was Olympian Gold at the Vaal where the Gray  runners often run well.

The African Betting Clan produced an interesting statistic on google stating that – in the last 116 months – the Gray stable has sent out 351 winners from4020 runners with 256 different horses. They had 144 individual winners with 176 bred at Gray’s Greystone Stud.

This got me researching the yard’s top horses for the last 14 years or so and – bingo – in 2012 came up with one of my favourites, Dance With The Devil. Likely to be one of the trainers favouites too.

The year 2013 was good for Yer-Mann (as was 2015) and notable horses in 2014 were Glorious Jet and Everest.

For the 3-year period between 2016 and 2018 it was the turn of Captain Aldo who captured punters’ hearts with a number of impressive wins. Dawn Assault also performed well in 2018.

All this goes to prove that a season rarely goes by without St John Gray housing a top horse. 2026 is likely to be no different.

***

For racing connoisseurs, it doesn’t get much better than this. A famous city, excellent racetrack, top jockeys and world-renowned trainers. We are talking about Sunday’s Prix de L’Arc de Triomphe carrying prize money of 5 million euros.

Rather like Aussies like to keep the Melbourne Cup at home, the French don’t like the big prize falling to a overseas raider.

A year ago French-trained, Daryz, a 12-1 chance, came with a late charge to collar the Aidan O’Brien favourite, Minnie Hawk.

If anything, and his recent Ganey win adds substance to the claim, it appears the son of Sea The Stars has improved from three to four.

Daryz heads the market at 2-1 (early backers got 5-1) and William Haggas has Maltese Cross, also a son of Sea The Stars, as second favourite at 5-1 and Kalpana a 6-1 shot.

Haggas and film producer owner George Waud made a big decision in bypassing the St Leger in favour of the Arc but they know they have one factor on their side – Maltese Cross boasts a win over the Arc course and distance (2400m) with his victory in the Grand Prix de Paris.

The one concern is that the Haggas runner prefers fast ground and the going is forecast to be soft.

The market has Thundering On third favoutite at 7-1 with Varandir quoted at 14-1.

I usually look for a “roughie” outsider in the Arc  and my best is 33-1 chance, Item, winner of the Dante Stakes at York in May. But if Daryz  draws well I’ll be lumping on him.

Kings Mountain streaked clear. (JC Photos)

King’s Mountain turned his 1200m Vaal debut on Thursday into a procession, delighting his connections with a 7.50-length win, easing down.

“He didn’t beat much, but he clocked a good time,” said breeder and part-owner Laurence Wernars, who was chuffed with the performance and had every right to be, because King’s Mountain’s 68.48s was faster than the time recorded by his up-and-coming peer, Gone Cold, in a strong handicap just half-and-hour later.

What the handicapper will do with King’s Mountain remains to be seen, but Mike and Mathew de Kock will be hoping the chestnut gets a fair chance to make progress this season.

Mat said: “He has been showing us top work but he was underdone as we haven’t had grass to work him on. We had to rely on his natural ability and I’m glad he delivered for the partnership.

“It will be interesting to see what rating he is given. There aren’t many sprint races for three-year-olds so hopefully he goes further, to open some doors.”

Jockey Keagan De Melo said it felt like King’s Mountain “wasn’t hitting the ground”. He ducked around on the way down, but Keagan said: “When the gate opened, he was floating. The quicker you’re going, the better he feels. It’s lovely to sit on horses like this.”

King’s Mountain is by Vercingetorix out of Kay Tee Perry, an Argentine-bred mare by Orpen who has always been close to Laurence Wernars’ heart. The owning partners are Harry Willson and Mukund Gujadhur.

Mat didn’t forget to mention Justin Vermaak as part of the Wernars team. Vermaak broke away from his iron-man preparation to watch the race and said: “Kay Tee Perry gives me some nostalgia because she is the first mare I bought for Laurence when I started as a bloodstock agent years ago.”

Vermaak also arranged the service to super stallion Vercingetorix via a foal-share deal at Maine Chance and said: “King’s Mountain was a knockout horse at the sales, but no-one took him seriously because they thought Laurence was going to buy him back.

“We’d earmarked him as R2.5- R3-million horse with De Kock Racing before the sale, and if the bids went up to that level we would have sold him, but the bids didn’t go up so he only went for R1.2-million and we were lucky. He bolted up today, could be anything.”

Kay Tee Perry herself was a very talented racehorse, but she injured a suspensory and stopped putting efforts into her runs. “She was easily Grade 1 class but ended up with only small black type.  But she has a magnificent pedigree and to see this from her first foal is amazing,” Vermaak recalled. – mikedekockracing.com.

Cruise Control will be hard to beat, ([Picture: Pauline Herman).

Trainer Dean Smith has his runners in very good shape and star sprinter Cruise Control looks the right one in Race 7, the Betway Cradock Place Stakes over 1200m.

The seven-year-old gelding won the first leg of the Nelson Mandela Bay Polytrack Challenge over 1200m a few weeks back but was a noticeable absentee from the second leg last Friday.

Smith clearly felt the 1400m of that second leg would have stretched the Querari gelding, but it is worth noting Cruise Control has been impressive on the Polytrack. His record is very good, with 16 wins from 34 starts.

Surprisingly, it is not stable jockey Craig Zackey aboard the gelding this time, with Callan Murray getting his first ride on him.

Cruise Control is at level weights with three of his rivals, and it is only stable companion and Zackey-ridden Astronomical Boy to whom he has to give chunks of weight.

That should make Cruise Control hard to beat.

There are only seven runners carded for this, and he faces three possible dangers.

Astronomical Boy showed talent but was unreliable when trained in the Western Cape and arrived at his current yard with a record of two wins from seven starts. The well-bred Gimmethegreenlight gelding won on his local debut.

It was a narrow win, but he was well backed, and it is interesting to note that the runner-up that day, Kwagga Blitz, did win his next start.

Trainer Kelly Mitchley continues to have a steady stream of winners, and she has done a very good job with Anushka’s World.

This gelding has won five of 31 starts, but his last two wins were this year and over this course and distance.

Trainer Alan Greeff’s runners must always be considered at this track, and Fairy Knight gets to represent him under Richard Fourie.

He has not been at his best of late but was still not far behind in those performances and is well suited to this track and trip.

On the day, it will probably see some more winners for the Greeff-Fourie combination, as Kleinzee will be defending an unbeaten run of six starts for the yard in Race 5.

All those wins for Greeff have been on the Polytrack, so she cannot be faulted on that ground.

In the last race, it might be a Greeff 1-2 finish, as the bang-in-form Wild Fig may have to dig deep to fight off Silvan Mistress. – 4Racing.

Maltese Cross: Seeking Knighthood. (Racing and Sports).

A field of 16 will go to post for Sunday’s Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at ParisLongchamp.

Looking for something different to do this Friday?

Hollywoodbets Greyville is getting into the Oktoberfest spirit when Lucky Fish Friday Night Racing returns on Friday, 2 October.

📅 Friday, 2 October 2026
📍 Hollywoodbets Greyville
🕒 Gates open at 15:00
🎟️ FREE ENTRY

Expect an afternoon and evening of live racing, live music, great food, beer garden vibes and plenty of entertainment, all under the lights.

The Oktoberfest Beer Garden will feature seven breweries, including Ballito Brewing Company, Nottingham Road Brewery, Lions River Craft Brewery, Nguni Brewing Company, Durban Brewing Company, Standeaven Brewery and Hollywood Brew.

There’ll also be drinks specials, including selected beers and ciders 3 for R90, whisky specials from R15 per tot, selected wines on special and Jägerbomb specials.

🎶 LIVE ENTERTAINMENT

The evening’s entertainment line-up includes Mnqobi, Carmen Rodrigues, The Phillip Taylor Band and DJ Yash, together with roaming characters, the Race Coast mascot Kubo and much more. Expect entertainment and fun for young and old.

🍽️ COME HUNGRY

From food trucks serving up mouth-watering delights to a sit-down buffet in Durbanview Restaurant… there is something for every pocket and palate.

This Friday, Durban View Restaurant offers an Oktoberfest-inspired menu at just R325 per person, featuring bratwurst bites, German potato salad, crispy pork belly with apple sauce, German-style roast chicken, roast lamb, lamb curry, German cheesecake and more.

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 FAMILY-FRIENDLY FUN

Families are welcome, with a free, supervised KidZone providing younger guests with a safe space to play while parents enjoy the racing and entertainment.

Whether you’re a racing fan, a foodie, a beer lover or simply looking for somewhere different to spend your Friday night, Lucky Fish Friday Night Racing has plenty on offer.

Bring your crew. Raise a stein. Experience Oktoberfest at the races! 🍻🏇

MORE INFORMATION: https://www.racecoast.co.za/etn/friday-racing-2-oct-oktoberfest/