Green With Envy (pictured above – Candiese Lenferna Photography) will take another step  towards emulating three great horses, Dynasty, Big City Life and Legislate, at Hollywoodbets Greyville on Saturday.

The latter trio are the horses who in this millennium have won all of the Cape Derby, the WSB (SA) Guineas, the Daily News 2000 and the Hollywoodbets Durban July in the same season.

Green With Envy has won the first two of those races and is odds-on to add the Daily News and a 3/1 chance to add the Hollywoodbets Durban July.

Green With Envy, who like Dynasty is trained by Dean Kannemeyer, deserves his short 6/10 price to win the Daily News 2000.

He has proved he stays the distance and is getting better and better as he matures. It is easy to envisage him quickening from off the pace, or even from last place, and using his strong finish to mow the field down.

The chief danger could be the Fanie Bronkhorst-trained Pure Predator. He is also progressive and has proved he not only stays the trip but has a strong finish too in both his Gr 1 SA Classic fourth and Gr 1 SA Derby second. He has the advantage of champion jockey elect Richard Fourie up and, furthermore, he has drawn three compared to draw five for Green With Envy.

The dark horse could be the Justin Snaith-trained Hluhluwe. He has always been well regarded and has been looking for this trip and now has his second run after gelding. However, he will need to settle better than he did in the WSB Guineas if his finish is to be more than just steady, which it has tended to be in his last few starts.

Another horse who could upset the applecart is the long-striding Tony Peter-trained William Iron Arm. This horse had a habit of hanging and it was thought it could have been caused by the pain of being a rig. He has had an operation and if that does bring about improvement he could be a big runner in his second run since the surgery.

The Tarry-trained Hotarubi is not far off Pure Predator, finishing fifth in the SA Classic, fourth in the SA Derby and just 0,75 lengths back in second in the Colorado King Stakes.

The Johan Janse van Vuuren-trained Barbaresco has the potential on racing ability and pedigree to be an interesting contender. He is by Gimmethegreenlight out of Fort Wood mare Negroamaro, who won a Gr 3 and was runner up in both the Gr 1 SA Fillies Classic and Gr 1 Woolavington 2000. Therefore, he should stay the trip on pedigree. However, he does tend to take a keen hold. From draw seven out of nine Gavin Lerena will have his work cut out settling this classy grey.

Justin Snaith-trained The Grey King has a hard task matching Green With Envy, because he was beaten 1,25 lengths by the latter in the Gr 3 Schweppes Politician Stakes over 1800m and he is now 5,5kg worse off too. The Grey King was also beaten 1,40 lengths by Flag Man in his last start at Hollywoodbets Greyville over 1900m. However, he was giving the latter 5kg and it is something of a boost to his status that Flag Man is thought of as being good enough by trainer Gareth van Zyl to be supplemented for the Daily News 2000. Flag Man should have little chance on paper of confirming form with The Grey King on paper. Yet he is half the odds at 8/1 compared to 16/1, which could indicate that he is highly regarded.

The Gr 1 Woolavington 2000 was opened to older horses for the first time last year and this year has four three-year-olds in the line-up and seven older horses. The progressive Brett Crawford-trained Frances Ethel has won all four of her starts since finishing second on debut over 1400m. Her wins included the Listed Ormond Ferraris Oaks Trial over this trip and the Gr 2 Wilgerbosdrift Bridget Oppenheimer SA Oaks over 2450m. She left it late in the latter two races to get going and her late surges impressed Barry Irwin enough to buy her for his Team Valor International syndicate. The Rafeef filly jumps from a plum draw of two. The concern is whether she can get going quickly enough in the short Hollywoodbets Greyville straight.

The Mike de Kock-trained Silver Sanctuary has been a bridesmaid to top horses in Cape Town and the Highveld, finishing second to Beach Bomb in the Gr 1 WSB Cape Guineas, second to Gimme A Nother in the Gr 2 Wilgerbosdrift Gauteng Fillies Guineas, and again in the Gr 1 Wilgerbosdrift SA Fillies Classic and third to Frances Ethel and My Soul mate in the Gr 2 SA Oaks. Beach Bomb and Gimme A Nother will be running overseas henceforth with and over this trip Silver Sanctuary should have a fine chance of reversing form with Frances Ethel and My Soul Mate, especially considering she has landed pole position and has Fourie up.

Gilded Butterfly is an interesting entry as she was unlucky in this race last year.

Saartjie comes off a good win in the Listed KRA East Coast Cup over 2000m and had a mixture of good and most unlucky feature race runs at this course as a three-year-old.

Beating Wings is a progressive sort who comes off a good win in the Gr 2 TAB Igugu Stakes over this trip.

My Soul Mate was runner up in the Igugu Stakes and The Oaks.

Hold My Hand has plenty of class and comes off a Gr 3 win over this trip at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth, however,

Future Girl will be 2kg better off with her here for a mere 0,40 length beating.

Bellevarde is 1kg better off with Beating Wings for a one length beating.

Perfect Witness has plenty of class and is distance suited and Red Maple will appreciate the step down to this trip.

The Listed Lonsdale Stirrup Cup over 2400m is full of intrigue. The classy Andre Nel-trained Cape Eagle proved he likes this trip last time out and from a good draw could be the one to side with, although the runner up at Hollywoodbets Scottsville that day, One Way Traffic, is capable of top drawer performances too.

AUDIENCE winning the Lockinge Stakes at Newbury in England. Picture: Alan Crowhurst

Racing Post

The World Pool hit new heights on Lockinge Stakes day at Newbury last Saturday, with total turnover reaching a record £14.6 million.

The total was more than double last year’s £6.7m bet into the commingling pools powered by the Hong Kong Jockey Club, with five races featured for the first time – up from just two in 2023.

Audience’s surprise victory at 22-1 in the Lockinge paid a dividend of 21.85, giving jockey Robert Havlin his second victory at the highest level.

Audience, who like the favourite Inspiral is owned by Cheveley Park Stud, was expected to struggle behind his John and Thady Gosden-trained stablemate, but made all the running and triumphed over Charyn by a length and three-quarters.

The next World Pool day is Irish 1,000 Guineas day at the Curragh on Sunday, when last season’s Group 1 Prix Marcel Boussac winner Opera Singer is set to make her seasonal reappearance.

Pacaya was an easy winner of the first leg of the Winter Series (Picture: Wayne Marks)

Graeme Hawkins (Gold Circle)

We return to the Winter course at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth on Sunday for the final leg of the Winter Series, the R350 000 Pocket Power Stakes (Gr 3) over 1950m. The classy 5yo Trippi gelding Pacaya scored a comfortable victory in the 2nd leg over 1800m on the Summer course three weeks ago, when beating stable companion Rapidash by more than a length, and they meet here again on exactly the same terms. On that basis, Pacaya should again have the measure of Rapidash, but the latter was making eye-catching late headway last time and may get a little closer this time around.

Voorloopertjie is not well treated by the conditions of the race, but the addition of blinkers has transformed the son of Vercingetorix into a very useful galloper and there may yet be plenty of upside. He takes a steep rise in class here, but is in good form and could well take home a minor stake cheque. Flower of Saigon has a chance at the weights but her recent form inspires very little confidence, while the balance of the field all appear safely held on form.

The R200 000 Stormsvlei Stakes (Listed) over 1800m is the supporting feature in which Red Palace and Gold Poker Game get the chance to redeem themselves . Red Palace is best in on ratings but her last two moderate efforts are of real concern. As this will be her third start after a short break, Red Palace should strip very fit and a much better performance could be on the cards. Gold Poker Game was not disgraced in the Ladies Mile three weeks ago and the step-up in trip should be right up her alley. She has always shown very useful ability and is definitely one for the short-list.

Although not necessarily well handicapped, all of Love Is A Rose, Princess Izzy, Rainbow Lorikeet, My Flower Fate and recent Ladies Mile winner, Time For Love, are in terrific form and enjoy competitive chances in what appears to be an extremely open renewal. The Ladies Mile was run on the Summer course with its longer run-in and the switch to the Winter course for Sunday’s Feature only serves to muddy the waters even further. Notwithstanding the fact that the official handicappers’ ratings suggest a two-horse race between Red Palace and Gold Poker Game, current form dictates that punters need to cast their nets a lot wider, as the majority of the field appear to have winning claims.

The Pick 6 opens with a Maiden Plate over 1400m and the recently gelded Song To The Moon may prove the one they all have to beat. He finished a fair third behind Tambourine Man over 1200m two weeks ago and will appreciate the extra 200m from a handy draw. Mr Belvedere, also recently gelded, Monkey Puzzle, Cliff Swallow, Champonelle and Sound Of The Sea all have the form to win a race of this nature, but I am expecting further improvement from Song To The Moon.

My Golly Molly, who won the Langerman as a juvenile last season, when beating the highly rated Hluhluwe, has his first run on the Winter course since that victory in the fifth race over 1400m, and his most recent run suggests that Eric Sands’ runner is coming back to form. Sands holds a strong hand as he also sends out Solomons Seal who has finished second in his last two starts. Solomons Seals is slightly better off with Tyrion Lannister for a narrow defeat last month, and there should not be too much to choose between the pair. From pole position and Richard Fourie aboard, Innamorare is a must inclusion for all exotic bet permutations. Cheeky Laddie and Charlie Croker are not without winning chances, but are drawn widest of all in a 14-strong field and will need more than just a slice of luck.

The sixth race, a modest Class 5 Handicap over 1800m, looks an absolute nightmare for punters but in the ninth race, the final leg of the Pick 6, I am going to bank on the consistent Fly Futura to bring home the bacon. This is a Class 4 Handicap over 1600m and while Fly Futura is only 1kg better off with All About Ronnie for a length defeat last month, Candice Bass-Robinson’s runner is more favourably drawn. Fly Futura has finished third in all three post-maiden starts and is overdue to register his second career victory.

The first of ten races at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth on Sunday, a Maiden Juvenile Plate (Fillies) over 1000m, goes off at 11:45 and with nine of the sixteen fillies making their debuts, the betting should be the best guide.

Paris Lass speeds to a cosy pillar to post victory (Pauline Herman Photography). 

A mid-meeting switch to the polytrack surface played into the hands of the Gavin Smith-trained three-year-old Lammerskraal Stud-bred filly Paris Lass.

Smith and arch rival Alan Greeff monopolised the neeting with five winners and three winners respectively , which leaves Greeff on 116 wins and Smith on 112 in the race for the East cape Trainers title.

Calvin Habib was aboard the quick Paris Lass today in The Listed Milkwood Stakes over 1000m, a weight for age plus penalties event for fillies and mares.

A front-running 1000m horse who steps up in class is often in danger of being swamped late by the opposition.

However, two things were in Paris Lass’ favour today.

Firstly, she is at her best on the poly.

Secondly, Muzi Yeni, when winning on her last time from the front,  spoke about a previous win on her when he had had to go hard to get the better of another front-runner in an early duel, and yet she still quickened off it to win by over five lengths.

So when she broke well today and had a clear lead by the first turn, her supporters would have been confident.

She duly stayed on superbly to defy the weights and her 14/1 price.

She was  officially 6,5kg under sufferance with the best weighted horse and 5/4 favourite Three Rocks.

The latter stayed on well to finish a 0,75 length second.

Under the conditions of the race Three Rocks had to give Paris Lass 1kg.

The pair have met four times and they each have two wins, although Three Rocks did give Paris Lass 5,5kg and a 1,50 length beating the last time they met over this trip on turf, so the switch to poly was unfortunate for Three Rocks.

In the non-Black Type Fairview 1400, the original favourite Cherry Ano did not enjoy the poly as opposed to the Alan Greeff-trained Wilgerbosdrift and Mauritzfontein-bred Soft Falling Rain gelding Inherit The Rain, who loved it.

The six-year-old has a fine record on the poly and was backed into 33/10.

He prevailed by half-a-length under Richard Fourie.

Brendan James was second at 6/1 odds.

Former Highveld-based six-year-old gelding Funky Music made a fine debut in the East Cape, finishing a 0,60 length third.

Great excitement greeted Craig Zackey when he returned to the winner’s enclosure on the Gavin Smith-trained Jade’s Caberneigh, who gave the Hollywood Syndicate their 100th win of the season. (Pauline Herman Photography)

Hollywoodbets added excitement to the reaching of the Hollywood Syndicate’s 100th win of the season by giving bonuses to a number of participants in the win.

The trainer and jockey of their 100th win were each to receive R10,000 bonuses, the groom was to receive R2,000 and for the first time there was an award for the race commentator, R5,000.

Nico Kritsiotis behind the mic did well to contain his excitement when the Gavin Smith-trained Gimmethegreenlight filly Jade’s Caberneigh assumed the lead under Craig Zackey and kept on rolling in the last race today at Fairview over 1200m.

There was a mid-meeeting switch from turf to poly.

Earlier, in a 1200m event on the turf, the Alan Greeff-trained Canford Cliffs filly Catch Your Breath gave Hollywood their 99th win of the season under Richard Fourie.

In the last race the Hollywood-owned Jade’s Caberneigh kept going well to score by 0,75 lengths.

Nico Kritsiotis was the TV commentator and was the official recipient of the commentator’s bonus.

However, Naqeeb Munshi was the on course commentator and it would appear from some reports that Nico will magnanimously share the bonus with him.

Jade’s Caberneigh’s groom is Mncedi Pohlo.

Hollywood achieved 100 wins in a season for the first time in the 2021/2022 season when they got 101.

Last year they smashed their record, reaching 124 wins.

At this time last year i.e. with the same amount of days left in the season, they had 109 wins.

So they have their work cut out to better their record.

Soweto Equestrian Centre founder Enos Mafokate shows some love to one of his horses. Picture: Nigel Sibanda

By Thando Nondywana (The Citizen)

In the heart of Soweto, Enos Mafokate, the King of Horses, fosters dreams and champions equality, with international repute and awards to go.

Hooves stomping and nostrils flaring, the horses gather around a man who is undoubtedly the centre of their world.

Enos Mafokate braves the scorching sun in the field of the Soweto Equestrian Centre to stroke one here, pat another one there – and you know why he is known as Kgosi yadi Pere or the King of Horses.

“I spend my days here to be with the horses and make my way back home,” says South Africa’s first black show jumper of his horse riding school.

It is nestled between the matchbox houses in Moroka, Soweto, and he officially opened it in 2007.

Mafokate travels at least 56km every day to Soweto where he educates thousands of children and employs local talent.

It’s been a long journey, just like his show jumping career, but when Mafokate dreams, he dreams big – and his dreams always come true. It was a dream he once yearned for while working as a horse manager at a dispensary for sick animals.

So he started with lessons in an open veld in Mofolo. “My goal was to cultivate young children in this field. I borrowed R700 to buy my first horse and trained two children in an open veld with just rubble and sand.

“Years later, I got this establishment and it was in shambles. There was only one building here, windows were shattered and there was a foul stench. But my vision was always clear,” he says. He bagged some sponsors and the rest, as they say, is history.

The centre’s biggest highlight was a visit from Britain’s Princess Anne in 2012. Adorning the office walls are tributes to Mafokate’s four-decade career – newspaper clippings, photographs, awards and trophies of his illustrious career as one of the black founding fathers who opened the way for others in the equine industry.

Growing up in the years of racial segregation in Johannesburg with a father who was a builder, he moved between a farm in Rivonia and Alexandra where he went to school.

The farm nurtured his love for animals and he remembers his intrigue every time white people rode horses, while he couldn’t.

“It all started with a donkey. They were easily accessible, especially on the farms where we stayed. I rode on those until a white kid came with his pony and taught me how to ride properly for the first time.

“And he rode my donkey. I would get scolded because it was a huge offence, but we were always excited to play with our animals and were oblivious to our reality,” says Mafokate.

In 1962, aged 16, and as a groom for the horses of professional show jumpers, he got his first shot at competitive show jumping when his employer decided to let the black grooms compete against one another.

“They took me with no warning that I would be showing. I was wearing worn-out overalls and gumboots and went out looking like that, and I won the tournament,” he laughs.

This motivated him to compete in Kyalami where he snatched a win again. But he couldn’t competed until 1975 when, for the first time in history, black people were allowed to participate in show jumping in South Africa.

He became the first black show jumper, not only in SA, but also in Africa. This was a pivotal moment in Mafokate’s life.

“I was fighting the oppression which said black people couldn’t ride. It took me 40 years to be able to ride in Pretoria alongside white people. It was hard. I fought hard against oppression and was often insulted and called names for wanting equality.”

Despite the odds, 1977 was the prime of Mafokate’s career. He was becoming a show jumping favourite and was known for his poise, confidence and skill.

This bagged him back-to-back championships at the Rand Show, in Sandton and in Cape Town. Mafokate was spotted there by British show jumper David Broome while competing in his third championship.

Broome introduced him to the international market. Mafokate won the show jumping and show class categories at a competition in Wales, at a time when SA was sanctioned from competing internationally.

He also finished fifth in Wembley in London, solidifying his international career.

“I won my first showing class. In my second show, I was among 31 champions and the only one from Africa. But the oldies came up to me and said they never thought they would see a black person in the competition.”

What was supposed to be a once-off trip in 1980, ended up with him returning to England four times.

“The last year I went, in 1984, I will never forget. I stood before a crowd of 65 000 at the Midlands championships.

“The crowd was cheering and the tears just streamed down my cheeks,” he says.

Mafokate beams with pride as he reflects on his journey. “When I look at my life, it has come full circle because it always revolved around horses.”

He was given a lifetime achievement award in Germany in 2022 and will receive another lifetime achievement award from the Kamoraleng Heritage Institute this weekend.

The award recognise and celebrate legends who beat the odds and put SA and Africa on the map.

Mafokate’s wish is to build his legacy through a museum “for the young people to see the stories of many, like me, who have never been recognise

The 1899 English Triple Crown winner Flying Fox was a grandson son of the  English Triple Crown winner Ormonde. Flying Fox’s sire Orme, a son of Ormonde, was top class and was the first to win the Eclipse Stakes twice. However, he was ill for the 2000 Guines and Derby, otherwise there might have been a line of three successive Triple Crown winners.