Dyce is eased up before the line in Saturday’s Gr 3 New Turf Carriers Merchants over 1160m. His head being in the air is not because he is being eased up, it is how he runs and he manages to do it at blistering speed and without looking awkward either. (Candiese Lenferna Photography).

This season’s Gr 1 Cape Flying Championship over 1000m at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth on WSB Met day January 27 is going to be a race  to savour as three 130 rated horses are set to clash, Equus Champion Sprinter Isivunguvungu as well as Gimme A Prince and Dyce.

Lucky Houdalakis revealed today Dyce would be travelling down for the race as long as AHS-related travel protocols make it possible.

Regarding a preparation run beforehand he was not sure where it would happen and said, “We will do what we have to.”

All three of the aforementioned 130-rated horses are five-year-olds.

Last season Isivunguvungu and Gimme A Prince monoplised the open Gr 1 sprints arouind the country, each winning two.

Dyce will make it harder for them following his scintillating victory in Saturday’s Gr 3 New Turf Carriers Merchants over 1160m at the Big T.

The handicappers saw fit to raise him 14 points for that 4,25 length start to finish romp.

He gave 1lg to runner up Gladatorian, which on paper puts him ahead of both Isivunguvungu and Gimme A Prince because they could only beat the latter by 2,60 lengths and one length respectively in the Gr 1 weight for age Mercury Sprint over 1200m at the end of last season.

However, the latter race was around the turn and both Isivunguvungu and Gimme A Prince put in better performances down the straight. Isivunguvungu is also better over 1000m, despite having won the Mercury Sprint.

The trio will also have the like of Rio Querari, Thunderstruck and Surjay to worry about while Bereave and We’re Jammin’ are capable on their day.

That is not to mention Equus Horse Of The Year Princess Calla, although at this stage it looks like she is targeting races over more ground.

Stuart Ferrie said yesterday Gladatorian would not be making the journey down for the Cape Flying and that is no surprise considering he is well held by Dyce.

Among the three-year-olds Future Variety, Outlaw King, Jerusaleema Rain, Ready To Charge and Captain Arrow will have to up their games considerably to be threats to the older big guns.

However, two interesting female possibilities could be October Morn and Kiss Me Captain.

October Morn was most unlucky in her last start and the Cape Flying could come too soon for her, but she looks to have the makings of a seious sprinter.

Kiss Me Captain looks to be on the up.

October Morn and Kiss Me Captain clash in the Gr 2 Southern Cross Stakes on Saturday.

That race and the Gr 2 Cartier Sceptre Stakes will tell whether they, or any other females, are up to a tilt at the Cape Flying.

William Robertson cruised in over 1400m aat Hollywoodbets Scottsville in his last start (Picture: Candiese Lenferna).

The tough 1000m Hollywoodbets Kenilworth track might suit the top class Rafeef gelding William Robertson down to the ground, but Vaal-based trainer Corne Spies feels the risks of travelling down to Cape Town for the Gr 1 Cape Flying Championship outweighs the rewards.

He said, “With Cape Town you’ve either got to go way ahead and acclimatise, then you’ve got to come back and acclimatise, so that is a tough option. The alternative is to travel down-and-up in the space of a week and that knocks the living daylights out of them. It takes a while for them to get over that, so we are opting out of the Cape Town side of it and will concentrate on what’s happening this side rather.”

He said William Robertson’s chief goals would either be the Gr 1 HF Oppenheimer Horse Chestnut Stakes over 1600m (March 2) or the Gr 1 Jonsson Workwear Computaform Sprint over 1000m (April 6), or possibly both, and then the Gr 1 Golden Horse Sprint over 1200m at Hollywoodbets Scottsville (June 3).

There is then always a further possibhle race, the Gr 1 Mercury Sprint over 1200m at Hollywoodbets Greyville, in which he has finished a narrow second and a narrow fifth in the last two renewals.

William Robertson does have a Gr 1 third to his name over 1600m in the Premiers Champion Stakes at Hollywoodbets Greyville as a two-year-old. Corne points to his fine record over 1400m and said in his attenpts beyond that trip the jockeys had just tended to pull the trigger too soon. He believes there is no reason why William Robertson should not see out a mile.

William Robertson was an effortless winner over 1400m at Hollywoodbets Scottsville on November 19 and he heads there for another Pinnacle Stakes event over 1200m on December 3.

He will be attempting to make it career win number ten.

Corne said, “There are a couple of Pinnacles like that we can play around with to keep him on the boil and he is normally thrown into those races, so you can pretty much earn the same amount of money as going to Cape Town and with more confidence too. In Cape Town you have to really win it, but these Pinnacles keep him going, they are nicely spaced and with him being thrown in he will have a good chance in most of them. So moneywise we will still be able to do the same and still have a bit of a horse left for the rest of the season instead of having to be on the back foot.”

Corne is a part-owner of William Robertson and many of his other horses too.

He said he would try and keep Gavin Lerena on William Robertson where possible.

Lerena has ridden him in his last two starts, both victories.

Meanwhile, his classy sprint-miler Prophet (Querari) arrived back at the yard last week after a break on the farm.

Corne said, “He looks well and will have enjoyed the rest. We will get him ready for the Jo’Burg and Durban seasons.”

Mrs Browning was said by Sean Tarry to be “teed up for this race” in the build up to the Gr 3 Jo’Burg Tourism carry On Alice Stakes and she duly dcelivered under Richard Fourie (JC Photos)

The Pedigree Obsessor

The winner of the 2023 Joburg Tourism Carry On Alice Stakes reinforces the merit of combining speed and stamina into the progeny.

By Rafeef out of the Galileo broodmare Miss Galidora, MRS BROWNING is now a relatively proven quick, who has never run beyond 1500m. Her ability appears to stem predominantly from her Sire and less so from her Dam, however the Galileo factor can never be discredited.

She is an own sister to the very good ARAGOSTA, a near equine double millionaire, who has never run shorter than 1450m and been successful between 1600 and 2450m (including the Gr 1 SA Derby). In his case it seems that he received a fair dose of the Galileo gene through the Dam.

In Rafeef we have an exceptionally strong speed gene pulling through the pedigree.

In Galileo there is a dominant stamina gene.

In the 2 full siblings the racing aptitude is somewhat divergent, although neither have been tested in the range of the other so we don’t know what that might yield.

Whatever the true reason, this case illustrates that one should never stereotype the 2nd full sibling onto the performance of the 1st, particularly when they are supported by 2 prominent bloodlines because one never quite knows what the dominant gene will be.

Battleground can make it another win for the in form Lucky Houdalakis yard (JC Photos).

Jack Milner

There is no racing on the Highveld this weekend but there is a great meeting on the Standside track at Turffontein on Thursday, where there appear to be some decent bets.

Perhaps the best of these comes up in Race 6, a MR 89 Handicap over 2850m where trainer Lucky Houdalakis sends out Battleground.

This four-year-old Futura gelding has raced against some of the best stayers in the land, and on form has a number of runners he faces on this occasion well held.

He has won three of his 13 races and placed on six other occasions and this race looks an ideal opportunity for him to extend his winning record.

He does try 2850m for the first time, but he has won over 2600m on the Inside track and Battleground gives the impression he could be even better the further he goes.

Houdalakis has another runner in the field in filly Namaqua Blossom and while she too has won over 2600m, she does like to race up with the pace and could be there to ensure an honest gallop in this eight-horse field.

The one concern with Battleground is that he does throw in the odd indifferent performance every now and again but hopefully this will not be one of them.

Craig Zackey takes the ride.

Race 7 is a Graduation Plate over 1160m, and it sees the return of Garlandsofgreenery who ran out a most impressive winner of her debut run. Sean Tarry’s charge was well supported on that occasion over this course and distance.

The three-year-old daughter of Gimmethegreenlight will be tested even further on this occasion as she will be taking on the colts but she does get a sex allowance and that sees her come in with just 53.5kg on her back.

Piere Strydom rode her to victory last time but he cannot make the weight and Tarry has engaged Calvin Habib to ride Garlandsofgreenery this time.

Her biggest threat could come from another three-year-old filly in Cullinan Blue, although Brett Crawford’s charge has not raced since running in the Allan Robertson Championships at Hollywoodbets Scottsville in June.

However, the comment from the stable is that she is working well, and improvement is expected.

Best weighted runner is Mike de Kock-trained Red Hot Rose who must be included in all bets although she too has not raced since June.

Jack Milner’s selections

Race 1: 3 Joker Man, 9 Phantom Express, 10 Great Barrier, 4 Line Barracks

Race 2: 2 Just Nuisance, 10 To The Rescue, 8 La Moohal, 9 Officer In Command

Race 3: 5 Springer, 1 A Touch Of Sugar, 6 Outer Dimension, 13 Like A Butterfly

Race 4: 1 Say Yes, 3 Apache Fighter, 5 Special Charm, 4 Elembee

Race 5: 1 Witblits, 3 Rosy Lemon, 10 Silver Hunt, 11 Explosive Bond

Race 6: 1 Battleground, 5 Namaqua Blossom, 3 Rule Book, 2 Arlington Action

Race 7: 8 Garlandsofgreenery, 7 Cullinan Blue, 5 Red Hot Rose, 3 Wyzeact

Race 8: 10 Sunshine Day, 8 Real Relief, 2 Golden Prospect, 11 After Hours

BEST BET

Race 6 No 1 Battleground

VALUE BET

Race 4 No 1 Say Yes

BEST SWINGER

Race 5 1 and 3

BIPOT

R96

Leg 1: 3, 9

Leg 2: 2, 10

Leg 3: 1, 5, 6

Leg 4: 1, 3, 4, 5

Leg 5: 1, 3

Leg 6: 1

PLACE ACCUMULATOR

R162

Leg 1: 2, 10

Leg 2: 1, 5, 6

Leg 3: 1, 3, 5

Leg 4: 1

Leg 5: 1

Leg 6: 5, 7, 8

Leg 7: 2, 8, 10

PICK 6

R1200

Leg 1: 1, 5, 6, 8, 13

Leg 2: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Leg 3: 1, 3

Leg 4: 1

Leg 5: 3, 5, 7, 8

Leg 6: 2, 4, 5, 8, 10, 11

JACKPOT 1

R40

Leg 1: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Leg 2: 1, 3

Leg 3: 1

Leg 4: 3, 5, 7, 8

JACKPOT 2

R48

Leg 1: 1, 3

Leg 2: 1

Leg 3: 3, 5, 7, 8

Leg 4: 2, 4, 5, 8, 10, 11

Richard Fourie won races 2, 3, 4 and 5 at Hollywoodbets Scottsville on Wednesday, including a double for Tony Rivalland, and he then dead-heated in the seventh. The Glen Kotzen-trained Fairy Tripp (Trippi), pictured above, made it four in a row for Fourie. (Picture: Candiese Lenferna).

Richard Fourie passed the 100 wins for the season mark at Hollywoodbets Scottsville today after a fine four-timer.

Today was the 121st day of the season and Fourie has had an average of just over four rides per day and is riding at a 20.61% wins to rides strike rate.

If he keeps up that riding rate for the rest of the season as well as that same strike rate, he will end the season on about 305 wins.

He said at the beginning of the season a feasible target would be 300 wins.

Last season proved that as the season goes on it becomes tougher to keep up both the riding rate and the strike rate.

At this stage last year Keagan de Melo had had 513 rides for 108 wins at a strike rate of 21.05%, compared to Fourie’s 490 rides, 101 wins at a strike rate of 20,61%.

De Melo’s projected season mark at this stage last season if he had kept it up would have been 326. Yet he ended the season nearly 50 less on 277.

When the racing becomes more competitive, such as during the Cape Summer Festival Of Champions, the Jo’Burg Autumn season and the KZN Champions Season, it becomes tougher to ride multiple winners and the chances of landing a suspension probably increase too with no quarter being given.

Nevertheless, if Fourie is able to increase his number of rides rate to that of Muzi Yeni and ride to his current strike rate of 20,61%, he would then end the season on 325 wins if able to keep it up.

That is just ten short of the ultimate target of 335 wins.

If he breaks the 334 wins in one season record of Anthony Delpech he will receive a bonus of R1 million from Hollywoodbets.

It is still within the realms of reason that he can achieve it, although it would have to be considered a longshot.

Gimme A Nother powers through to win going away (Picture: JC Photos).

Mike de Kock scored an exacta on Saturday in the Gr 3 Betway Fillies Mile over 1600m with Gimme A Nother and White Pearl, both of whom were bred by Wilgerbosdrift and Mauritzfontein.

Mauritzfontein also own Gimme A Nother, who is keeping a fairytale story alive.

The four-times Gr 1-winning champion Mother Russia was bought in training by Wilgerbosdrift and she only had one foal, the twice Gr 1 winner Nother Russia, who is the dam of Gimme A Nother.

Gimme A Nother’s grandmother Mother Russia became the first female to win the prestigious Gr 1 L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate for 18 years when winning it in 2011 and the following year Gimme A Nother’s father Gimmethegreenlight became the first three-year-old to win that race for 39 years.

Gimme A Nother is now unbeaten in three starts and is keeping the legacy going.

On Saturday, after a sluggish start, Gimme A Nother weaved her way through from midfield to finish pwerfully and beat her stablemate by a comfortable two lengths under JP van der Merwe..

The Sean Tarry-trained Let’s Go Now made it a first and third for Gimmethegreenlight.

Gimme A Nother runs in the Mauritzfointein colours.

Stephen and Jessica Jell would have been thrilled with the win, but on the other hand they must be wondering when their highly regarded stallion Danon Platina, who is the sire of White Pearl, is going to finally crack his first stakes winner.

Breeders, owners and trainers are expecting big things of Danon Platina, so it is just a matter of time, but any breeder standing a stallion would be hoping the stakes successes come sooner rather than later.

JP van der Merwe said about Gimme A Nother, “She’s quality and the further we go, the better she will get. But I will ride her over 1200m too!”

Mike de Kock paid an accolade to former Cape champion trainer Joey Ramsden, who gave him the heads up about Mother Russia.

“I trained the grandmother, mother and now the daughter – I’m feeling old! But this is an honest hardknocking family. What an honour to train horses like this,” said Mike de Kock.

Jessical Jell mentioned the mare had been covered recently by Gimmethegreenlight again and thanked Varsfontein Stud.

Gimme A Nother will likely be aimed at the Wilgerbosdrift Triple Tiara, although De Kock was not convinced about the SA Oaks third leg.

Whitsbury Manor Stud’s Havana Grey brother to Rumstar was continuing a theme when making 250,000gns (Picture Credit: Alisha Meeder)

James Thomas Reports From Wednesday’s Foal Session At Tattersalls

It was the seventh race at Hollywoodbets Scottsville on Wednesday this week (29 November) with Kupholiwe (yellow cap) dead-heating with Lunarcam (black and silver cap) and there was then a longhead back to Donquerari, a shorthead further back to B Fiftytwo, a shorthead back to Rapid Fire  and a neck back to the 6th-placed horse Winter baron, who finished 0,45 lengths behind the two winners. Candiese Lenferna took the picture