The influx of visiting trainers for the Cape Summer Season has boosted field sizes and enhanced competitiveness, whilst also giving an edge to punters that diligently follow the national scene over parochial locals who blindly back hometown heroes.

 

Mike de Kock saddles swift Trippi filly, Iphiko in the G2 Southern Cross Stakes. She is stepping up in class yet has won five of tens starts and specialises in 1000m scuttles. De Kock has built an exemplary record over the years in Graded races around SA.

 

Ebullient, Andrew Fortune saddles six-time winner, Bella Chica in the same race. She bested Big Burn (& Iphiko) in the Gardenia Stakes so she must come into the reckoning.

 

Highveld-based Sean Tarry has excellent stats over the years when invading the Cape with primed and astutely placed stock. He will try reviving Black Thorn for the Drakenstein Stud Summer Stayers (G3) over 2500m. The son of Pomodoro won the Gold Vase in July but has regressed since then.

 

After a stable switch, Tarry now also takes charge of G1 winning mare, Princess Calla, a 1400/1600m performer renowned for her tussles with Captain’s Ransom. She gets her Cape campaign going in the Southern Cross dash after a 224-day break.

 

PE kingpin Gavin Smith has proven marathon runner Find me Unafraid in the Summer Stayers and will be hopeful based on a good penultimate effort when defeating G1 Summer Cup 4th placed, Divine Odyssey.

 

Eastern Cape colleague Sharon Kotzen tries with Phedra (transformed by blinkers into a smart sprinting type) in the Southern Cross, and unbeaten Peach Daiquiri in the WSB G1 Cape Fillies Guineas. Both fillies are sired by Vercingetorix and will try boost their bloodstock value with bold showings.

 

The van Zyl’s (father and son), Dennis Drier and Peter Muscutt also have runners on the undercard. Drier is getting underway for the season but admits he lacks the stock of yesteryear when cleaning up with champs like Master of My Fate, Val de Ra and Beach Beauty.

 

Van Zyl and Muscutt are savvy horsemen that have recently saddled well-backed winners, so a market watch is advised about their entries.