Horseracing highlights from this past weekend – who to keep an eye on and some impressive wins…
It was a rather lean weekend in terms of quality racing with mainly low grade handicaps and plenty of Maidens carded, as the pomp of the KZN season subsided. The only Graded race to be staged around the country was the Champagne Stakes at Kenilworth. Universal banker was the feisty mare Priceless Jewel who had a huge edge in class over her foes. The pacy mare, Knock Em Out skipped well clear on a sticky track but folded inside the last pole, with the odds-on favourite pouncing to score comfortably. She is not easy to work with, so credit must go to young trainer Adam Marcus, who has decided to give her a break before launching a concerted summer campaign and try to capture an elusive Grade 1 honour.
In other action, Tiger Tops (speed score 98) looks promising after making a smooth rally from the back of the field to win a MR 79 handicap at Kenilworth. This was his third win from 10 starts and he must have scope to win more. The Joey Ramsden yard has been sending out winners lately (and more than a fair share of seconds too) and they also scored with Chester's Wish (s/s 89) in another MR 79 handicap later in the day.
The Johan Janse van Vuuren stable are also in deadly form up in Jozi. The trainer maintains a high strike rate, commanding respect from punters and indeed bookmakers who have seen the yard land some significant recent coups. With six wins from the last 10 mounts saddled including the heavily punted Astro (22/10 into odds on) and Euphoria (8/1 into 2/1) on Saturday at Turffontein, van Vuuren is red-hot. As a benchmark, stables are doing just fine when winning 4 from 30 starts. When current streaks reveal considerably more winners than that - van Vuuren has won 10 from 30 - then bettors should follow "the trend is your friend" philosophy and include any runner with even a miniscule chance from such a hot stable.