After a terrific start last Sunday, the 2021 SA Champions Season continues with four feature races and R1,4 million up for grabs in the Hollywoodbets Punters’ Challenge at Hollywoodbets Scottsville today.
While the progressive jackpot prize requires a 100% winner clean-sheet, the R10 000 must-be-won award will be shared by the top twenty on the leaderboard in a Punters’ Challenge that has well and truly gripped the racing public’s imagination.
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Andrew Harrison writes on www.goldcircle.co.za that Khaya Stables Cosmic Highway has garnered something of a reputation early in his career after two impressive victories at Kenilworth.
Winning narrowly on debut, Dean Kannemeyer’s colt revelled in the step up in trip second time out and could take a power of beating when he lines up in the Gr 3 Godolphin Barb Stakes.
Kannemeyer’s unbeaten Cosmic Highway (Pic – Chase Liebenberg)
The race is no doubt a warm-up for the Gr1 Gold Medallion for many in the field and Vaughan Marshall has made a cracking start to Champions Season. He saddles Safe Return, a son of the Marshall-trained William Longsword.
After making a smart debut, Safe Return made all the running in a facile maiden win. The opposition is a little stronger this time around but he does look progressive and Marshall will not have brought him up for a look at the scenery.
Safe Return wins at Kenilworth (Pic – Chase Liebenberg)
John Buckler runs a tight satellite yard for Glen Kotzen – they saddled a four-timer at Hollywoodbets Greyville last Wednesday – and they send out the unbeaten Good Traveller.
Gelded since his last run, he has the benefit of a race over course and distance when shedding his maiden in fine style. He made all the running when holding on narrowly at his next Hollywoodbets Greyville start but the visit by the vet probably tells a story.
Corne Spies and Sean Tarry have both opted to take on males with Eastern Belle and Social Image respectively instead of the Gr3 Strelitzia Stakes, the filly’s equivalent. Eastern Belle is still a maiden but does have a light weight while Social Image is tremendously fast but ‘stopped’ last time out.
Mike Miller has some smart fillies in his yard and Civil Rights can build on her Hollywoodbets Scottsville form with victory in the Strelitzia Stakes, but it will not be easy with visitors rampant in the early Champion Season features.
Civil Rights chases Miss Putin home at Hollywoodbets Scottsville – is the form suspect? (Pic – Candiese Lenferna)
Miss Putin didn’t do the form of Civil Rights any favours when finishing last at Hollywoodbets Greyville on Wednesday, but outside of that her form is promising.
Likely favourite is High Hosanna who started a short-priced favourite in a strong Juvenile feature on Cape Town Met day.
She blew her chances with a tardy start but was making up ground in the finish. She should make good progress from that showing.
Casa Inverno shed her maiden in good time on the tricky Durbanville course and if ready she can also make a bold showing.
Justin Snaith saddles Foverita in the Gr3 Poinsettia Stakes and his filly should be ideally suited to this course and distance.
At her penultimate she ran star filly Celtic Sea to within two lengths in the Sceptre Stakes and on that showing she could be hard to beat. Stable companion Keep The Lights On was not disgraced behind Princess Calla last outing with the latter running a cracker in the WSB Fillies Guineas next time out.
With that run under her girth Keep The Lights On can fight it out. Singforafa is never easy to catch right but when she’s good, she’s very good. She disappointed badly last run at this course when weighted to win but is capable of a top flight performance. Overlook her at your peril.
Frank Robinson’s Love Bomb – big runner if finding form (Pic – Candiese Lenferna)
Frank Robinson has gone carefully with Gr2 Golden Slipper winner Love Bomb in the lead up to the season and she needed her last run. She should prefer further but has a touch of class and can feature.
In Full Flight, involved in what was possibly the Cape Guineas race of the century when dead-heating with perennial rival Sentinel, was classy enough to win 1000m sprints but he also won the Durban July in 1972.
So, the Listed In Full Flight Handicap, a 1100m dash, like the Scarlet Lady named after one of the top sprinting fillies ever but run over 1800m, is something of an anomaly. It may be a pedantic view but we sort of do those champions of the past a disservice.
Dennis Drier was a young man in 1972 and will have remembered In Full Flight well but will be looking to Tempting Fate to find the form that saw his colt win the Gr1 Gold Medallion last season.
He has been disappointing since that win but a horse’s form often works in cycles and Tempting Fate is due to be coming to hand.
Tempting Fate – he could be ready to redeem his reputation! (Pic – Candiese Lenferna)
He was always prominent in the Gr1 Cape Flying Championship before weakening late and does not face that quality on Sunday.
Drier took a calculated risk by running Princess Anastasia in a race where she was a long way under sufferance.
She did not win but her runner-up place was punished with a 13-point hammering in the handicap.
But she does appear to be progressive and can defy the handicappers. Of the others, Admire Me goes for her fourth win on the bounce which is not easy and she too took a knock in the handicap.
Star Vega has been rested and may just need it but is smart and can feature prominently.
The Pietermaritzburg weather is forecast as cloudy 24 degrees with a 9km/h south-east wind,
There has been no rainfall or irrigation in the past seven days.
The pen reading on Saturday afternoon was 24 with the track officially ‘good to soft’.
The false rail is set at 9m.
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Enjoy!
