“Greyville is definitely on, you say?”
The Greyville track enjoys something of a rebirth today with the launch of Champions Season 2014. The weather over Durban is fine and the track condition is marked as good.
Three features are carded with the Gr2 KRA Guineas and Gr2 KRA Fillies Guineas the highlight for 3yo’s with the older set taking each other on in the Gr2 Drill Hall Stakes, on the ten race programme.
We wrote in our weekend issue that Saturday will hopefully prove to be something of a new beginning and will be an emotional day in many respects for the brains trust managing Gold Circle’s city venue after many stressful months of uncertainty and controversy.
Angry jockeys, disappointed punters and unhappy owners and trainers have been the role players in an ugly melodrama that has played itself out against the backdrop of a track installation and surface overhaul that has not gone completely according to plan for a host of reasons.
Vaughan Marshall’s Chestnut’s Rocket has solid form and is our Guineas lurker
Interrupted, abandoned and rescheduled have become the second name of the Greyville programme and at one stage there was even ridiculous talk of the July being run at Scottsville.
On a positive note, the renaissance could not have asked for a better quality meeting to have kick started the racing revolution at the historic racecourse and the ten race Saturday card is headed by a triple feature bill as it launches the 2014 Champions Season.
The Guineas sponsor link with the Korea Racing Authority (much on the lines of the Selangor and Kenilworth friendship) was pioneered some years ago by the then Western Cape leg of Gold Circle and the KRA sponsor both the colts’ Guineas and the fillies Guineas on Saturday.
A Mega Net Pick 6 Carry Over of R1 200 000 is offered with the exotic launching in Race 4 @ 13h30 The pool has been estimated at R 3 800 000.
The Racing SA Charity Turf Challenge also closes today at 13h30.
