With just under seven months left of the current season, reigning SA champion trainer Justin Snaith looks well set to add to his haul of 5 national titles, despite ‘only’ winning one of the two Grade 1 races at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth on Saturday.
Justin Snaith – well ahead on the national champion trainer log (Pic – Candiese Lenferna)
Snaith saddled Double Grand Slam to a scintillating Doubting Thomas-bashing victory of note in the Cartier Gr1 Paddock Stakes.
But the race that he dearly wanted, eluded him.
“I’d take a single L’Ormarins King’s Plate victory for any five other Grade 1 races,”declared the 50 year old in the build-up last week.
But sadly, even though the team registered three winners on the big afternoon, the highly vaunted stable elect Snow Pilot failed to deliver and add to the existing Snaith quartet of prized trophies in the prestigious weight-for-age mile, the best of the big yard’s trio being Royal Aussie’s fourth.
Snow Pilot has since been scratched from the WSB Cape Town Met.
Snaith is at 9-20 with Hollywoodbets to win the SA trainer championship this term, with ‘any other trainer’ at 5-2, and another big-hitter in Sean Tarry at 8-1.
James and Brett Crawford chat to Vicky Minott after their Oriental Charm comeback (Pic – Chase Liebenberg)
Those punters that took the 7-2 average about Brett Crawford to lift the national title have been refunded their full stake by Hollywoodbets, without any deductions applicable.
Crawford and his son James joined forces in a father-son partnership in early December, and this has effectively created a new entity in the title race, while turning the taps off on the Brett Crawford title chase.
Hollywoodbets’ Patrick Bradley explained to the Sporting Post that the Crawford refund was a goodwill gesture by Hollywoodbets, as it made full sense that the NHA were maintaining independent statistics on earnings for Brett Crawford and the Crawford partnership, seperately.
“While nobody realistically can foresee the timing of the establishment of any partnership, we felt it fair to refund bets struck on Brett Crawford,” said Bradley.
Trainer Vaughan Marshall and his team after Rascallion’s Grade 2 success last Saturday (Pic – Candiese Lenferna)
After a terrific weekend, Milnerton veteran Vaughan Marshall has surged into second place on the title log, admittedly over R5 million behind Justin Snaith.
“Vaughan Marshall and Alec Laird have both won lucrative races lately and are in the betting group ‘Any Other Trainer’ – it would not be fair to list them individually as punters who have already placed bets on that ‘runner’ had probably already factored them into their wagers. I can also mention that we have zeroed Mike de Kock in the betting, as there is talk of a possible imminent partnership with his son Mathew. That would create a similar situation to the Crawford family scenario,” added Bradley.
So who is taking the 9-20 on Snaith?
