The Fairview Turf meeting will start on an exciting note on Friday with the first Juvenile race of the season in the Eastern Cape.
It is always interesting to see the “babies” stepping out for the first time in the Welcome To Nelson Mandela Bay Maiden Juvenile Plate over 800 meters.
Nine stables will be involved with the 12 two-year-olds, of which eight qualify for the R100 000 Bloodstock South Africa bonus, in the first race.
The stables of Gavin Smith and Alan Greeff usually do well in this race but it is a tricky start in the first leg of the Bipot. Punters should keep a close eye on the betting market to help them with their bets.
Another exciting aspect of Friday’s racing is the change of surface. After a very long stint on the Polytrack the action is finally on the Turf and the track is looking in fine nick.
It looks like a very competitive card and a strong tailwind is predicted. It could be a challenging day for the punters but the Smith stable will no doubt have many followers.
Smith is in brilliant form and has already saddled 13 Poly winners this month.
He will saddle Jet Bund in the second race (the blinkers go on) and the son of Coup De Grace can be considered as a banker in the first leg of the Place Accumulator. Captain Efficient (Kelly Mitchley) is the danger.
The Pick Six starts with race three and again Smith looks very strong with the five-year-mare Metar making her Fairview debut (formerly Brett Crawford).
A highlight of the meeting could well be the fourth race for fillies and mares over 1400m where Rose Of Bayeux will try to make it four wins in a row for the Duncan McKenzie yard.
She could fight it out with Joy And Peace (Alan Greeff) for the win and both must be included in the first leg of the first Jackpot.
Then In Focus (race 6) is another huge runner for Smith but Mohandas (Juan Nel) is now better off at the weights and will be up for the challenge. Ellis Island (Mitchley) is also a definite inclusion for this event over 2000m.
The Quartet looks like the play in the eighth and last race where 18 runners will face the starter. Coastal Path (Greeff) and Ubisika (Smith) hold the key in this race.
Find our selections on race day at Henk Se Wenk.