Betway Thriller in the Friendly City

This race could very well be one of the highlights of the year at Fairview. A very strong field of 10 runners will line up on Friday for the R200 000 Betway Insurebet Friendly City Stakes over 1800m on the Fairview Turf track. The Non-Black Type event over 1800m is race sixth on the card of eight races and should be an intriguing contest. 

Grazinginthegrass (Alan Greeff) will attempt to make it an incredible six wins in a row. The son of Philanthropist fought well to win the Listed Memorial Mile in his last start and is a huge runner again.  National champion trainer Justin Snaith is visiting from Cape Town with some nice runners for the day and will contest the feature with Warrior and Hoedspruit.  Warrior has been disappointing in Cape Town recently but is weighted to win here and is the class horse in the race. Hoedspruit is also a potential winner if he is at his best.  Other runners to look out for are the consistent Bush Tracker (Sharon Kotzen), Perfection (Gavin Smith) and the Kelly Mitchley coupling of Quasimodo and last year’s winner Mount Anderson.

The first race is at 12:45 and Swiss Walt (Kotzen) is the horse to beat. Bipot players will seriously consider the improving gelding as a banker in the first leg. In the second race, the first leg of the Place Accumulator, the Snaith stable will start their onslaught. If all is well with Zippy Over, this five-year-old mare will be hard to oppose.

It has been tough recently to catch the Pick Six at Fairview recently. Public Benefit (Kelly Mitchley) will have many supporters in the first leg, which is race three, but there are a handful of very capable challengers in this handicap for fillies and mares over 2000m. A competitive Maiden Plate (F & M) is race four and gets the first Jackpot underway, followed by a Pinnacle Stakes for fillies and mares over 1200m. This can be one of the best races of the meeting. Hunting Trip (Snaith) probably didn’t find the poly surface to her liking in the Listed Milkwood Stakes and a better effort is expected. She takes on some of the best local fillies in Ekoria, Chere For Me, Three Rocks, Bonnaroo and Madame Vicki. The apprentice jockey Kobeli Lihaba will claim 4kgs and this makes Ekoria (Smith) the best weighted runner.

After the feature race, the three-year-old filly Joy And Peace (Greeff) will get a chance to make amends in race seven. She was a very strong favourite three weeks ago but could only manage a disappointing fifth place. That run will make many punters think twice about Joy And Peace as a banker, but if she puts her best foot forward she should win. Tried And True (Lunga Gila) is the danger.

We all know about the last race at Fairview. It is always ultracompetitive, so go wide in your bets in race eight and give the Quartet a go.

Find our selections at Henk Se Wenk.