Fairy Knight stands out in Poly Challenge

Jack Milner

The Nelson Mandela Bay East Coast Poly Challenge begins at Fairview on Friday and the first leg of the three-race Non-Black Type event will be run over 1200m.

Last year produced the first winner of the Challenge as Glen Kotzen-trained King Regent came away with victories in all three legs, over 1200m, 1400m and 1600m respectively.

Only seven runners are carded for the first leg of the Poly Challenge but what it lacks in size, it makes up for in in-form runners. Fairy Knight had such a good season that trainer Alan Greeff and stable jockey Richard Fourie took a shot at the Grade 1 Golden Horseshoe over 1200m at Hollywoodbets Scottsville on 31 May.

He did not handle the soft track and was well beaten, his first defeat since the addition of blinkers.

Fourie will not riding at the meeting but Louie Mxothwa should prove a more than able substitute

The biggest threat could come from stablemate Mercantour. The six-year-old son of Var has run well since joining the Greeff yard last February. He has raced five times art Fairview, with a record of two wins and three places. Other than his first run in the Eastern Cape, the others were all on the Polytrack and that gave him his two victories.

S’manga Khumalo takes the ride.

Leg 2 of Poly Challenge will be run over 1400m on Friday 22 August and the third and final leg over 1600m on Friday 17 October 2025.

A bonus of R250,000 will be paid to the connections of any horse that wins all three legs.

Plenty went pear-shaped for Desert Cloud on her local debut and she really ought to have won but she can put it all together this time and win Race 2 on the card, an Open Maiden over 1200m.

This Gimmethegreenlight filly has a lot of ground to make up to justify her R500,000 purchase price, but she showed improvement when trying the Polytrack and can go one better this time.

Desert Cloud was given a soft early ride by jockey Muzi Yeni, who allowed her to sit off the pace. However, the jockey briefly lost a stirrup iron, and on top of that she met some interference in the straight. When pulled out for her run, she hung while flying up behind the winner.

Interestingly, trainer Zietsman Oosthuizen will this time make use of Mxothwa.

Jack Milner’s selections

Race 1: 3 Ono No Komachi, 4 Hat Montera, 5 Darling Harbour, 6 Take Your Time

Race 2: 1 Desert Cloud, 2 Golden Alexia, 5 Buddleja, 3 Night In Japan

Race 3: 1 Pibe De Oro, 3 Stand Up, 2 Bandmaster, 5 Duchess Of Seville

Race 4: 5 Treasure Hunt, 3 Priscilla Maisey, 8 Concerto, 9 Alado's Habit

Race 5: 6 Enchanting Choice, 2 Sweetie Darling, 1 Gimme's Lassie, 3 Montelena

Race 6: 1 Few Dollars More, 6 Kingdom Of Heaven, 3 One Scotch, 4 William The First

Race 7: 1 Fairy Knight, 2 Mercantour, 6 Champonelle, 7 Golden Pavilion

Race 8: 1 Royal Kingdom, 2 Winter Warfare, 5 Cruzador, 3 Wordsworth

BEST BET

Race 8: 1 Royal Kingdom

VALUE BET

Race 4: 5 Treasure Hunt

BEST SWINGER

Race 6 1x6

BIPOT                          

R216

Leg 1: 3, 4, 5

Leg 2: 1, 2

Leg 3: 1, 3

Leg 4: 3, 5, 8

Leg 5: 1, 2, 6

Leg 6: 1, 6

PLACE ACCUMULATOR

R216

Leg 1: 1, 2

Leg 2: 1, 3

Leg 3: 3, 5, 8

Leg 4: 1, 2, 6

Leg 5: 1, 6

Leg 6: 1, 2, 6

Leg 7: 1

PICK 6

R960

Leg 1: 1, 2, 3, 5

Leg 2: 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9

Leg 3: 1, 2, 3, 6

Leg 4: 1, 6

Leg 5: 1, 2, 4, 6, 7

Leg 6: 1

JACKPOT 1

R240

Leg 1: 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9

Leg 2: 1, 2, 3, 6

Leg 3: 1, 6

Leg 4: 1, 2, 4, 6, 7

JACKPOT 2

R40

Leg 1: 1, 2, 3, 6

Leg 2: 1, 6

Leg 3: 1, 2, 4, 6, 7

Leg 4: 1