Jack Milner: If the trainers’ championship was decided by the number of winners, Alan Greeff would be a massive contender.
If one looks at the leading trainers based on winners so far this season, Justin Snaith is currently on top with 41 winners, followed by Greeff on 38 and Paul Peter on 34.
While Port Elizabeth has benefited from the demise of Flamingo Park, Greeff has still saddled less runners than the other two and the percentages make for interesting reading.
Greeff has sent out 232 runners which gives him a win percentage of 16.38. Snaith, who operates in three centres, has had 318 runners for a percentage of 12.89, while Peter has run 243 horses which puts his winners on 13.99%.
If one considers Greeff rarely has a single horse in a field (that is also true for Snaith in the Western Cape specifically), that percentage is outstanding.
A perfect example of that comes up in Race 7 at Fairview today, a Conditions Plate for fillies and mares over 1200m on the Polytrack, where Greeff saddles five of the seven runners, including the four best weighted horses.
His quintet are Carioca, Captain’s Princess, Miss Orange, Montreal Mist and Mendocino. The two trying to stop the Greeff juggernaut are Tara Laing-trained Captain Anne Bonny and Montana Turner’s Miss Honey.
It must feel like standing in the path of a runaway train!
Which of the Greeff runners will win is not that easy to fathom. One always tends to lean towards horses with Greg Cheyne up as he does tend to ride the majority of winners for the yard and that is Captain’s Princess.
But on this occasion we will side with Mendocino, who had just 53.5kg on her back and has Lyle Hewitson up – and hope.
Jack Milner’s selections
Race 1: 5 Winter Peace, 1 Raincap, 2 Mystic Tulip, 3 Wonder Woman Race 2: 2 Stunning, 4 Leader Of The Pack, 1 Princess Zena, 9 Lets Rock Race 3: 5 Reach For The Line, 4 Thomas Tucker, 7 Apollo Rock, 3 Latest Craze Race 4: 3 Marmara Sea, 1 The Highway Man, 2 Second Request, 5 Beethoven Race 5: 1 Big Bay, 3 Di Me, 4 Dolphin, 2 Carbon Atom Race 6: 1 Stranger Danger, 5 For Luck Sake, 3 Lumiere, 4 Karakoram Race 7: 6 Mendocino, 1 Carioca, 2 Captain’s Princess, 5 Montreal Mist Race 8: 5 Wallis Simpson, 3 Purest Bliss, 2 Nippy Sweetie, 4 Tawny Jet Race 9: 1 Mistress Of Means, 6 Frosty Rain, 2 Forget O’ Girls, 7 Cyber Security