There’s another feast local and international racing for TAB customers to sink their teeth into this long weekend and, as always, a host of opportunities to win some serious cash including standout bets in Friday's Friendly City Stakes at Fairview and Saturday's Settlers Trophy at Hollywoodbets Durbanville.
Aldo Domeyer is no stranger to success in the Eastern Cape and has ridden with distinction there when teaming up with trainer Alan Greeff. And in Richard Fourie's absence from this Friday's eight-race card at Fairview, Domeyer has picked up a few plum rides. Greeff-trained fillies Keep The Fort (Race 3), St Cloud (Race 4) and Joy And Peace (Race 7) boast solid form credentials and have good winning chances under Domeyer.
But none make more appeal than high-flying Grazinginthegrass, who lines up in the 1800m headline event having won his last five starts. Those victories were achieved on both the Polytrack and turf over distances from 1600m to 2000m. So the switch back to turf here after a 1600m Polytrack win under Domeyer should pose no problems and this Philanthropist gelding is worth a confident TAB Win bet, despite being slightly out at the weights with Cape raiders Warrior and Hoedspruit.
SNAITH SETS SIGHTS ON SETTLERS SUCCESS
The predicted better weather conditions in Cape Town over the next two days will be a welcome relief ahead of Saturday's nine-race card at Hollywoodbets Durbanville, which includes the Listed Settlers Trophy (Race 7) as well as the reappearance of several stars of the South African turf. Somerset Maugham, who won last year's Settlers Trophy in his first go at 2000m, is back to defend his title and forms part of a formidable three-pronged attack from the Justin Snaith stable.
With stable jockey Grant van Niekerk on Twice Over gelding Triple Time, riding arrangements suggest this progressive last-start winner is the pick of the Snaith runners, but that should not put off Somerset Maugham supporters who can expect a good run for their money - and at better value too. This well-related Trippi gelding is a full-brother to superstar colt Charles Dickens and is open to improvement. He is likely to be aimed at bigger prizes in the summer should he make a successful defence of his title. Snaith's stable stalwart Rio Querari, a former Equus Champion Sprinter, makes his reappearance in Race 8 and should prove too good for his rivals.
HOLLYWOODBETS DURBANVILLE PICK 6 (starts Race 4):
R576
Leg 1: 5, 6, 10, 13
Leg 2: 2, 5, 11, 13
Leg 3: 1, 2, 6, 8
Leg 4: 1, 7, 10
Leg 5: 7
Leg 6: 1, 6, 10
MUZI LOOKS SET FOR SUNDAY TREBLE IN KZN
Riding winners up and down the country is no mean feat and one not foreign to jockey Muzi Yeni, who plays down his SA Jockeys’ Championship ambitions but continues to churn out winners wherever he goes. And his visit to Hollywoodbets Greyville on Sunday is likely to be rewarded with three winners.
Beach Palace is the first of his potential winning treble in Race 2 with the step up in distance from 1200m to 1600m expected to draw improvement from this Paul Lafferty-trained son of Potala Palace. A wide draw and 61kg could result in Master Josh starting at inflated odds in Race 5 and that’s an opportunity not to pass up. Yeni has struck up a potent partnership with Alyson Wright's charge, who has run well in both post-maiden outings off a higher mark.
Yeni looks set to cap a good day by winning on Nathan Kotzen-trained Harley's Fate in Race 8, his mount having run third in stronger company last time out. Yeni will be back at Hollywoodbets Greyville for the Heritage Day meeting on Monday, when he has seven rides including five for Wright.
BANK ON KOSCIUSZKO IN GRADE 1 RAFFLES CUP
Singapore racing action resumes this weekend with a bumper 12-race card headlined by the 1600m Grade 1 Raffles Cup, the first leg of the Triple Crown that is at the mercy of champion galloper Lim's Kosciuszko. Already a five-time Grade 1 winner, Daniel Meagher's stable star is at the peak of his powers and unbeaten this year in four starts. Three of those wins were at Grade 1 level, including a Raffles Cup victory back in March.
The six-year-old gelding is by far the best bet on the card and should add to his big-race successes in Race 11. Among his rivals is former South African runner Katak (previously trained by Piet Steyn) and Golden Monkey, who appear the two most likely to chase him home.
IGNORE HAATEM’S GIMCRACK STAKES EFFORT
There are five flat race meetings scheduled in the UK this Saturday, when the headline event is the Group 2 Mill Reef Stakes at Newbury. It’s probably worth giving another chance to Haatem, who Sean Levey rides for trainer Richard Hannon (his dad won this race back in 2004 and 2005).
Haatem failed in the Gimcrack Stakes last time, but his performance was too bad to be true. On his earlier form, which includes a Group 2 second in the Superlative Stakes behind City Of Troy and a Group 2 Vintage Stakes success, this Phoenix Of Spain colt is more than capable of redeeming himself.
DRAGON LOOKS FOR FIRST SHA TIN WIN
Danny Shum hopes Hugh Bowman, who currently leads the Hong Kong jockeys’ championship with nine wins from Zac Purton (five), can help Nordic Dragon deliver his first Sha Tin win on Sunday, when the talented galloper contests the Class 2 HKU Foundation Handicap over 1200m. “The key metric is Hugh Bowman. He’s got good hands, he can teach the horse to relax and finish,” Shum said. “Nordic Dragon)is very good, he’s very healthy and he’s trialled very good and after the final gallop on Thursday, Hugh Bowman gave me a very positive report.” A Hong Kong International Sale Graduate, Nordic Dragon boasts five wins from seven Happy Valley starts but finished eighth in his sole Sha Tin attempt last season.
The 2023 Rugby World Cup (RWC) is gathering momentum and the third round of group matches is underway. TAB soccer customers with an interest in rugby can make the action even more exciting by playing a rugby bet with TAB.
The third of eight games in the third round of group matches takes place this afternoon, when Argentina play Samoa in a crunch contest likely to decide which of them qualifies from Pool D along with England for the quarter-finals. The other third-round matches will be played on Saturday and Sunday and for South Africans the big game is the Pool B crunch clash with Ireland at 21:00 tomorrow night.
The Boks are going for broke up front and have named a bench comprising seven forwards and just one backline reserve, a risky but decisive move that has shocked and horrified some commentators, and even being described as unfair! There’s a TAB Rugby Super 6 on the Springboks, a really entertaining bet comprising six legs in which different elements relating to the selected team (in this case South Africa) must be forecast. The full details are under Rugby at www.tab4racing.com
There’s also a Try Scorer bet on each individual match. To win Try Scorer, the jersey numbers of the players who score the first and last tries for each team must be forecast. The bet comprises four legs with a range of nine options in each leg.