There’s plenty of action to look forward to this weekend with a host of top-quality horse racing taking place at Turffontein and Greyville.
Turffontein (Saturday)
Race 3 – Iphiko
After an inconsistent start to her career, Iphiko looks to have come on from her break at the start of the year and has reeled off a hat-trick in her last three starts. The daughter of Trippi has loads of gate speed and is best suited to the 1000m trip. Muzi Yeni retains the ride for the Mike de Kock stable and the pair should be tough to oppose here.
Race 4 – Rock The Fox
Calvin Habib and Sean Tarry team up for the ride of Rock The Fox in Race 5 at Turffontein. She’s won just once from her six starts but has campaigned in feature races for most of her career. The daughter of Canford Cliffs was pipped in a Grade 1 last time out to Canadian Summer, who was the best 2-year-old in the country by the time they had raced. She meets the unbeaten favourite in Captain Peg but has the lightweight and class to win.
Race 7 – Zeus
The value bet of the weekend comes in Race 7 on Saturday with Zeus being the strong fancy. The 4-year-old son of Soft Falling Rain returns from a lengthy lay-off and is expected to emulate the form he showed at the start of his career, winning his first four races in a row. He did finish a short second in the Cape Derby in his penultimate start, and perhaps the drop in trip to a mile may be better suited. Richard Fourie gets the ride, making this horse a must-have in all exotic bets.
Race 8 – Clafoutis
Clafoutis looks like another value bet on the card at Turffontein this Saturday. She returns from a 27-week lay-off, but if fit, the daughter of Flower Alley will be difficult to beat. She’s the class in the race and has been running against much tougher fields. Richard Fourie gets the ride here as well, this time for Mike de Kock, who looks like a trainer to follow this Saturday.
Greyville (Sunday)
Race 1 – Fortune Bay
Fortune Bay looks to be the right horse in the opening race on Sunday at Greyville. The 3-year-old filly was well-supported on debut when running second over 1200m. On that day, her saddle slipped and she was blowing in the closing stages. She should be fancied once more by her stable, so the earlier you get your bet on, the better.
Race 3 – See It Again
The best bet on the card comes in Race 3 at Greyville with See It Again being the top fancy. He was a beaten favourite the last time out but will take some encouragement from the fact that there have been multiple winners from his form lines. Rachel Venniker jumps aboard once more and should be able to get the son of Twice Over out of the maidens.
Race 5 – Monarchy
Monarchy will have his third run after a rest on Sunday and comes off the back of an impressive win last time out. He just held on over 1800m, but should strip fitter to go further here. Serino Moodley retains the ride for the Mike Miller stable, and if all goes according to plan, this might not be their first win of the afternoon.
Race 7 – Palm Breeze
Once again, the combination of Serino Moodley and Mike Miller could be worth following here with Palm Breeze tipped to keep her unbeaten record intact. She was an impressive winner on debut and now steps up to an extra two furlongs, which she is bred to enjoy. The form line from her debut run has also been franked by multiple horses, so she could be worth backing at a decent price here.