Queen Elizabeth II’s runner Reach For The Moon was a red-hot 2-5 favourite to win the Hampton Court Stakes, but the colt was given a galloping lesson by Claymore, owned by South Africa’s Mark Slack. Picture: iStock.
Fairview racecourse is a little out in the sticks, certainly when compared to Greyville in downtown Durban where racing was abandoned due to civil unrest on Monday. And there are no glitzy shopping malls in the immediate vicinity of the East Cape venue, so punters will be hoping to get in some Polytrack racing on Tuesday.
Hopefully, the only looting will be Cape Town’s Justin Snaith picking up more up-coast prizemoney. Last week it was feared the national champion trainer-in-waiting might plunder most of the races on a card, but the god of small mercies allowed him just three of the nine.
This time he is trucking in only three runners – but they all look likely winners.
Topping the Snaith moving picture show is three-year-old gelding Tarantino, who has already visited Fairview three times in a brief career – and finished runner-up on each occasion. All those runs were on the turf track and the key to a change of fortune might be a switch to the all-weather in Race 4, a Novice Plate over 1200m.
Tarantino was given a break after his last trip to PE in late February and returned to action at Kenilworth in late May, finishing fourth to the useful Irish Morning in a turf 1200m.
The son of Master Of My Fate might only have won one of his 11 races, but he is clearly highly rated by Snaith as he has campaigned in good company – and performed well.
In Race 3, a Maiden Plate over 1200m, Snaith Racing sends out African Winter, a lightly raced three-year-old filly who has shown steady improvement in Cape Town. A continuation of that progress will see her break her duck and she looks a safe PA banker.
The third Snaith visitor is Gimme Aces in the fifth, an MR72 Handicap over 1200m. The son of Gimmethegreenlight is having a peak run after a short break and looks very handily weighted against his principal rivals.
SELECTIONS
Race 1:
6 Buttercup, 1 Aquaholic, 2 Fassi, 3 James Gordon Jnr
Race 2:
3 Host Of Angels, 7 Just Judy, 5 Pearl Dancer, 1 Jo Loves
Race 3:
7 African Winter, 2 The Blue Manx, 1 Bumrah, 3 Sovereign Supreme
Race 4:
2 Tarantino, 8 Zacpack Assassin, 4 Winging It, 1 Action Packed
Race 5:
8 Gimme Aces, 6 Radiant Love, 2 Alpha Papa, 7 Tevye
Race 6:
6 Toureiro, 9 Hidden Strings, 7 Winter Vacation, 4 All In Line
Race 7:
4 Mojito Magic, 1 Queen’s Club, 6 Joint Effort, 2 Al Qaasim
Race 8:
13 Abia, 4 Thandekhile, 5 Cianna, 1 Let’s Rock
Pick 6:
2,7 x 2 x 2,6,8 x 3,4,5,6,7,9,10 x 1,2,4,5,6,7 x 1,2,4,5,8,13 (R1512)
PA:
3,7 x 7 x 2 x 6,8 x 6,7,9 x 1,4 x 4,5,13 (R72)
Download our app and read this and other great stories on the move. Available for Android and iOS.