Watch out for Kimberley flag-flier Tienie at Greyville

It was no picnic for the former Kimberley trainers when closure of Flamingo Park racecourse last year forced them to move to new centres to pursue their careers. Northern Cape was the bottom rung on the South African racing ladder, so, wherever they went, they faced stiffer competition.

The hardy bunch who set off bravely for new pastures have done better than many racing cynics expected. One of them is Tienie Prinsloo, sometime Northern Cape champion trainer, who relocated to KwaZulu and has managed to winkle out a series of winners with limited resources.

Prinsloo will hope to bump his season wins total into double figures when he makes the short trip from his new base at Ashburton training centre to Durban’s Greyville racecourse for Monday’s Polytrack fixture.

Of his four runners, at least two have bright chances – and offer betting value on a tough card.

Montana Sky in Race 5, an MR65 Handicap over 1400m, has been something of a late bloomer in Prinsloo’s care. The four-year-old gelding perked up in his new environs, became a remarkably consistent placegetter and eventually cracked his maiden in April.

Since then, he has notched up two good third places. He has proven versatility, so a drop in distance to 1400m will be no issue, while a No 6 draw and apprentice rider Jeffrey Syster claiming 1.5kg off the 59kg are factors that demand the attention of compilers of exotic bet permutations.

In the sixth, an MR73 Handicap over 1000m, Prinsloo and Syster team up with Pacific Warrior, who is a bit of a lurker in another open contest.

This four-year-old son of sprint stallion supreme What A Winter has also been consistent in recent months and, in his penultimate run, showed blistering pace when flying up for third over this course and distance. He finished 1.60 lengths behind winner Duran that day and the two meet again – but this time with Pacific Winter getting a 2.5kg weight turnaround and a much better draw.

Of Prinsloo’s other two runners, Sweet Spring in Race 8 would seem to have a place chance.

SELECTIONS

Race 1:

2 Rizzoli, 11 Patronage, 1 Maxine Du Monde, 8 Kunta Kinte

Race 2:

4 Caproccio, 2 Maid In France, 6 Short Skirt Flirt, 9 Wintertime

Race 3:

9 Justfortheepenny, 6 Star Crusade, 5 Command Control, 10 Rock With Me

Race 4:

5 Eager Duchess, 2 Cozy Dot Com, 11 Legend Has It, 4 Royal Kitty

Race 5:

6 Montana Sky, 11 What A Blast, 7 Smart William, 3 We All Chomies

Race 6:

8 Pacific Warrior, 10 Duran, 4 Winter Waves, 9 Rocket Fire

Race 7:

7 Eye Catching, 2 Royal View, 1 Bella Bellarina, 5 Alsflamingbeauty

Race 8:

2 Rachel, 8 Beckoning Beauty, 3 Sweet Spring, 1 Matadora’s Parade

Pick 6:

6,9 x 2,4,5,11 x 3,6,7,11 x 4,8,10 x 1,2,5,7 x 2,8 (R768)

PA:

2 x 6,9 x 2,5 x 6,7 x 8,10 x 1,2,7 x 2 (R48)