Gauteng Guineas to kick off racing at Turffontein Racecourse

The first major race on the Highveld, the Gauteng Guineas, will take place on February 8 at Turffontein Racecourse.

Gauteng Guineas is always the first major race day of the new year in Johannesburg and the main event is backed by a strong supporting cast of feature events. The Gauteng Guineas also marks the first leg of the SA Triple Crown for three-year-olds.

There are several other feature races on the day. One of South Africa’s major race meetings with five feature races on Saturday, including the R1-million Betting World Gauteng Guineas.

The feature races are the Grade 2 R1-million Betting World Gauteng Guineas, the R500 000 Wilgerbosdrift Gauteng Fillies’ Guineas, three-year-old fillies, Grade 2 over 1 600m Leg one of the Wilgerbosdrift Triple Tiara, the R400 000 Hawaii Stakes, open Grade 2 over 1 400m, the R250 000 Acacia Handicap for Grade 3 over 1 600m and the R150 000 Aquanaut Handicap open over 2 450m.

The Gauteng Guineas was first run as the MEC Guineas (SA Horseracing) Guineas in 1993. The stature of the race has soared since 1999 when it was included in Phumelela’s SA Triple Crown and won by Fort Defiance, trained by Mike de Kock and ridden by Piere Strydom, who hails from Alberton.

Initially, the first leg of the Triple Crown was either of two races, the Cape Guineas at Kenilworth or the Gauteng Guineas then run at Newmarket in Alberton. Fort Defiance’s stablemate, Horse Chestnut, won the Cape first leg and went on to clinch the other two legs of the Triple Crown.

The race was switched to the Turffontein standside track in 2002 and since then it has been won by a number of top-class horses, including Grand Emporium, Hunting Tower and Imbongi, who all went on to race on the international stage.

Ample parking is available at the track and entertainment is provided for children. The race day starts at 11am.