Cup runneth over at Turffontein racecourse

Classic Day at Turffontein is always one of Joburg’s finest race days, with its three Grade 1 races and a bunch of supporting features. This weekend’s renewal packs in more highlights and points of interest than usual.

• A R5-million Pick 6 pool is up for grabs.

• Joburg’s top-rated racehorse Main Defender lives up to his name as he bids to retain the trophy he won last year in the marquee event, the Wilgerbosdrift HF Oppenheimer Horse Chestnut Stakes, a Grade 1, R1.5-million contest over 1600m.

• Both the Triple Crown and the Triple Tiara for 2025 remain alive, with Guineas Day winners, Parisian Walkway and Spumante Dolce, lined up for the three-year-old series’ second legs: the TAB SA Classic and the Wilgerbosdrift Fillies Classic – both 1800m races.

• Intriguingly, Parisian Walkway’s stable companion Fire Attack is preferred to him in the market – at 2-1 versus 33-10.

• Spumante Dolce is unbeaten in three outings so far and is touted as a future champion – in the footsteps of her Durban July-winning sister Sparkling Water. But she will be tested in the Wilgerbosdrift Fillies Classic by the more experienced VJ’s Angel and Fiery Pegasus.

• Former champion jockey S’manga “Bling” Khumalo returns to the saddle after a five-month injury layoff. Two of his three rides have bright winning chances – with the first, Just Be Lekker in Race 4, likely to attract plenty of support from the army of Bling fans.

• Another former champ, Andrew “Candyman” Fortune, will get an even bigger cheer as he makes a comeback from retirement after several years. His sole engagement, Amandla Ngawethu for Hollywood Racing and trainer Clinton Binda, will surely start as the favourite in Race 10, the meeting closer.

• Cape Town-based rider Aldo Domeyer makes one of his rare trips upcountry to partner local trainer Johan Janse van Vuuren’s big-race runners – most notably 11-2 shot Barbaresco in the Horse Chestnut.

• South Africa’s sole female jockey Rachel Venniker – currently seventh on the championship log – is in town to partner eight horses for a variety of trainers.

• The 10-race programme kicks off with two of the Highveld season’s early juvenile features, the Listed Ruffian Stakes and Storm Bird Stakes.

Betting

Horse Chestnut

14-10 Main Defender

22-10 Greaterix

11-2 Barbaresco

17-2 Cosmic Speed

8-1 Lucky Lad

16-1 White Pearl

20-1 and upwards the others

SA Classic

2-1 Fire Attack

33-10 Parisian Walkway

9-2 Legend Of Arthur

10 Aristotle, Don’t Cry For Me

12-1 Bustopinhounslow

14-1 Confederate

20-1 and upwards the others

Fillies Classic

1-1 Spumante Dolce

22-10 VJ’s Angel

13-2 Fiery Pegasus

14-1 Willy Meet Again

20-1 and upwards the others