Spring racing makes your heart ache – you want it so

Spring tends to make cool, smart people a bit sentimental and soft in the head. Even old cynic Mark Twain couldn’t come up with anything acerbic, blurting out this soppiness: “It’s spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you’ve got it, you want – oh, you don’t quite know what it is you DO want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!”

Spring officially started a month ago, and it’s now at full tilt – certainly in the horse racing world, with a fixture doubleheader this weekend heralding the real start of the Highveld and Western Cape summer seasons.

On the Turffontein Inside course, two Grade 2 races, the Topbet Mike O’Connor Spring Challenge and the Topbet Joburg Spring F&M Challenge, see several good horses get their feature race campaigns rolling.

At Durbanville, it’s two Grade 3s, the Hollywoodbets Matchem and Diana Stakes, which have a similar aspect.

Unlike Twain, the two new provincial operators DO know what they want: parties with crowds eating, drinking and punting their spring-fevered heads off.

In Joburg, catching the eye is fabled Portuguese cuisine from the Troyeville Hotel; but many other food and entertainment offerings make up Family Fun Day.

On the turf, the focus is on a few Summer Cup nominees, including Bingwa, Puerto Manzano, Hoedspruit and William Robertson in the male heat of the Spring Challenge.

The latter is a 15-10 ante-post favourite, being in good form and ideally suited to the 1450m trip. Of course, whether he can stay the 2000m of the Summer Cup is moot – though trainer Corne Spies is confident the son of Rafeef will manage.

Puerto Manzano was dismal in the Durban July but bounced back after a nine-week break with a fast-finishing third in a Pinnacle Stakes over this course and distance.

Master jockey Piere Strydom has secured the ride from conditioner Johan Janse van Vuuren and we know Striker doesn’t ride for the booking fee these days.

Hoedspruit is Cape Town trainer Justin Snaith’s big northern hope for the summer and will be keenly watched on his first upcountry outing.

Desert Miracle looked headed for the stratosphere this time last year, but the filly’s form levelled off when she was tried over a mile and more.

Trainer Mike de Kock has given her the daughter of Dynasty a nice rest before pitching her into the 1450m Spring F&M Challenge. She will surely like the distance but whether she is sharp enough after a 210-day layoff to justify 22-10 will be interesting to see.

Big Burn, recently moved to Sean Tarry’s yard from Paul Peter’s, looks the obvious alternative bet.

At Durbanville, the family fun is slightly more lyrically named the Spring Country Series and is notable for the return to the saddle of popular jockey Grant van Niekerk, after a few weeks off to sort out some back issues.

Van Niekerk dives into the cauldron of pressure as he partners 9-10 hot-pot Chansonette in the Diana Stakes, as the filly returns from a – wait for it – 245-day rest. Andre Nel’s charge did win the Cape Fillies Guineas – narrowly beating the aforementioned Desert Miracle – and was then twice a close runner-up to South Africa’s Horse of the Year Captain’s Ransom.

That is testament to serious class, but the long layoff means she might not be the safe banker the price suggests.

Racing fans who haven’t yet celebrated the glories of spring, this is your chance.

SELECTIONS

Turffontein

Race 6: 1 Big Burn, 5 Desert Miracle, 7 Mercury Rising, 10 Gimme A Shot

Race 7: 3 Puerto Manzano, 8 William Robertson, 11 Mercantour, 2 Hoedspruit

Durbanville

Race 7: 6 Chansonette, 7 Tipsy Tarragon, 1 Going Up, 4 Kwinta’s Light

Race 8: 8 Rockin’ Ringo, 2 Russian Rock, 10 Cosmic Highway, 4 Silver Operator