Strydom aboard Louis The King in Horse Chestnut Stakes

Every owner dreams to see his horse win one of the two and I am in the fortunate position of riding the only two horses who are still in contention for both the Tiara and the Crown. Both must have a good chance of winning the respective SA Classic and Wilgerbosdrift SA Fillies Classic.

In the R2-million SA Classic I ride Harry’s Son. He won the Guineas which is the first leg of the Triple Crown but unfortunately we have the worst of the draw and also have to deal with the extra 200m. If one looks at the collateral form he finished 1.75 lengths behind Act Of War in the Cape Guineas whereas our main opposition, Ertijaal, beat Act Of War by 4.75 lengths in the Cape Derby over 2000m so on paper we have 6.50 lengths to make up on Ertijaal and that makes him a worthy favourite.

I rode Act Of War when he finished second behind Ertijaal. Act of War came under pressure very early at the top of the straight and as he was also doubtful staying the distance, maybe Ertijaal’s form was flattered. That would be my only hope of beating Ertijaal this time. Some punters might think Ertijaal will have a problem dropping to 1800m but this time he is running over a stiffer track that will be rain affected, instead of a fast Kenilworth track over 2000m. He should, in fact, prefer the more stamina-testing run.

Obviously we will be trying our hardest on Harry’s Son but from the widest draw of all we’re going to need luck.

For the Place Accumulator I would consider banking Ertijaal and for the Pick 6 add in Harry’s Son, French Navy, who came from far back last time in a slowly run race, and Mljet –  who is now drawn No 1 whereas last time he had a bad draw and the jockey had to make a lot of use of him to overcome the obstacle.

I would also consider Forest Fox, who came from a long way from a bad draw, and as I mentioned before, off a slow pace. The same goes for Illuminati but he, unfortunately, still has a bad draw.

Punters should also take note that if Unparalleled makes the final field he will be the danger on a wet course. In the Dingaans he won in the soft, easily beating French Navy and Harry’s Son.

I ride Siren’s Call in the R1-million Wilgerbosdrift SA Fillies Classic. She won the Gauteng Fillies Guineas but she lacks early speed and gets going very late. Her manner of racing makes me think she will prefer the extra distance. I think she has the best chance of helping me ride the Triple Tiara. However, there are horses who finished close to her and could turn the tables.

My biggest danger, and I would banker her in the PA, is Same Jurisdiction. She had a shocking draw last time, was caught wide the whole way, had to make an early move and was only beaten two lengths. The fact she is drawn well and has a higher rating than our horse makes me think she could quite easily win this race.

For the Pick 6 include Siren’s Call, and as a lot of these runners have finished close together, you could quite easily consider the field, bar Zrinski.

The HF Oppenheimer Horse Chestnut Stakes is at level weights and I ride Louis The King who has the highest merit rating. On ratings he should win but he is prepping for the R2-million President’s Champion Challenge over 2000m next month and this distance could be a bit short. I’m just hoping for a good run.

For the PA go with any three of these – Louis The King, who is drawn well and could be running on at the end, King Of Pain, Captain America, Heavy Metal who has won the Durban July, No Worries and Tellina.

For the Pick 6 put all of them in with Halve The Deficit, Ashton Park and Unparalleled.

Race 1 is a Maiden Juvenile Plate over 1400m for fillies and it is worth going for horses who are experienced and have had a run or two. Watch the betting.

Race 2 is another Maiden Juvenile Plate over 1400m and again I would rather lean towards those with experience, but there are quite a few unraced horses and they are being backed. It makes it a very interesting race but I will go with Machismo.

In Race 3 I would think Entisaar must be a banker in the Place Accumulator and will be very hard to beat. She won her only start where she was slow early on, showed inexperience and the fact that was a feature race makes the win much more meritorious.

Race 4 is another Juvenile race but is more competitive. Some of the horses have run once and won once. I’m leaning towards Arabian Beat, Baahir and Buckinghampshire. My first choice is the Cape raider who has already run in and won a feature in the middle of the strong Cape season. For the PA put in all three and for the Pick 6 you could go wider because there are a lot of unknowns.

Race 5 is a very tricky race. I’m leaning towards Touch The Sky and Erin but they both have bad draws. My next pick is Lertasha but my concern is that she sports blinkers for the first time which might not be in her favour. She does feel quite strong as I have ridden her in the past.

I would also consider Bilateral, even though her form does not look that inspiring, as she has been competing against very strong opposition.

I’m riding Vino Veritas, and even though she has won three of her last four starts, she carries lots of weight and is held on form by many runners. For the Pick 6 add in Santa Carolina, Amber Orchid, Maria Theresa and Fortitude.

Race 9 is a plate race which favours the best handicapped horse and for that reason we will be banking Carry On Alice in all bets. She finished just 1.50 lengths behind Alboran Sea who beat the country’s best sprinters in Cape Town not long ago.

The danger could be Belong To Me. His last run wasn’t good it but was over a distance too far for him – and he had a bad draw.

I’m riding Doing It For Dan. He’s not well handicapped and he fluffed his lines in both his last two starts. If he jumps on terms he could place in this field.

Kingston Mines won a really good race in Cape Town so he looks the one to beat, but he is worse off at the weights with many others. There is a lot of conflicting form so it could be worth going for the out-and-out stayers – Kingston Mines, S’il Vous Plait and Savage Wind.

I ride Gambol in Race 11 who, to my amazement, has been priced up favourite. The last time they met Our Jet ran past Gambol in very convincing fashion and beat him 3.50 lengths.  Gambol is now 1kg better off but I doubt it’s enough to beat Our Jet this time.

The danger could come from Karrar, as if you ignore his last two runs, he has raced against some nice horses. He has been gelded and could come back to his best.