Nelson Mandela Bay Racing is entering a golden period leading up to Derby Day in May.
March and April are some of the best months of the year for local horse racing, followed by the WSB East Cape Derby on May 10.
We already had three of this month’s six action-packed meetings at the Fairview track in Greenbushes.
The best is yet to come, as the pace picks up over the next two Fridays with some classy racing. This coming Friday the feature race is the East Cape Fillies Nursery which should be a cracking affair. The best two-year-old fillies will compete over 1 200m.
Another interesting race on the cards is the Oaks Plate for three-year-old fillies. On Friday the 22nd there is a double-header of features. That is a meeting not to be missed when the R250 000 East Cape Guineas for three-year-olds takes place over 1 600m. On the same day the sprinters take each other on in the Sprint Cup.
The action just doesn’t stop, and in April racing fans can enjoy the Glenlair Trophy (5th), East Cape Oaks and Flying Five (both 12th), and the East Cape Nursery (19th).
All these quality races will play a huge role in deciding which horses will be crowned as East Cape champions in the respective categories at the end of the season.
There are fewer than five months left in the East Cape season, and as usual it is an interesting trainers’ title race between Gavin Smith and Alan Greeff.
Cape Town-based Richard Fourie will retain his East Cape jockey title, and will also be the national champion this season. Fourie has his eyes on bigger things though. Hollywoodbets has promised Fourie R1 million if he breaks the South African record for the most wins in a season.
Anthony Delpech holds the record of 334 wins, set 25 years ago.
Fourie is working hard for the record, flying all over the country from meeting to meeting.
The Fairview meetings, where he teams up with the powerful Greeff stable, plays a crucial role in his record chase.
This season Fourie has been very successful in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape, but less so in the Western Cape and Highveld.
Don’t forget about the title for the locally-based jockey. Yuzae Ramzan and Kendall Minnie are setting the pace at the moment.
The Champion Work Rider title is also an open race, after Striker Thuthu won with Shine In Memphis last Friday.
