Even bigger things are on their way after an eventful meeting at the Fairview racetrack last Friday.
Nelson Mandela Bay Racing enters an exciting period, with three top events over the next three Fridays.
The highlight of the upcoming feature races could well be the Friendly City Stakes over 1 800m this coming Friday.
It is a very strong race, and some of the province’s best horses have won this race in the past. This is not an easy race to win, and the competition will be fierce once again.
Friday’s action is on the grass, but there will be a change of surface on the 29th when the feature race will be the second leg of the Poly Challenge.
This will also be a cracking race and all eyes will be on the winner of the first leg, Prince of Fire, who will secure a bonus of R250 000 for his connections if he wins all three legs of the Challenge.
Prince of Fire, trained by Kelly Mitchley, will face many classy challengers. One of them is Gallic Tribe who ran third in the first leg over 1 200m and looks a huge contender over 1 400m.
Gallic Tribe is trained by Jacques Strydom, and his legendary jockey brother, Piere, will make a welcome return to his hometown to ride for his brother’s stable.
The Cradock Place Stakes is the feature race at the first Fairview meeting in October, when the sprinters will be in the spotlight.
There won’t be much time for racing fans to catch their breath with one exciting meeting after another, especially after last Friday’s exciting eight races.
Although there was no feature race, the action was fast and furious on the Poly in the varying conditions.
The first three races were run in perfect conditions but that changed drastically from the fourth race.
A very strong head wind started to pump to make it very difficult for the horses and the jockeys.
The conditions didn’t stop champion trainer, Gavin Smith, from saddling four winners in another brilliant day for his stable.
The meeting started on a sombre note, with the news of the passing of Barry Steenkamp who was a trainer for many years in the Eastern Cape. He saddled his last runner in the 2015/2016 season.
Fairview meetings
22 September: Turf – Friendly City Stakes
29 September: Poly – Challenge Leg 2
6 October: Turf – Cradock Place Stakes
