THE best is yet to come. That is the good news for Nelson Mandela Bay horse racing fans after the pace has been fast and furious at the Fairview track this month.
In what feels like already a full month’s racing after four meetings, the two left will include three big races.
So far it has been an unbelievable month for the top Eastern Cape stables of trainers Gavin Smith and Alan Greeff. They have been dominating procedures.
This month also saw the return to action by the Gqeberha-born jockey, JP van der Merwe, after a controversial six-month suspension he picked up in Singapore.
The first big race of the month was the Breeders Guineas, won by the Greeff-trained Europeana.
The Cape Town raiders will be a factor in the three big ones still left in the month. This coming Friday sees the running of the East Cape Fillies Nursery, won by the Greeff stable with Sound Check last season.
Greeff will again be a force to be reckoned with in this race for two-year-old fillies over 1 200m. It should be a cracking race and could well be one of the highlights of the entire East Cape season.
There have been some very promising performances from a handful of fillies leading up to this race but this will be the one that matters.
A great month of Fairview racing will close with the meeting on the 25th that features the East Cape Guineas and the East Cape Sprint Cup.
Some of the province’s biggest stars of the modern era have won the Sprint Cup before, including Copper Parade, Hear The Drums, Sir Duke, Vauclair and Sir Frenchie. Copper Parade (2014), Sir Duke (2015) and Hear the Drums (2007 to 2009) are also past East Cape Horses of the Year.
Catch the latest news about racing at Fairview on the Facebook page of Henk Se Wenk.
Upcoming Fairview meetings
- March:
18: Turf – EC Fillies Nursery
25: Turf – EC Guineas & EC Sprint Cup
- April:
1: Turf
8: Poly
12: Poly
15: Turf – Glenlair Trophy.
