Nelson Mandela Bay Racing is all set to be part of the big South African weekend in less than 10 days’ time.
This time of the year racing fans countrywide zoom in on the biggest day of the year, the first Saturday in July when the Hollywoodbets Durban-July is run.
It has become a tradition for fans to include the traditional Fairview Friday meeting into their July weekend.
This year it will be more of the same, and there will be a lot of interest in the meeting at the Greenbushes track on June 30.
Punters usually try to get it right at Fairview to have some money to attack the enormous pools on July Day.
The Fairview Place Accumulator is a popular bet, but at the meeting on the 30th there will be a lot of interest in the Jackpot.
The pool for this bet will be boosted with R250 000 and is expected to grow to R1 million on the day.
Punters will no doubt target this bet, in which you must pick the winners of four consecutive races, to get some money in the kitty for July Day.
It will be a Fairview meeting packed with quality on the 30th, and the highlight will be the R150 000 East Cape Breeders Stakes over 1 200m.
This race is also the first leg of the East Cape Challenge for fillies and mares and one can expect some Western Cape challengers to make the Garden Route trip to Fairview to try to grab the prize money.
While race fans can get involved in the build-up to the Fairview action and the July, it is probably not the case for the local stables.
The Fairview stables are entering a tremendously busy time, with four meetings within eight days starting on Friday.
In this period two Monday meetings have been added to the regular Friday meetings, and there will be almost non-stop action at Fairview.
This phase could also be decisive for many as the current season ends on July 28 and the race for some of the prestigious awards is still in full flight.
The battle for the East Cape trainers’ title is still very tight, with defending champion, Gavin Smith, (110) just three winners ahead of Alan Greeff (107) and only eight meetings left to score.
Sharon Kotzen made the third spot on the log on her own this season, and passed 50 winners in style last Friday.
Her stable dominated the Youth Day meeting when Kotzen won four of the eight races in a brilliant performance.
Richard Fourie has long made sure he will take the East Cape jockey title this season, but is now chasing a personal milestone of 100 winners. He rode winner number 86 last Friday.
Fairview dates
23 June: Turf
26 June: Poly
30 June: Turf – EC Breeders Stakes
3 July: Poly
