The fillies and mares will be the stars of the show in the first big race of the new year at the Fairview track in Greenbushes.
At Friday’s meeting, the R150 000 Lady’s Bracelet for fillies and mares over 1 600m will be the main event (race 7 of 8).
It should be an exciting race and could well be the highlight of a very entertaining first month at Fairview.
We already had two action-packed Fairview meetings, but the best is yet to come at the good-looking meetings over the next four Fridays.
The Lady’s Bracelet is a race not to be missed but the meeting on January 24 will have even more on offer.
The Merchants, Mile and Lakeside Handicap will all be part of that meeting to start off the massive South African racing weekend.
On that Saturday there will be the prestigious Met meeting in Cape Town and as usual those big weekends will start at Fairview.
The stables of trainers Alan Greeff and Gavin Smith have been in tremendous form at Fairview lately.
Racing fans countrywide are following their regular fierce battle for the East Cape title once again with huge interest.
It could go right down to the wire when the current season comes to a close at the end of July.
Richard Fourie is well on his way to another East Cape jockey title and Craig Zackey has made the number two spot his own.
There are a handful of jockeys fighting it out to secure the third position in the absence of the injured Luyolo Mxothwa, which makes for wonderful competitive racing.
The recent hot conditions are not making things easy for the horses and jockeys, but it certainly didn’t stop them from producing some awesome races.
There is great news for Nelson Mandela Racing about the biggest race day of the year at Fairview.
The Algoa Cup, annually the main event in the Eastern Cape, will return to its Sunday slot this year.
Since COVID-19 disrupted racing, the Algoa Cup was moved from its regular Sunday slot to be part of one of the regular Fairview Friday meetings.
Last year the Algoa Cup and the supporting events were very well attended in October.
There was a festive atmosphere at the venue, and many felt it was time to return to a Sunday meeting which is more accessible to the general public.
This will give Nelson Mandela Bay Racing an even bigger opportunity to produce a top-class race day, not only for the purist but also for the socialites.
Last year the Algoa Cup was won by Firealley from the Jacques Strydom stable, the first Fairview-trained horse since Surfin’ USA (also Strydom) in 2009, to beat the fancied Cape Town visitors.
So, mark the Algoa Cup date on your new 2025 calendar – Sunday, October 26.
