If the new horse racing season in Nelson Mandela Bay starts like this, we are in for a real treat till the end of July next year.
This past Friday’s meeting on the Fairview Turf track in Greenbushes was packed with drama, fun, excitement, and, of course, quality thoroughbred racing.
There were many highlights, but the victory of the five-year-old gelding, Cherry Ano, in the Memorial Mile stood out.
Yes, it was only the first meeting of the East Cape season but a gutsier performance you are not likely to see soon at Fairview.
When jockey Calvin Habib climbed off the horse after the race he was in a state of shock about the fighting spirit Cherry Ano displayed.
With 150m left in the race it looked as though Cherry Ano had to settle for third place, but he fought bravely to claim a sensational victory.
“It is a privilege to ride this horse,” Habib said of Cherry Ano, who has now won eight of his 18 starts for Gauteng-based owner Henning Pretorius.
Trainer Gavin Smith was delighted with the victory, and full of praise for the gutsy effort.
“Cherry Ano is a real character and one of our favourite horses at the stables,” said Smith.
When the regulars arrived at Fairview on Friday they were greeted by the delightful sight of 10 kids from the Kinderplay Academy, dressed immaculately for the occasion, who were ready to enjoy a day at the races.
They thoroughly enjoyed their day, with one of the short gentlemen claiming he will return to the track as a jockey in the near future.
This coming Friday the kids will make way for the women, when the focus will be on the ladies at a special
National Women’s Day Polytrack meeting.
August is a huge racing month at Fairview. We will see the start of the East Cape Poly Challenge at the meeting on the 23rd, and another highlight will be the running of the Jockey Club Stakes on the 30th.
It will be interesting to see whether some Cape Town horses will make the trip to come and contest this event.
Last year it was won by the visiting mare, Flower of Saigon.
As we saw on Friday, it makes for even more interesting racing when out-of-town horses contest the important Fairview races.
With Cherry Ano leading the way, the local horses got the better of the visitors in the Memorial Mile, but in the East Cape Paddock Stakes the visitors ruled.
We look forward to the next clash between East and West.
