The action at the Fairview racetrack in Greenbushes will be on the poly surface for the rest of the year, starting with a meeting of eight races this afternoon.
Horses who don’t like the all-weather surface will have to wait until next year to get a chance to run on the turf track.
There are ten Fairview poly meetings left for the year, and plenty to look forward to.
The November Stakes and the Glendore Sprint are the highlights this month, but first, the focus will be on a very competitive meeting starting with the first race at 12:25 today.
Although the racing will be just as competitive, Fairview will be a lot quieter than last Friday when the big Algoa Cup meeting took place.
There was a vibrant atmosphere at the track and the six-year-old Zatara Magic was an emotional winner for everyone.
The victory was dedicated to Gavin Smith, who passed away after a battle with cancer, 13 days before the running of the R350,000 Algoa Cup over 2,000m.
Smith was the trainer of Zatara Magic and had numerous discussions with his son, Dean, about how to win the Eastern Cape’s most prestigious race with their special horse.
“I told my dad we are going to win the Algoa Cup this year. That was always the plan with Zatara Magic.
“The preparations for the race went really well and (the jockey) Craig Zackey rode the horse beautifully,” Dean explained.
Dean will now be in charge of the Smith stable. The impressive 25-year-old has officially passed his trainer’s examinations and received his licence.
Zackey was full of praise for the Smith stable for the work they have done with the gutsy Zatara Magic. Zackey also won the Algoa Cup last year with Firealley when he did duty for the Jacques Strydom yard.
“Zatara Magic is a special horse. He has been taking on top-class opposition for most of his career and deserved to win a race like this.”
The jockey was even more impressed with the four-year-old Kingdundee, who won a Pinnacle Stakes over 1,000m earlier in the day.
Smith confirmed that the plans for Kingdundee are to travel to participate in two of the country’s top sprint races — the Cape Flying Championship in Cape Town and the Computaform Sprint — next year.
These are going to be exciting times with Kingdundee for the Smith stable, and the local fans will be right behind them.
The good news for the Kingdundee supporters is that Zackey was prepared to make a huge statement after he won on Kingdundee.
“This horse can win anywhere in the world,” he said.
