THIS is one that the top horse racing stables in Nelson Mandela Bay of trainers Gavin Smith and Alan Greeff would just love to win.
The feature race at Friday’s Fairview meeting is the East Cape Nursery for two-year-old horses, over 1 200m.
After the Western Cape raiders dominated last week Friday’s big races at Fairview, the Ibhayi Stakes and East Cape Oaks, a victory in the Nursery has become even more important for the locals.
This time the local stables have only one visitor to worry about.
Seven horses will face the starter at 15:35, three trained by Smith, three by Greeff, and Alpine Challenge from the Brett Crawford-yard in Cape Town.
One of Greeff’s runners is Cliff Top, who now has a point to prove.
Cliff Top won the Summer Juvenile Stakes in January in Cape Town in impressive fashion.
It looked as though he was ready for a very promising career but then ran an absolute shocker when he was back at Fairview on April 1.
The Nursery will be the perfect race for Cliff Top to get back on track and show that the plans to compete in the upcoming KwaZulu-Natal feature season isn’t just wishful thinking.
Smith will also be ready to keep the visitor out of the winners’ enclosure after putting up a brave effort in the Ibhayi Stakes.
Ancient Times and Find Me Unafraid were clearly prepped to perfection and ran second and third respectively in the race won by the visiting mare Follow The Star.
Smith did have three runners at last Friday’s meeting and that got him to 100 winners for the season at Fairview.
The season started in August last year and the Smith stable has been in tremendous form.
Smith last won the East Cape trainers title back in 2013 but has a huge chance of getting there again this year.
There is still a long way to go till the end of the EC season on July 29 and the defending champion, Greeff, is only 10 winners behind.
Jarett Rugg will unfortunately not see out the season. He handed in his trainer’s licence and will be missed at Fairview.
The likable big guy is returning to the Northern Cape, where his training career started, to embark on a new venture.
Both Smith and Greeff have been among the top trainers in the country for decades now and it would be great to see some of their horses in action in the KZN feature season.
Today is a big day for the KZN season, as the first entries for Africa’s richest race, the R5 million Durban July on July 2, will be announced.
