THE spotlight will be on the three-year-old fillies at Friday’s horse racing on the Fairview turf track in Greenbushes, and not just any three-year-old fillies. These fillies must have a combination of speed and stamina if they want to win the big race of the meeting.
The East Cape Oaks is a race for three-year-old fillies over 2 000m, and the distance has caught out some very promising sorts in the past.
You need a strong filly to win this one, and it is usually a good race to watch.
What is good to see is that the three-year-old fillies will get more exposure this season, with the Oaks the headliner on Friday.
This wasn’t the case last season when the Oaks was run in mid-April, at the meeting where the focus was on the Glenlair Trophy and Flying Five races.
In recent times the Oaks has become an impossible race for the local trainers to win. The Cape Town visitors have dominated this event for many years now, and the locals would love to keep the silverware at Fairview for a change.
It was 12 years ago when one of the current local trainers, Gavin Smith, last won the Oaks. Sammy Jo stormed home on that day with Muzi Yeni in the saddle.
Since then, there was just one other Oaks victory for the locals to celebrate. This was in 2018 when Widow’s Lamp won for the Yvette Bremner stable. Bremner has since retired as a trainer.
The local crowd will no doubt be rooting for the Fairview fillies to get it right on Friday, which will also be a fun family day, with lots of Easter surprises for all and sundry.
The meeting on Friday, April 14, is also one for the notebook. The Glenlair Trophy will be the main race over the marathon distance of 2800m. This race is always a crown favourite.
Those who want to watch the speedy ones in action can look forward to the Flying Five, which will be part of the same meeting.
This month is clearly another entertaining one at Fairview, with four turf meetings and one on the poly surface.
The Poly meeting will be on Monday the 17th and the surface is still busy settling after the recent upgrade.
Fairview April dates
7: Turf – EC Oaks
14: Turf – Glenlair Trophy
17: Poly
21: Turf
28: Turf
