Clive Robinson
Punters have not been having an easy time of late in the Eastern Cape and on Friday they have a tough task to sort out in the form of Race 7, the Friendly Stakes over 1800m on the turf track.
It should be a cracking and competitive finish, and honestly, your guess at the winner is probably as good as mine – but let us go through the runners.
Trainer Justin Snaith is not sending down as many runners to Fairview as he did previously so Native Tongue, the ride of the bang-in-form Louis Mxothwa, is the tentative selection.
This Master Of My Fate gelding was a winner over 1600m the last time he saw Fairview and is coming off a decent run when runner-up behind promising Trip Of Fortune.
This distance is clearly not a problem for him, and he has the advantage of jumping from pole position.
Mount Anderson is clearly the class horse of the race and was nearly 12 lengths ahead of him when they last met in the Grade 3 Cup Trial at Hollywoodbets Greyville in June.
Mount Anderson has changed trainers since them and will be making his local debut, so will probably not be fully tuned up for this particular race.
Trainer Alan Greeff is represented by two decent runners in the form of the ultra-consistent Grazinginthegrass and old stable stalwart Marmara Sea.
There has not been too much between them and both hold a winning shout.
Rival trainer Gavin Smith has three runners carded and none of them can be written off.
Probably the best of his trio is recent easy winner Never Ending Rain but Peace In Our World and You Know Who also deserve respect.
Crimson King has not been having a good year and was particularly disappointing when only third in his local debut, but if he can bounce back to his best then a win is possible.
Herodotus on the other hand, returned to his best form with a nice win on the Polytrack last time out and has also won on the turf.
Another interesting race for form enthusiasts is the clash between Easy Living and South Wester in Race 6, a Classified Stakes for fillies and mares over 1000m.
Easy Living had South Wester 4.25 lengths behind her when winning over 1100m on the Polytrack last month, but she could be at her very best on that surface.
South Wester followed up that disappointment with a good win when trying turf for the first time and she still runs off a handicap mark that can be exploited.
