As with most Friday race meetings in the Eastern Cape, trainer Alan Greeff and his stable jockey Richard Fourie look to have very good prospects.
Zinovi in Race 4 and Fairy Knight in Race 7 look the best of them.
The five-year-old gelding Zinovi runs in Race 4, a Pinnacle Stakes over 1600m on the Polytrack. The Heavenly Blue gelding has only raced once on this surface, and that was on his debut for this trainer.
Zinovi finished seventh, 5.75-lengths behind Kingdundee. That runner has won a couple of decent races since then, and Zinovi has won 4 of his 7 starts since. A closer look at the form shows Richard Fourie has won twice in three starts aboard him. Zinovi does look hard to oppose, as he is suited to the distance.
Fairy Knight, in Race 7, a Pinnacle Stakes over 1200m, faces a tougher task. The Global View gelding has won 3 of his last 4 starts and was third last time out, 4.00-lengths behind Anuschka’s World on a soft track.
It is worth noting that although Fairy Knight has won on a soft track, it does appear he is not at his very best under those conditions.
On the Polytrack, his record is very good, with 7 wins in 11 starts, and he has only suffered one defeat in five starts over the course and distance. Fairy Knight has drawn pole position but he has been slow away a couple of times in the past, so that might actually be an advantage to him.
He has some in-form rivals taking him on. Cruise Control was only 0.25-lengths adrift of that rival when they last met over this course and distance, and he showed his wellbeing with a good win in his latest start.
Another Greeff entrant, Mercantour, was victorious in all three legs of the Polytrack Challenge and will be a threat.
Clive Robinson
