There are three feature races at Fairview on Friday and it is back to the turf. The usual suspects are expected to take home the lion’s share of the stakes, with trainer Alan Greeff having a decent hand in two of the races and trainer Justin Snaith a possible winner of the other.
Race 5, the Lady’s Slipper over 1400m, is the first feature of the card and Greeff has four of the seven runners carded.
Stable jockey Richard Fourie rides Malibu Ice. This Malmoos two-year-old filly was backed to win on debut but was slowly away and, although she ran home strongly, she was not able to catch the more experienced Obsidian Star.
She did a lot better in her second start when beating Rungstedland by 1.50 lengths. Jockey Fourie looked to have plenty of running left in her that day and this 1400m could be short of her best distance.
Obsidian Star followed up on her win over Malibu Ice by beating another Greeff-trained short-priced favourite in Casperita over this distance, but on the Polytrack. Obsidian Star is clearly talented but will need to show she is as good on the turf.
The only filly to beat Obsidian Star so far is the impressive and unbeaten Marchland. This daughter of Malmoos slammed Obsidian Star by 5.50 lengths on debut and then beat Rungstedland by 3.25 lengths. That tends to suggest that Marchland would not be a surprise winner.
Another Greeff-trained runner, Fateful Love, was a wide-margin winner on her debut. She flopped when sent to raid Gauteng for her second start but is clearly rated by her trainer.
A race later, Race 6, the Fairview 1400m, should be a very interesting contest.
The Greeff-Fourie combination is clearly the one to beat with Zinovi representing them. This five-year-old gelding has won five of his last seven starts and could hardly have been more impressive in his warm-up for this event. Fourie let him go 300m from home and he had things well in hand at the 200m already. The drop to 1400m should not really be an issue.
There could be a threat, however, with the 2024 WSB Polytrack Champion King Regent returning to the Eastern Cape. He won all three of the Polytrack challenges that year but has not won since then. He has been close up in his last two starts and his trainer Glen Kotzen has a decent record when raiding this province.
The last of the feature races, Race 7, is the Milkwood Stakes, a Listed race over 1000m. Snaith Racing sends out She’s My World and she could get a race run to suit her.
There are some very speedy fillies and mares in this and both the Dean Smith-trained runners, Song Of Myself and Danish Dynamite, have done best when allowed to go wild up front. That could allow She’s My World to let them blitz and take them on late.
Clive Robinson
