Cape Racing’s weekend fixture at Hollywoodbets Durbanville on Saturday is dominated by leading Western Cape trainers Brett Crawford and Justin Snaith, and following those old adversaries on the 10-race card should be rewarded with handsome dividends.
Both are strongly represented throughout the meeting and saddle several runners that are standout betting propositions.
None more so than Crawford-trained Pink Pigeon in Race 1 over 1250m. This daughter of Querari has filled the runners-up berth in both starts, her latest over the same track and trip as the opening event.
She is awkwardly positioned in stall No 11 but jockey Louie Mxothwa knows Pink Pigeon well, having ridden the three-year-old filly in both starts, and he’ll have her perfectly placed to strike.
Snaith-trained Rafeef gelding Rafa Bay fits a similar profile, after back-to-back seconds over 1000m, and could strike in Race 2 over 1250m with JP van der Merwe aboard. Snaith’s charge has improved in three starts with blinkers fitted and remains open to further progress on his return from a nine-week absence.
Consistent Night Bomber was beaten 1.70 lengths over 1250m by War Chariot on 28 September and the Crawford-trained former is good value to avenge that defeat in Race 4 over the same trip.
Richard Fourie takes over the reins from Mxothwa aboard Night Bomber who is 2kg better off with his last-start conqueror in their course-and-distance rematch.
Well-bred Groovejet should settle the score for Snaith in Race 6 over 2000m by turning the tables on Crawford’s Join The Dots, who scored by 1.75 over the same track and trip four weeks ago but is 3kg worse off under a six-point penalty.
Snaith’s charge, a progressive and lightly raced four-year-old (much like Join The Dots), was left too much to do last time. He ran on from a long way back on that occasion, but Van der Merwe will have his mount poised to strike from a No 9 gate, inside of his familiar foe who is drawn on his outside.
Snaith’s R6-million earner Royal Aussie, last year’s winner of the lucrative Gold Rush, finished third in the 1200m Grade 1 Mercury Sprint won by Surjay and renews rivalry with the Crawford-trained latter in Race 8 over 1400m.
Both high-class performers are favourably treated by the conditions of the race but, as Surjay is winless over this distance in five attempts, the extra 200m should swing the result of this rematch the way of Royal Aussie, especially with Fourie back aboard.
South Africa’s champion jockey has ridden the five-year-old gelding 10 times and never finished worse than fourth on this son of Royal Mo – winning three times, finishing four times and third once.
Snaith and Crawford take the wraps off promising three-year-old fillies, I’m So Pritti and Artiste respectively, in Race 9 over 1250m.
Both last-start course-and-distance winners have bright futures but it could pay to follow the progress of the Crawford-trained latter in the penultimate event, as the well-bred Canford Cliffs filly is favourably drawn and the mount of Fourie who steered I’m So Pritti to her maiden victory last month.
Interestingly, Artiste is a daughter of high-class Act One mare Dancer’s Daughter who won five Grade 1 races.
Clive Robinson
