Kenilworth-who cares!

Interesting that no thread or single post for WC racing...says it all really!

Funny thing is I like Cape Town racing......but nobody seems to share that sentiment

Sorry guys meant to start a thread ...

Busy at work the last few days...

stopped playing all capetown races until Karl get new specs...to see the winning post in time.....or maybe if they put up bigger signs at the 300 from home...so that he can start his run for home....lol...
reality...its easier to pic winners in PE!
watch the size of the PA and P6 pools...turf, vaal, greyville, clairwood.....the rest...we have lost interest....maybe we are to stupid to pick winners in capetown.....


always thought the Voortrekkers left capetown...the ones that could not write but could read ...got of in the Oranje Vrystaat....the rest proceded to JHB...

guess they play lotto in CAPETOWN...the 18 winners on the R20m came from the Cape province....clever guys..
must be..Euro million roll over week after week..the last one won was +300 million euros...but in the Cape province 18 guys shared the R20m rollover ...

Funny thing, Karel made me some good money today. Seems like his specs were just fine..........

Once again, I like Cape racing. It certainly is better than Scottsville out of season!!!

I have to agree with andre and tommy,I'd never follow karl cos of his late runs and I prefer cape racing to other provinces cos form works out well there,I guess when there are less racing programmes like cape and pe trainers try harder to win that's why the results are fair. J snaith was on the the mark on uso.

I enjoy Cape racing, although less so in the depths of winter. My one on-going concern, having to make selections in advance, is the effect of the draw in races down the straight course, which can change dramatically from one week to the next. However, as I've said before, I reckon that pound for pound Cape Town has the best horses in the country and I love the run-up to their big season almost as much as the big season itself. Just look at the pedigrees of some of yesterday's (maiden) winners - a Western Winter half sister to Promisefrommyheart and a Fort Wood out of Donatella. With that kind of horseflesh, and trained by the likes of Mike Bass, the quality is obvious.

I don't particularly find it harder to pick winners in Cape Town than anywhere else on an on-going basis. Sure there are bad days (like everywhere else), but there are good ones too and yesterday I tipped more outright winners in the Winning Form at Kenilworth than at Turffontein. Cape racing (especially at Durbanville) has become very competitive since they started doing draws after final acceptance. Where Durbanville especially used to battle to fill races, they now split races sometimes and get reserve runners (unheard of under the old system). Add to this the relatively few meetings they have there off-season and trainers are often more-or-less forced into running fancied horses from bum draws. This can add to the uncertainty of finding winners, and you can't adopt the sort of reasoning ("they can't fancy it all that much if they're running from that draw") that you can perhaps factor into your calculations in other provinces. If they really don't want to run from a lousy draw they can always come up with the good old "not eating up" cliche and scratch, but everything pretty much equals out in the end.

Another thing is that Cape Town caters less to really moderate horses (other than maidens) than other provinces. Really low-rated handicaps scarcely exist, and these can often be the biggest lotteries in racing. Personally I rather enjoy trying to make sense of MR 60-something handicaps, but they are not everyone's cup of tea.

As far as the Uncle Karl thing is concerned - if you don't like him, don't back him. The exact same sentiment applies to every other trainer or jockey on the planet, but for somebody who according to some critics allegedly can't see past his horse's ears and can't ride a finish he sure gets plenty of winners.

I also enjoy Cape racing, and given a choice between a Cape, PE, and KZN meeting on the same day. I would opt for the Cape meeting 9 times out of 10 - the exception would be some of the big feature race days in KZN. I hear everybody complaining about the pools in Cape Town (and it is apparently a fact that KZN is supporting the Cape financially) but it seems to me that the pools in Cape Town are not really that bad - has anyone made comparisons between the pools in KZN, Cpae Town and PE over a period of time?

Frodo Wrote:

---

KZN is supporting the
> Cape financially) but it seems to me that the
> pools in Cape Town are not really that bad - has
> anyone made comparisons between the pools in KZN,
> Cpae Town and PE over a period of time?

Just remember that CT is marginalised by having the least "stand alone' meetings in SA. PE is fortunate to have almost 80% of it's race days to itself, as does Kimberly.

To make things worse, some of CT stand alone meetings are at Durbanville, which the trainers and owners seem to hate if nominations & acceptances is anything to go by. Time and again the Empress Club/Taba/Marie Gallant race at Durbanville is mentioned so it's a pity no one has managed to breathe life into the place. When Chris Snaith trained he won plenty races for Plattner there with top horses, none of whom seemed to suffer after they banked their winnings. I remember asking him about "horses for courses", he laughed and went to lead in another winner.

Once Durbanville was almost sold, and if the new owner turned it into an all-weather track, you would think it would almost be something wonderful to own and a great venue for public entertainment. Even now it's the permanent home to Cohen's Equimark Sales company and the Hunt & Polo Club.

There is every reason to fancy racing in Cape Town

We have some top trainers

We have some top horses

Given the climate the horses have every chance to mature at their own pace and achieve their ability

We also have some top owners who are not scared to put their money down to buy top horses

We also have a great summer program of racing that has attracts some of the best horses in the country

However as with most centres the main bone of contention seems to be the consistency of performance ... BUT no one can expect to race in Cape Town in winter
without taking into account the massive effect of the draws ........as Magic pointed out .. but it is not just down the straight .... horses that have been backed and run from wide draws round the turn need to be watched when better drawn ... etc Kings Guard on Saturday was a very good example of that

It is actually absurd how many punters fail to take this into account

I have already made one comment on this site about honest Karl and I am sure his ratio of losing rides to favourites speaks for itself ..... but if u
are aware of that then it does not always have to be a disadvantage

In the meantime summer is here .. and there is the usual expectancy of some great racing

Pity the tracks are deserted ....... coz a peek at the horse u fancy before it runs ..... seems to be a vital investment

There is a huge difference between a horse that weighs 400kgs and one that weighs 500kgs

And now we no longer have published weights .... u cant really c it on the TV

c u at the course !

Do yourselves a favour and go have a look at the BREEDING of some of the horses running at Kenilworth race 2 next Saturday (I believe it is the 18th September?)
How many of those horses would you not have your left testicle cut off for (ON BREEDING)????

Here are a few examples:

13 JACK BAUER (BRZ) A 6 58.0kg
3 ch c Gilded Time (USA) - Indian Chris (BRZ) by Ghadeer (FR)
Fieldspring Racing
Maroon, grey chevron, maroon sleeves and cap
Bred by Fazenda Mondesir Dean Kannemeyer
Karl Neisius
Runs 0 Wins 0 Places 0................Remember the mare, half brother to??????
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

10 FIRST TO GO A 4 58.0kg
3 ch c Muhtafal (USA) - Luna Perfumada (ARG) by Ahmad (ARG)
Mr H Adams
Royal blue and silver hoops, hooped sleeves, quartered cap
Bred by Mr & Mrs Bruce Le Roux Justin Snaith
Felix Coetzee
Runs 0 Wins 0 Places 0....remember the mare??? One of the best looking argentinian imported mares I ever saw.....trained by Woodruff I believe?

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

7 ARABIAN EMPIRE (AUS) A 7 58.0kg
3 b c Anabaa (USA) - Arabian Lass by Al Mufti (USA)
Mr Andy Williams
Navy, red spots, sleeves and cap, navy spots
Bred by Swettenham Stud Glen Kotzen
Mark Neisius
Runs 0 Wins 0 Places 0.......remember the mare??? she was TOP class, trained by Tony Millard. This horse was bread in the USA......mmmmmm

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

6 AMAZON FORCE A 15 58.0kg
3 b c Al Mufti (USA) - Amazon Fighter by Complete Warrior (USA)
Mrs S Plattner
Grass green, indigo horseshoe, gold trim, indigo collar, sleeves and cap, grass green cuffs and peak
Bred by La Plaisance Stud Yogas Govender
Aldo Domeyer
Runs 0 Wins 0 Places 0.....another fantastic family. I'm waiting for this mare to throw something spectacular. This could be him?

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

9 COASTING AVALANCHE A 3 58.0kg
3 b c Count Dubois (GB) - Aspen Secret by Fort Wood (USA)
Miss April Glaspie
Maroon, gold spot, sleeves and cap
Bred by The Alchemy Dean Kannemeyer
Gerrit Schlechter
Runs 0 Wins 0 Places 0.....another top mare.

Anybody who says Cape racing is not interesting or exciting.........Just look at some of these pedigrees listed above....make up your own mind

IMO of course

I couldn't agree more, Tommy. Do I win a prize for saying that Jack Bauer is the half brother to Eyeofthetiger? What A Winter runs in the Feature on Sat and Past Master races for the first time since he won the Selangor. Spring is in the air!