GC Levelling the playing fields series

The newly introduced “Levelling the Playing Fields” series of races kicks off with Round 1 at Scottsville on Sunday 2 April. The KZN Breeders Club came up with the concept, which has the full support of Gold Circle, in terms of which each trainer was invited to nominate one KZN Bred horse with a rating of 78 and below to compete in Round 1 over 1200 metres, Round 2 over 1400 metres and Round 3 over 1600 metres, with four weeks between each round.

“The idea was for each trainer to identify a KZN-bred horse in their yard with the durability and versatility to compete in each round over varying distances with the top 14 point scorers competing in a final over 1400 metres on 25 June at the KZN Breeders’ Raceday,” says Gold Circle’s Racing Executive Raf Sheik. “Disappointingly only 23 horses have stood their ground but, with the Grand Prix type formula whereby they will each earn points depending on where they finish in rounds 1, 2 and 3, it will be interesting to follow the runners’ progress through to the final,” he added.

The 23 horses have been ballotted into two heats to be run over 1200 metres on Sunday and they will be re-ballotted for each of the ensuing two rounds. In keeping with the theme of “Levelling the Playing Fields”, jockeys have been allocated to each of the runners by ballot for Sunday’s races and they too will be re-ballotted for each of the remaining two rounds. Thus, jockeys are not associated with a particular horse for the duration of the Series. The ballot for jockeys was undertaken by KZN Stipendiary Steward Tim Nhlapo under the watchful eye of the NHA Vet, Rouaan Sutherland.

Apart from the stake money on offer for each race (R100 000) and the R200 000 final on Sunday 25 June, a prize of R50 000 each is on the table for the Owner, Trainer, Jockey and Breeder who accumulates the most points over the Series, including the final. Points will be earned as follows:- 1st – 20; 2nd 17; 3rd – 15 ; 4th – 13; 5th 11 and then reducing by one point for each following position.

Athandiwe Mgudlwa and Billy Jacobson lead the jockeys race for the R50 000 bonus prize after Round 1 of the newly introduced “Levelling the Playing Fields Series”, run at Scottsville on Sunday 2 April over 1200 metres. The second round, over 1400m, will be held at Scottsville on Sunday 30 April and all horses which were entered for Round 1 will be automatically re-entered for Rounds 2 and 3. The third round takes place over 1600m on Saturday 27 May with the Final being held over 1400 metres at Greyville on Sunday 25 June.

A feature of the series is that jockeys’ mounts are balloted and Mgudlwa and Jacobson were drawn to ride Royal Agree (Glen Kotzen) and Putchini (Chris Erasmus) respectively, winners of the two heats run on Sunday. Each trainer was invited to enter only one horse from their yard to compete in all three legs with the 14 highest point earners qualifying for the Final at the end of June. While all horses entered for the Series will compete again in the second round, the make-up of the fields for the two heats will change, as a fresh draw will take place to decide upon the two fields for the 1400m contests.

Prize money for each race in Rounds 1, 2 and 3 is R100 000 but the final will be contested for R200 000. In addition the Owner, Breeder and Trainer of the horse that accumulates most points, including the Final, will each receive an additional R50 000 and the Jockey who accumulates the most points over the Series will receive a bonus of R50 000.

Points table after the two heats comprising Round 1 at Scottsville last Sunday:-

JOCKEYS:-

Athandiwe Mgudlwa – 20
Billy Jacobson – 20
Morne Winnaar – 17
Warren Kennedy – 17
Alec Forbes – 15
Benny Dean – 15
Divan Neethling – 13
Keagan de Melo – 13
Jarred Samuel – 11
Sean Veale – 11
Ian Sturgeon – 10
Marco van Rensburg – 10
Craig Zackey - 9
Tshwaro Appie – 9
Derryl Daniels – 8
Gareth Wright – 8
Doctor Lembethe – 7
Mandla Ntuli – 7
Tristan Godden – 7
Eric Ngwane – 6
Muzi Yeni – 6
Anthony Delpech – 5
Anton Marcus – 1

HORSES:- (Owner; Trainer; Breeder in brackets):-

Putchini -20 - (Miss A de Klerk; Chris Erasmus; Yellow Star Stud)
Royal Agree – 20 – (Mr P G de Beyer; Glen Kotzen; Scott Bros)
Reactive – 17 – (Mrs M Liley; Tony Rivalland; Summerhill Stud)
Brave and Bold – 17 – (Messrs G S Perkins, D A Gafney, I D Howard; Wendy Whitehead; Pizazz Racing)
Cipher – 15 – (Messrs Ian Robinson & partners; Garth Puller; Yellow Star Stud)
Fire The Rocket – 15 – (Sir George Albu, D Campbell, M Pillay; Doug Campbell; Yellow Star Stud)
Poivre – 13 – (Mr B D van Laun; Greg & Karen Anthony; Mr B D van Laun)
Tropical’s Son – 13 – (Mr A L Williams; Paul Lafferty; Riverlea Stud)
Roy’s Power – 11 – (Mr R Moodley; Paul Gadsby; Mr R Moodley)
Kahula – 11 – (Mr B Riley; Sean Tarry; Mr Bruce le Roux)
Son of Silver – 10 – (Messrs M G Frost & M R Parrott; Frank Robinson; Scott Bros)
The King of Random – 10 – (Messrs B Jonsson & N Jonsson; Michael Roberts; Clifton Stud)
Constantine – 9 – (Messrs W Wu, H Guo & Ms K P Ha; Dennis Drier; Mr & Mrs G E Lees)
Roy is Second – 9 – (Mr R Moodley; Alyson Wright; Mr R Moodley)
Roy’s Taxi – 8 – (Mr R Moodley; Kom Naidoo; Mr Bruce Le Roux)
Storm Outgoing – 8 – (Mr & Mrs P C Diedericks; Charles Laird; Summerhill Stud)
Mark My Card – 7 – (Mr R Calder; Wayne Badenhorst; Scott Bros)
Bubka – 7 – (Miss Jessica Lunn, Messrs L P & P L Lunn; Pat Lunn; Graystone Stud)
Three Kingdoms – 7 – (Messrs Allan Peters, D L Chapman, C J Mayhew; Craig Mayhew; Bush Hill Stud)
Missibaba – 6 – (Fire Racing Trust; Dennis Bosch; Summerhill Stud)
Earhart – 6 – (Mr K M Smith; Julie Dittmer; Summerhill Stud)
Beckedorf – 5 – (Mr E W Buhr; Corinne Bestell; Clifton Stud0
The Poet – 1 – (Mr Trevor & Mrs Robin Denman; Mark Dixon; Bush Hill Stud)

Fields, with balloted riders, for Round 2 will be finalised on Tuesday 25 April 2017.