Kenilworth and the BigT at the Vaal? Saturday!

Vaal Race 1: Joshua's Dolly 4-1 on offer, looks the right one to me.

This WARM WHITE NIGHTS should have been gelded ages ago - I think he might just run the race of his life today and then straight to a paddock somewhere to begin stallion duties. If he got cut I think he would have been a serious sprint miler

Racing on Hold at the Vaal

Txs Hibby can we have a "spot the feet" compo?

Hibs how you get these pics so quickly?

Well these poor feet have a long walk home

i was at turfies the lites are off where is everyone

Just had an email telling me to get back to work were watching you!!

Warm White Night bounces back to best

NICCI GARNER - WARM WHITE NIGHT bounced back to the level of form that had seen him run close-up to top 1000m sprinters Private Jet and Rebel King when he held on to win Saturday’s Cape Flying Championship at Kenilworth.

There had to be reservations about the huge Western Winter colt, who’d been beaten in both his races following a long layoff, and he started joint favourite with three-year-old Villandry at 4-1. Even his jockey Anton Marcus admitted post-race that he’d been only "quietly optimistic’’ about Warm White Night’s chances in the race. "I thought he had his work cut out. I wasn’t quite sure whether he was the horse that he was prior to being off,’’ he said.

Cape Derby entrant Captain’s Secret was next on offer at 9-2 with Port Elizabeth star Hear The Drums a well-backed 11-2 and Blue Tiger looking good value at 13-2.

Blue Tiger, second in this race last year, nearly spoilt the party for Marcus and the Charles Laird stable, which was bidding to win the Cape’s premier sprint for the fourth time after two wins by Nhlavini and last year’s success by Rebel King. With better luck Blue Tiger would have. Just 100m from the line he had to squeeze through a narrow gap between Gaultier and Casey Cool on the outside fence but when he saw daylight, he closed the winning margin down to a fast-diminishing neck.

Thunder Key got the best of the cavalry charge to the line to take third, 1.25 lengths further back, with a gallant Hear The Drums fourth. That the current three-year-old generation has its limitations was highlighted by Villandry never getting the commanding lead he generally enjoys and staying on for ninth with his contemporary Captain’s Secret 10th.

Marcus was awed by Warm White Night’s improvement: "It’s not often you hear jockeys praising trainers, but Charles really deserves kudos for this. How he turned this horse around from his last run to this, I really don’t know."

In winning the Cape Flying Championship, Marcus tied up a feature double after partnering well-backed favourite Comet Chaser, trained by Darryl Hodgson, to victory in the Laisserfaire Stakes (Listed) over 1100m. She beat her stablemate, second favourite Servilia (Gerrit Schlechter), by a neck with Miss Filly (16-1) another length back in third.

Laird strikes again with Warm White Night


Report: South Africa, Saturday

Kenilworth: Betting World Cape Flying Championship (Grade 1), 5f, turf

WARM WHITE NIGHT bounced back to form to give champion trainer Charles Laird and stable jockey Anton Marcus their fourth Cape Flying Championship win in six seasons at Kenilworth on Saturday.

The 4-1 favourite was always travelling well and Marcus sent him on a furlong out to hold the strong-finishing Blue Tiger by a neck with Thunder Key a length and a quarter back third.

Prolific scorer Hear The Drums, running in this race for the third successive year, was fourth but never really looked like finishing any closer.

Laird said: "Warm White Night missed half of last season because he picked up a virus when we got to Durban with him, and heneeded his last run quite badly.

"Indeed I think he is better than this - he is still improving - and he will now go for the Computaform Sprint."

The disappointment of the race was the performance of the two three-year-olds.

Villandry was only ninth of the 14 runners and the Cape Derby-bound Captain's Secret was tenth.

Karl Neisius, who rode Captain's Secret, said: "This trip was too short for him. He could have been okay over another furlong but not over five."