IN THE SADDLE: Four wins for Greeff

One has to spare a thought for the smaller stables at Nelson Mandela Bay Racing. There are some really good racehorse trainers based at the Fairview stables who just don’t have the numbers and quality of the bigger stables to regularly produce winners.

I have been calling for a while now for some sort of recognition, even if it is just a tongue-in-cheek award, for the stable third on the trainers’ log at the end of an East Cape season.

That third spot is no mean feat, as the mighty stables of top trainers Gavin Smith and Alan Greeff have been dominating the title race for decades now at the Greenbushes venue.

It is always good to see the smaller stables having a piece of the cake, but on the other hand it is also something special when those two top yards take each other on.

Boy, did they do that at this past Friday’s meeting. Quality-wise it wasn’t the greatest meeting, but it was one exciting finish after another as the two big stables gave it an absolute full go in search of a winner.

Greeff came out on top on this occasion, winning four of the eight races. Smith came away with two winners, and it could have been a few more with a little bit of luck.

All four Greeff winners were ridden by visiting Cape Town jockey Richard Fourie. In the process he became the first to ride 50 or more winners at Fairview this season.

Smith still leads the trainers’ log with 71 winners, seven ahead of Greeff. Kelly Mitchley is well-placed to hang on to that third spot till the end of the season, followed by another lady trainer, Sharon Kotzen, in fourth.

Fourie will retain the East Cape jockey title, but keep an eye on the battle for the local-based jockey’s award.

Yuzae Ramzan picked up an important win last Friday to stay in the race, but there is still a long way to go.

There is no feature race at this coming Friday’s meeting, but a Pinnacle Stakes over 1400m should produce the fireworks.

The meeting on the 23rd is one not to be missed with feature races the Lady’ Pendant and the Ibhayi Stakes.