Max and Muzi to make magic

Jack Milner

The name of the race says it all. The Listed Betway Spring Spree Stakes over 1200m on the Turffontein Inside track on Saturday ushers in the start of the Spring Season on the Highveld and we will be in for some outstanding racing over the next few months.

There were 28 runners entered for this feature but only nine runners remained after declarations. Nevertheless, it is a highly competitive event and almost every horse has a winning chance.

Perhaps the best value lies with Roy Magner-trained Max The Magician. The six-year-old gelding has been costly to follow and has not won since September last year. However, what is relevant is that his last win was at this course. It was over 1600m though, but he has shown a predilection for the Inside track and three of his five wins have comes on the inside track.

He does have two over items in his favour. The first is that he comes in carrying bottom weight of 53.5kg and the second is that he is ideally drawn in gate No 1.

Adding to that he will have Muzi Yeni up and he gets on well with this gelding, having ridden him 11 times for 2 wins and seven places.

Max The Magician did disappoint last time out but while there is nothing reported in the stipes report, in Muzi Yeni’s column on Page 8, he writes that his mount did have excuses. He added: “I’ll be very disappointed if he isn’t in the finish when it counts.”

The main threat is likely to come from Clinton Binda-trained Umzingeli Wenyathi who has a win and four seconds in five starts since being fitted with blinkers. All of those runs were over 1000m and now going over 1200m, the blinkers have been removed. However, this four-year-old Buffalo Bill Cody gelding has two wins, a third and a fourth in four starts over that distance.

He looks also well weighted with 54kg on his back and jumps from No 2 draw, however, after her fall at Hollywoodbets Greyville on Friday night Rachel Vanniker will not be taking the ride.

Paul Matchett-trained The Last Duke was beaten 5.30 lengths by Esteemed at Hollywoodbets Scottsville last time but he was giving the Mike and Mathew de Kock-trained runner 6kg so that was a decent performance

His stablemate, Erupt gelding Karate Kid, is probably the class runner in the field and has the profile to acquit himself well at Listed level and with a solid pace expected, Blaine Marx-Jacobson could have the right mount to strike when it counts.

However, in three races over 1200m the best he has got out of them is one third place.

The supporting feature, the Betway The Lady’s Stakes over 1200m in Race 6, sees Tony Peter throw three chances into the mix. But punters looking beyond the obvious stable strength may be rewarded by siding with Blizzard Snow, who has drawn gate No 6 for Kobeli James Lihaba.

The Erupt filly has raced three times over this course and distance, winning once and finishing outside the first two only once. She was asked to take on male opposition last time, having previously scored over this track and trip.

A repeat of that winning effort from just a two-point higher rating would make her a serious player in this Non-Black Type feature.