OFF THE RECORD #138
Trainers’ Spring Plans Begin To Take Shape
We continue our check-ins with trainers likely to have feature runners during the Gauteng spring/summer season this week, starting at Randjesfontein with Stuart Pettigrew, who is back on song after a few setbacks and looks well placed for a successful term.
Stuart Pettigrew’s three imports, Mission To Mars (Sea The Stars – IRE), Calla Lagoon (New Bay -GB) and The Equator (Galileo – IRE), also give the yard a potentially strong hand going into the autumn features of 2027. For now, though, the trainer says it’s a step-by-step process.
“I like my promising runners to take the next step up, to show their worth on the racetrack with steady improvement. Mission To Mars has won two in a row, we’re going for a third at the Vaal on Thursday and he’s handily rated at 94. (-Mission To Mars finished third, beaten 2.0-lengths by Best Candidate)
“When we had Tyson (Silvino) racing in 2004, he came through a C-division handicap win in September, followed by a B-division win in October, and then won the Grade 3 Victory Moon Stakes ahead of his success in the Grade 1 (then Gommagomma) Summer Cup. He got better with every run, showed his mettle along the way and we went confidently into the big race for an easy win.
“Before I make any predictions, I’m going to let Mission To Mars and Calla Lagoon show me what the next steps are to take with them, whether they are good enough to go for the Betway Summer Cup. These English horses enjoy the sting out of the ground, so some rain ahead of the big races will suit them.
“Calla Lagoon is a potential Grade 2 Allied Steelrode Onamission Charity Mile candidate. He arrived as a one-time winner on a 104-rating and is now a 107, so he’s not easy to place. Mission To Mars could go via the Grade 3 Betway Victory Moon Stakes. Calla Lagoon placed over 2000m and 2100m in the UK, so he won’t necessarily be limited to 1600m. We’ll see how he progresses over the next few weeks. They’re both sound, healthy horses, lovely to work with.
“The Equator has already raced at the highest levels and hasn’t been disgraced. He ran fifth in last year’s Summer Cup off a merit rating of 117, but his current 118 is too high and, as it stands, he will be giving weight to most. That limits his opportunities.”
Pettigrew mentioned two four-year-old fillies he believes could be competitive this summer. Scarlet O’Hara (Red Ray) has moved steadily through the ranks with four wins from just nine starts, and Into Dancing (Ideal World) is four from 12. Both are improving with maturity and have lots of stamina. “We’ll be looking at races like the Listed Yellowwood Handicap over 1800m, the Listed Summer Pudding over 1600m and the Listed War Of Athena over 1800m.”
The partnership of sisters Candice and Tammy Dawson, with five winners from just 16 runners after six weeks of the 2026/7 season, will have to do without their feature contenders Pioneer Square (sold to Mauritius) and Minogue (retired), but they have others to carry the banner.
A number of their older runners are certain to get into the mix, starting with owner Johnno Finlayson’s smart four-year-old Chronicle King (Vercingetorix), a Grade 2 winner at two and second to Errrol Flynn in the Grade 3 Sea Cottage Stakes at the end of the 2025/6 season in July.
Candice Dawson commented: “Chronicle King has done well for us and he is being aimed at the Charity Mile. We’ll start him off in the Grade 2 Joburg Spring Challenge.”
Mary Slack’s flashy chestnut filly Warm Reception (Fire Away) is versatile with four wins from nine starts – and successful over1200m, 1400m and 1600m. “She is a Joburg Spring Fillies and Mares Challenge prospect, but we’ll also be looking at the sprint features since she is unbeaten over 1200m,” said Candice.
The Dawson sisters have two other, sparingly raced four-year-old fillies, both by champion stallion Vercingetorix, who have already shown that they can compete for big prizes.
Reeces’s Wish pulverised the opposition in two starts after a long break, and had a horse like Calla Lagoon five lengths behind her when winning a handicap over 1600m recently. The Listed War Of Athena Handicap has been earmarked as a possible target.
Anchorage showed a nice turn of foot winning the Betway The Lady’s Stakes over 1200m in her first seasonal appearance and will have November’s Grade 3 Carry In Alice Stakes over 1160m in her sights .
Among their three-year-olds, another lightly campaigned filly Onetwobucklemyshoe (Master Of My Fate), is a smart, scopey sort who has the 2027 Triple Tiara on her roster.
The stable’s leading older horse, Truth (Heavenly Blue), makes his racetrack comeback at the Vaal on Thursday (-finished 6th, beaten 6.0-lengths). Last season’s Grade 3 National Currency Print winner had a break due to a hiccup and the 2027 Grade 2 Hawaii Stakes over 1400m has been pencilled in as a long-term target.
Their stalwart stayer, Enflame (Irish Flame), has enjoyed some deserved time off on the farm and the stable will be easing him back into racing with a view to the staying features of 2027, in which he was so successful last season.
Versatile Whistle The Tune (Captain Of All), will stay in training as a five-year-old mare. She has competitive top-flight form and Candice believes she can win again in the next few months.
Roy Magner’s hard-knockers Kamensky (What A Winter) and King Harald (Erik The Red) will probably fly the flag in the Spring Challenge, while the stayer Titans Of War (Act Of War), not far off in the Grade 3 Gold Vase last season, could play a role in races like the Listed Java Stakes over 2400m and the ROA Stayers over 3200m on Summer Cup Day.
Owner Gerald Sadlier’s super mare Olivia’s Way (Pathfork), second in last year’s Summer Cup, will be back to give it another tilt and Magner said: “We gave her a nice break on the spelling farm after the Durban July and she’s come back well. I haven’t stepped on the pedal yet, but her build-up will start soon.”
From the Vaal, where Lucky Houdalakis is in the process of moving his operation to Randjesfontein, the trainer reported that Best Candidate (Querari), an impressive winner over 2000m this week, is a Listed Java Stakes hopeful. “Craig Zackey thinks he will have no problem with the extra 400m.”
Madison County (Gimmethegreenlight) could line up in the Grade 3 Starling Stakes, while Sheriff Bill Brown (Buffalo Bill Cody) and Walkinginthewoods (One World), are two others to keep a close eye on.
A number of KwaZulu-Natal trainers will be competing with suitable runners, including Summveld trainer Louis Goosen, who has high hopes for his Grade 1 Premiers Champion Stakes winner, Erik Du Bois (Erik The Red).
Goosen has been allocated 14 boxes at Turffontein and is shaping his plans around adequate acclimatisation for his contenders. He said: “Nothing is cast in stone yet, but Erik Du Bois’ road to the Grade 1 HWB Cape Guineas will go via the Grade 2 Spring Challenge on 3 October or the Graham Beck Stakes on 31 October, into the Grade 2 Dingaans on Betway Summer Cup Day, depending on draws. A start in the Spring Challenge will be ideal.”
Goosen, who will have his friend and erstwhile stable jock Deon Sampson in charge at Turffontein, said that Smorgasbord (Twice Over) will be coming to Turffontein as Erik Du Bois’ companion, with sprinters Arverni Princess and Blazing Fury (Vercingetorix) others on his shortlist for feature participation.
Tim Woodruff hopes to bring Sohotsowhat (Soqrat) to Gauteng for the Grade 3 Carry On Alice Sprint, while Another Dream (Futura), could contest one of the minor staying features for fillies.
Adam Azzie’s Miss World (One World), who defeated Sohotsowhat in a handicap over 1200m at Hollywoodbets Scottsville recently, is another Carry On Alice hopeful.
The Eastern Cape’s leading trainers have not finalised their raiding plans yet, though Alan Greeff hopes to run Zinovi in the Charity Mile. The gelding by Heavenly Blue has won his last five starts in succession.
Kelly Mitchley’s champion filly Marchland (Malmoos), unbeaten in four, has a variety of options which she hopes will come to fruition during next year’s KZN Champion Season. These may or may not include a trip to Gauteng prior to the Grade 1 HWB Cape Fillies Guineas.
Dean Smith, already with 23 winners in the new season, said he’ll be looking mainly at the Juvenile features on the Highveld next autumn.
Also read Off The Record #137: Inside The Trainers’ Big-Race Plans