Eastern Cape heavyweights Gavin Smith and Alan Greeff are set to become the first trainers to saddle 100 winners in the current South African season.
Henk Steenkamp writes on behalf of Nelson Mandela Bay Racing that the Hollywoodbets -sponsored Smith is on 99 winners and Greeff is on 96.
Gavin Smith – enjoying another good season (Pic – Pauline Herman)
It will be interesting to see if they can get to 100 winners at today’s Fairview Polytrack meeting.
Both stables are in fine form and both trainers will saddle 16 runners each on Friday.
Going into the last quarter of the season, all indications are that the race for the East Cape champion trainers title will again be a very close race between Smith and Greeff.
Last season it went down to the very last meeting when Smith retained his title with 126 winners for the season. Greeff ended with 121 winners.
Greeff’s best season was in 2019 when he saddled 176 winners. This is the East Cape record and looks safe for now.
Smith’s best season was 150 winners in 2007.
Today’s meeting starts at 12h25.
Most winners this season – as at 25 April:
Trainers:
- Gavin Smith 99
- Alan Greeff 96
- Kelly Mitchley 55
- Sharon Kotzen 25
- Tara Laing 17
Jockeys:
- Richard Fourie 85
- S’manga Khumalo 47
- Luyolo Mxothwa 38
- Muzi Yeni 38
- Dennis Schwarz 15
