This year’s Charity Turf Challenge sponsored by Track & Ball Gaming kicks off on “The Independent On Saturday” Drill Hall Stakes Day, Friday 3 May, and finishes on Saturday 27 July headlined by the Gr3 eLan Gold Cup with a supporting cast of top races featuring four Gr1 events.
Flashback to 2015 Drill Hall Stakes action – Ice Machine wins
For those who are trying the competition for the first time, the aim of the Charity Turf Challenge is to select a team of 12 horses (only the top ten point scorers count) you feel are most likely to score points during the official period of the Champions Season. Whilst the emphasis remains on the feature races run in KZN, ALL winners throughout the country will be eligible to earn points.
This is of particular importance as Turffontein’s big day on 4 May is obviously included in the competition, so make sure you pay attention to the big guns, especially those that are likely to feature in the KZN Champions Season as well. Historically, the Winter Series in Cape Town has also proven fruitful for those who found emerging stars like Marinaresco, African Night Sky and last year’s Winter Classic winner, Rainbow Bridge. So, the horse list compiled by Racing South Africa does include better rated horses that are domiciled outside of KZN.
To put the importance of the opening weekend at Greyville and Turffontein into perspective, there are a whopping 323 points on offer to kickstart the competition!
The entry form with the full list of horses can be found by downloading the pdf here
Undercover Agent runs in the Drill Hall Stakes
A glance at the ante-post betting shows that the “Independent On Saturday” Drill hall Stakes could have a mouth-watering line-up including Do It Again, Rainbow Bridge, Undercover Agent and three year old, Cirillo, if the last mentioned avoids another clash with Soqrat, the short priced favorite in the KRA Guineas. In the fillies version, Durbanites have Front And Centre to look forward to in what looks to be a really competitive sector with the likes of Temple Graffin, Nafaayes, Santa Clara and Running Brave featuring prominently in the betting.
In Joburg, the racing world eagerly awaits the comeback of Hawaam, who is priced up at the prohibitive odds of 7/10 with his stable companions, Soqrat and Barahin other possible contenders.
The Computaform Sprint looks wide open this year, but last year’s winner, Attenborough, made a pleasing comeback and seems to love the Turffontein five furlong trip.
Computaform Sprint winner Attenborough
For those looking to take home points from the Stayers division, the Gr3 Gold Bowl line-up could include the classy, Sunshine Silk, so impressive when stepped up in trip for the Geoff Woodruff team last time. In the Gerald Rosenberg, its hard to look past the tough Oaks winner, Return Flight, who gave her sire, Pomodoro, his first Gr1 last year and is sure to compete in the upcoming three year old fillies races in KZN like the Woolavington Stakes. The Camellia Stakes is nicely placed in the calendar and is a logical stepping stone to the Gr1 SA Fillies Sprint run at Scottsville on 25 May. The improved, Schippers and San Fermin, are likely runners in both events.
Final fields for the opening meeting will be announced on Monday 29 April which gives players ample time to study the runners and select their teams.
As a reminder, the following INCENTIVES are available:
FREE BONUS entry for every 5 entries submitted for ONLINE users (i.e. the sixth entry is free)
Track & Ball Gaming, is offering ALL CTC entrants a betting credit worth R200 added to their next deposit (minimum deposit of R50) online. For more information about this promotion, please contact the Track And Ball team directly on: 031 314 1969 or email: [email protected] or visit the website: www.trackandball.co.za
TabGold is again kindly sponsoring R10 000 worth of betting vouchers for the ever-popular weekly draw
Watch the press for more details!
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