#Al Muthana

With Charles Dickens out of the equation, the WSB Met, scheduled for January 28, could end up being one of the best races of the season from a betting perspective. The sponsors of the grade 1 race, World Sports Betting, have Jet Dark (7-2) and Kommetdieding (4-1) at the top of the market. This column's advice - don't touch these prices, for the…

It may be more than a coincidence that both these crack 3yo's chose to challenge themselves in open company, before taking on the best of their own year. Tony Mincione writes that anyone wondering if Brett Crawford's young filly, the rated 85, was being over-faced in the Summer Bowl (a stepped handicap for Fillies and Mares which capped horses 110…

Jockey Bernard Fayd'Herbe's delight in winning Saturday's L'Ormarins King's Plate at Kenilworth was just a tad diminished when he copped a stinging R40000 fine for misusing his crop on 80-1 upset winner Al Muthana. It might be a record-high fine for a crop miscalculation and one wonders whether the stipendiary stewards were as shocked at everyone…

Lovely Ride wins Saturday's Pippin Stakes at Oaklawn Park Coady Photography, courtesy of Oaklawn Park Jan. 9 (UPI) -- Trainer Bob Baffert saddled the first three finishers in Sunday's $100000 Grade III Sham Stakes at Santa Anita, a "Road to the Kentucky Derby" race, while the other weekend qualifier went to a colt who might find the Derby distance…

While they come from different worlds, there are plenty of parallels between MK's Pride's owner Koos Nkale and Ashwin Reynolds, who races the well-beaten favourite Kommetdieding. Both come from humble beginnings and have become popular ambassadors for a sport struggling to reach a wider market and to transform. On the day, it was Koos Nkale's MK's…

We have five feature races at Turffontein on Saturday and the meeting is headlined by the Grade 1 World Sports Betting SA Derby over 2450m and the Grade1 Wilgerbosdrift HF Oppenheimer Horse Chestnut Stakes over 1600m. These two phenomenal races are backed up by the Grade 2 Wilgerbosdrift SA Oaks as well as the Grade 3 Man O' War Sprint and the…

The ante-post betting market for this year's Durban July is risk-averse, as they say in the financial pages. Jittery might be a better word, or perhaps poep -scared. Only one horse is quoted in single figures on the bookmakers' boards and remarkable value is for the taking among the 50-plus entries still in the race. The current favourite, at 8-1,…

Rain In Holland has been priced up at 1-3 to win Saturday's Wilgerbosdrift SA Oaks and capture the final leg of the Wilgerbosdrift Triple Tiara. The Grade 2 race over 2450m will be run on the Turffontein Standside track, along with the Grade 1 World Sports Betting SA Derby over the same distance and the Grade 1 Wilgerbosdrift HF Oppenheimer Horse…

There could be a sense of déjà vu at Greyville on Saturday. Nebraas and Jet Dark are poised to repeat memorable victories of 2021 - in the Gold Cup and Champions Cup respectively. These are just two of a host of important races on the card of the super fixture that rounds off the season. Nebraas is the reigning king of stayers and is heavily…