#Sporting Post

Racing in the Western Cape reverts to the Southern Suburbs venue on Saturday where the Gr3 Cape Classic for three-year-olds over 1400m tops the nine-race card, with three minor features presenting some testing options. The Hollywoodbets Punters' Challenge has proven a hit since being introduced in the Cape and on Wednesday one desperately unlucky…

South Africa's world-class racecaller Alistair Cohen jets into Johannesburg today and was reflecting on a memorable six month professional adventure that exceeded his wildest expectations. Talking to the Sporting Post this past weekend, the Durbanite told how he had thoroughly enjoyed World Cup night and absorbed what is a rare experience in any…

Leon Smuts writes in the Sporting Post Mailbag that this is something that racing could also benefit from, especially given the many challenges faced and the difficulty of the road that will still have to be travelled. Over the last decade or so I have had the privilege of meeting individuals from all three of our racing regions and I have learned…

The plans for the future are very exciting and just may be the perfect answer to what we have all been looking for in growing the Sport of Kings in South Africa. Syndication is not new to horseracing, but has probably never fully been taken advantage of properly in South Africa. Most trainers have dabbled in it from time to time, but for some…

Approaching his seventieth birthday this year, and having suffered the ravages of various cancers over the past few years, internationally successful businessman and racehorse breeder Hassen Adams is considerably greyer and casts a slighter figure these days than the robustly charismatic owner with the mop of black hair that led Gerrit Schlechter…

Michael Jacobs writes in the Sporting Post Mailbag that the 4Racing strategy is clearly a work in progress, and needs far more finesse; particularly on the TV broadcast front and the customer experience. 4Racing and Cape Racing either need to decide to work together or move on, as Ashwin Reynolds said Cape stakeholders need to talk urgently! Cape…

Now 25, and happily married and settled in Hong Kong, Hewitson is the personification of persistence and courage in his third stint in the world-class racing jurisdiction. Hong Kong has always been a mountain South Africa's favourite son has been determined to scale, and even though he only has 12 winners on the board at a relatively humble strike…

As good as Sea Cottage and Horse Chestnut? That is hallowed turf that pundits are venturing onto in their assessment of a young horse called Charles Dickens. These are not racetrack BS artists, but respected people who know the game inside out - like Charles Faull, who described Charles Dickens's victory in a strong Allowance Plate at Kenilworth on…

A jockey, chartered accountant, published author, and better known to South African racing folk as a top-notch journalist, Michael Clower announced his retirement last week at the age of 76. We covered his background, which makes for interesting reading, some years ago - We asked Michael to give us a short recap of his time here and provide some of…

The final field for the 2022 R2 million Grade 1 Cape Town Met presented by World Sports Betting was unveiled at Kenilworth racecourse on Wednesday evening. A field of 11 runners will line up in the Cape flagship event on Saturday, 29 January, headed by the'people's horse' and 2021 Durban July winner Kommetdieding, who will bid to become the first…

Justin Snaith's Grade 1 Jonsson Workwear Cape Derby champion Pomp And Power has firmed into 14/1 in the ante-post betting for the Grade 1 Hollywoodbets Durban July to be contested at Hollywoodbets Greyville on Saturday, 2 July. The 2200m contest, billed as Africa's greatest horseracing event, has taken on a new dimension of intrigue with the news…

The head numbing announcement of the departure of newly-crowned SA Champion trainer Paul Peter earlier had more folk speculating on some wild rumours rather than concentrating on the racing. The National Horseracing Authority announcement, while clearly confined by legal constraints, confirming Peter handing in his licence was a classical trigger…

One of our staunchest racing men chirped on his Facebook page, earlier this week: So Monday came and no local racing. I went to the 3 operator's web sites to see if they have a message for me as a customer. Do I need to say? I imagined if Pick n Pay was to close for a day, there would be signs the week before, messages the day before, a sign on the…