Horse Racing Tips: Princess Calla to Return to Winning Ways Under Fourie

There’s plenty of fascinating horse racing feature action to look forward to this weekend from Turffontein and Greyville.

Turffontein (Saturday)

Race 1 – Pontiac

Pontiac comes into this race perfectly prepped after a strong second-place finish on debut. The son of What A Winter ran on powerfully and will relish the slight step up in trip. The horse that finished fifth in that race has come out to frank the form, suggesting that he does have a bit of class about him. Gavin Lerena retains the ride and should find himself in the winners’ enclosure.

Race 5 – Raratonga Rose

A tough Listed event is next up on the cards with Raratonga Rose standing out as the clear pick. She’s a progressive 3-year-old filly who has won three of her four runs over this distance, finishing second in her only other attempt. In-form jockey, Keagan De Melo, gets the reins once again and if suited to the Standside track, she could prove to be a banker for all exotic bets.

Race 6 – Gimme A Shot

Gimme A Shot is a filly taking on the boys but looks like the class of the race. She carries a suitable weight of just 53kgs and gets the services of JP van der Merwe again for the Mike and Adam Azzie yard. The daughter of Gimmethegreenlight is drawn widest of all but has the early gate speed to overcome that hurdle. She ran a great race in the Fillies Guineas and should come on from that run.

Race 7 – Princess Calla

Richard Fourie and Sean Tarry team up to bring home Princess Calla for Mr Ferreira. The 5-year-old mare finished strongly in a Grade 1 last time out in the Western Cape and will take plenty of encouragement from that run. She won her previous four races prior to that effort and should take a huge power of beating.

Greyville (Sunday)

Race 1 – Warrior of Royalty

The best bet on Sunday’s card comes in the opening race of the programme with Warrior of Royalty looking like the standout colt in this field. He finished a strong runner-up on debut over a bit further in Scottsville, and with the slight drop in trip, the 2-year-old son of Pathfork will take a power of beating.

Race 4 – Desert Rose

Desert Rose returns to KZN after raiding in the Western Cape, where she seemed to make vast improvement, winning one of her three races, and finishing runner-up in the other two. The daughter of Futura is yet to be unplaced over the 1400m distance and will be tough to oppose from a neat draw of barrier gate 4.

Race 5 – Sashay Away

The value bet of the day seems to come in Race 5 in the form of Sashay Away for the Peter Muscutt stable. She’s a filly taking on the boys but has the class and ability to surpass the challenge in front of her. Tristan Godden gets the mount once again and will hope to keep her handy around the turn and find a good rails run from an inside draw of gate 3.

Race 6 – Addiena

Addiena comes into the race in impeccable form, winning four of her last five starts. The daughter of Wylie Hall gets the services of Siphesphile Hlengwa who goes in search of a hat-trick of wins on board the 4-year-old filly. She has shown excellent work on the polytrack, and if she can emulate that form on the grass, the race will be over before you know it.