Royal Raceday

The World Sports Betting Champion5hips continues on Saturday 15 April with the Royal Race Day, headlined by the R1 250 000 HSH Princess Charlene Empress Club Stakes (Grade 1), as well as the Racehorse Owners Association’s R300 000 Monaco Sport of Kings Charity Maiden Sprint.

The Royal Raceday, in honour of Princess Charlene of Monaco, set to thrill and entertain with quality racing, Best Dressed prizes and support for charity at the heart of fantastic event.It will be a Royal Raceday in every sense on and off the track this Saturday 15 April as Turffontein Racecourse hosts a special raceday sponsored by Her Serene Highness, Princess Charlene of Monaco.

It will be a raceday when the grandeur of the famous sovereign Principality on the French Riviera meets the warmth and hospitality of the Johannesburg South, with plenty to entertain punters and racegoers keen to dress up and have a good time.At the volWith its ‘Roaring 1920’s Great Gatsby’ theme racegoers are encouraged to dress up at Turffontein this weekend, with R15 000 on offer in the Best Dressed competition.

The winner of the Best Dressed prize will walk away with R7 000, the runner up will get R5 000 and third place will win R3 000, so there is good reason to dress to impress at Turffontein on Saturday.Dress in your Great Gatsby best and be on course between 14h30 and 14h45 in the front parade ring for the selection of the Best Dressed competition winners on the day.

While Princess Charlene’s Monaco touch undoubtedly brings plenty of glitz and pizzazz to the event, the raceday will as always focus on giving back to charities and supporting the Turffontein community and its surrounds where the popular day is held annually.

The Royal Raceday is staged by the Racehorse Owners Association (ROA), supported by 4Racing, and is passionately driven by Princess Charlene’s father, Mike Wittstock.

The major beneficiary charity from the Royal Raceday this year will be The Earth Centre in Ruimsig, which provides equine therapy with its horses in supporting the disabled, vulnerable and the disadvantaged and which partners with 11 special needs schools in Gauteng.

Other charities that will benefit from the proceeds of the Royal Raceday are the Hamlet School for intellectually disabled children and their families and the United Cerebral Palsy Association of South Africa – which are both in close proximity to the Turffontein Racecourse.

So, it’s a meaningful fun day at the track and a serious raceday for punters too, headlined by the Grade 1 R1.25 million HSH Princess Charlene Empress Club Stakes. It will be a compact, but high-quality competitive field for the main race, with the likes of Majorca Stakes winner Desert Miracle, Gimme A Shot, Feather Boa, Miss Daisy and Under Your Spell all in contention for the day’s major honours.

There will be a bumper 18-horse field of maidens lining up in the R300 000 Monaco Sport of Kings Charity Maiden Sprint over 1160m, which is a popular addition to Royal Raceday.

The Maiden Sprint had unique entry conditions aimed at giving as many owners of maidens as possible a chance at winning. The race is open to all maidens which have run at least three times and allowed for one horse per trainer at ballot stage until a maximum field of 18 was drawn – giving smaller stables a chance to get a runner into the race.

While Princess Charlene herself will unfortunately not be at Turffontein this year, the Monaco Sport of Kings group of businessmen from the Principality will be in attendance to support the Royal Raceday.“This day is not an ordinary horseracing event on the Highveld, this event has a special purpose which is particularly close to the hearts of HSH Princess Charlene, as well as the Monaco Sport of Kings group. While the Royal Raceday has traditionally been one where the thrill of the race and the glamour of the occasion has been showcased, the event is also about giving back to the community.

It is about bringing people together, creating a sense of community and using the excitement of the races to make a positive impact on the area surrounding Turffontein Racecourse,” said Racehorse Owners Association CEO, Natalie Turner.

Entry to the Royal Raceday is absolutely free and hospitality packages are available by calling 011 681 1796 or emailing khanyal@4racing.com.

Just by rocking up and looking Gatsby’ish one will stand a very good chance in a small crowd of collecting R15k.


Sent from my Ferrari using Tapatalk

Maybe it's only ABC that are late with promotion and marketing but it's only a few days away.

Hope I am wrong and they get a decent crowd ?

Race 1 Royal Summons. - a good omen

First double :-

Barbaresco, some betting support and a pull at the weights, if half decent will go close.

Red Hot Rose, does have good gate speed and the higher draw up the straight. If not falling too far off Woman Of Fame, will run her down.

COMPUTAFORM az-pgl-dsi-ag-cdn-aztabstorage.4racing.c...DSIDE@2023.04.15.pdf

Empress Club Stakes

I can’t say it’s with huge conviction, but I’ve decided to make my play for today around dutching #’s 5 GIMME A SHOT and 6 FEATHER BOA.

A 3 yr old hasn’t won this race since Majmu last did it in 2015 (The 3 yr old Along Came Polly won in 2014 too), but I think they’ll get it right this time.

#1 DESERT MIRACLE was impressive in winning the Majorca over 1600m at Kenilworth in January. It’s not impossible that she does in fact get the trip now as a 4 yr old, but I think she was flattered by beating a by then past-her-best Captain’s Ransom (subsequently retired after being beaten again by a much weaker filly in her next start). For me there's no ways so an MR 124. DESERT MIRACLE has always shown high class ability, but as a 3 yr old this trip stretched her stamina and until she categorically proves to me that she gets 1600m at this stiff track I’m prepared to oppose her as the Fav, so I’M AGAINST HER.

#2 UNDER YOUR SPELL was 2nd in this race last year as a 3 yr old and she isn’t dismissed lightly. However, even though she only gives GIMME A SHOT 2,5kgs now as opposed to the 8kgs she gave her when beaten 3,5L in the Ipi Tombe in November, GAS will have made up for that weight difference with nearly 5 months of WFA improvement. Watching the replay of the Horse Chestnut Stakes, GIMME A SHOT looked to clearly have the measure of UNDER YOUR SPELL coming through the 300m mark, but then she got badly squeezed and had to be heavily eased. At the same weight terms, I don’t think UYS will beat her today, so I’M AGAINST UNDER YOUR SPELL

#’S 3 HUMDINGER and 4 MARIGOLD HOTEL look to be the two setting the fractions here, but I don’t think either will be able to hold out FEATHER BOA now that they go 1600m, despite finishing in front of her last time. HUMDINGER in particular looks vulnerable at this trip.

#7 MISS DAISY has beaten GIMME A SHOT and FEATHER BOA previously, but this trip has to be a concern and she’s been below best for her last few runs.

So all of that leads to the ‘DUTCH’.

I’m not finding it easy to seperate #5 GIMME A SHOT and #6 FEATHER BOA, as they’ve met on 3 occasions and very little actually seperates them. Both comfortably get the 1600m. GIMME A SHOT has a tendency to hang and is sometimes slow away, so in the end I’ve decided to make FEATHER BOA a slightly bigger winner for me and she’s 1st choice.

Race 1 - BARBARESCO
Race 2 - RED HOT ROSE
Race 3 - IRON SKY
Race 8 - FEATHER BOA