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HORSE RACING
SUMMER SAMBA TIME!
Ashburton - Gold Circle's best kept secret
I’ve always had the unintentional impression that Ashburton was the training equivalent of Scottsville racing, a backwater bumpy goat path where country bumpkin trainers rough it for a living. So when I arrived there for the first time on Thursday morning, I was stunned to find what can only be described as Gold Circle’s best kept secret! This is the training paradise fairy tales are made of, an awesome facility nestled in game-country on pancake flat land and with clear views of the entire uninterrupted circular training tracks. It's a superbly designed and maintained facility, right from stable layout to tracks and the under-surface entry/exit chute for horses (and cars). There’s no traffic problems here and the frenetic bustle of Summerveld is clearly absent. The ambience alone is worthy of poetic elaboration and this place rates as a ‘must see’ for all racehorse owners - make the trip out there you won’t be disappointed.
Ashburton Thurs morning : Observe the signs or get shafted
Impala are regular visitors to the training tracks and have no qualms about chillin’ to watch the thoroughbred workouts
Summer Samba
With Met day looming large next weekend, punters will no doubt be diving headlong in for a betting frenzy.. for now though, here's a sober dose of Scottsville ‘Summer Samba’ so save your money for Sunday and strike the cert!
The picture does Summer Samba no justice, in-stride she personifies rear wheel drive kick-ass speed and power. I was on course for her last start and the canter past alone justified this trip to Ashburton to find out how she’s doing for her contest at Sunday. She’s back to 1200m after bumping a promising filly over 1400m at Clairwood last time out and coming off second best, this time its highly unlikely to happen again lest there be another joker in the pack.
Duncan Howells in his office
I spoke to trainer Duncan Howells to get the latest and he’s full of confidence for a win. He rates this filly highly and says she shows plenty at home. Jock feedback is that she was green in her last start and hesitated to take the gap through at a crucial stage, will be better over a sprint.
Since I’ve taken a short break from racing it would be perilous to play the pied piper and proclaim a certainty in Summer Samba, yet a juicy wager (currently available at 5/2) does strongly beckon and my money will be on the nose unless the track conditions are heavy on the day.
Apprentice Jonathan Soll rode 2 winners on Wednesday at Clairwood
How’s this for the usual freaky-racing twist : J. Soll and D. Howells are the only two racing personalities that I photographed whilst up at Ashburton on Thursday and check out their stats : J. Soll currently 3rd on the KZN apprentice jockeys’ log with 10 wins from 82 rides (12% strike rate). Duncan Howells also currently 3rd on the KZN trainers’ log with 19 wins from 157 runners, and a strike rate of wait for it - 12%!
Ashburton Clubhouse
The Ashburton clubhouse is leased out to private management and caters for those who like their fluids flammable. This is a dual purpose hangout, a place for trainers in the morning to pop in for a chow, and a farmers’ jol at night to set the weekends alight.
Interbet goes live with new look
Interbet has gone live with their new look website and now display form and jockey names on the betting page. This is accessible by placing your mouse pointer over the horse name (available after 10am on race days).
Also imminent is the launch of yet another innovation by the industry leaders; the facility to wager bets direct with the tote from the Interbet website using funds from one’s Interbet account. Development is complete and waits upon tote license approval. Watch this space.
Looking ahead to the Met and the Interbet exchange is (as of Friday morning) trading at a 16% profit margin against the market retail of 32%. By raceday it will drop further to between 3% and 10% for even more value but this doesn’t mean there’s no decent bets available now. Considering the huge interest expected in Pocket Power’s historic attempt at 3 consecutive Met victories, he may well end up deeper in the red when Joe Public turbo-charges turnover to mate in celebrations. Current price on Interbet 19/20 – will it last? Last year Interbet facilitated trade of over R1 million on Pocket Power and it’s going to be interesting to see what goes through this year. Watch it all unfold at
www.interbet.co.za
Weather Forecast Scottsville Sunday 25-01-09 (
www.weathersa.co.za
) Accuracy 90% Partly cloudy, 30% PM thunderstorms Wind NE 5 knots Temp max 34°c min 20°c
