Keagan De Melo, who just missed the 200-winner mark last season, is off to a good start in the 22/23 term having ridden 10 winners in the first few weeks of August for a 16% winning strike rate.
De Melo, who’ll be chasing Warren Kennedy’s National Title, has a number of mounts with chances at the weekend meetings scheduled for
Scottsville on Saturday and Kenilworth on Sunday.
De Melo’s mount Over and Ice (Race 4, 1400m), made marked improvement when fourth to Wiccan Warrior at the Pietermaritzburg track last month and looks about ready to challenge for a winner’s prize, but he can expect opposition from Gareth van Zyl’s runner Money Heist and first-timer Agamemnon, trained by Peter Muscutt.
Van Zyl said: “I’ll be asking jockey Muzi Yeni to get in front of a few from a bad draw. He hasn’t showed the natural speed to do that, so we’ll hope for a good pace. It will be a few months before he comes into his own, but he has no issues and he’s fit, so we have a chance.”
Muscutt said: “I’m happy with Agamemnon heading in, we can look forward to an encouraging debut, he will improve.”
In Race 6, De Melo rides Master To Be for Mark Dixon and this one has a ready chance of getting the spoils as he enjoys 1600m and comes into the race off an eye-catching third to highly regarded Rich and Famous.
Coin Spinner (Race 7) has won four times at Scottsville, though he will line up in the most competitive sprint of the weekend in which Garth Puller’s Captain Fontane and Andre Nel’s Aqua Bolt are other contenders with good high-level form.
Sunday’s Kenilworth card presents four good winning prospects and De Melo will be looking forward to the latter part of the afternoon with opportunities in Races 5, 6, 7 and 8.
Top Quality (Race 5), is one of the up-and-coming three-year-olds in Justin Snaith stable. He has shown a liking for 2400m recently, but his earlier form suggests he is more than capable of winning this Middle Stakes over 1800m.
Navy Strength (Race 6) is another who could be at best over long distances but he won his Maiden over 1600m and has more in the tank. His biggest threat is likely to come from stablemate Steinbeck, another on the upgrade and racing off the same merit mark.
Snaith’s Inara’s Dynasty (Race 7), never came off the bit in her Maiden success and on that will be all the rage to follow up. Brett Crawford’s Time Flies, a winner at the course and distance, could pose a threat.
There are at least six runners with chances in Race 8 over 1400m, including Ponte Vecchio, Soft Touch and Tuscany, but De Melo’s mount Dreamt I Could Fly presents arguably the best value. She is beautifully-bred and if she has the ability to match that pedigree, she’ll start to show some of it now as her trainer Dean Kannemeyer brings them to hand patiently and she’s made steady progress in her three runs thus far.
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Sandwiched in between is a Saturday meeting at Kenilworth at which it is interesting to note that top jockey Smanga Khumalo has taken three rides for Candice Bass-Robinson in the absence of her stable jockey, Aldo Domeyer. The stable’s Gold Poker Game is a leading contender in Race 2 over 1200m and On The Road Again tries 1000m in Race 7 and could spring a surprise.
Justin Snaith’s colt Future Turn, narrowly beaten in his last two, will be hard to oppose in Race 4 over 1600m and should come to light as a banker for the exotics.
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