Far End Pre-Training

20/05/2026

Congratulations to these 3 Far End graduates on an amazing run today at Greyville! 🙌🤩🐎

1st - Educator
2nd - Spirit Of Shimla
3rd - Prom Queen

Lovely to see much older and very recent graduates doing well in their careers. We are so proud to have given them the grounding that they deserved.

📷 Julia Marnewick

14/05/2026

Sheriff has had 2 wins in 4 starts and is still learning his craft! This graduate is quickly turning potential into results. That was an amazing run under jockey, Keagan De Melo. 🏇 🙌

Congratulations to trainer, Lucky Houdalakis Racing Stables ;breeder, Hemel ’N Aarde Stud; owners, ASSM Racing Syndicate (Nom: Mr A Chadha) & Wernars Family and all connections involved. 🤝

🇿🇦 14 May – Race 2🏇

⭐️ SHERIFF BILL BROWN (Buffalo Bill Cody – Tibouchina)
Owner(s): ASSM Racing Syndicate (Nom: Mr A Chadha) & Wernars Family
Breeder: Hemel ’N Aarde Stud
Trainer: Lucky Houdalakis
Jockey: Keagan de Melo

13/05/2026

Mornings like this feel like poetry. 🌥️

02/05/2026

What a confident run by this Far End graduate! He gave them a head start then took it all back and brought it home for trainer, Alan Greef. 🙌🐎

Brilliant ride by jockey, Richard Fourie. 🏇

Congratulations to owners, Messrs D Yutar, G L Blank, G Piha, Ross Kieswetter, R L Gabler, Mesdames C L Gabler, Amanda Carey, Mr & Mrs D L A Matthews; breeder, Maine Chance Farms and all connections involved. 🤝

🇿🇦 1 May – Race 2 🏇🏼

⭐️ SLIVER OF SUNSHINE (Gimmethegreenlight - Silver Mountain)
Owner: Messrs D Yutar, G L Blank, G Piha, Ross Kieswetter, R L Gabler, Mesdames C L Gabler, Amanda Carey, Mr & Mrs D L A Matthews
Breeder: Maine Chance Farms (Pty) Ltd
Trainer: Alan Greeff
Jockey: Richard Fourie

26/04/2026

A once shy filly now beams of confidence and today she let it shine! The moment she got out those pens she owned the race from start to finish and brought it home for trainer, Tony Rivalland! 🐎🤩

A fantastic ride by jockey, Mxolisi Mbuto. 🏇

Congratulations to owners, Messrs Ashley Doolun, Ajay Doolun, A Espitalier- Noel, K B Sanhye & Mrs M A C Doolun; breeder, Clifton Stud and all connections involved. 🤝

26/04/2026

What a lovely shout out from trainer, Tony Rivalland! Thank you so much! We are so happy to see 2025 graduate, Thyme to Talk doing so well in her racing career. We wish her many more wins!

A huge congratulations to her owners, Messrs Ashley Doolun, Ajay Doolun, A Espitalier- Noel, K B Sanhye & Mrs M A C Doolun; breeder, Clifton Stuf and all connections involved. 🤝🐎

24/04/2026

This beautiful girl graduated with us last year and today she delivered in style! She jumped with confidence, took control early, and led all the way home — a truly effortless first victory under jockey, Craig Zackey. 🏇

We couldn’t be more proud! 🤩

Congratulations to trainer, Dean Kannemeyer - Dean Kannemeyer Racing ;owners, Messrs WA Irvine & PJ Moor; breeder, Al Adiyaat and all connections involved! 🤝

23/04/2026

Good to see 2 of our recent graduates, Jan Van Goyen & Viva’s Liberte! 🐎🤩🙌

First Entries are live! But what does that mean? If you’re attending the Hollywoodbets Durban July and you’re not sure of the significance of First Entries, we’ve got you. Here’s an explainer of how we get from here, to race day…

First Entries are simply throwing your hat in the ring. Trainers from across the country put forward which horses in their stables they feel could be competitors in the Hollywoodbets Durban July main race. The list can be quite long, as we have so many excellent horses in South Africa.

After Entries, we get First Declarations. From the list created at Entries, trainers now confirm if they think their horse will be a viable competitor, and they formally enter their horse into contention. This is like a nomination.

As the season progresses, these horses will take part in various race days and all their stats, figures and performances taken into account. This is where we may come across “scratchings”, as trainers withdraw their nominees from the list for various reasons.

There will be a second round of Entries and Declarations as the list becomes shorter over the season, until we get to the Final Declarations. These will be the horses that have performed the best and most consistently over the season, whose trainers believe they are real contenders for the main race. This list goes to a panel of judges who will then assess their season, their stats and figures (weight, age, performances etc) and decide if they make the cut.

This final cut is called the Final Fields, and THESE are the horses who will run the main race on 4 July. We have a whole Champions Season ahead of us in KZN, but the is never far from mind as horses and trainers work to ensure they’re in the starting stalls at the richest race in Africa.

23/04/2026

Congratulations to this Far End graduate and all winning connections! 🐎🤩

🇿🇦 23 April – Race 8 🏇🏼

⭐️ HAT FURIOUS (Hat Puntano - Heaven’s Duel)
Owner: Mr J Apfel
Breeder: Mr Jaime & Mrs Mariza Vilela
Trainer: Erico Verdonese
Jockey: *Mxolisi Mbuto

20/04/2026

This past week has been nothing short of amazing!
The catalogues were studied and all roads led to the 2026 National Yearlings Sale.

After a very successful auction, we welcome some of the beautiful babies to our yard! We look forward to yet another successful pre-training season where we will produce quality graduates and champions. 🤩

A huge congratulations and thank you to all our clients who continue to support us and trust that we will give their babies the grounding that they deserve. 🐎

Song: Country Girl (In the style of Luke Bryan) (Instrumental Version - The Karaoke Studio)