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COMPETITION
hotting up
The Gold Circle Turfstar competition and the national Tipstar
competition are hotting up with some major changes in the top
tipster log while Canon Gold Cup winner, Highland Night,
retained his position as the leading point scorer on the star of
the turf log midway through November.
Gold Circle introduced both competitions at the beginning of
the current season, the Tipstar competition in conjunction with
Phumelela on all graded races in the country, and the Turfstar
competition on its own, confined to graded races run under its
banner. Major prizes are on offer for both competitions.
The Turfstar competition carries a massive prize of R450 000
for the owner of the horse earning the most points during the
season with the trainer of the winning horse receiving a healthy
R50 000. These cheques will be handed out on Canon Gold
Cup Day next year.
The original idea was for the competition to be run on a national
basis but the offer to take part was turned down by The Racing
Association in Gauteng. Gold Circle decided to go ahead and
run and finance the competition on its own and on graded races
under its banner in KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape.
Although a Gold Circle initiative, no horses are excluded. Horses
trained in regions outside of Gold Circle control are also eligible
and points are allocated irrespective of the type of race.
At the end of the season, the winner could be a sprinter, middle
distance runner or stayer. It will all depend on the number of
points earned.
For Grade 1 races there are 10 points for first, six for second
and four for third. In Grade 2 races the points earned are six,
four and two and for Grade 3 they are four, two and one.
At the middle of November, the Turfstar competition was wide
open and, while Highland Night retained his position at the
head with 10 points, Canon Gold Cup runner-up Amphitheatre,
Gold Bracelet winner Cruise Collection, Betting World Merchants
winner Honour The Guest and Odessa Stud Fillies Championship
winner, Philippa Johnson were all knocking on the door with
six points.
The picture is expected to change drastically over the next few
months as the graded races in the Western Cape summer season
are run.
The huge graded race programme during the KwaZulu-Natal
winter season could see even more changes providing another
exciting finish to the 2003-2004 season.
The Tipstar competition was launched to provide the public
with a guide to which tipster was the most successful in the
graded feature events.
The competition is run on Grade 1, Grade 2 and Grade 3 races
and applies to the first three past the post in those races with
points allocated relative to the finishing positions and the status
of the race. At the end of the season, the tipster earning the
most points will receive R60 000, second will be awarded
R30 000 and third R10 000.
The Daily News in Durban was the early leader in the competition
but at the time of going to press it was the Beeld’s Etienne Louw
who had taken a commanding lead with 46 points compared
to second-placed Johan Stassen of The Herald with 36 points.
The Phumelela Tipsters in Computaform held third place with
30 points, Lennon Maharaj as Bobby Bean in Top Turf was
fourth with 27 points and Harold Sterley of The Star fifth with
25 points.
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