Mark van Deventer  's Bio

Mark van Deventer has been refining his speed figures for thoroughbred racehorses over nearly 40 years. He has long been intrigued by the intellectual puzzle of form study. He uses the insights gained from time-based analysis to convey well-researched handicapping opinions. Mark worked as a TV presenter on the specialist racing channel Tellytrack, and still occasionally acts as a guest pundit doing eloquent previews and reviews on the various South African racing channels. Mark conducts popular podcasts on all Cape Town race meetings, building a reputation of integrity as an imaginative handicapper. He also writes extensively about the sport for Cape Racing and their media partners. With the wonders of technology, he follows the global racing scene from his Cape Town base. He lives there with his wife, Prof Edina Sinanovic who is an academic, and nineteen-year-old son, Max.

Kenilworth Racecourse – Track Analysis (Cape Town Met Day):

Kenilworth is the principal racecourse in Cape Town and all races are run on Turf. The Summer Track is used for the Cape Town Met Day and is 2800m in circumference with a 600m run-in. Races from 1000m to 1200m are run on a testing straight course which runs diagonally through the track. Races around the turn are run anti-clockwise.

This year, seven turf races from the Cape Town Met Day will be simulcast to Hong Kong.

Feature Race

G1 Cape Town Met (2000m)

The feature race, the G1 Cape Town Met, is over 2000m. There is a 600m back straight before reaching the turn. Jockeys tend to rush early to get a position going to the bend and from the 1200m, it seems to settle. The track is pretty level, but they do hit a bit of a dip between the 1800m to the 1600m. After that there is a fractional climb until it levels out at the 1200m, then it flattens out as they reach the finish. The only bend is 600m long and it is a gradual, wide turn. Draws are not that important over this distance, as horses drawn between gate 1 and gate 5 do not have a great advantage over the other barrier positions.

Other Races

Listed Olympic Duel Stakes & Class 4 Handicap (1200m)

For 1200m Olympic Duel Stakes and Class 4 Handicap, they are all run on the straight course which is undulating, rising and falling quite strongly, especially for the first 200m. After that it flattens out as they reach the finish. Most of the time there is no clear bias to the sprint track but that can change suddenly depending on rain, wind or track maintenance. Recently horses drawn towards the inside have been advantaged.

G1 HKJC World Pool Cape Flying Championship (1000m)

The route for 1000m G1 HKJC World Pool Cape Flying Championship is similar to 1200m.

G3 Politician Stakes (1800m)

For 1800m G3 Politician Stakes, there is a slight decline heading towards the turn of 600m from where it is quite even throughout. However, as there is just around 150m to 200m before they reach the turn, low number draws are somewhat helpful, but there is plenty of time to manoeuvre and find cover down the back straight.

Class 4 Handicap & Cape A Stakes (1400m)

The route for 1400m Class 4 Handicap and Cape A Stakes is similar to 1800m, but as there is a long back straight, inside draws are favoured.

As Cape Town stands on a peninsula, wind is often a massive factor in the Western Cape where Kenilworth located. However, its effect on racing depends on the direction from which it comes. If the wind is a southeaster, the jockeys tend to go to the inside but when it comes from the northwest, the outside is better.

Cape Town usually has a dry summer so the chances of rain affecting the going is highly unlikely.

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