Contenders for a share of the R100 000 prize in the Tipstar competition
have entered the final straight with just 24 of the 99 graded races
still to be run and indications are it will go down to the wire.
The country’s leading Print Media tipsters are competing in the
competition, which is run by Gold Circle and Phumelela. Points are
allocated in accordance with the success of their selections in
the country’s graded races.
At the end of May 75 of the qualifying races had been run throughout
the country and the Phumelela Tipsters from the Citizen's Racing
Express were still in command with a lead of 33 points over the
Gold Circle Official Racecard tipsters in second place.
The points tally is a lot closer among the next group with a lot
of jostling for position and with four graded races being run this
weekend a whole new picture could emerge.
The R100 000 prize will be split between the three tipsters accumulating
the most points at the end of the season - July 31, 2004. The prizes
are as follows:
First place - R60 000
Second place - R30 000
Third place - R10 000.
At the end of April it was Johan Stassen of The Herald that was
the main challenger to the Phumelela Tipsters with Etienne Louw
of Beeld in a striking position. However, they have slipped back
a little in the running as the Gold Circle Tipsters stormed through
during May to become the main challengers. However the biggest scorer
for the month of May was Chad Cooke, Daily News, scoring a massive
98 points.
The positions at the end of May are:
1
Phumelela Tipsters - The Citizen
254
2
Gold Circle Tipsters
221
3
Top Turf - Bobby Bean (Monty Mariemuthoo)
216
4
Pretoria News - Damian Paterson
214
5
The Herald - Johan Stassen
212
6
Daily News - Chad Cooke
207
7
The Mercury - Richard McMillan
205
8
Beeld - Etienne Louw
204
9
Illanga - Chris Ntuli
203
10
Natal Witness - Andrew Harrison
194
11
Phumelela Tipsters - Computaform
188
12
The Star - Harold Sterley
180
13
UmAfrica - Gonondo Omplophe (Des Cooney)
174
14
Superform - Clocker Riley (Eric Beyleveld)
165
Winning Form - Magic Lips (Matthew Lips)
165
16
Daily Sun - Ronald Madikane
147
17
Sowetan - Lionel Derbyshire
121
