Sensei Of Spin finds his rhythm

Sensei Of Spin won his maiden on his second trip to the races at Hollywoodbets Greyville on Sunday – a 1400m contest in which the stable felt he did almost everything wrong. That he still managed to quicken up and pull nicely clear of a well-fancied newcomer was encouraging.

Sensei Of Spin was nervous at the start, unsettled by another runner and had to be reloaded, but Callan Murray managed to get him away on reasonable terms and said: “I didn’t want to miss the break from our good gate. But he travelled too keenly and wanted to run out, and did a lot of things wrong.”

While impressed with the way Sensei Of Spin won, despite being green and above himself, Mike de Kock said his team will have to work on the gates and commented: “He is a bit tricky being by Hawwaam. To the starter’s credit, he was loaded late. He’s up on the scale, has put on muscle, looking good.”

Sensei Of Spin was named for Hollywood Racing by spin bowler Senuran Muthusamy, who was on duty for the Proteas against Australia at the weekend.

Devin Heffer of Hollywood Racing said: “Senuran is Durban-born. He played for the Hollywoodbets Dolphins for a long time but is now playing for the Warriors. He is part of the current Proteas Test squad and is 12th man for this Test match.

“Senuran loves his horse racing. He often comes to Hollywoodbets Greyville when he visits home but has also been seen attending racing at Fairview when he gets a gap. He is a really good guy and has invested his enthusiasm into this horse.”