A gold bet for punters at Greyville

Jack Milner

Occasionally one finds a contender where everything points it being a really good bet.

That is the case with Candice Dawson-trained Karoo Gold who lines up in a Maiden Plate over 1700m on the Polytrack at Hollywoodbets Greyville on Wednesday.

The three-year-old son of Ideal World has the strongest form in the field, he comes into the race as the best weighted runner by at least 3.5kg, he has a jockey up in Sereno Moodley who rode him last time and is in top form. Last time he did everything but win.

Karoo Gold would probably not even be lining up in this race had he not been bumped at the start and more importantly not brushed the rail in his last start. He probably would have won that event over 1800m on the Standside track at Turffontein if not for those incidents.

He only went down by lost the race at Turffontein by 0.25 lengths to To The Rescue, after setting a good pace.

The winner went on to run a close-up fifth behind highly regarded Marauding Horde in his next start while Volte Face, who was beaten 13.25 lengths in that race, went on to win his next start.

That was the second successive time Karoo Gold had finished runner-up as in his previous outing he was beaten 1.25 lengths by Atarime. That runner went on to finish third behind Marauding Horde in the Listed Betway Hawwaam Stakes over 2000m and then went on to contest the Grade 1 TAB SA Derby last Saturday.

The one unknown factor if the Polytrack, however, his running style gives one the impression it will be right up his alley.

In addition, only the well-backed 11-10 favourite managed to get to him while the third-placed runner finished another 4.25 lengths back.

Jack Milner’s selections

Race 1: 9 Doin' Time, 5 Noble Warrior, 4 Feather Dancer, 2 Cannatonic

Race 2: 5 Karoo Gold, 3 Rock Of Bismantova, 6 Fire Force, 1 Moon Harvest

Race 3: 2 Ancient World, 5 Flag Man, 6 Royal Swan Master, 1 Madison Valley

Race 4: 4 Purple Powahouse, 6 Ndaka, 1 Sakhala Is'Cathulo, 8 Cotton Ron

Race 5: 4 Zoombomber, 6 Eventidor, 7 Mr Pigalle, 3 Lou Lou The Legend

Race 6: 6 Brave Voyager, 1 Quick Star, 3 Ultra Quick, 2 Preemptive Strike

Race 7: 9 Knight Warrior, 7 Porfirio, 4 Imaginable, 2 One Irish Rover

Race 8: 2 Dollar A Dime, 9 Poursomesugaronme, 7 Umhlali, 3 Star Choice

BEST BET

Race 2 No 5 Karoo Gold

VALUE BET

Race 8 No 2 Dollar A Dime

BEST SWINGER

Race 5 4x6

BIPOT

R162

Leg 1: 4, 5, 9

Leg 2: 5

Leg 3: 2, 5, 6

Leg 4: 1, 4, 6

Leg 5: 4, 6

Leg 6: 1, 3, 6

PLACE ACCUMULATOR

R216

Leg 1: 5

Leg 2: 2, 5

Leg 3: 1, 4, 6

Leg 4: 4, 6

Leg 5: 1, 6

Leg 6: 4, 7, 9

Leg 7: 2, 7, 9

PICK 6

R1152

Leg 1: 2, 5, 6

Leg 2: 1, 4, 6, 8

Leg 3: 4, 6

Leg 4: 1, 2, 3, 6

Leg 5: 2, 4, 7, 9

Leg 6: 2, 7, 9

JACKPOT 1

R128

Leg 1: 1, 4, 6, 8

Leg 2: 4, 6

Leg 3: 1, 2, 3, 6

Leg 4: 2, 4, 7, 9

JACKPOT 2

R96

Leg 1: 4, 6

Leg 2: 1, 2, 3, 6

Leg 3: 2, 4, 7, 9

Leg 4: 2, 7, 9