Jack Milner: There are a number of horses carded to run at Turffontein on Saturday who have been nominated to run in the Grade 1 Gauteng Summer Cup on Saturday 28 November.
Some are looking to book their places while others are trying to cement their positions.
While the nominations for the Peermont Emperors Palace Charity Mile only close on Monday 19 October, a number of trainers are preparing their charges for that Grade 2 race. The result is that we have some highly talented runners in action on the Inside track at Turffontein, many with different missions and at various degrees of fitness.
That makes life a little tricky for bettors so it could be worth relying on horses who have proven fitness.
Heading the meeting is Race 8, a Pinnacle Stakes over 1600m, and it is one of those events where many of the horses are carrying weights that closely mirror their merit ratings. Green Haze is the best-handicapped runner but just 2.5kg separates him from the Astrix and Fired Up, who on paper are the worst handicapped horses.
Of the nine entries, five of them have been nominated for the Summer Cup and with Pack Leader having raced yesterday, has been pulled out of this race.
One would imagine that Warrior’s Rest, Astrix and Fired Up are more likely candidates for the Charity Mile. Astrix came back from a break to win well last month over 1450m at this course and in doing so, gave 8kg to second-placed Nafoorah. The runner-up franked the form in his next start with an impressive victory over 1800m in a MR 88 Handicap on the Vaal Classic course.
Astrix was scheduled to run last week in the Grade 2 Joburg Spring Challenge but hurt his head on the starting gate and was withdrawn.
Word from the stable is that he has recovered from that setback and with Warren Kennedy up again, jumping from No 1 draw, Paul Peter’s charge could notch up a second successive win.
It should also be pointed out that although Astrix has yet to win over 1600m, he has won three of his four races at this course.
If Sean Tarry has Warrior’s Rest close to his best, the six-year-old What A Winter gelding has to be a lively runner. He ran a cracker in the Grade 1 Mercury Spring over 1200m at Greyville when staying on well to finish a 1.60-length second behind Van Halen on 29 August.
He might be in need of a run but it would be foolish to leave him out of any of the exotics.
Soldier On is not always at his best on this course but he is fit and does shoulder just 50kg, thanks to the 4kg claimed by Philasande Mxoli.
An interesting runner is Charles, who is a Summer Cup nominee. He will be having his first run for Mike de Kock but has disappointed on so many occasions that one would like to first see if he has improved since moving to the Highveld.
Jack Milner’s selections
Race 1: 11 Bold Allure, 2 Carolina Reaper, 3 Sergeant York, 4 Blue Eyes
Race 2: 5 Winters Power, 8 Aryaam, 1 Malvern, 2 Bitter Wind
Race 3: 12 David’s Palace, 1 Leading Lad, 10 Baymax, 6 Master Mariner
Race 4: 10 Fsquadron, 14 Wolffs World, 1 Nussply, 2 Fast Draw
Race 5: 3 Western Fort, 2 Factor Fifty, 1 Out Of Your League, 8 Barak
Race 6: 3 Captain Morisco, 4 Spanish Boy, 6 Var Aglow, 7 Holy Man
Race 7: 1 Tahitian Orana, 3 Wylie Wench, 7 Strada Statale, 2 Elusive Force
Race 8: 6 Astrix, 1 Warrior’s Rest, 8 Soldier On, 7 Charles
Race 9: 9 Ululate, 11 Somasonic, 8 Prospector, 6 Crank It Up
BEST BET
Race 6 No 3 Captain Morisco
VALUE BET
Race 8 No 6 Asterix
BEST SWINGER
Race 6 3×4
BIPOT
R180
Leg 1: 1, 2, 5, 8
Leg 2: 1, 10, 12
Leg 3: 10
Leg 4: 1, 2, 3, 8, 9
Leg 5: 3
Leg 6: 1, 3, 7
PLACE ACCUMULATOR
R216
Leg 1: 1, 10, 12
Leg 2: 10
Leg 3: 1, 2, 3, 8
Leg 4: 3
Leg 5: 1, 3, 7
Leg 6: 1, 6, 8
Leg 7: 9, 11
PICK 6
R1440
Leg 1: 10
Leg 2: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
Leg 3: 3
Leg 4: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Leg 5: 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8
Leg 6: 8, 9, 11
JACKPOT 1
R480
Leg 1: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
Leg 2: 3
Leg 3: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Leg 4: 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8
JACKPOT 2
R144
Leg 1: 3
Leg 2: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Leg 3: 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8
Leg 4: 8, 9, 11