Jack Milner
South Africa celebrates Women’s Day on Tuesday and the meeting on the Standside track at Turffontein will pay tribute to some of the great ladies of the local turf.
All the races are named in honour of those women and Race 6 has been tagged the Jean Heming Novice Handicap over 1600m.
Heming was a remarkable trainer who, although controversial at times, had an outstanding record throughout her career and was one of the most popular trainers among the punting public.
Although only six runners are carded to go to post for this race it looks highly competitive and one could make a winning case for most of the participants.
But there was a lot to like about the comeback performance of Corapi in June after a short break and Paul Peter’s runner should have come on since then.
He raced in a Classified Stakes over 1450m on the Vaal Classic track and showed good pace throughout, staying on well to finish 1.50 lengths behind Quattro Passi. He does take a jump in class but with that comes a commensurate drop in weight.
The four-year-old son of Elusive Fort will also have the services of Muzi Yeni in the irons and that should improve his chances.
The main threat is likely to come from About To Storm who although not winning a race since his maiden in September last year, has been a consistent place-getter. That was until his last race where he lost four lengths at the start over this course and distance and was always last of the 11 runners.
Hopefully that tardiness at the start was just a one-off and if so, one can put a line through that performance. Johan Janse van Vuuren’s charge will also have to give 6.5kg to Corapi and that might not be an easy task, especially if he loses ground at the start.
Randall Simons takes the ride.
A very interesting runner is High Moon, who recently moved to Clinton Binda’s yard on the Highveld after starting his career with Candice Bass-Robinson in Cape Town. There were positive vibes emanating from the yard about this son of Silvano but for some reason he failed to live up to them.
Many of Silvano’s progeny take time to mature and with High Moon turning five on 1 August perhaps the best is yet to come from this gelding.
He had a decent enough first run for the Binda yard last month but he had a tough task drawn widest of the 13 runners in a MR 68 Handicap over 1450m on the Inside track at Turffontein. He was hopelessly placed turning into the straight but ran on well enough to finish 4.25 lengths behind Silly Fella.
This time he will jump from barrier No 2 and will enjoy the extra 150m and benefit from the more galloping course.
In-form Calvin Habib takes the ride.
Another runner to consider is St John Gray’s Wondering Star. He probably has the best exposed form over this course and distance with a second and a third place from his two runs.
The four-year-old Bezrin colt is handily weighted with just 53.5kg on his back.
Jack Milner’s selections
Race 1: 4 Silver Winter, 8 Nellie Bly, 5 Miss Soho, 6 Southern Style
Race 2: 10 Above The World, 5 Lebanese Pound, 8 Beltway, 1 Earl Of Cardigan
Race 3: 4 Far Away Winter, 2 Tuscan Winter, 6 Corvette Captain, 1 Whorly Whorly
Race 4: 3 Feather The Nest, 6 Baby Dont Hurt Me, 4 Twice As Wild, 9 Red Carpet Girl
Race 5: 7 Banha Bridge, 5 Pottinger, 1 The Brief, 4 Kool Baikal
Race 6: 3 Corapi, 1 About To Storm, 2 High Moon, 5 Wondering Star
Race 7: 6 Mcebisi, 3 Vanderbilt, 2 Eskimo Pie, 1 Duke Of Sussex
Race 8: 6 Silver Stardust, 3 Thambi, 9 Java House, 1 Ice Man Cometh
BEST BET
Race 3 No 4 Far Away Winter
VALUE BET
Race 4 No 3 Feather The Nest
BEST SWINGER
Race 3 2x4
BIPOT
R216
Leg 1: 4, 8
Leg 2: 1, 5, 8, 10
Leg 3: 4
Leg 4: 3, 4, 6
Leg 5: 1, 5, 7
Leg 6: 1, 2, 3
PLACE ACCUMULATOR
R216
Leg 1: 5, 8, 10
Leg 2: 4
Leg 3: 3, 6
Leg 4: 1, 5, 7
Leg 5: 1, 2, 3
Leg 6: 3, 6
Leg 7: 3, 6
PICK 6
R1200
Leg 1: 4
Leg 2: 3, 4, 6, 8, 9
Leg 3: 1, 2, 4, 5, 7
Leg 4: 1, 2, 3, 5
Leg 5: 1, 2, 3, 6
Leg 6: 3, 6, 9
JACKPOT 1
R400
Leg 1: 3, 4, 6, 8, 9
Leg 2: 1, 2, 4, 5, 7
Leg 3: 1, 2, 3, 5
Leg 4: 1, 2, 3, 6
JACKPOT 2
R240
Leg 1: 1, 2, 4, 5, 7
Leg 2: 1, 2, 3, 5
Leg 3: 1, 2, 3, 6
Leg 4: 3, 6, 9