Danie Toerien
Met Day is finally here on Saturday and punters can indulge in a betting frenzy of note.
With eight feature races contested at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth, three TAB carryovers, and ten races forming part of the Hong Kong Jockey Club World Pool, hundreds of millions of rand will be up for grabs in the world's biggest tote pools.
The main race, the Grade 1 World Sports Betting Cape Town Met over 2000m, sees reigning champion trainer Justin Snaith saddle six of the 11 runners.
He obviously holds all the Aces, specifically with See It Again, Eight On Eighteen, and Sail The Seas.
But it just might be Highveld raiding trainer Sean Tarry who has the Joker in Cosmic Speed.
This four-year-old gelded son of Querari has never gone beyond 1600m, but his last two runs in the Mother City - as well as his two runs at Hollywoodbets Greyville in KwaZulu-Natal at the end of last season - suggest that he is begging to go the extra.
All four the mentioned runs were over 1600m, but stepping up to 2000m this time round could well see him cause the upset of the season.
As the Met is a weight-for-age race, he is only at a 2.5kg weight disadvantage with best weighted Eight On Eighteen. But Tarry's runner has a few distinct advantages counting in his favour.
Firtsly, he is drawn in gate one, as opposed to gates 14 and 10 for his last two runs at Kenilworth respectively.
Secondly he has Gavin Lerena aboard, who is brimming with confidence after his heroic ride aboard One Stripe in the USA last weekend.
It must also be noted that Cosmic Speed had legitimate excuses in his last two Cape Town runs, as his penultimate was just a prep run after about five months off the track, while last time out he was cut into.
As far as the World Pool is concerned, bettors will know that commingled bet types offered are Win, Place, Quinella, Quinella Place (Swinger), and Forecast (Exacta).
These pools always run into millions, with the result that payouts are not as diluted as is the case with smaller pools.
To add even more excitement to the day's betting menu, TAB has boosted three pools with a total of R2-million.
The Pick 6 pool is boosted with one bar, with the final pool likely to exceed R7-million.
The Quartet pool on the main race gets a R500,000 boost and should top R2-million, while the third Jackpot is expected to reach R2-million thanks to a R500,000 carryover.
SELECTIONS:
Race 1: 4 St Harry, 1 Marseilles, 12 Champagne Castle, 7 Querari Dancer
Race 2: 2 World First, 1 Note To Self, 10 Wehaveasituation, 7 Eric Liddell
Race 3: 2 Magic Verse, 8 Holding Thumbs, 1 Zatara Magic, 4 Bournemouth
Race 4: 6 Miraculous, 14 Whirlwind, 2 Worldly, 1 Influence
Race 5: 12 Good For You, 14 All The Rage, 7 Elusive Winter, 1 The US Of A
Race 6: 14 Great Plains, 1 Tenango, 10 Snow Pilot, 13 Gallic Dream
Race 7: 10 Double Grand Slam, 3 Reet Petite, 2 Mon Petit Cherie, 8 Rainbow Lorikeet
Race 8: 1 Cosmic Speed, 10 See It Again, 2 Eight On Eighteen, 6 The Real Prince
Race 9: 2 Happy Verse, 4 Randolph Hearst, 7 Touched By Angels, 6 Fox On The Run
Race 10: 2 Princess Of Gaul, 10 Pink Pigeon, 5 Dame Of Trix, 4 Goodnessgraciousme
Race 11: 1 Queen Regent, 7 Swiatek, 3 Give Me Everything, 6 Lavender Bay
Race 12: 2 Foudre, 16 In A Timely Manner, 5 Blind Date, 11 Smarten Up
PICK 6: (R2,240)
Leg 1: 1, 2, 3, 6, 13, 14, 18
Leg 2: 1, 5, 7, 12, 14
Leg 3: 1, 14
Leg 4: 3, 10
Leg 5: 1, 2, 6, 10
Leg 6: 2, 4, 6, 7