Jack Milner: Trainer Paul Peter has a strong hand at Thursday’s Turffontein meeting on the Inside track, with bookmakers pricing up five of his runners as favourites.
Peter teamed up with jockey Warren Kennedy for a treble at Turffontein last Saturday and Kennedy is back in town in attempt to keep that good run rolling. He is chasing the championship title this year and has got off to an incredible start with 38 wins in August.
The best two on the card look to be Grimaldi in Race 5 and Val D’Orcia in Race 7, both with Kennedy up.
Grimaldi has taken a while to come to hand but this beautifully bred son of Dynasty out of brilliant Irish-bred mare Europa Point, has finally learned what the racing game is all about.
The formline in which he shed his maiden is quite strong while his victory last time out could not have been more impressive.
Racing over 1800m on the Standside track Grimaldi struck the front quite early in the straight and then extended away from the opposition to beat Willo’thewisp by 5.25 lengths.
The runner-up is back in this field and is now 4kg better off in this MR 74 Handicap over 1800m, but the manner in which Grimaldi put the field to bed indicates he still had something in hand if he needed it.
The only danger looks to be Peter’s other runner, Leading Lad, with Gavin Lerena in the irons.
Val D’Orcia was well-supported on debut and while he was a little shaky early on, he finally got the hang of things and won far easier than the 0.90 length margin indicates. He beat Slings And Arrows on that occasion and the runner-up came out to win last Saturday.
This MR 88 Handicap over 1450m is going to be a real test for the three-year-old Vercingetorix colt but he should love the extra distance and looks a top-class individual in the making. He also will have all the help necessary from the saddle.
Jack Miner’s selections
Race 1: 6 Sister Light, 1 Kissed By Fire, 2 Golden Aspen, 4 Queen Of The North
Race 2: 9 Zanetto, 8 Privilege, 3 Timbavati River, 6 Another Level
Race 3: 7 Prince Of Fire, 8 Winter Renegade, 5 Warrior Captain, 2 Kings Road
Race 4: 2 Captain Chorus, 4 Barak, 1 Category Four, 3 Super Handsome
Race 5: 1 Grimaldi, 3 Leading Lad, 9 Willo’Thewisp, 4 Fifth Of July
Race 6: 3 Prince Evlanoff, 6 Flying Bull, 1 Western Fort, 2 Foreign Field
Race 7: 7 Val D’Orcia, 4 Flying Grace, 3 War Jewel, 5 Funky Music
Race 8: 11 Bitter Wind, 7 Dark Travel, 10 Kapama, 2 Pomelo
BEST BET
Race 1 No 6 Sister Light
VALUE BET
Race 6 No 3 Prince Evlanoff
BEST SWINGER
Race 5 1×3
BIPOT
R144
Leg 1: 6
Leg 2: 3, 6, 8, 9
Leg 3: 5, 7, 8
Leg 4: 1, 2, 3, 4
Leg 5: 1
Leg 6: 1, 3, 6
PLACE ACCUMULATOR
R243
Leg 1: 3, 8, 9
Leg 2: 7
Leg 3: 1, 2, 4
Leg 4: 1
Leg 5: 1, 3, 6
Leg 6: 3, 4, 7
Leg 7: 7, 10, 11
PICK 6
R1875
Leg 1: 5, 7, 8
Leg 2: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6
Leg 3: 1
Leg 4: 1, 2, 3, 4 ,6
Leg 5: 2, 3, 4, 5, 7
Leg 6: 1, 2, 7, 10, 11
JACKPOT 1
R125
Leg 1: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6
Leg 2: 1
Leg 3: 1, 2, 3, 4 ,6
Leg 4: 2, 3, 4, 5, 7
JACKPOT 2
R125
Leg 1: 1
Leg 2: 1, 2, 3, 4 ,6
Leg 3: 2, 3, 4, 5, 7
Leg 4: 1, 2, 7, 10, 11