King takes a Trip To Africa

There has been 55mm of rain recorded over the course in the last seven days and at one stage they were considering other options if racing on the Greyville turf was not possible.

However, a decent day of sunshine on Saturday boosted confidence that the course would be fine to race on, so the meeting will go ahead as scheduled. However, the going is expected to be good to soft.

The Kings Cup is quite an interesting race and it might be worth going for a horse who could provide some value, and in this case that could be Trip To Africa.

The Duncan Howells-trained four-year-old is in good form currently and has a good record at this track and over this distance. In four starts over 1600m he has notched up two wins, a second and a third. There was also a lot to like about his last start, which was in a Pinnacle Stakes over this course and distance, where he ran second to well-weighted Crown Towers.

The Trippi gelding carries just 52.5kg and has regular rider, apprentice Thabiso Gumede, in the irons. As this is a feature race, however, he is unable to claim his 1.5kg allowance.

At the time of writing Trip To Africa was quoted at 12-1 and looks great eachway value.

Mount Anderson is another in good form and is well drawn at No 2. Dean Kannemeyer’s charge was beaten 5.75 lengths by Guru’s Pride last time but that was on the Polytrack. Back on the turf, and with a 3.5kg pull, that could be reversed.

Interestingly, Guru’s Pride has only placed once in four starts on this course.    

Vaughan Marshall saddles Silver Operator who has run against a lot better than he meets in this event. His last two starts were in the L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate and Cape Town Met respectively,  but his last win was over this distance.

The blinkers go on as does Anton Marcus, and he has been priced up 3-1 favourite. However, this will be his first run at Greyville and he could also be in need of the outing.

Also, please be aware that apprentice Kyle Strydom has ridden 40 winners and his allowance now drops to 1.5kg.

Jack Milner’s selections

Race 1: 9 Maestro Sonador, 2 Prince Of Taranto, 11 Tjoklit, 7 The Gaul

Race 2: 2 Captain Of Stealth, 7 Russian Rock, 6 Tread Swiftly, 4 Vista Nova

Race 3: 1 Secret Giver, 6 Coral Copy, 14 Decorated, 3 Mystery Boy

Race 4: 13 Top Me Up Holly, 7 Ana Noba, 8 Koopa Troopa, 11 Gypsy Magic

Race 5: 1 Flichity By Farr, 2 Share Holder, 7 Favour, 9 Merlin From Berlin

Race 6: 4 Silva Magic, 7 Jacqueline, 1 Preferential, 2 Third Runway

Race 7: 7 Trip To Africa, 2 Mount Anderson, 8 Silver Operator, 4 Tristful

Race 8: 6 After The Rain, 1 Sonjador, 14 Morse, 2 Silver Stardust

BEST BET

Race 3 No 1 Secret Giver

VALUE BET

Race 7 No 7 Trip To Africa

BEST SWINGER

Race 8 1×6

BIPOT

R108

Leg 1: 2, 9, 11

Leg 2: 2, 7

Leg 3: 1

Leg 4: 7, 13

Leg 5: 1, 2, 7

Leg 6: 1, 4, 7

PLACE ACCUMULATOR

R216

Leg 1: 2, 7

Leg 2: 1

Leg 3: 7, 13

Leg 4: 1, 2, 7

Leg 5: 1, 4, 7

Leg 6: 2, 7, 8

Leg 7: 1, 6

PICK 6

R750

Leg 1: 1

Leg 2: 7, 13

Leg 3: 1, 2, 7, 8, 9

Leg 4: 1, 2, 4, 7, 8

Leg 5: 2, 4, 6, 7, 8

Leg 6: 1, 6, 14

JACKPOT 1

R250

Leg 1: 7, 13

Leg 2: 1, 2, 7, 8, 9

Leg 3: 1, 2, 4, 7, 8

Leg 4: 2, 4, 6, 7, 8

JACKPOT 2

R375

Leg 1: 1, 2, 7, 8, 9

Leg 2: 1, 2, 4, 7, 8

Leg 3: 2, 4, 6, 7, 8

Leg 4: 1, 6, 14

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