Jack Milner
With three weeks left of the current season, jockey Warren Kennedy could take his family on holiday right now in the knowledge he has his second National Jockeys’ Championship well and truly locked up.
Kennedy, with 255 winners, is 69 clear of second-placed Richard Fourie, who in turn is just five ahead of Keagan de Melo.
But Kennedy is still looking to extend that lead further and on Saturday he will travel to Turffontein to ride predominantly for Paul Peter. They have been quite a team, as Peter looks well on his way to his first Champion Trainer’s title. He holds a R2.4-million lead over Justin Snaith. He also is on course to set a record for the number of winners (216) in a season, held by Sean Tarry.
Neither is resting on his laurels and Peter has 15 runners on the nine-race card, seven of whom will be ridden by Kennedy.
Perhaps their best could be Anne Boleyn in Race 8, a MR 95 Handicap for fillies and mares over 1400m. Like so many handicaps for fillies, it is highly competitive, but she does have form to win a race of this nature.
Two runs back, the daughter of Duke Of Marmalade defied odds of 16-1 to win a Pinnacle Stakes over this course and distance. Kennedy rode her on that occasion and overall, he has a very decent record on this five-year-old mare. He has ridden her 11 times for three wins and four places and from No 1 draw over a course and distance where inside barrier positions are important, that is an added advantage.
In that last race Anne Boleyn finished 2.25 lengths ahead of Mill Queen who was on Friday scratched from this race.
An interesting runner is Brett Webber-trained Lucy In the Sky. She won her last race over 1450m on the Vaal Inside track and has Gavin Lerena back on board. Although the official margin was just 0.50 lengths, the manner of the victory was a lot more impressive than the margin suggests.
There look to be two good bets earlier on the card and a TAB double could be the way to go in Races 3 and 4 with Love Me Again and Arilena respectively. Both have only raced once but impressed enough on those debut runs to indicate victory is not far off.
Love Me Again is trained by Paul Peter and the two-year-old son of Captain Of All found betting support to shorten from 16-1 to 6-1 in a race where stablemate Williamthefighter went off favourite.
He raced greenly early on but came on strongly over the final 400m to go down just a head to Captain Persia. That race was around the turn on the Inside track which is not easy for first-timers, so this colt may enjoy racing over 1160m up the straight this time.
Warren Kennedy takes the ride this time.
Arilena is a daughter of Silvano trained by Mike and Adam Azzie and she also founded support at longer odds when she ran over 1160m at Turffontein last month. She shortened from 25-2 into 15-2 and in her case, she jumped out well and led the field for much of the journey only to be snared close home by Sean Tarry-trained Antigua Night.
She will have benefitted from the run and looks ready to win this Maiden Plate for fillies and mares over the same course and distance. S’manga Khumalo takes the ride.
Jack Milner’s selections
Race 1: 7 Intoxicating, 2 Quantum Theory, 1 Acorn, 4 Home Of The Brave
Race 2: 3 None Other, 1 Barmaid, 4 Trentino, 6 Light Of Day
Race 3: 8 Love Me Again, 5 Burgess, 10 Run For Cover, 7 Ignatius
Race 4: 2 Arilena, 8 Madame Vicki, 1 La Banquiere, 4 Tsitsikamma Pearl
Race 5: 5 Integrate, 6 Written In Stone, 16 Irrevocable Dream, 3 Phinda Mzala
Race 6: 1 Casa Inverno, 4 It's About Time, 2 Kwite A Trip, 5 Goliath Heron
Race 7: 2 Mcebisi, 1 Secret Is Ours, 4 Humble Tune, 6 Electric Gold
Race 8: 2 Anne Boleyn, 3 Lucy In The Sky, 5 Paton's Tears, 4 Mike's Chick
Race 9: 1 Emerald Princess, 6 Princess Philippa, 5 Divine Dynasty, 4 Special Variety
BEST BET
Race 4 No 2 Arilena
VALUE BET
Race 6 No 1 Casa Inverno
BEST SWINGER
Race 1 2x7
BIPOT
R128
Leg 1: 1, 3
Leg 2: 8
Leg 3: 2
Leg 4: 3, 5, 6, 16
Leg 5: 1, 2, 4, 6
Leg 6: 1, 2, 4, 6
PLACE ACCUMULATOR
R243
Leg 1: 8
Leg 2: 2
Leg 3: 5, 6, 16
Leg 4: 1, 4, 6
Leg 5: 1, 2, 4
Leg 6: 2, 3, 5
Leg 7: 1, 5, 6
PICK 6
R1800
Leg 1: 2
Leg 2: 3, 5, 6, 14, 16
Leg 3: 1, 2, 4, 5, 6
Leg 4: 1, 2, 4, 6
Leg 5: 2, 3, 5
Leg 6: 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 13
JACKPOT 1
R300
Leg 1: 3, 5, 6, 14, 16
Leg 2: 1, 2, 4, 5, 6
Leg 3: 1, 2, 4, 6
Leg 4: 2, 3, 5
JACKPOT 2
R360
Leg 1: 1, 2, 4, 5, 6
Leg 2: 1, 2, 4, 6
Leg 3: 2, 3, 5
Leg 4: 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 13