Paisley Park still has the winning touch

Jack Milner

One has to go back to December 2022 to find the last time Paisley Park was led into the winner’s enclosure.

Sean Tarry’s charge looked to be a champion in the making when he won his first three starts but then he clearly developed a few problems. He had quite a long break and it took 22 months before the son of Gimmethegreenlight managed to win his fourth race.

However, while he has thrown up a few promising runs, he has not been able to put a string together – until recently.

Now seven years old, the gelding could finally get back into the No 1 box when he lines up in Race 7, a MR 95 Handicap over 1160m at Turffontein on Saturday.

Tarry is a master at bringing older horses back to winning and looking at his last two starts indicate Paisley Park has found a bit of his old vigour.

In his last two races, he has produced the fastest 400m to finish and last time in particular, over 1200 at the Vaal, he came with a late flourish to end up a 1.75-length fourth behind Uncle Bob. This will be his third run after a layoff and Calvin Habib, who rode him in both his last two starts, will be back in the irons again.

Jack Milner’s selections

Race 1: 1 Lacewing, 2 Tuscan Star, 5 Asiah's Tiara, 3 Ono No Komachi

Race 2: 6 Fireburst, 5 Tried And True, 8 Pretty Analia, 7 Kuramathi

Race 3: 6 Rondebosch, 3 Karate Kid, 2 Lead The Charge, 5 Master Casper

Race 4: 2 Hillary Step, 5 Doitwithdiamonds, 1 Happy Mo, 4 Spirited Girl

Race 5: 4 Imperial Master, 5 Tamarisk Tree, 8 Royal Edition, 6 Mount Darwin

Race 6: 2 On Target, 5 Fast Duty, 6 Just Var, 5 Sail The Sky

Race 7: 3 Paisley Park, 5 Silver Tudor, 4 Slinky Mapimpi, 8 Edward Rye

Race 8: 3 Ampersand, 4 Coming In Hot, 1 Passage Of Power, 2 Cornwall

BEST BET

Race 2: 6 Fireburst

VALUE BET

Race 7: 3 Paisley Park

BEST SWINGER

Race 2 5x6

BIPOT

R144

Leg 1: 1, 2

Leg 2: 6

Leg 3: 2, 3, 6

Leg 4: 1, 2, 4, 5

Leg 5: 4, 5, 8

Leg 6: 2, 5

PLACE ACCUMULATOR

R324

Leg 1: 6

Leg 2: 2, 3, 6

Leg 3: 1, 4, 5

Leg 4: 4, 5

Leg 5: 2, 5

Leg 6: 3, 4, 5

Leg 7: 1, 3, 4

PICK 6

R1620

Leg 1: 2, 3, 6

Leg 2: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Leg 3: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8

Leg 4: 2, 5

Leg 5: 3, 4, 5

Leg 6: 1, 3, 4

JACKPOT 1

R180

Leg 1: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Leg 2: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8

Leg 3: 2, 5

Leg 4: 3, 4, 5

JACKPOT 2

R108

Leg 1: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8

Leg 2: 2, 5

Leg 3: 3, 4, 5

Leg 4: 1, 3, 4