Jack Milner
Sparkling Water will be looking to win her second successive Grade 3 Victory Moon Stakes over 1800m at Turffontein on Sunday.
With the Grade 1 Betway Summer Cup just three weeks away the Victory Moon Stakes is one of the last opportunities prospective participants will have to find an ideal warm-up event for the R2.5 million Grade 1 race over 2000m at Turffontein on Saturday 26 November.
Durban July heroin Sparkling Water won this race last year but she landed up with the widest draw in the Summer Cup and never got into the race.
The Victory Moon is the ideal race for the Mike de Kock-trained runner because although she gets a 2kg penalty for her Grade 1 triumph in the Durban July, it is more than offset by a 2.5kg sex allowance.
She is reunited with S’manga Khumalo but this year she has landed No 14 draw and that will make life tough for her.
However, speaking from the Vaal on Thursday Khumalo commented that he was very happy with the way the daughter of Silvano was progressing and added that she regularly tends to land wide draws and they were kind of used to it by now.
While she clearly has the Betway Summer Cup as her main goal, she is the class runner in the Victory Moon and is the one they will all have to beat.
One very interesting runner is Perfect Witness who comes out as the best weighted competitor under the race conditions. While the Candice Dawson-trained filly has placed in a number of Graded races she has yet to win one and as such, does not get a penalty.
But what she does get is the 2.5kg sex allowance and that has resulted in her coming into this race with just 50kg on her back. To add to her advantage, she is beautifully drawn at No 4 and has a top jockey in Muzi Yeni who certainly knows how to make use of a light weight.
The only concern is that while rarely out of the places, Perfect Witness is too often the bridesmaid and not the bride.
Both Yeni and trainer Candice Dawson will be doing their best to ensure that this is the race where it will all happen.
Trainer Corne Spies firmly believes William Robertson, winner of the Grade 2 Topbet Joburg Spring Challenge over 1450m, will see out 2000m in the Betway Summer Cup if ridden more patiently and this will be tested on Saturday.
He has a magnificent turn of foot but jockeys tend to press the button as they turn for home and as a result he hits the front 400m from home and then becomes one paced.
“If you watch him you can see he is not stopping,” explained Spies. “He is built like a stayer, and I believe he will see it out.”
This time he has engaged Marco van Rensburg to take the ride. The Rafeef gelding is nicely drawn at No 2 but has top weight of 61kg.
Johan Janse van Vuuren has his yard in fine form and with Gavin Lerena in the irons, Second Base could be worth including in one’ exotics. He has had two decent warm-up races already and while he is also among the Summer Cup entries, no trainer will ignore the opportunity to pick up a Grade 3 race along the way.
Jack Milner’s selections
Race 1: 7 Fostinovo, 8 Iron Sky, 2 Fort Apache, 10 Melech
Race 2: 14 Sea Anemone, 4 Mighty Goddess, 11 Let's Cruise, 12 Nordic View
Race 3: 1 Quantum Theory, 2 Swing Upon A Star, 3 I Am Giant, 5 Tamarisk Tree
Race 4: 2 Meridius, 1 Simple Simple, 3 Atticus Finch, 4 Ignatius
Race 5: 2 Desert Miracle, 1 Val D'Orcia, 5 Moonshiningthrough, 3 Sweet Pepper
Race 6: 9 Iphiko, 1 Big Burn, 12 Flowerbomb, 5 Remember When
Race 7: 2 Sparkling Water, 17 Perfect Witness, 1 William Robertson, 4 Second Base
Race 8: 2 Royal Mazarin, 1 Alfaatik, 3 Go Dream Machine, 5 Flag Bearer
Race 9: 12 Sharapova, 1 Sylvan Theater, 6 Puerto Plata, 3 Spellbund
BEST BET
Race 5 No 2 Desert Miracle
VALUE BET
Race 8 No 2 Royal Mazarin
BEST SWINGER
Race 3 1x2
BIPOT
R72
Leg 1: 4, 11, 14
Leg 2: 1
Leg 3: 1, 2
Leg 4: 2
Leg 5: 1, 9, 12
Leg 6: 1, 2, 4, 17
PLACE ACCUMULATOR
R90
Leg 1: 1
Leg 2: 2
Leg 3: 2
Leg 4: 1, 9, 12
Leg 5: 1, 2, 17
Leg 6: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Leg 7: 1, 12
PICK 6
R1323
Leg 1: 1, 2, 3
Leg 2: 2
Leg 3: 1, 9, 12
Leg 4: 1, 2, 4, 6, 11, 12, 17
Leg 5: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
Leg 6: 1, 6, 12
JACKPOT 1
R147
Leg 1: 2
Leg 2: 1, 9, 12
Leg 3: 1, 2, 4, 6, 11, 12, 17
Leg 4: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
JACKPOT 2
R441
Leg 1: 1, 9, 12
Leg 2: 1, 2, 4, 6, 11, 12, 17
Leg 3: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
Leg 4: 1, 6, 12