Jack Milner
River Queraress appears well above average and looks a stand-out bet in Race 2 at the Vaal on Tuesday , a Juvenile Plate over 1200m.
This two-year-old filly has raced five times for three wins and a second place. Paul Peter’s charge was unplaced on debut over 800m behind stable companion Fennec Fox, but showed her true form next time out with a 0.50-length victory over Heart And Mind, again over 800m.
This daughter of Querari improved further when pushed up to 1000m, easily defeating Rock the Fox by 1.25 lengths.
She was then entered in the Listed Ruffian Stakes over 1000m and once again demonstrated her class by scoring a very comfortable three-length victory over Magic Tycoon.
Her next outing came in the Grade 3 Protea Stakes over 1100m at Turffontein where she took on the colts. In addition, as a three-time winner she carried top weight of 60kg and had to give weight to all her opposition.
Unfortunately, she found one too good in Karangetang, to whom she was conceding 1.5kg, and went down by 0.50 lengths.
River Queraress finds herself in a similar situation this time as again she carries top weight of 60kg and has to give weight to the balance of the field but this time the opposition does not look quite as strong.
There are three unraced runners in the line-up, including one from her own stable, but the main dangers look to be Mercantour, a Var gelding trained by Stuart Pettigrew, and Aniara, an Oratorio filly under the care of David Nieuwenhuizen (pictured above).
They have actually raced against one another when Mercantour made his debut. Conceding 2.5kg to the filly, he went down by 1.50 lengths but he did have excuses as he hung, shifted and was bumped. In his next start, though, the gelding put all that inexperience behind him and scored a facile victory over Vasilikos who won at Greyville last Saturday.
At this stage of their careers, two-year-olds are not given a merit rating but the handicappers do have unofficial ratings, and if they are accurate, River Queraress cannot be opposed.
She is rated 111, Mercantour is 88 and Aniara 81. As Peter’s charge is only conceding 1.5kg and 4kg respectively to her two rivals where had this been a handicap it would have been 11.5kg and 15kg respectively.
Warren Kennedy takes the ride on River Queraress for the third consecutive time.
Jack Milner’s selections
Race 1: 3 Sweet Pepper, 1 Blue Waters, 7 Sparkleinhereye, 2 Miss Daisy
Race 2: 1 River Queraress, 2 Mercantour, 3 Aniara, 6 Now I Got You
Race 3: 7 Manz Knight, 3 My True North, 2 Pomodoro Hills, 1 Big Five
Race 4: 1 Quest From Afar, 6 Angelofthemorning, 2 Country Flame, 3 Jane Wilson
Race 5: 4 Pashasha, 2 Bit Of Fun, 6 Viceroy, 8 Kind Judy
Race 6: 4 Samoa, 1 On Cue, 2 Emerald Princess, 9 Mix The Magic
Race 7: 6 Bequest, 5 Midnight Gem, 3 Alabama Anna, 7 Imbewu
Race 8: 6 Written In Stone, 1 Cool Winter, 7 Funky Music, 4 High Born Lady
BEST BET: Race 2, No 1 River Queraress
VALUE BET: Race 8, No 6 Written In Stone
BEST SWINGER: Race 1, 1x3
BIPOT (R120)
Leg 1: 1, 3
Leg 2: 1
Leg 3: 2, 3, 7
Leg 4: 2
Leg 5: 2, 4, 6, 8
Leg 6: 1, 2, 3, 4, 9
PLACE ACCUMULATOR (R216)
Leg 1: 1
Leg 2: 3, 7
Leg 3: 1
Leg 4: 2, 4, 6
Leg 5: 1, 2, 4, 9
Leg 6: 3, 5, 6
Leg 7: 1, 6, 7
PICK 6 (R2160)
Leg 1: 1, 2, 3, 4
Leg 2: 1
Leg 3: 2, 3, 4, 6, 8
Leg 4: 1, 2, 3, 4, 9, 11
Leg 5: 3, 5, 6
Leg 6: 1, 4, 6, 7, 9, 15
JACKPOT 1 (R90)
Leg 1: 1
Leg 2: 2, 3, 4, 6, 8
Leg 3: 1, 2, 3, 4, 9, 11
Leg 4: 3, 5, 6
JACKPOT 2 (R540)
Leg 1: 2, 3, 4, 6, 8
Leg 2: 1, 2, 3, 4, 9, 11
Leg 3: 3, 5, 6
Leg 4: 1, 4, 6, 7, 9, 15