Watchman has the edge at Turffontein

Jack Milner

There look to be some good bets on Thursday’s Turffontein card on the Inside track, but it looked to be the case last week and then the bottom fell out and we ended up with a Pick 6 payout of R809,081.

One runner who does stand out on this eight-race card is Watchman in Race 3, a Maiden Juvenile Plate over 1000m.

Tony Peter’s charge found a lot of support in his debut outing over this course and distance to eventually go off as the 15-10 favourite. It was quite a competitive race and best of the raced runners looked to be Mike and Adam Azzie-trained Lead The Charge.

While Watchman took the lead for the off, Lead The Charge closed in late and went on to snare Peter’s charge close home to win by 0.20 lengths.

However, Watchman will have come on well from that run and the half-brother to Alan Greeff-trained Luna Halo will be very hard to beat on this occasion.

The Var colt jumps from No 3 draw and has Calvin Habib in the irons once again.

Race 3 is the opening leg of the Pick 6 and Watchman looks to be a banker in all bets.

A wise bookmaker once advised me many moons ago that one should not take odds-on about a horse just because it is the best horse in the race, but rather because it is a good horse.

That’s a conundrum bettors will have to face in Race 4, a Maiden Plate for fillies and mares over 1800m. Trainer Roy Magner sends out Easy On Me, who is undoubtedly the runner with best form in the field.

The three-year-old daughter of Duke Of Marmalade has only paid three visits to a race meeting and has run well on all three occasions. However, after her first run in August last year over 1200m on the Vaal Classic course, Easy On Me was out of action for almost nine months, making her return to the track in May.

“She had a couple of little niggles and she pulled a muscle, but she is well now,” explained Magner on Tuesday.

Her two races since her comeback have both been on the Inside track, her first over 1450m where she finished a 3.50-length fifth behind Sneak Preview. She clearly was in need of that race but she showed up a lot better in her last run over 1600m when she produced the fastest final 400m to finish 1.50-length second behind Streisand.

On that run one would think this 1800m should be ideal, but Magner was a little concerned about the additional 200m. “If it was 1600m I would feel a lot more confident, but we will find out on Thursday whether she will go 1800m.”

Jack Milner’s selections

Race 1: 1 Japanese Maple, 3 Global Reef, 11 Rastignac, 10 Cavalry Charge

Race 2: 6 Seventeen Again, 2 Bellissivar, 1 Accept Cookies, 5 Saudi Sweep

Race 3: 6 Watchman, 2 Blaze A Way, 3 Dwight Eisenhower, 1 Antonio Gaudi

Race 4: 1 Easy On Me, 3 Butternutenrooiwyn, 2 City Lights, 4 Plum Blossom

Race 5: 7 Mambo Come Tesio, 9 Kadizora, 2 Medlers Tart, 10 Vesuvio

Race 6: 9 Romeo's Magic, 4 Hazlo Grande, 8 Silvano's Song, 6 Royal Mazarin

Race 7: 5 Heart Peaks, 4 Hierkommiebokkie, 1 Duenna, 3 Sound Machine

Race 8: 1 Frozen Fantasy, 3 Superskitt, 2 Doitwithdiamonds, 7 One Party

BEST BET

Race 3: 6 Watchman

VALUE BET

Race 6: 9 Romeo's Magic

BEST SWINGER

Race 4 1x3

BIPOT

R300

Leg 1: 1, 3

Leg 2: 2, 6

Leg 3: 6

Leg 4: 1, 2, 3

Leg 5: 2, 4, 7, 9, 10

Leg 6: 4, 5, 6, 8, 9

PLACE ACCUMULATOR

R192

Leg 1: 6

Leg 2: 6

Leg 3: 1, 3

Leg 4: 2, 7, 9, 10

Leg 5: 4, 6, 8, 9

Leg 6: 1, 4, 5

Leg 7: 1, 3

PICK 6

R1500

Leg 1: 6

Leg 2: 1, 2, 3, 6

Leg 3: 2, 4, 7, 9, 10

Leg 4: 4, 5, 6, 8, 9

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

Leg 6: 1, 2, 3

JACKPOT 1

R500

Leg 1: 1, 2, 3, 6

Leg 2: 2, 4, 7, 9, 10

Leg 3: 4, 5, 6, 8, 9

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

JACKPOT 2

R375

Leg 1: 2, 4, 7, 9, 10

Leg 2: 4, 5, 6, 8, 9

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

Leg 4: 1, 2, 3