Jack Milner
Saturday’s racemeeting at Turffontein is all about charity as 16 organisations will walk away with money in their pockets.
Hopefully, so will a bunch of bettors who will be looking to catch a share of the carryover Pick 6 and Quartet on offer.
The Pick 6 will kick off with R1-million in the kitty with the pool likely to reach R6 million, while R500,000 will boost the Quartet pool on the R800,000 Allied Steelrode Onamission Charity Mile and is anticipated to get up to R1.5 million.
While it might be inaccurate to claim this is the best fields ever for this Grade 2 race over 1600m on the Standside track, it is undoubtedly the best assembly of runners we have seen in quite a few years. It contains four recent Grade 1 winners in Astrix, MK’s Pride, Red Saxon and Safe Passage, with the latter having claims to be the best four-year-old in the country.
The only concern is that none of them has run this season and all will be looking at bigger events up ahead.
While Safe Passage in particular has an uncanny ability to win after a lengthy layoff and must be respected, it could be worth looking at a runner aimed specifically at this race for the winner.
That role could go to After The Rain who could not have had a better warm-up than when running William Robertson to 0.50 lengths in the Grade 2 Topbet Joburg Spring Challenge over 1450m on the Inside track last time out.
On that occasion, he was out at the weights with the winner and in fact, had to give him 0.5kg under the race conditions. Also, in terms of those conditions, he could not get a penalty for running second.
In the Charity Mile he will carry just 52kg, and although in theory he is 1kg under sufferance with some of the other runners, After The Rain is well in on form.
Last year’s winner Bingwa finished 3.25-length back in third and is now 5kg worse off.
Trainer Gareth van Zyl said the Charity Mile was not in their sights until After The Rain’s last run. “I was quite surprised how he kept finding at the end in the Spring Challenge,” he admitted. “I thought he would empty out after setting the pace but it was a good ride from Diego de Gouveia.
“I was of the opinion 1400m was his best trip but on that run we had to try this 1600m. The only slight concern for me is the distance but the give in ground will suit him. He loves it.”
After The Rain is a natural frontrunner and he is likely to use those tactics again, especially with his light weight.
“He has a big action, and you don’t want to break his stride. He wants to use himself and is competitive. He will go full tilt and unless something goes hell bent from the off, it’s unlikely something will go past him,” added Van Zyl.
He is also not that concerned about No 12 draw. “Obviously we would prefer a better draw but he has superior gate speed and should be able to overcome it.”
One has to have respect for Mike de Kock’s pair of Safe Passage and MK’s Pride and they must be included in Quartets, but one also needs to have respect for Red Saxon as Joe Soma’s charge is a lot better than those last three races and will enjoy the drop to 1600m.
Jack Milner’s selections
Race 1: 6 Black Egret, 3 Lovers Lane, 12 Munchkin, 11 Marquez
Race 2: 10 Efficient Trader, 9 Back To The Future, 2 Tsitsikamma Pearl, 3 Gregarious Gal
Race 3: Rain In Holland, Bon Vivant, Under Your Spell, Follow Me
Race 4: Feather Boa, Captain Peg, Gimme A Shot, Orarari Gold
Race 5: Royal Victory, Thunderstruck, Prophet, Shoemaker, Unzen
Race 6: Far Away Winter, Sheela, Vaseem, Now I Got You
Race 7: After The Rain, Mk's Pride, Safe Passage, Red Saxon
Race 8: Pink Tourmaline, Bold Fortune, Crimson Princess, Southern Song
Race 9: Light Of The Moon, Black Thorn, Raiseahallelujah, Imperial Ruby
Race 10: Vanderbilt, Another Level, Bard Of Avon, Castletown
BEST BET
Race 1 No 6 Black Egret
VALUE BET
Race 2 No 10 Efficient Trader
BEST SWINGER
Race 10 7x9
BIPOT
R540
Leg 1: 2, 3, 4, 9, 10
Leg 2: 2, 4
Leg 3: 2, 3, 6
Leg 4: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 12
Leg 5: 10
Leg 6: 2, 3, 11
PLACE ACCUMULATOR
R270
Leg 1: 2
Leg 2: 2, 3, 6
Leg 3: 1, 2, 3, 4, 12
Leg 4: 10
Leg 5: 2, 3, 11
Leg 6: 1, 2, 4
Leg 7: 3, 4
PICK 6
R2400
Leg 1: 2, 3, 6, 7
Leg 2: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 12
Leg 3: 10
Leg 4: 2, 3, 5, 6, 11
Leg 5: 1, 2, 7, 9, 11
Leg 6: 2, 3, 4, 8
JACKPOT 1
R144
Leg 1: 6
Leg 2: 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 10, 12, 14
Leg 3: 1, 2, 4
Leg 4: 2, 3, 6, 7
JACKPOT 2
R150
Leg 1: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 12
Leg 2: 10
Leg 3: 2, 3, 5, 6, 11
Leg 4: 1, 2, 7, 9, 11
JACKPOT 3
R300
Leg 1: 2, 3, 5, 6, 11
Leg 2: 1, 2, 7, 9, 11
Leg 3: 2, 3, 4, 8
Leg 4: 6, 7, 9