Speed ratings for the main contenders with previous Vaal Sand form –
Lots of good turf form being tried out against some experienced sand performers today!
RACE 1 MR80 1200m
98…Stavinsky 7/1
98…Storm Incoming 8/1
94…Passion Pleaser 16/1
92…Dynamite 8/10
Stavinsky looks good value, yet the wide draw is a concern, similar sentiments with Passion Pleaser. The betting for Dynamite implies ‘great expectations’, presumably based on reputation, and whilst improvement could well be expected(from the win over Velvet Verona) …Velvet Verona is rated 4 lengths behind Stavinsky!
Storm Incoming’s good run last week may well be a flash in the pan.
RACE 2 MR84F 1200m
100…Sols Gold 10/1
..99…Georgia On My Mind 5/2
..97…All in the Mind 6/1
..87…Dalalaat 12/1
..84…Tacit Tiger 12/1
..84...Sucha Wonder 25/1
..??…Negev 2/1
No mindless selections here!
The rating for Sols Gold, although authentic, unlikely to be reproduced.
RACE 3 SOPH-F 1000m
87…She’s a Tiger 5/1
86…Not Sulking 7/2
83…Crown Bearer 25/1
77…Woodrose 33/1
??…Arcetri Pink 15/10
??…Glenshee 6/1
Think the sand experience counts, even though this field is not looking that classy at this stage. Going with She’s a Tiger, and including the mdn Crown Bearer in PA and quartets.
RACE 4 SOPH-C 1000m
103…Tiger Territory 5/1
100…Gold Prospector 28/10
..94…Trip Tease 22/10
..92…Lord Dubois 12/1
Again going with those who have sand experience and think Tiger Territory looks a good bet. Always respectful of MGA runners on the sand, will be including Francois P in quartets, similar for MDK and Sole Mio although feel this field is classy and the above remain the main contenders.
RACE 5 MR94 1450m
109…Eugenes 7/1
109…Killua Castle 15/10
100…Panjo 9/2
..97…Aces High 10/1
..95…Newton Power 7/1
Eugene really appeals…especially at that price. Look no further!
RACE 6 EMERALD FILLIES 1450m
106…Formation 2/1
104…Rebel Queen 7/1
103…Flitter 4/1
..98…Tomorrow’s Miss 12/1
..95…Rivulet 14/1
..93…Break of Dawn 6/1
Formation trounced the field when winning this race last year and whilst not appearing to be quiet the same she is still the one to beat here. Tomorrow’s Miss looks a danger as does Break of Dawn from the in form STP stable.
RACE 7 HAMPTON 1000m
116…Best Assured 5/1
116…Cape Winter 4/1
111…Benbow 6/1
108…Yukon Gold 4/1
107…Maji Moto 6/1
KGN holds all the bullets here and would not be surprised to see another 1-2-3.
Preference is for Cape Winter and the lurker being Furious Dancer.
RACE 8 EMERALD CUP 1450m
120…Here Comes Billy
117…Uncle Tommy
116…Pylon
114…Tayba
113…Storm Surf
109…Contador
Pylon to lead and try and hold off the WHM pair…good trifecta, and put Tayba in for a simple boxed quartet!
RACE 9 VAAL RIVER 1800m
109…Mauri Blue 2/1
108…Eastern Cobbler 11/2
108…Henry Higgins 22/10
103…Safe House 14/1
100…Marching Band 20/1
..97…Rock the Country 10/1
There was a lot of ‘confidence’ in Mauri Blue lto when winning comfortably. Whilst always wary of follow-up wins on sand the SGT stable is the exception with most of their wins coming from repetitive winners (Mr.T, AtI, Tap tap). Henry Higgins has a wonderful sand record yet my vote is going with the old campaigner Eastern Cobbler.
Rock the Country can make up the quartet, meanwhile seemingly off form runners from the MDK stable often have a habit of surprising…Rakaan and Emerald Approach. All makes for a very interesting, and open race.
RACE 10 BANYANA 1000m
102…Kinematic Countess 5/1
102…Ikati 7/2
..98…Cante Libre 12/1
..94…Brave Princess 10/1
..91…Club Captain 12/1
..??…War Path 7/2
..??…Centimes 7/1
A two horse race on paper. Wary of Centimes here.
Some of you may have heard me shouting for Nad’s Pride in the last leg of Thursdays P6 (I’m in the hills near Knysna)…very disappointed (especially that tote couplings no longer applied).
Later that evening when processing the days results discovered that I made a mistake in ‘posting’ my P6 an had put in 2 Tippuana Jet instead of 3 Nad’s Pride…makes you think – whats all this form study about?
Away to UK for a few weeks and will be giving postings on abc a break for a while…happy horseplaying.
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