Afdeek may be worth a punt
IT’S rare for Mike de Kock to run horses in Kenilworth maidens and so punters seem sure to seize on Afdeek in the Bradbury Finance Maiden at the Cape Town course tomorrow. The Australian-bred has twice gone close at the Vaal in races over 1 200m and the booking of Bernard Fayd’Herbe underlines the impression that the maestro means business. The only drawback is the price because World Sports Betting opened the gelding at 11-20 yesterday and the chances of him easing to a more backable even money are just about zero.
Power Of Peace
Second favourite at 22-10 is newcomer Power Of Peace. This Dynasty colt is a well bred sort and Joey Ramsden has shown a few times this year that he is not averse to having a horse ready to collect first time. The Glen Kotzen-trained The Goon Show is interesting at 7-1 as he was an encouraging third to Red Eight in the middle of the month and looks an obvious danger. However Milden Spell (10-1) has been off since January. Another stand-out is Billy Silver in race nine, not least because Anthony Delpech is in town for just this one ride.
Bobby Dazzler
Sadly Dennis Bosch’s Cape Classic fifth is already odds-on but he should beat 9-2 second favourite Bobby Dazzler who is on a hat-trick. This is the meeting that France Galop asked to be switched from the previous day and extended to 11 races so that their punters have something to bet on each side of the French meeting. The National Racing Bureau has done well to come up with ten, albeit with gaps of between 30 and 55 minutes between races. Four of the ten are maidens, a category which has proved difficult for punters at this course in recent weeks, but Flower Of Carmel should start the ball rolling in the opening Samson Foundation Maiden Plate. The Candice Bass-Robinson filly had U For Me three and a half lengths behind when both made their second starts over this trip at the beginning of the month and, although third-placed Vase has since let the form down, there was a valid excuse for that filly’s run. The Ica Laboratories Maiden half an hour later is more tricky and presents punters with the perennial problem of whether to go for a lightly raced horse that has shown considerable promise or one who has a lot more experience but doesn’t appear to have as much potential. Surprisingly, and frequently costly, it is the latter which often comes out on top at Kenilworth.
Hello Summer
That said Hello Summer gets the vote in preference to Love Dove and Bikini Model as the Andre Nel filly was beaten a lot less on debut than the ground she lost at the start. Star Burst, third in a big field last time, can also pose a threat.