Redberry Lane is a Kissable girl
Hewitson to win a few races
Sean Tarry-trained Redberry Lane turned sceptics into believers when gutsily defeating the highly rated Snowdance by the “whisker” margin of 0.05 lengths in the Grade 1 Garden Province Stakes at Greyville, a performance that resulted in many punters tearing up their Pick 6 tickets in disappointment – myself included!
Following the late scratching of stable companion Chariot Of Gold, Redberry Lane becomes a confident Pick 6 banker when she reunites with champion jockey Lyle Hewitson in Race 9, a Fillies and Mares Assessment Pate over 1450m, on the Turffontein Inside track today.
The 96-day layoff she returns from shouldn’t raise too many red flags considering she beat high-quality thoroughbreds like Ngaga, Gimme Six and Elusive Heart despite returning from a month’s rest last time out.
Also, Tarry is a master at getting horses fit for racing. On Tuesday his runner Rivonia Boulevard showed absolutely no signs of ring-rustiness following a 222day stint off the track, winning by an extending 3.20 lengths.
A daughter of Western Winter, Redberry Lane has the best form by far in this 10-horse field, having registered two victories and five seconds from her last seven appearances. The five-year-old has a merit rating of 110 while the average of this contest is a low 89. Add in the fact that she’s also smartly drawn at No 5 and the chances of her losing this race become even slimmer.
Redberry Lane shoulders a heavy 5kg more than her main danger Green Top, but that is the only hurdle she’ll have to overcome.
Jockey Marco van Rensburg has formed a successful relationship with Paul Matchett-trained Kissable. In fact, the pair will be looking to remain unbeaten in four appearances together when she lines up Race 8, a Pinnacle Stakes over the minimum trip.
“She’s got a lot of gate speed and she knows it,” said Van Rensburg on Tellytrack. “The rest of them battle to keep up with her. My job on her back is simply to give her confidence and allow her to finish.”
This classy 1000m specialist is coming off two massive triumphs at Greyville, defeating Traces both times on the Polytrack.
If not ring-rusty following the short 75day layoff, Kissable should win, jumping from a plum No 1 draw and shouldering just 54.5kg – massive advantages.
For Swingers and Exactas, add in the Mike and Adam Azzie-trained Frederico’s Dream, who tops the best-weighted column and won well in her last outing when defeating Kissable by 1.55 lengths.
She has the right form credentials to win a contest of this nature but does return from a 130-day rest.