Five star performance by Lerena
Secret Island should finally leave maiden ranks with Yeni’s help
Former champion jockey Gavin Lerena has been firing on all cylinders since returning from a lengthy injury-enforced layoff, and is currently trading at 7-2 to win this seasons jockeys’ championship title. That could be a good bet.
He concluded Saturday’s Turffontein race meeting with a hat-trick of winners, increasing his win-strike rate to a healthy 26.85%. Lerena rides for the Mauritzfontein team as a retained jockey now, so it’s only right his first winner of the day was aboard Mary Slack-owned Storm Destiny.
The 18-10 second favourite showed absolutely no signs of ring-rustiness following a three-month stint off the racetrack, skipping 2.25 lengths clear of Dame Kelly in a very competitive Assessment Plate over 1600m. Mike de Kock’s three-year-old daughter of Dynasty is now a two-time winner from four appearances, and considering she had hard knockers like Green Top (11-10 favourite) well beaten, she looks an above-average thoroughbred worth following in upcoming feature races.
Interestingly, the jockey-trainer combination of Lerena and De Kock has an impressively high 55.56% winstrike rate of having teamed up nine times for five wins and a place – they should be profitable combination to follow.
Lerena registered a closing double – Varimax (Race 8) and Kentucky Blue (Race 9).
He had the Mike and Adam Azzietrained Varimax smartly stationed in fourth place behind early pacemakers Lazarus Tree (Ryan Munger) and O Lucky Man (Luke Ferraris) but was always traveling best of all, passing opposition like they were standing still over the last 300m to win by an extending 3.25 lengths.
Next best were Private Ruler (Marco van Rensburg), O Lucky Man (Ferraris) and, Divine Connection (Raymond Danielson) rounded off the Quartet which paid R1 688.80. Lerena earned his riding fee on Kentucky Blue in the last race considering trainer Johan Janse van Vuuren’s charge had seven rivals in front of her passing the 400m marker. She took a while to get going, but once Lerena got her mind on the job Kentucky Blue got into the fight and her jockey rode superbly to have her head down at the right moment to score a short-head victory.
Bill Human-trained Dylan’s World wasn’t disgraced in his Kimberley debut when beaten 0.40 lengths into second place by Moroccan Storm considering he was drawn poorly over 1300m. If that run is any indication, this Great Britain gelding should prove the best bet on the card when he lines up in Race 1, a Maiden Plate over the minimum trip at Flamingo Park today.
If the Swinger and Exacta bet tickles your fancy add in Value At Risk who although was well beaten by Dylan’s World in latest appearance, has been threatening over last two starts. In fact, Corrie Lensley’s charge ran a commendable second over this course and distance in penultimate start and if can reproduce anything close to that performance, will trouble Human’s charge.
Following three consecutive seconds, Sarel von Willingh Smit-trained Secret Island should finally leave the maiden ranks when she teams up with national jockeys’ log leader Muzi Yeni for the first time in Race 3 over 1400m.