Doosra will be going Against The Grain
Infamous Fox can trouble Doosra
If you can’t be good all the time, be good at the right time. That’s a sentiment often expressed by three-time champion trainer Sean Tarry, and following a narrow 0.10-length second-place finish in the Monaco Million Sprint, he’ll be hoping Against The Grain will be good enough to finally shed his maiden tag when he lines up in Race 4, over 1400m at the Vaal today. Although a beaten favourite last time out, this Curved Ball colt was extremely unlucky. Not only was this three-year-old colt returning from a four-month stint off the racetrack, but he was also denied running room numerous times passing the 300m mark. Once it opened he took off, but it was too late. The fact he got as close as he did to a fully fit Bye Bye Rocket is testament to his class. Much appears to be in his favour today. He tops the best-weighted column, shouldering 58kg, and considering they’ll be running up the Vaal straight today, the No 15 draw will not be a disadvantage. This makes Against The Grain a worthy Pick 6 banker in the first leg. The step up in trip shouldn’t raise too many red flags considering he ran a gutsy fourth in a very competitive Non-Black Type over 1300m in his penultimate start, finishing 0.80 lengths by Givinitsum at Greyville in his first run under lights. Main danger Paused has a similar running style to Tarry’s charge in that he tends to run on a touch too late. He gets the services of an experienced Gavin Lerena and has looked threatening in his last two starts, finishing third at this track in his penultimate start and fourth behind Adamo in his most recent appearance on the Turffontein Inside track. You will not get rich but perhaps going the boxed Swinger and Exacta route featuring the pair could be ideal. Lerena should be seen in the winner’s enclosure on the Johan Janse van Vuurentrained Doosra following the running of Race 6, a MR 104 Handicap over 1400m. This son of Captain Al ran an absolute cracker in the Grade 2 Peermont Emperors Palace Charity Mile last time out, beaten a rapidly diminishing 0.35 lengths into third by the highly rated G-Bets Summer Cup hopeful Coral Fever. If that performance is any indication, Doosra should have absolutely no trouble outclassing this lot. This five-year-old has not been out of the money in six appearances over this trip having competed six times for three wins and just as many places. Candice Dawson-trained Infamous Fox finished a further 5.05 lengths behind Doosra but he is clearly far better than that performance suggests. In fact, both previous starts when running unplaced aren’t true reflections of his ability. Considering this will be his third run after a layoff, he will be at peak fitness making him a massive contender for top honours. Prior to those performances he was on a four-run winning streak so is clearly an above-average sort. Quartet players, consider floating Doosra and Infamous Fox with Catkin, Talktothestars, Kings Archer, Emily Jay, Tandava and Rocky Valley.