Make My World your world
Jack Milner
Every bettor loves to get their Place Accumulator off to a good start but it is a real tester when all 10 runners look to have a chance.
Consistency is often the key to finding Place Accumulator options and that reasoning should apply in the Grade 3 Betting World 2200 tomorrow. The distance of 2200m is strange in that it is not really a stayers’ race but runners do need to have some stamina.
The two horses who best suit those criteria are My World and Crowd Pleaser. On a line through Elusive Silva, the Candice BassRobinson runner, My World, must have the edge. He finished a 2.25-length fourth behind Justin Snaith’s charge over 1800m, receiving 1.5kg, while Crowd Pleaser was touched off a short head in the Grade 3 Cup Trial by the same runner, getting 4.5kg.
In this race Crowd Pleaser has to give 1kg to My World and over this distance that should give the edge to the five-year-old son of Ideal World. This will also be My World’s third run in KwaZulu-Natal which should have him close to his peak. One would assume his mission this season will be the Gold Cup at the end of the month. MJ Byleveld has ridden him four times and has placed in all of them. Had this race been run on the Polytrack Crowd Pleaser would have been the horse to beat. He was particularly impressive two runs back when beating Edict Of Nantes on the surface but is effective enough on turf. Keagan de Melo takes the ride.
Royal Badge has had two runs over shorter in KZN and should be at peak fitness. Zodiac Ruler tries the trip for the first time and must have a chance along with Trophy Wife, The Centenary and Hidden Agenda.
If Just Sensual's merit rating is correct, Joey Ramsden's three-year-old filly will give Bela-Bela a run for her money in the Jonsson Workwear Garden Province Stakes over 1600m at Greyville tomorrow.
The handicappers have given Just Sensual a rating of 109, identical to that of year-older Bela-Bela. She achieved that rating when winning the Grade 1 Cape Fillies Guineas last December and has done little wrong since.
However, that means the handicappers believe Just Sensual is a length superior to the highest-rated three-year-old colt currently in training in the country - July fancy Edict Of Nantes - and that seems unlikely.
Whether the colts are underrated or her merit rating is a bit high is a question that will be answered when this Grade 1 race is run. It may be a combination of both, but one thing's for certain, trainer Justin Snaith's popular and lightly raced grey filly BelaBela has earned her rating.
She has two Grade 1 wins to her credit and has not been disgraced in any of her races against males, including finishing a 2.65-length sixth behind The Conglomerate in last year's July.
She was a bit disappointing in the Sun Met in January, but there is a school of thought that in spite of her Woolavingon 2000 win last year, she is better over distances below 2000m. She is certainly effective over this course and distance and jockey Anthony Delpech has ridden her often.
She has had two warm-up races in Durban this winter, finding the race over all too quickly in a 1200m sprint feature and then finishing strongly for third behind Captain America in the Gold Challenge over this course and distance last time out. This will be her peak run and Delpech is likely to keep her handier than in her last start.
Stablemate Gimme Six should battle to beat Just Sensual on weight-for-age terms but has a strong place chance. She finished third behind Just Sensual in a 1400m feature at Kenilworth in February. She has recorded two wins and a second since and is in piping-hot form.
Place chances go to Bella Sonata, Chevauchee, Bi Pot and She's A Giver as well as badly drawn Star Express and Polyphonic.