Strike it rich with Strydom
WAITING FOR ONE RIDE CAN OFTEN COST YOU PICKING UP ANOTHER RIDE
Next week is the final major meeting of the Gauteng autumn season and after that we all move to Durban for the KwaZulu-Natal season. Naturally, we jockeys want to compete in the big meetings and it helps to have a good strong yard behind you, otherwise you have to look elsewhere for quality rides and they are often limited.
In some cases horses are dual nominated and you wait to see for which race your regular ride will contest. That can cost you in other ways as you might get offered another ride and by the time the decision comes through it is too late and that ride has been given to somebody else.
I am open to rides for the early part of the Durban season as those races form a massive part of the build-up to the major races in the season.
Champions Day looks a fascinating day of racing and we will go into more detail next week when all the races are declared.
Today we race at Turffontein on the Inside track and as a lot of these races start on the bend one needs to consider the draw in the majority of cases.
Race 1 is a Juvenile Plate and here Hit The Green looks a tough horse to beat. He’s finished ahead of most of these runners and as he came from quite far behind last time, the racing experience should have benefited him quite a lot. The dangers could be Hartleyfour and Gone With The Wind.
Race 2 is a Maiden Plate where the fittest horse with good form is Ancient Spirit. Unfortunately she has a shocking draw to overcome and therefore in the BiPot consider including King Of The Delta and Coastal Torrent.
The value horse could be Coastal Torrent as he has had his issues and may have improved after a short rest.
King Of The Delta should also improve as he has been gelded which is something he definitely needed.
Race 3 is another Maiden Plate and once again it is a case of the young guns taking on the older horses. At this time of their careers the two-year-olds are not well handicapped but they could be talented horses who are just better than the older runners. Unfortunately it is hard to make comparisons and that makes the race a little tricky.
Of the older horses Hurricane Lass looks the main runner, especially as she is drawn in pole position. Other older horses to consider are Count Kournikova and Rubix. I ride Che Bella who only finished two lengths back on her debut run.
For the Place Accumulator put in Hurricane Lass from the older brigade and Che Bella from the younger brigade.
Race 4 is a handicap and often some horses are underrated early in their careers and in this case that horse could be Buffalo Bill Cody. He ran a moderate fourth last time but he has a huge reputation. He could easily be both a PA and Pick 6 banker. If he does not run to his best form and you want to look elsewhere in the Place Accumulator consider any one of Manitoba, Boatswain and Danza.
Another runner with strong form is Spring Breeze but from that shocking draw it will be difficult for her to win.
Race 5 is another handicap, this time for fillies, and often they are very difficult to predict. I think Whiteout is a huge runner and needs to be included in all your main bets. You could include My Cherry as back-up in the PA as they are the two with form and decent draws.
Others with form, but unfortunately have bad draws, are Main Roll, River Run and Princess Tin Tin. For the Pick 6 include all of those and maybe Savethebestforlast who a couple of runs ago raced against some strong opposition.
I’m riding Aldebaran who is held on form and jumps from the widest draw in the field. I hope to be pleasantly surprised.
Race 6 contains my best bet of the day in Dressed To Impress. She has overraced in the past and this Inside track could be just what she’s looking for. The fact there are other runners with lots of pace in the race will be even more in her favour, as is the scratching of Aurelia Cotta.
She is definitely a Place Accumulator banker but if you don’t want to banker her in the Pick 6 the dangers could be Costa Da Sol, Brigtnumberfive, Seal My Fate and Waity Katie.
Race 7 is another fillies’ event and in my opinion two horses have the edge and they are Redberry Wood and Saragon. This is a tricky race but those two should be enough for the PA.
When you start looking past those twwo this race becomes very open so you could quite easily consider the field for the Pick 6 but if you narrow it down then Sim-Alley Bank, Angelic and Inthepurplerain are the ones to consider.
Lady Val could be a top horse but the De Kock yard do not hold back on their opinion and they say she will need the run but is one to follow. She could still be good enough to win but we value the opinion of the De Kock yard because they are honest and have been spot on so far.
Race 8 is a fillies’ handicap and once again it looks very competitive. For the PA, and my main selections, are Opera, Mademoiselle and Lady Of The World, mainly because of their form and draws.
For the Pick 6 consider Cals Crush, even though she is worse off at the weights with some of the other runners. However, she is still improving. Other dangers are Leia Organa and my ride, Movie Show. She is quite exposed with her form but she is coming down in class and has to be included.
Race 9 is the most difficult race on the card as none of these runners has got exceptional form and some have bad draws to overcome. I’m riding Fidelio and on form I would have made him the main horse to beat. Unfortunately, in his last two races he’s been found to be not striding out and 1000m may be too short for him as often he lacks early speed.
Two horses with good form are Supanova and Varimax but they have shocking draws. My main selections are Unchained Melody, Singaswewin and Rebel Renegade. Go as wide as possible in the PA and as this race is really tough you will need to include all of those I have mentioned in the Pick 6, and it might be advisable to go with the whole field.