This Agenda is overt
DISTANCE: HIDDEN AGENDA RUNS OVER 1800M IN THIRD RUN AFTER A LAYOFF Malinga looks the main threat.
If you are one of those punters who believe in the “third run after a layoff” principle then there is a good value bet on tomorrow’s Vaal card.
There is a belief, and evidence to back it up, that when a horse comes back from a layoff, he needs a couple of runs to get rid of the cobwebs and it that third run back which will result in his optimum performance.
Many horses run well enough when fresh, fail in their second starts and then come back well the next time. There are others who take a couple of runs before they are put back over their ideal distance and that looks to be the case with Hidden Agenda in Race 4, a MR 88 Handicap over 1800m on the Inside track.
Scott Kenny’s runner hit form in August last year, notching up three successive wins, and then ran a 1.50-length third behind Jubilee Handicap winner Liege in an Open MR 98 Handicap over 2000m on the Vaal Classic course.
His next start came in a MR 93 Handicap over 1800m at Turffontein in yielding going and the son of Brave Tin Soldier could only finish fifth, beaten 6.50 lengths by Stonehenge. He was reported to have been making a respiratory noise which could explain the poor run.
Hidden Agenda was out of action until April when he came back in a 1200m race and finished five lengths behind Machismo. He followed up with a 3.75-length eighth behind Count Tassilo over 1400m at the Vaal and he now, in his third run, returns to 1800m which is more to his liking. Gunter Wrogemann takes the ride.
Malinga is interesting in that he had a great win over the course and distance in his first run back after a layoff and now one has to wonder whether he will go flat in his second start after the layoff. If not, Alec Laird’s charge has to be a big runner. rs with chances include Dawn Assault, Bold Viking and Top Shot.