Strike it rich with Strydom
IN THE DUMPS: OVER THE PAST FEW MEETINGS EVERYTHING SEEMS TO HAVE GONE WRONG
Animal Lover in Race 3 looks a good banker.
It’s amazing how you have good runs and bad runs in life. It’s nothing new; I’ve been through it a number of times and know you just have to see it through, however long it takes. I’m old and experienced enough to know good and bad runs do not last forever.
Of course, you do want to be successful all the time and ride winners because you also have your monthly overheads to consider. So when you regularly race three times a week and that suddenly changes it has a knock-on effect.
For the last two weeks we have had no racing scheduled on the Highveld on Tuesday’s and then Thursday a week ago the meeting was washed out. Last Saturday at Turffontein I thought I had a good ride on Smoke in Race 1 but the horse took three strides to canter down, stepped on his own foot, ripped his shoe right off and was just about to come down when he managed to pick himself up. That resulted in me being thrown in the air so when I landed it wasn’t very pleasant.
My next ride was in Race 5 and as I wasn’t feeling too bad at the time I sat in the jockey room thinking I would recover after an hour or so. However, everything just deteriorated from then on so I spoke to the doctor and he advised me to stand down.
So perhaps the fact there was no meeting at the Vaal last Tuesday worked in my favour.
But it didn’t end there. On Thursday my first ride in Race 3 went absolutely silly coming on to the track, fell over, and so I was dumped again.
By this stage my mind was not in a good place but you try to stay positive. Unfortunately my next ride, Starpath, refused to come out the stalls and just would not race. Fortunately, after that normality returned.
Hopefully the wheel has now turned full circle and we can start the good run.
Today we race at Turffontein on the Standside track and we start the meeting with a Juvenile Plate. Affranchi and Cloud Break are the two horses who have run and won and that makes them the horses to beat. However, there are a whole group of unraced horses so take note of the betting although obviously the experience of the other two will be a great advantage.
Race 2 has a full field of juveniles and of those who have raced do not have outstanding form and the betting will be the best guide.
Race 3 is a Maiden Plate over 1400m where the draw is a big factor. There are some horses with decent form but shocking draws, including Make Me Happy and Ticktacktoe. So with the draw playing an important part, my first selection, and banker for the Place Accumulator, is Animal Lover. Dunas Douradas has decent form and a good draw but Animal Lover, who has had very poor draws, finished ahead of Dunas Douradas, and that makes Animal Lover the horse to beat.
Race 4 is another 1400m race where the draw is important but sometimes a horse with ability can overcome the obstacle so my first choice is Samarra, who has the benefit of a 4kg claimer on her back.
The dangers are Lebanese Tractor and Melinda’s Garden, who has a good draw. For the PA go with Samarra and Melinda’s Garden and for the Pick 6 Lebanese Tractor could be added. If those are not good enough you could need the field.
I ride White Winter who has a bad draw but she is also taking quite a jump in class. You can’t compare the opposition she met last time to that of Samarra. Eleni, who beat her last time, had just won her maiden. Samarra was beaten in her last two races by Flichity By Farr and San Fermin, both of whom have been competing in feature races.
Race 5 is a stakes race which usually favours the best handicapped runner but the form puts them so close that just about anything can win. My two main selections are Ali Bon Dubai and Enchanted Drawing. They could get you through the PA but if they are not enough then back them up with Just Cruised In and my ride In A Million.
For the Pick 6 add all four mentioned and if you want to go wider put in Sess, Cheat The Cheaters, Sputnik Plain and Detonation.
Race 6 is a Pinnacle Stakes and your best rated horses should come out on top. For that reason only one of three horses can win it and they are Fort Ember, Girl On The Run and Orchid Island. For the PA choose either Girl On The Run and Orchid Island and add Fort Ember into the Pick 6.
Race 7 is the Drum Star Handicap and my main two selections are Dawn Assault and Shenanigans who are my PA choices. Others with chances are Kilrain and Top Shot who need to be added to the Pick 6. I ride Arctica who is held on form and hopefully can run a place.
Race 8 is a fillies’ handicap and once again it is hard to find a winner. I’m going to forgive No More Words her last run as she ran over 1400m from a bad draw and pulled up fatigued. Back to a sprint and with the benefit of an apprentice claim, she is my first selection.
The dangers have to be with Shivering Sea, Madam Secretary and Last Chirp. Another possibility is Ouro, even though she got a big penalty last time for not winning.
For the PA include No More Words and one of the horses mentioned and for the Pick 6 put in all of those mentioned.
Race 9 is another fillies’ handicap and the three horses with the best form are Penny Royal, Colour Of Night and Inyanga. Pick two for the PA but it could be worth leaning towards the lightly raced Penny Royal and Colour Of Light. Put all three into the Pick 6.
I ride Inyanga who has winning form so hopefully the young runners do not improve as expected and I can finish the day on a winning note.