Oh So Modus gets the nod
RENATE du Plessis has her first Durbanville runners tomorrow when the country courses stages the first of its 11 consecutive meetings.
Two of her three runners are drawn in the bush but the interesting one is Oh So Modus who sprang a 20-1 shock for Paul Reeves here last October and completely lost his form. Mrs du Plessis has rejuvenated the horse who has won his last two, the most recent by five lengths.
There is often a suspicion that Port Elizabeth winners are moved up the ratings too quickly and so have little chance in other centres.
Oh So Modus
Oh So Modus, to be ridden by Karl Neisius for the first time, was raised 2.5kg for his first Fairview win and a further 4kg for his second.
He is now on a mark of 72, much the same as when he started to lose his form after that maiden win.
Mrs du Plessis races mainly in PE, although she trains at Stilbaai which is nearer Cape Town.
“There are a lot of polytrack meetings in PE and I have horses which I would like to run on grass,” she says, explaining this trip to Durbanville.
“The horses travel on the morning of the race and it will take about three hours. I am enjoying training Oh So Modus who is another reason why I am coming. He is ever-improving and so progressive on the poly. I want to give him a go on grass.”
Logic suggests he has it all to do and that punters would be well advised to go for top weight Arezzo who is also a course winner and whose 79 mark is unchanged despite last time’s good Kenilworth run. However, an improving horse is always worth following and so the visitor gets a tentative vote to justify his 230k journey.
Twenty Four Carat was officially reported to be hanging out when joint favourite in a Kenilworth sprint last time and a repeat of that would be disastrous on this left-handed course.
“He wasn’t hanging out, he was hanging in,” says Vaughan Marshall and that puts a different complexion on his chance in the opening Gold Circle Maiden. Glanto is marginally preferred as his recent run reads better.
Exclusive Night is the form horse and probable favourite for race two (also called the Gold Circle Maiden as is race four) but he was the horse who finished second to Oh So Modus 11 months ago and he still hasn’t won.
Good chance
He will do so one day, maybe even tomorrow, but so far he has proved to be one of those expensive sorts who always appears to have a good chance but never quite does it.
This is his 29th attempt and in the circumstances Baksteen looks a more sensible bet.
Don’t ignore Charlie Strong. “He has been disappointing in that he has taken a long time to win,” admits Adam Marcus. “But he is fit and well and he has run well over this distance here.”
The proven race fitness of Bella’s Empire should give her the edge over Mamselle Al and Pixelate in race four. SECTIONAL timing and displayed running order technology is now in place at both Greyville and Scottsville and will be tested on a non-raceday at the former racecourse next Thursday.
The entire Greyville turf and polytrack and Scottsville Inside and Outside tracks are plotted and the big screens and TV screens will thus have a live display during the race which will depict the exact running order and positioning of the horses in relation to each.
This is achieved through coloured and numbered dots, as is seen in Singapore racing coverage, which is regularly broadcast on Tellytrack on Fridays and Sundays.
The sectional timing technology will be able to provide data within any distance range on the track.
Finish time date
However, Gold Circle plan to provide punters with accurate 400m to finish time data as well as quarter sections of each race.
The maximum speed each horse achieved and the total distance it covered in the race will also be provided.
Due to the latter statistic being available, the average speed of a horse that finished second, for example, could be higher than the winner’s.
The data will be available on a recently launched website called www.gallop.co.za.
At present this website provides a lot of useful entries, racecard, betting, form and results information as well as stats on horses, jockeys and trainers and also barrier draw stats etc in an easy to navigate format.
There has also been a meeting to discuss incorporating the sectional timing information into some of the popular formguide publications.
The sectional timing and running order technology is actually up and running already, but Thursday’s tests will be necessary in order to make adjustments to the software.
This is in order to ensure everything is running a hundred percent smoothly and also to ensure the running order display is being correctly overlaid and sized on to the screen which is transmitted via the on course Outside Broadcast van.
Live race information
Also coming soon is a new App (Tabgold Information Application) which will provide the punter with plenty of live race day information.
This App is currently available for download in beta version (meaning it is still in the testing phase) from the www.goldcircle.co.za website and is also available on Android. Feedback from users is welcomed.
A new and improved www.tabgold.co.za website is also in the testing phase and will be launched soon.
Meanwhile, Gold Circle’s “SA Racing” App continues to increase in popularity.
This App has it all from a live racing Fan Wall, to latest news, previews, podcasts, betting information, videos, photos, events, calendar and it also incorporates the www.gallop.co.za website.