Paul Peter on song for Vaal
SUPREMO: TRAINER TOPS THE STATS ON THE INSIDE TRACK
Jockey is riding high on new season championship table.
Paul Peter has his horses in fine fettle and is set to be a major player at tomorrow’s meeting on the Vaal Inside track. The Turffontein handler has engaged another man in hot form, Warren Kennedy, to partner four of his runners on the day and all of them have realistic winning chances.
A TAB All To Come bet incorporating some, or all, of these horses in a Win and Place combination might be a way for punters to cash in.
Kennedy started the new racing season with a bang and is in fourth spot on the national jockey championship log, thanks to some vigorous campaigning around the country. Since he started riding regularly on the Highveld, this jockey has had seven rides for Peter – for three victories.
Peter himself is the “king” of the Vaal Inside track, topping the stats there for the past season with a winning strike rate of 13% and a place rate of more than 28%. If you’d stuck a R1 Win bet on each of his runners on the Inside track in 2017/18 you’d have come out R24.40 richer – way better than most other prominent trainers.
The Peter-Kennedy operation gets going in the first race on tomorrow’s card, a Maiden Plate over 1200m. Lithuanian’s Dream might not win the race, but we can look for plenty of improvement in his fourth outing. This threeyear-old showed some gumption in his last effort before fading in the final run-in. This shorter trip could see him grab a place.
Nautic Spirit might start favourite for Peter and Kennedy in Race 2, one of the new Assessment Plates, over 1200m. This Australian import is a two-time venue and distance winner from just eight starts. His last run was on Greyville’s Polytrack and he clearly didn’t fancy that. Back at his favourite hang-out, he looks a good bet and a possible BiPot banker.
La Lucia, from Chesney van Zyl’s stable, poses the biggest threat to Nautic Spirit.
Race 4 sees another likely Peter-Kennedy favourite in the form of Operetta, a precocious threeyear-old filly by boom sire Oratorio. She has won two races on the trot, including a course-anddistance click under Kennedy this month, and the hat-trick beckons.
Johan Janse van Vuuren’s charge Colombina and Alec Laird’s Esploratore appear to be the biggest dangers here.
Hideaway in Race 7 is the other Peter-Kennedy pairing. He’s a bit of an erratic performer, but is speedy and could take the honours if in the mood. Perhaps a Place choice in that All To Come bet is the astute call.