Thriller on the cards
TAKE OFF: BOTH TUSCAN WINTER, ANFIELDS ROCKET CAN PRODUCE DEVASTATING FINISHES
Stern test for Maroun’s three-year-old.
Tuscan Winter is an extremely talented runner but at times can be his own worst enemy. He often loses ground at the start and that already puts him on the back foot, especially as he is a sprinter.
What he does have is an incredible turn of foot and invariably is the runner producing the fastest time over the final 400m. At times it is good enough to get him up close to the line and on other occasions he might just fail to win.
Nevertheless, he has a decent enough record of four wins and six places from 13 runs.
Tomorrow he lines up in a MR 92 Handicap over 1200m on the Inside track at Turffontein and the five-year-old gelding has to be the runner to beat, despite having to concede weight to the other eight runners.
One does feel that at the moment trainer Johan Janse van Vuuren probably has got this son of What A Winter in the best form of his racing career. His last five races have produced three wins and a second place, with his lone unplaced effort coming after a three-month break.
Regular jockey Gavin Lerena is not riding at the meeting so Keagan de Melo, who is on fire at the moment, has picked up the ride on Tuscan Winter for the first time.
He will face some strong opposition and once you look beyond Tuscan Winter there are a number of runners with chances.
The obvious danger has to be improving Anfields Rocket who has only raced three times, finishing third on debut followed by two successive victories.
Grant Maroun looks to have a promising runner with this threeyear-old Coup De Grace gelding who comes into this race with just 52kg on his back.
There are three obvious concerns. The first is that all three races have been over 1000m, secondly, this will be his first run around the turn, and thirdly, is he good enough?
What has been particularly impressive about Anfields Rocket is that when it comes to producing a finishing burst, he certainly lives up to his name. In all three of his races, he has produced the fastest 400m to finish and that does suggest the extra 200m should not be an issue. How he will handle the turn is another issue, particularly the bend on the Turffontein Inside track which is somewhat unconventional.
That, and the question of how good Anfields Rocket really is, will be answered after the running of the race. Maroun must have belief in his runner as he has thrown him into the deep end against quite a decent field.
The task to bring him home has been given to apprentice Kaidan Brewer, who rode him to victory last time.
The outcome could be a real cliffhanger because both Tuscan Winter and Anfields Rocket may only come on the scene over the final 150m.
Mathis was well beaten by Tuscan Winter when they last met but comes into this race 3kg better off for a 2.80-length beating so the grey colt should get quite a bit closer this time.
Mathis has recently changed stables and will be having his first outing for the Billy Ruiters yard. Ryan Munger takes the ride. Expeditioner is another who has been ultra-consistent, and the Candice Dawson-trained gelding has only been out of the first two on his debut run. Since then, he has been competitive in every race and has notched up two wins, both of them over 1200m at Hollywoodbets Greyville.