Loaded Sheriff throws trophy battle wide open
THE horse-racing authorities in Port Elizabeth certainly know how to plan ahead.
Now we know why the gents all received an umbrella as a gift at Saturday night’s Racing Association awards evening.
The racing bosses knew there would be rain around for today’s Fairview meeting.
But everyone can stay dry thanks to their new umbrellas.
The meeting is also on the polytrack. Punters can rest assured there will not be any lastminute change of surface.
Although the polytrack seems to be at its best with the help of some rain, the conditions will not make it easier for everyone involved to have a successful afternoon.
The main race on the card, the Founders Trophy battle over 1 600m, looks wide open. At least half of the field are in with a serious winning chance.
Last Friday, there were calls for the sheriff to come and save the day. Well, it is now a week later, but the sheriff will be at the track.
Gogetthesheriff looks ready for a huge season.
This five-year-old gelding will carry top weight, a hefty 62.5kg, which will not make his task an easy one. With that in mind, it might be best for punters to go wide in this race. There are other possible bankers today.
Gogetthesheriff was not the sheriff that the calls were for last Friday.
It was for a sheriff with a gun to come and save the day, but luckily it was not necessary.
It happened before the third race when a horse kicked the rail in the parade ring. It was a huge noise, like a gunshot, and horses, grooms, trainers, owners and jockeys were given a wake-up call.
It was interesting to see that the locals were quite relaxed about the situation, but the visitors from Gauteng were ducking and diving.
Johannesburg-based jockey Karl Zechner was sprinting to somewhere, trying to find someone to hide behind. He was running around for a while as his fellow jockeys did not offer much protection.
After that, Zechner got in to top gear to ride three winners on the day! Punters’ Pal tips for Fairview: PA R384 2/2-3-4/2-3/1-10/1-2-3-10/8-11/ 1-2-9-15 Pick 6 R960 1-2-3-4-5/2-3/1-10/1-2-3-10/8-11 /1-2-3-9-11-15