The Highveld spring season is in full swing and the form is starting to hold up with an increased number of well-backed favourites arriving at Turffontein in the past week. With this trend in mind, it could pay to follow the money at the Inside Track tomorrow.
Dublin Rebel should get favourite-backers off to a good start in the opener. The son of Jay Peg is returning from a slight break but the form of his last outings is far superior to anything else on offer in this Work Riders Maiden Plate.
Market movements are likely to be of less significance in a competitive first leg of the Bipot with the primary fancies being the two course and distance specialists, Beach In A Bottle and Loco Por Ganar, together with Finchatton who has been campaigning against stronger.
But it’s worth monitoring the boards before attempting a Place Accumulator with the third looking open to domination by first timers. There’s very little to enthuse over in terms of recent form, although the keen-racing Sweet Singer could be better suited by this shorter trip, and any support for debutantes Sapphire Girl, Clever Move and Submergence should be respected.
First timers are often avoided in the Pick 6 but it may be safer to include a few this time around with again little form on offer in the fourth. Of the raced runners, big improvement is expected from Sao Paulo who was green on debut and possibly Relampago who has been running on over shorter. But the jockey bookings for the first timers Invincible Flame, Trip To India and Winning Sister have not gone unnoticed and neither will any market support they attract.
Alec Laird’s Ntoma will be a popular banker in the opening leg of the Jackpot and justifiably. The 89-rated maiden, well clear of the rest in her last two starts, finally cracks a decent draw and should get off the mark.
The next three races are tricky and punters are advised to go as wide as possible in exotics. Noah From Goa and Bull Valley are likely to top the boards in the sixth but handicaps limited to three-year-olds often throw up results and it could pay dividends to look further down in the weights toward Coral Fever and Lunar Approach.
Similarly, Sapsan and Sharp Princess will be popular inclusions in the seventh, a three-year-old fillies handicap. But it’s difficult to eliminate any of these on overall form and once again it’s worth considering runners further down the weights, especially Miracle Rising, News Filter and Gold Shades.
Sean Tarry has a strong coupling in the eighth, Hawaiian Sun and Heptagon, but both have wide draws to contend with and this brings quite a few others into the race. Flaming Ace and Pyramus are easy to find on form but Nahoon Beach could be one that’s overlooked. He ran a cracker at the weights behind Brazuca and Front Rank in a Graduation Plate last time out and looks well in here back in a handicap.
The market could again be a good indicator in the last with a few noteworthy first timers to consider but the consistent Golden Man could be worth bankering in smaller Pick 6 perms to qualify as the first raced runner home.
By Brendan Pather
Picture: Alec Laird
