Tomorrow’s exotics at the nine race Vaal meeting look catchable and look the best way for punters to approach the meeting.

The first leg of the PA is tricky and the consistent Shezahotti can be included alongside Gold Scent and perfect Storm who are two likely improvers over a trip which will suit. Of these three only Gold Scent has a fair draw so it is not cut and dried.

The first leg of the Pick 6 has two standouts, Wonderwall and Mardis Gras. They both have speed and class and are the first and second best in at the weights in this Assessment Plate over 1200m. How Does It Taste is a promising three-year-old but on official merit ratings is 8,5kg under sufferance with the best weighted Wonderwall so it should be safe to go with Wonderwall and Mardi Gras alone for the Pick 6.

Rings And Things (JC Photographics)

The first leg of the Jackpot is a Middle Stakes event over 1200m and there are three standouts in this race. Carbon Atom, Regal Graduation and State Trooper. Carbon Atom is a scopey sort who ran well with first time blinkers last time over this trip and won cosily, despite the narrow 0,3 margin, and champion jockey Lyle Hewitson remains aboard. He was raised three points but that still leaves him 4,5kg under sufferance with the best weighted horse here, Regal Graduation. However, the latter is the only female in the field and it is never easy to beat the boys. She drops back to the more suitable trip of 1200m. The last time she ran over this trip was in a minor feature and she was narrowly beaten by the useful Schippers with the rest of the field well beaten. State Trooper was highly tried last season after two good wins over 1160m and 1200m respectively. He was not disgraced last time when having to give the Grade 1-winning sprinter Van Halen 1kg and being beaten 5,65 lengths.

In the sixth race over 1200m Rings And Things will enjoy the 200m step up in trip. Her current merit rating of 80 is attractive considering she finished just two lengths behind Undercover Agent in the CTS 1600. The only time she has run over this course and distance she won an Assessment Plate comfortably and her rider for tomorrow Ryan Munger was aboard in that race. The most interesting runner here is Frankly. She might have taken six runs to win her maiden, but she either faced good fields or had poor draws and it is obvious when taking a look at her running that she possesses some class despite being on the small side. She is officially 2,5kg under sufferance but has a 4kg claimer up and this progressive filly should be in the shake up. Ouro finished just a head behind the promising In The Dance last time in an Assessment Plate over 1100m so will make her presence felt despite having to carry a big weight of 62,5kg. The progressive River Rafting made her seasonal reappearance in the latter race. She would have come on from the run and is 1,5kg better off with Ouro for a 2,4 length beating. High Seas Beauty was making late progress last time over 1160m and now has her third run after a long layoff so can’t be ignored. It is tough to ignore any of the others runners either, La Bastide, Pool Party Last Chirp, Distant Call and Boss Babe. There are three ways to play the leg, firstly bankering Rings And Things, secondly going with five horses or thirdly going with the field.

In the seventh race over 1400m Jameson Girl had to overcome a wide draw last time over 1450m and ran out of steam late, so could make amends here down the straight off a two point lower mark. Grade 1-placed Visuality has run well twice with blinkers on so should also be in the shake up. She was raised three points for her last run but is Grade 1 placed so is up to it. Big Bang Theory drops back to a trip she has a good record over so is another one who can’t be ignored. Inyanga would appear to prefer shorter but she has dropped down the merit ratings and has a 4kg claimer up so she has to be considered. Twelve Oaks is worth considering again in another attempt at this trip as she was bumped last time and did not stride out.

In the eighth over 1400m Lake Kinneret is the one to side with as he ran the classy Captain And Master close over 1450m on Saturday and the rest of the field were well beaten. Chepardo is ideally distance suited and off a lowered merit rating has his third run after a layoff. Sail For Joy beat Chepardo comfortably in the Grand Series race over 1475m last time when much better drawn but is 1kg worse off and this is now down the straight. Danza is ideally distance suited and must be considered alongside Changing Seasons who is having his third run after a layoff and should improve.

In the last race over 2400m Ezieza is a half-sister to the Champion Stayer Hermoso Mundo and having won her maiden well last time over 2000m she should relish the step up in trip and is only merit rated 59. Knysna Rose has placed in the top three in all three of her attempts at staying races and is back against her own gender here having gone close against the boys last time. Those two could get punters through.

By David Thiselton

The final field for the GBets Summer Cup was announced yesterday and there were only 19 acceptors so it will not be a full field of 20.

Mike de Kock has a strong hand with five horses, including the top class fillies Cascapedia and Takingthepeace as well as the progressive four-year-olds Noble Secret and Like A Panther, who should both be coming into their own and will relish the course and distance. His other runner is the lowest rated horse in the race, the 90 merit rated Kilrain. De Kock is going for his tenth Summer Cup victory and has fine chance of reaching this milestone.

St John Gray

Sean Tarry will be trying to retain the trophy and has last year’s winner Liege in the field alongside Peermont Emperor’s Palace Charity mile runner up Tilbury Fort and Grade 1 Champions Challenge third-placed Social Order. All three have enjoyed fine preparations and should be cherry ripe.

The Champions Challenge and Charity mile winner Coral Fever has to give the whole field at least 5,5kg, although seven of the runners will be under sufferance. This Robbie-Sage trained star loves the course and distance and is capable of carrying the welter burden of 60kg to victory.

Geoff Woodruff, who dominated the race from 2013 to 2016, has two entries, the 2015 runner up Deo Juvente, who won the Champions Challenge over course and distance last year, and the SA Oaks winner Secret Potion.

Paul Peter has two fillies involved, last year’s third-placed Fort Ember and the honest Sabina’s Dynasty.

The dark horse could be the Mike Azzie-trained Arctica especially if he cracks a good draw for a change as he has proved he is up to this class lately.

Ashley Fortune has a runner, Cash Time, in her first full season as a trainer.

St. John Gray has won this race before and has Dawn Assault, who will relish the course and distance and has a nice galloping weight.

The versatile Tandava provides a first Summer Cup runner for Gokhan Terzi, who moved down from Zimbabwe recently.

By David Thiselton

Featured Image: Coral Fever (JC Photographics)

Punters brave enough to bet at odds-on face a difficult decision with Front And Centre in the Betting World Handicap at Kenilworth today. There is not much doubt that she is the best horse in the race, and she is almost certainly better than her handicap mark would suggest, but she is not 100% and this is not her objective. In other words this is a stepping stone rather than an end in itself.

Yet at 7-10 the bookmakers are assuming that she will be able to run somewhere near her best. They are largely neglecting that she was found to have an abnormal blood count when ante-post favourite for last month’s Western Cape Fillies Championship and ended up on the sidelines as a result.

Hard Core (Candiese Marnewick)

“She has had a couple of hiccups and as a result she is going into this race a little bit underdone,” explains Brett Crawford who, in his own way, is in almost as difficult a position as the punters. “I am happy with her – I galloped her on the course last Thursday and she went well – and I am expecting a very good run. This will bring her to peak fitness but I want to see her finish the race well.”

Anton Marcus’s mount is also up against it to the extent that she is the only three-year-old in a field of four-year-olds. But, looking at the positives, the 3.5kg that the handicappers put her up for last time’s Durbanville win was hardly harsh considering the impressive way she won, making up six lengths to score pulling up.

If she doesn’t win it will be because she is short on fitness, not as a result of anything outstanding amongst the opposition. Stable companions Travel In Style (5-1) and Strawberry Fire at 33-10 are the shortest priced of them. The latter’s most recent four runs were all over a mile and, although she ran below her best at Durbanville six weeks ago, she was only beaten just over a length and a half.

Travel In Style has been dropped a point for last time’s third of seven and has the advantage of a talented 2.5kg claimer. Top weight Kamaishi (who has drifted from 9-1 to 14-1) is also ridden by a good claimer and won three off the reel a few months back. Forget last time’s below-par effort – he pulled hard early and his saddle slipped.

Fours A Crowd  is not without a chance, fellow 14-1 shot Lanark has been dropped 2.5kg but the last five runs of Regal Ruby (18-1) have all been over 400m less than this.

Crawford has a fancied runner in the first in 7-2 chance Louisa May but the Justin Snaith-trained Alsflamingbeauty (28-10) is given slight preference.

Crawford’s Northern Spy, though, can prove just too strong for Snaith’s Gimmetherain in race two while Marcus’s mount Fluttering is preferred to Madonna and Indi Anna 35 minutes later.

By Michael Clower

Image: (by Candiese Marnewick) The Dennis Drier-trained HARD CORE runs in race eight at Kenilworth today.

Met heroine Oh Susanna could run next in the Victress Stakes at Kenilworth on December 15 en route to the Maine Chance Farms Paddock Stakes three weeks later. But Lady In Black, her conqueror in last week’s pinnacle stakes, is set to go straight for the Grade 1.

Justin Snaith said he was satisfied with Oh Susanna’s three-quarter length second after a five-month break and added: “She was stuck in quarantine for a month after the Durban season and she had only had one gallop. Also she always gets beaten on the short run-in – remember last year’s Western Cape Fillies Championship? I will have a look at the Victress Stakes.”

Oh Susanna (Liesl King)

After the Pinnacle Dennis Drier alluded to Lady In Black being “a different filly this year.” He explained later: “She has matured and has put on 40lb since this time 12 months ago. I don’t think she will run in the Victress, though. She will probably go for the Paddock next.”

However Brave Move, beaten just over two lengths into fourth, will be in the Victress line-up. “I was very happy with her performance,” said Adam Marcus. “The way the race was run, with a five-metre spur, everyone came middle to the outside which was not what we planned. But she ran to the line and she has come out of it exceptionally well. She goes for the Paddock and the Majorca after running in the Victress.”

Hashtagyolo, last of the seven but beaten less than four lengths in her first race for over ten months, will also be nominated for the Victress. “She is rated 105 so where else could I run her?” said Dean Kannemeyer. “We all thought we would go for an easy pinnacle last Thursday and it turned into a mini Paddock Stakes.”

Eric Sands confirms that Rainbow Bridge has come out of his Cape Mile win in good shape and that the gelding will attempt to extend his unbeaten run to six in the WSB Green Point Stakes on December 8 when the opposition may include the mighty Legal Eagle. The latter looked as good as ever when winning a sprint on his reappearance at Turffontein last Thursday.

Captainofthesea (Richard Fourie) is now 5-1 clear favourite to give Snaith his second successive win in the R2.5m CTS Ready To Run Stakes at Kenilworth on Saturday. World Sports Betting yesterday pushed the badly-drawn Cirillo out half a point to 11-2 even though the Sean Tarry runner appeared to move nicely when ridden by Marcus in a gallop with a stable companion over 1 100m on the course on Saturday.

Cape Classic winner Twist Of Fate (Bernard Fayd’Herbe) pleased connections in a solo spin over 1 000m but was also eased yesterday, in his case from 6-1 to 7-1 for the Concorde Cup. The unbeaten Vaughan Marshall-trained One World (Marcus) is a warm favourite at 11-10 with Sean Tarry’s Chimichuri Run (S’Manga Khumalo) next on 11-2. Dutch Philip, second in last year’s Cape Merchants, is 4-1 favourite to go one better this time.

By Michael Clower

The R500 000 Gr2 Dingaans was moved forward a week from its conventional Summer Cup Day slot with purpose and forethought.

Legal Eagle (Liesl King)

With Summer Cup day being run on 1 December, the traditional 3yo pointer to better things will now be run at Turffontein on Saturday 24 November, alongside the Gr3 Fillies Mile.

“We moved the Cape Guineas forward a week as there was some concern expressed that it was being run too close to Christmas Day. That will now be run alongside the Cape Fillies Guineas on 15 December. Coupled with the decision to run the Summer Cup on 1 December, rather than a week earlier in November, we are hoping that the repositioning of the Dingaans and the Fillies Mile will give the better Gauteng 3yo’s the opportunity to consider going for the Cape classics too,” said Phumelela’s Vee Moodley.

Moodley went on to point out that the Gr2 Green Point Stakes would now take pride of place on Saturday 8 December at Kenilworth. Last year the traditional Queen’s Plate prep feature was run on the same day as the Cape Fillies Guineas.

“The emergence of some serious star milers over the past few months to take on the champion Legal Eagle has fortuitously meant that the Green Point now deserves star billing – and in hindsight the move of the Cape Fillies Guineas forward has panned out well,” added Moodley.

– Phumelela