With an anticipated Turffontein Pick 6 pool of R2,5 million kicking off in the fourth @ 16h15 today, and the Dubai World Cup action running in tandem, punters are in for a treat.
Can we get away with banking Deo Juvente in the first leg?
French Navy – right one on paper
It is not unusual to see champion trainer Sean Tarry with a strong hand again and he holds the ascendancy in pure numbers in the R400 000 Gr2 Colorado King Stakes.
But his powerhouse colleague Geoff Woodruff could have his number.
The field size bugbear has raised its ugly head again over the past few months and while the Cape is usually the centre under discussion, it is the Highveld’s turn – and that in their season, to top it all!
Only seven runners line up for this Pick 6 opener feature and while we don’t need sixteen runners to have a great race, numbers definitely help on the betting turnover front – and that’s what drives the money hungry engine. Where exactly are all the horses?
The weights for the Colorado King Stakes, a 2000m race on the standside track, are set with 4-year-olds and older carrying a base 58 kgs, with 3-year-olds carrying 53,5 kgs.
Winners of Gr1 races get 2,0 kg for each such win and Gr2 winners get 1kg for each win.
Sean Tarry – strong hand
Tarry’s attack is spearheaded by the SP top-rated multiple Gr1 winner French Navy, who ran third in the event last year behind Unparalleled and stablemate Stonehenge.
The son of Count Dubois really has not set the world alight as a 5yo, failing to spark in four runs.
On his best form he could mow this lot down but will need to improve on his Hawaii Stakes no show – a race that was obviously too short for him and which he no doubt needed after travelling back from a sixth behind Whisky Baron in the Sun Met.
The 2000m is more his game.
The lightly raced Australian-bred 4yo Brazuca was beaten 7 lengths by French Navy in the Met and this Teofilo colt meets the Tarry runner on marginally worse terms here.
A multiple Gr1 placer, he is yet to win at feature level and looks more effective over slightly shorter and gets the blinkers taken off on Saturday.
The high quality topweighted Deo Juvente gets the services of Anton Marcus and is winless since scoring in the Victory Moon Stakes in November 2015.
The son of Trippi went on to chase his all conquering stablemate Master Sabina home in the Summer Cup, before things went wrong down in the Cape.
Deo Juvente – 2000m his limit but looks the right one
He failed to repeat his swashbuckling 2015 Summer Cup effort in 2016, but came back strongly after a rest when chasing Romany Prince home in the London News Stakes.
Marcus will give this lightly tried high-class 5yo every chance.
The very decent front-runner Stonehenge was the unofficial winner (with JP van der Merwe up) of this race last year – losing it to Unparalleled in the boardroom after a herculean effort.
He is frankly racing off his best at the moment and made a respiratory noise when throwing in the towel at the350m marker in the Drum Star last Saturday.
Stuart Pettigreew’s A P Arrow entire Kings Archer is not well in on these weight terms but has run some decent fringe races to good sorts – his smart efforts to the likes of Front Rank and New Predator catch the eye.
He showed for a long way when outgunned in a small field over a slightly sharp 1400m at Turffontein ten days ago.
He is well drawn but may lack the genuine class to beat a field of this standard.
Piere Strydom – rides Samurai Blade
Piere Strydom rides Samurai Blade in a feature for the second time in 7 days.
The son of Where’s That Tiger probably needed his run last Saturday in the Listed Drum Star when fading late to fini9sh just over 6 lengths off The Elmo Effect.
It is concerning that he made a respiratory noise – not the first time he has done so – and he cannot be fancied with any confidence.
He did run a fair third behind Romany Prince at level weights in the Gr3 London News Stakes and did appear to be finally going in the right direction with consecutive wins in early December after a Summer Cup shocker.
A gelding with a stallion’s pedigree, the 4yo Let It Rain has an enormous task at these weights.
A winner of 3 from 17 starts, he has won well when he has and stayed on steadily behind Royal Honour in the Listed Aquanaut Stakes last time over 400m further – but is unexposed at this level and would need to outstrip his official rating to have any chance. He is distance suited though.
The first leg of the Pick 6 is not the place to play brave, but we are going narrow with Deo Juvente – back up with French Navy in need.
A fitter Samurai Blade could challenge off a serious pace bound to be set by his companion, Stonehenge.
