There’s plenty of fascinating horse racing action to look forward to this weekend with plenty of value on offer from Turffontein and Scottsville.
Turffontein (Saturday)
Race 5 – Lucky Lad
The Grade 2 SA Nursery throws up an interesting contest with some of the finest two-year-olds in the country. The top selection here is Lucky Lad for the Sean Tarry yard, ridden by Richard Fourie. He’s unbeaten in his two starts to date and comes off the back of winning a Grade 3 event. The son of Gimmethegreenlight is loaded with the ability and looks like he could keep his unbeaten record intact.
Race 6 – Master Archie
Master Archie comes into this Grade 1 Computaform Sprint as the hot favourite after his resounding victory last time out, while he also won this race last year by over two lengths. Craig Zackey got a feel of him in his last start and retains the ride for the Tony Peter stable. Apart from Princess Calla in the race, you could argue that he beat a much tougher field last year.
Race 7 – Billy Bowlegs
The value bet of the weekend comes in the Premier’s Champions Challenge in the form of Billy Bowlegs. The son of the United States got going too late in the SA Derby last time, finishing a strong runner-up. Prior to that, his last three runs were over 1800m, where he won two and finished third in the SA Classic. The manner in which he finished those races suggests the 2000m distance will suit him down to the ground.
Race 9 – Bless My Stars
The Sean Tarry yard seems to be one worth following with Bless My Stars standing out in this field of talented fillies and mares. The daughter of Gimmethegreenlight is once again ridden by jockey S’manga Khumalo, who won the SA Fillies Classic aboard this 3-year-old filly in his penultimate run with her. She took on a much better company that day and should blow this field away.
Scottsville (Sunday)
Race 4 – Beechamwood Bay
Sunday’s value bet comes quite early in the day as Beechamwood Boy gets the top selection in Race 4. He’s won his last three successive runs and Serino Moodley gets the ride. He takes on a stronger field here but carries a light mass of just 52 kg. He does get a wide draw, which is not necessarily a bad thing up the straight at Scottsville, so Moodley will hope to get utilize his early gate speed and trounce his rivals.
Race 5 – Winter Cloud
Trainer Candice Bass-Robinson holds the keys to this race as she has the top two favourites both coming from her yard. The top selection though is Winter Cloud who gets the stable jockey, Aldo Domeyer, on board. She won her last two starts emphatically, beating a highly-rated horse called Distant Winter on both occasions. It’s interesting to note that Domeyer chose this horse to ride, suggesting he has seen something we haven’t seen against its stable companions.
Race 6 – Outlaw King
Outlaw King looks to be a progressive horse with an abundance of ability in its arsenal. He’s yet to be truly tested in his short career so far, winning both starts 2 and 3 lengths respectively. Keagan De Melo retains the ride as expected for the Dean Kannemeyer yard and the pair should take the power of beating yet again.
Race 8 – Noble City
The best bet on the card comes in the form of Noble City in Race 8. The son of Noble Tune looks to be the class of the race and will certainly have bigger and better things to come in his career. He’s won two of his three runs and trounced much tougher opposition than what he comes against now. With Richard Fourie aboard yet again, its hard to see this horse not coming through to reward his punters.