whipping boy
With the pool boosted by R600?000-plus from a carryover at the Vaal on Tuesday, the pick six at Newmarket on Thursday night assumes an attractive glow.
It’s all too easy to be suckered into laying out too much money on these occasions in the hope of a life-changing dividend. Playing the pick six is a high-risk venture: it involves all the things that can go wrong in a race, to the power of six! Still, you can’t win the raffle if you don’t buy a ticket, so for those who like to live dangerously, here’s a go at the pick six.
The first leg is a maiden for fillies and mares and appears to be dominated by daughters of two of South Africa’s top sires of recent times, Fort Wood and Jallad.
Like much of Fort Wood’s progeny, the Geoff Woodruff-trained Quaking Aspen is improving with experience and over longer distances. She could still prove to be a lot better than her one fourth placing from five starts indicates.
However, Queens Gate, a R110 000 daughter of Jallad, could be the one here. She is coming on quickly and was a fair second last time at this Alberton course. She had Argentina-bred Nivealize a length behind her and looks set to run a cracker with new boy in town Mark Khan aboard.
A novice plate for fillies over the minimum distance is the second leg. The Terry Lowe-trained Gateway has an impressive win sandwiched by two fourth places from three runs to date. She has been well-supported in the betting at each start and will be out to make amends for her narrow failure last time. A bonus in the pick six is that she’s coupled with Leaping Leopard, a serious contender if fit after an 18-month break from racing.
Kentucky Girl was only a length behind Gateway last time and has scope for improvement.
The consistent Safe Return has Chilean wizard Guilermo Figueroa up and shouldn’t be discounted.
The colts’ novice sprint makes up the third leg. Leading rider Piere Strydom will be out to make it a double for Bush Report, which broke his run of seconds with a win in KwaZulu-Natal in November. I suspect that the title-chasing Strydom wouldn’t have taken the ride if the gelding isn’t ready to win. Still, Meritorious and Sherman Brown look set to provide serious opposition. Any other winner could be called an upset.
In the fourth leg, a C division handicap for fillies and mares, it will pay to pack in as many of the 10 runners as you can. Strydom on Polonaise could win but he could just as easily get pipped.
True Vigor will be attempting to make it two out of two in the fifth leg, having beaten subsequent winner Meritorious in his only run to date. If he can beat Sumptuous Sapphire (Strydom again) and Saratoga, mark him down as well above average. Handbrake van Wyk on Cordobuzz and Weichong Mawing on the Weiho Mawing-trained Gather Diamonds loom as possible upsets.
Woodruff’s Universal Actress looks like a banker in the last leg after her close second last time.
Good luck!