Scottsville has a ten race meeting on Sunday and punters will have to do some careful studying to win the exotics as some of the races are wide open.

In the third race the Duncan Howells-rained Pippin could get punters place accumulators off to a good start. She has improved with blinkers and took a firm hold of the bit without over racing when handy over 1600m last time out before staying on well. She should enjoy this step down in trip as it should allow her to stride freely in the early stages from a good draw, perhaps in the lead. She will stay all the way to the line. Liberty Market will be a danger because last time out she had to overcome a wide draw over this course and distance and, despite taking a bump and over racing for a few strides early on in a slow run race, she still managed to come from the back with a strong run to finish less than a length behind the winner Gordon’s Cungee. she has a slightly better draw this time, although there looks to be a lack of pace again which could be her undoing, so Pippin is preferred.

The first leg of the Pick 6 is a lot more difficult to assess, especially considering two of the contenders, Purple Splash and Buck Eye, are returning from layoffs. However the eye catcher her is St Peter’s Bay, who stayed on well over 1200m at Greyville last time to finish just over five lengths behind the decent sort Palladium. Trainer Doug Campbell has gelded him since that race at the beginning of May and said he had improved for it. He added he was fit and well and expected him to run a good race.

Anthony Delpech (Liesl King)

The first leg of the Jackpot could be fought out between the form horse on paper, Chicago Beat, and the horse who hails from the stronger centre of Cape Town, Sun Dynasty. The latter, who hasn’t raced since April and has his first outing for Weiho Marwing, has proven to be suited to 1400m and should be running on strongly. However, Chicago Beat is preferred as he is still unexposed and a look at his recent run over 1200m at Scottsville as well as his pedigree suggests he will relish this step up to 1400m. Being by Silvano he should be improving all the time too and Anthony Delpech up is a further bonus, although he does have to jump from a wide draw in his first race around the turn.

The standout horse in the next race, Pearl Emblem, also has a wide draw to overcome and beyond her it is wide open. She has a four point raise for her recent win to overcome but loves this 1400m course and distance and goes well for this 4kg claimer. Trinity Hall and Le Chat D’Amour should go close from good draws. The enigmatic Putchini can never be written off, while the expensively purchased Ante Omnia looks to be limited so does not make much appeal despite the Dennis Drier yard being in devastating form and Anton Marcus being aboard.

The highest rated race of the day is the seventh, a MR 86 event over 1400m, and like most fillies and mares handicaps it is is potential stumbling  block in the exotics. Punters shouldn’t be fooled by Keagan de Melo taking the ride on Well In Flight in preference to stable jockey Sean Veale as the former does a lot of work for Drier and it was decided to give him this good ride as a reward. She once finished about three lengths behind Silver Mountain over this trip and she is the first choice.

The last leg of the Jackpot is also a fillies and mares handicap, so is tricky. Ginger Biscuit has done well in sprint races which have plenty of pace in them, like this one, so she should give a good account of herself. However, there is a concern the handicapper might have her measure at present as she earned this 79 merit ratings through two wins. She has had four runs since without seriously threatening to cross the line first, although she has been thereabouts. Cosmic Burst is a blinkers strike so has to be included as she appeared to be promising early on in her career. Elephant Matriarch earned her place in racing’s wonderful story hall of fame last year. She burst through the rails at Greyville with her hood still on before her wild run ended with a plunge into a lake on the golf course. The hero who abandoned his golf game and rescued her was by an amazing coincidence named Don Olifant. Dennis Bosch rated her at the time as a “beautiful filly” with a bright future. She should be coming into her own now as a four-year-old, so could possibly follow up on her recent course and distance win despite a three point raise in the merit ratings.

The last leg of the Pick 6 and PA is also a tough sprint handicap. Panza, Shogun, Roy’s Air Force, Over Sure and Out My Way make the most appeal to clinch the exotics for those who are still running.

David Thiselton