Emerald Gal goes for a quick follow-up in the Itsarush.co.za Handicap at Kenilworth tomorrow and at 5-1 she makes a lot of appeal.

First time out of the maidens is normally a no-no for punters but Stan Elley made the point recently that horses who have taken some time to win a maiden, but have run consistently close, tend to go on doing so when pitched into handicaps.

Indeed Elley’s pre-race previews are an essential tool for the serious punter. The former trainer does a tremendous amount of homework and he invariably informs his listeners of the strength of the form in often-tricky maidens by pointing out how many, or how few, winners and placed horses have come out of the various races.

But back to Emerald Gal. She looked one of those expensively frustrating horses who keep on running well but without finding enough at the end of a race to actually win. However all that changed last Tuesday when Grant van Niekerk took her down quietly on her own, several minutes before the others, and then bounced her out of the pens straight into the lead – and there she stayed.

True, it wasn’t a strong maiden – the third and fourth were both newcomers – but the handicappers have left her on an unchanged mark of 62. The one negative is that Van Niekerk has switched horses and is now on Elusive Empress for his old ally Ronnie Sheehan.

That filly opened 3-1 favourite with World Sports Betting yesterday with top weight Frosted Honey next on 7-2. Darryl Hodgson has booked Donovan Dillon for Emerald Gal and at 5-1 in a field of eight you can take out insurance by backing her each way. Sun At Midnight and Varifast are both 4-1 chances.

The three Joey Ramsden two-year-olds failed to collect on Saturday but 5-2 joint favourite Apollo Star can resume normal service in the first. Dillon’s mount was second against older horses when he suffered slight interference over 1 400m last time but the stable reckons that he is just as effective over this shorter trip. Indeed he was fourth in the Kuda Sprint on Met day.

Supreme Orator (5-2) and What A Summer (28-10) both made the frame first time and are obvious dangers.

Oh Susanna, ponied to the start when second favourite on debut, lost significant ground coming out of the pens but recovered to beat all except surprise fellow newcomer Raya Baya and could prove hard to beat at 17-10 in race two.

She should confirm the placings with 5-1 chance Evie’s Light (1 ¼ lengths back third) as well as with Daring Jayne, Easy Virtue and Dubai Queen who were all long shots and ran accordingly. Mainland’s debut fourth has been franked by the subsequent win of second-placed Lily Theresa and Aldo Domeyer’s mount is second favourite at 9-2.

And in other news.

Anton Marcus, bidding for his fourth Winter Guineas win in six seasons, has been snapped up by Snaith Racing for Turbulent Air in the Highlands Stud-sponsored Winter Series opening leg at Kenilworth on Saturday.

Bernard Fayd’Herbe rides the stable’s other runner African Night Sky and Jonathan Snaith said: “Both horses are in a good space and have the right jockeys on them.”

Turbulent Air is part-owned by Mayfair Speculators who retain Marcus and are also represented by Joey Ramsden’s Investec Cape Derby fourth Newlands (Donovan Dillon) and stable companion I Travel Light. Piere Strydom flies in to partner the last-named.

The connections of last year’s winner Marinaresco – he beat subsequent Met winner Whisky Baron by less than half a length – have a fancied candidate in Our Mate Art, one of four runners for Candice Bass-Robinson. Mike Stewart has opted out with the badly drawn Icon King who instead carries top weight in the last-race 1 400m handicap.

By Michael Clower