Bwana could be the answer to tomorrow’s Tellytrack.com Pinnacle Stakes and at a rewarding price.
Such races are notoriously difficult to predict – most of the horses are using it as a warm-up and many have been off for a long time – and the Durbanville draw bias adds to the uncertainty. Remember how Pacific Trader made a mockery of it a fortnight ago?
Bwana comes from the same stable and is drawn even worse but it is much in his favour that he often races prominently and that the Philippi yard is on fire at the moment.
“The way the track is running he doesn’t have to be in front,” points out Brett Crawford. “If he turns for home two or three lengths off them that should be close enough.”
Corne Orffer’s mount has drifted slightly, from 5-1 to 6-1, and he should be fit after running a 2.4 length-sixth to Pacific Trader in his first race since May.
Elusive Trader is the one that the early money has come for and by yesterday morning he was favourite at 4-1. There is no denying the form claims of the Greg Ennion runner, and he is going to pop up one of these days, but he finds it hard to win – he has only done so once out of the maidens – and he has cost this column too much to justify going for him again.
Of the others Sergeant Hardy (9-1) is theoretically the best in at the weights but stable companion Green Jacket’s chance is as good and Photocopy is smart round here.
The TAB Telebet Conditions Plate has also attracted some class horses, notably Canukeepitsecret who has 4.5kg in hand on adjusted ratings. But she has not raced since trailing in 18 lengths behind the winner in the Olympic Duel and Vaughan Marshall voices a note of caution, saying: “She might just need it. She took a bit of a dive during the winter and I went easy on her.”
Pretty Young Thing, yet another in-form horse from the Crawford stable, is clear favourite at 3-1 but it just might pay to take a chance with 9-2 shot Too Phat To Fly who also comes from a stable in form and has a much better draw.
Justin Snaith can again start the ball rolling by winning the first two races but I prefer Bollinger to Richard Fourie’s mount Lead Singer in the first while Queen’s Club may have improved enough to account for the superior form claims of Caribbean Sunset in the next.
By Michael Clower
