The first leg of yesterday’s Pick 6 at Hollywoodbets Greyville was the highest rated race on the card, a Pinnacle Stakes over 1 400m, and was won by the Dennis Drier-trained four-year-old Visionaire gelding Caliente under Sean Veale.
All nine races were on the poly and in this race Veale sat in the box seat one wide and one back with cover before extracting a good finish out of the 8-1 chance.
Many tickets were knocked out of the exotics when the odds-on favourite Born To Perform finished unplaced for the first time in his career.
Born To Perform, whose issues are well documented, has a record of five wins out of five starts with Warren Kennedy aboard.
The grey gelding’s record with other jockeys now stands at five losses from five starts as even the great Anton Marcus was unable to change the losing streak yesterday. Kennedy might well be up the next time Born To Perform runs.
Marcus was also aboard a slow starting favourite in the first race over 1 100m, the Johan Janse van Vuuren-trained Jay Fizz, but the What A Winter gelding responded well to his urging thereafter to make up the leeway before running on well in the straight to win cosily.
Marcus then made it a double for himself, favourites and What A Winter when coming from one wide and one back on the Glen Kotzen-trained Arctic Princess to win comfortably.
In the third over 1 400m Tristan Godden brought the Alyson Wright-trained Gimmethegreenlight gelding Ralph The Rascal from the back of the field but it was hardly in doubt as he mowed the field down with ease to win by 3,50 lengths in just his second career start.
The in form Gavin van Zyl yard had another winner in the fifth over 1400m when Kennedy burst through from midfield on the Pomodoro gelding Opensea. Apprentice Thabiso Gumede was dumped at the start of this race by Fives Wild, who dropped his head to the floor.
Gumede was taken to hospital for routine check ups.
The sixth over 1 400m saw the first leg of a double for Dennis Bosch as Craig Zackey produced the six-year-old Royal Air Force gelding Royal Rustler with a sustained run on the outside.
The seventh over 2 000m saw a thrilling finish and Keagan de Melo prevailed by a shorthead on the favourite, the Dean Kannemeyer-trained Ideal gelding Joseph Jagger at the expense of Isikheto.
In the eighth over 1600m Alyson Wright completed a double when the Oratorio gelding Caesura ran on strongly on the outside under Dennis Schwarz. Bosch completed his double in the last when the outsider Ms Rosa Parks, a Black Minnaloushe filly, burst clear under Ant Mgudlwa.
By David Thiselton
