The Turffontein card tomorrow looks to be quite a tricky one, but the Pick 6 race in which punters can go thin looks to be the eighth, a MR 80 Handicap over 1160m.

Piere Strydom

Fieldmarshal Fenix and Refuge should dominate this race, although Spring Steel can’t be ignored either. Fieldmarshall Fenix, a four-year-old gelding by Brave Tin Soldier, wore blinkers last time out and he ran well below par. The blinkers are duly off again. Before that he finished second twice in succession to the progressive Just As I Said. The latter followed up with a fine run in a strong Pinnacle Stakes event before winning yet again. Fieldmarshal Fenix is in fact 3kg better off with the talented Spring Steel, despite having beaten the latter by 1,5 lengths the last time they met, which was in a race over tomorrow’s course and distance. He and Spring Steel were well clear of the rest in that aforementioned race, which is always the sign of good form.

The pair should be right up there in the finish again, but at the weights Fieldmarshal Fenix gets the vote. However, he can’t be confidently backed to win due to the presence of Refuge. Refuge met Fieldmarshal Fenix last July on the same terms as tomorrow, if apprentice claims are included, and lost by only a length. However, he was only a two-year-old then, so if weight for age is taken into account he is now effectively 5kg better off. On paper he should romp home, according to that piece of form. However, on the downside he is returning from a layoff of just over three months. Piere Strydom has duly taken the ride. Fieldmarshall Fenix and Refuge should be enough to get punters through the Pick 6, although Spring Steel could perhaps be included in lower cost Jackpots. Fieldmarshall Fenix appeals as a PA banker.

The best bet of the day comes in the first race, a Juvenile Maiden over 1400m for fillies. The R1,9 million purchase Rumbavar has caught the eye in two starts over 1000m at Kenilworth. She is a long-striding daughter of Var who will relish the step up in distance and she looks to possess considerable class, so is going to be hard to oppose. There are a few first-timers here and Aurelia Cotta and Think Twice make most appeal of them, but they would have to be smart to trouble Rumbavar, who looks likely to go off at cramped odds.

Hot Curry, who runs in the third race, is a Mike de Kock-trained stablemate of Rumbavar’s and has been chosen as the value bet on the day. It is seldom a horse who finished last in her previous start can be fancied next time out, but he ran in a strong maiden Juvenile Plate over 1000m at Kenilworth and was not at all disgraced. He will relish the step up in trip here and should be involved in the finish of a race where there are no stand out horses.

By David Thiselton