Candice Bass-Robinson, as she will appear in the racecard from now on, has her first runners at Durbanville today. There are seven of them and her best chance of a winner is probably with Prince Of Eden in race eight.
Grant van Niekerk’s mount opened 2-1 favourite with World Sports Betting yesterday. He led two furlongs out when scoring convincingly last time and runner-up Waiting For Rain franked the form when winning last Saturday. The negatives are his outside draw and the five points he was raised for his win.
Bombs Away (race five) and A Time To Kill in the seventh are 5-1 shots but the former has been off almost four months. However the well drawn A Time To Kill may be able to reverse last time’s placings with Red Peril on a kilo better terms.
Candice Robinson (hamish NIVEN Photography)
This is the last Cape Town meeting for 11 days and Summer Sky – each way at 15-2 – could be value in the first. Dean Kannemeyer’s colt is almost certainly better than the bare form would suggest, having lost a front shoe when starting second favourite last time.
Imperial Dancer is 17-10 favourite and first time blinkers may improve him enough but he has been something of a bookmakers’ benevolent fund so far. Second favourite New Caledonia’s claims are almost as obvious but watch out for 6-1 shot Flower Blue. “He was right with them 100m out last time but then got squeezed- and this time I’ve got Andrew Fortune,” points out Harold Crawford.
Many of the leading contenders are badly drawn in race two but even so 22-10 joint favourite Miss Hyde is hard to oppose. She really caught the eye on debut here – last to leave the pens, last into the straight but finished like a train. She can beat Fortune’s mount Emerald Gal (also 22-10) and 12-1 chance Turnpike who is drawn better and ran well last time.
Rock On Wood, despite losing ground at the start when odds-on in his last two races, warrants another chance at 16-10 in the Quinte Plus Maiden. Figure Of Grey (2-1) and 7-2 shot Dontknowhy are the obvious dangers.
Argo Solo’s task in the Soccer 6 Handicap is a good deal tougher than it would have been at last week’s rained-off meeting, he is drawn wider and the bookmakers have been forewarned. A week ago they were advertising him at 9-2 and they now have him favourite at 22-10.
Oceans Trip could be better value at 33-10 – he beat first-timer Power Grid last time and the runner-up has won since – and Shepherds Purse looks intriguing at 10-1.
“He is a bit in-and-out and you have got to catch him on his day,” cautions the in-form Piet Steyn. “I fancied him when he disappointed last time but I expect him to run a lot better here.”
Michael Clower
