A week ahead of the Cape Town Met, there is a double-header at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth and Turffontein on Saturday and a meeting at Hollywoodbets Scottsville on Sunday.
The average Pick 6 payout at the three January meetings at Kenilworth so far is a shade under R250,000, an encouraging pointer to next week’s expected R10-million pool and good motivation to build a kitty for next Saturday’s blockbuster fixture, which also offers a likely R4-million Quartet pool on the Met. The Met field was announced earlier this week. You can participate this weekend and in next week’s whopping pools via the
Betway Tote portal and receive your 6% betting tax back at month-end, always a welcome bonus.
Betway Ambassador Mike de Kock’s comments on his Turffontein runners, below:
Race 4: “Festival Of Magic ran a good race last time when he was drawn deepest of all. The only thing against him is that he hasn’t raced beyond 1400m yet. He is bred for it, however. We trained his half-brother Jaipur Jewel who won over a mile and placed up to 2400. On the way Festival Of Fire ran on last time he should be very competitive in this race. The pedigree is there.”
Race 5: “Iphiko has enjoyed a good freshen-up. She’s not at her best yet, but bright and fresh and she’s fast as we know. Include her in your play, she has won five times over 1000m.”
Race 8: “La Moohal just hung on for his Maiden success last time, a hard-fought win. He goes up in class and I’m not sure he is capable of following up, just hoping he runs another good race.”
Race 9: “Officer on Command is a Maiden in a Handicap. He is comfortable over 1800m and his earlier form has been franked by Just Nuisance and Stom Brascoe, but this won’t be easy for him to win. We’ll see whether his rating is correct or not.”
The Listed Betway Swallow Stakes over 1160m tops the bill. Leaving Las Vegas, Troppo Veloce and Cullinan Blue are the only runners with Graded places to their name and stand out in this race. They’re all fast,progressive and commanding when they win, but with the course and distance factor as a guide, Cullinan Blue is the pick of the three. While Leaving Las Vegas and Troppo Veloce both failed in their single attempts over 1160m, Cullinan Blue is two from three, has drawn on the standside rail and hails from the in-form stable of Brett Crawford.
Horseplayers will need to have their wits about them for several trappy contests on Saturday’s 10-race card at Kenilworth. They include Race 6 over 2000m, in which Justin Snaith saddles three of eight contenders and holds the key to the result. They’ve raced against each other a few times with different outcomes, but on a recent line of form through Pomodoro’s Jet it looks as if stable jockey Grant van Niekerk’s mount, Cosmic Event, is preferred in this contest.
Up-and-coming three-year-olds Magic Verse and Weather King take on each other and a few fair older horses in Race 7 over 1800m. Four-year-old Marshall Field has grown in confidence recently and could present a threat.
At the ratings, Snaith’s high-level performer Itsrainingwilliam has a good opportunity to post his third career win in Race 10, a 1400m Graduation Plate. His principal rival is Eric Sands-trained Gallic Dream, who ran on powerfully in his first start after being gelded and has 6kg less to shoulder, although Irsrainingwilliam has a higher merit rating and looks like he’ll be able to handle the extra weight successfully.
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