Jack Milner
Punters need to check for changes on Thursday’s card at the Vaal Classic track because there have been a number of scratchings.
There are various reasons but remarkably five of them will be coming out because they are winners and are no longer eligible to run in their respective races. All of Gimme Some Luck (Race 1), Onceinabluemoon (Race 3), Moana (Race 4) and Mrs Stormiatrix (Race 9) won on the weekend or earlier and they will be joined by Sherlock Holmes, who won his maiden yesterday and will now be out of Race 3.
His withdrawal has left bettors with a quandary because he did look one of the standout bets on the card and a banker on all bets.
However, his withdrawal has opened the door for Sean Tarry-trained Purple Rain. This daughter of Gimmethegreenlight is a full sister to Paisley Park who was rated highly by the yard until suffering a setback early in his career.
In fact, further withdrawals from the race have left just three runners and Purple Rain does standout
Purple Rain has only run once, and that was in a Maiden Plate for fillies and mares over 1160m on the Turffontein Standside track. She did find betting support and went off at 7-2 but after staying up with the pace for a while, she faded late to finish 6.75 lengths behind Traditional Belief.
Runner-up in that race, Detailed Forecast, has come out and won to bolster the form a little but she has since moved to Alan Greeff in the Eastern Cape.
But Purple Rain has found a really weak field and perhaps racing over 1200m around the turn will help. This is a Maiden Plate all maidens and as a filly, she also gets the benefit of a 2.5kg sex allowance.
Ryan Munger rode her on debut and he is back on board, and with the experience under the belt, Purple Rain has a great opportunity to get off the mark.
Jack Milner’s selections
Race 1: 5 Sosoru, 7 Corsaro Super, 8 Endearing Peace, 11 Steel Spring
Race 2: 2 Wings Of Kildra, 3 Master’s Lady, 1 Duchess Di, 7 Empress Wu
Race 3: 6 Purple Rain, 4 Hat’s Mambo, 1 Gunboat
Race 4: 1 Without Remorse, 7 Floral Fury, 6 Devious Looks, 3 Savara’s Princess
Race 5: 1 Golden Operator, 2 Never Never Land, 6 Oklahoma Smokeshow, 5 Aquarius
Race 6: 1 Miss Hannigan, 5 Salenio Peninsula, 7 Vamanos, 6 Season’s Greetings
Race 7: 5 Trip Of Faith, 6 Winds Of Grace, 4 Kensal Green, 2 Opera Fan
Race 8: 4 Alpine Jet, 6 Rondebosch, 7 Caroline Island, 1 Banff
Race 9: 5 Time Is Precious, 2 Inafix, 7 Nkandla Gold, 3 Tiger Storm
BEST BET
Race 1: 5 Sosoru
VALUE BET
Race 6: 1 Miss Hannigan
BEST SWINGER
Race 4 1×2
BIPOT
R96
Leg 1: 2, 3
Leg 2: 6
Leg 3: 1, 7
Leg 4: 1, 2, 6
Leg 5: 1, 5, 6, 7
Leg 6: 5, 6
PLACE ACCUMULATOR
R216
Leg 1: 6
Leg 2: 1, 7
Leg 3: 1, 2, 6
Leg 4: 5, 7
Leg 5: 5, 6
Leg 6: 4, 6, 7
Leg 7: 2, 5
PICK 6
R2160
Leg 1: 1, 6, 7
Leg 2: 1, 2, 5, 6
Leg 3: 1, 2, 5, 6, 7
Leg 4: 4, 5, 6
Leg 5: 1, 4, 6, 7
Leg 6: 2, 5, 7
JACKPOT 1
R240
Leg 1: 1, 2, 5, 6
Leg 2: 1, 2, 5, 6, 7
Leg 3: 4, 5, 6
Leg 4: 1, 4, 6, 7
JACKPOT 2
R180
Leg 1: 1, 2, 5, 6, 7
Leg 2: 4, 5, 6
Leg 3: 1, 4, 6, 7
Leg 4: 2, 5, 7
This article was originally published on TAB and is reposted here with permission.
