Time for Say When to say now again
Bettors face somewhat of a minefield on Thursday 24 March at Turffontein when eight races will be contested over the notoriously difficult Inside Track.
In the headline event, a FM 90 Handicap over 1450m, many of the 14 fillies and mares carded to go to post have claims, so to find the winner is searching for the proverbial needle in a haystack.
The one filly who does seem to be the sharpest of all the needles is Say When, a four-year-old trained by Johan Janse van Vuuren.
By Silvano, she started her career off as a three-year-old with seven top-three finishes, including three victories.
As a four-year-old she has only had three outings with a second-place last time out her best attempt. That runner-up finish, however, suggests that she has regained the form she displayed last season. It must be noted that that run was over 1200m and was the line just a handful of strides further away, she would probably have recorded her fourth victory.
In Thursday’s Class B event, the extra should be right up her alley.
Van Vuuren will undoubtedly be holding thumbs that she does not emulate the career of her dam, Sky Pirate. She also recoded three wins and four top-four finishes as a three-year-old, but never went on to win again. She did continue to race until the age of five, but with very limited success.
It is interesting to note that Keagan de Melo, who will be aboard Say When on Thursday, did have one outing aboard Sky Pirate towards the end of her running career back in 2014.
The biggest threats look to be Elusive Current, who has finished runner-up in both her last outings, Magical Flight, who is having her second run after a rest, and Golden Spoon, who did not have any luck in running last time out.
All four the mentioned, however, have drawn wide and that could open the door for Stuart Pettigrew’s pair, namely Sweet And Spicy, and Prairie Falcon.
Clive Robinson
