Devonne Govender
Midweek racing is at Hollywoodbets Scottsville where the latter part of the card is tricky to assess.
In race one, Franz Lehar looks to be talented and could be anything with the form holding up well. The Garth Puller trained son of Querari gets Warren Kennedy aboard this time around and looks tough to beat.
It could turn out to be a race to race double for Puller who saddles Petit Verdot in the second. She warrants healthy respect on her decent enough debut run only finishing 2,3 lengths behind a highly regarded Shantastic on the poly. With not much exposed form to go on the double could be the way to go in terms of betting.
Time Chaser in race three gets a plum draw for trainer Duncan Howells. Thabiso Gumede has ridden her in all three starts and she will jump from stall one down the straight and looks a serious player here. She has been running against strong company and should be ready to shed her maiden tag. Honey Land from the Kotzen yard represents the Shantastic form line and one will be able to ascertain how strong that is after race two. Kotzen has been having a great season with his two-year-olds and this could be the biggest danger to Time Chaser.
Race five sees the card becoming a lot trickier with a reasonably sized field of 13 runners. New Stream from the Mark Dixon yard has a slight rating drop with the eye-catching jockey booking of Keagan de Melo who is in great form. This trainer and jockey combination do extremely well together which must be taken in account. Mr Pigalle could be the main danger to the first selection as he is holding form well but does jump from a wide draw however, he can finish strongly.
In the last, Quest For The Best ran well in his last start however has been racing on ploy recently. Juan Paul V’D Merwe jumps aboard this time around and that’s interesting to note as he has ridden Happy Wanderer who is holding form extremely well. Happy Wanderer’s last two starts catches the eye not to mention the stable are in top form.
Grey Ocean is another that must be thrown in as he is never far off the action. His run-on the 24th of April here is good and a repeat showing will see him feature. The quartet could be the way to go in the lucky last and if structured correctly punters could make a lucrative profit on the day.