A high-quality 10-race programme on Turffontein’s Standside track on Saturday 1 November headlines with the Grade 2 Allied Steelrode – Onamission Charity Mile, a R1-million contest that doubles as a key trial for the Grade 1 Betway Summer Cup later this month.
With two Grade 3 races and three Listed events, the meeting promises both class and betting opportunity in equal measure.
All eyes will be on Confederate, the current ante-post favourite for the Summer Cup, who will likely further shorten in that betting if, as is expected, he justifies market confidence in the Charity Mile.
The Fabian Habib-trained Fire Away gelding boasts an enviable record of six wins and four seconds in his 11 starts, and showed his off-colour Durban July performance is best forgotten by showing his true worth with a smooth win on his seasonal reappearance in a 1450m Conditions Race under Rachel Venniker, who retains the ride.
Confederate has the ideal profile for this event as he is versatile, progressive, and tactically adaptable. At the weights, he’s good value to confirm his standing as the current benchmark.
That said, last year’s Summer Cup winner Atticus Finch won’t be going down without a fight, despite the Alec Laird-trained six-year-old conceding 1.5kg to Confederate. This Master Of My Fate gelding shaped with serious intent on his reappearance, flashing home for second over an inadequate trip in the 1450m Grade 2 Joburg Spring Challenge. The blinkers, fitted for the first time that day, are retained, and from gate one, he’s perfectly positioned to stalk and strike late.
Punters would be wise to include Callmegetrix, last-start winner of the Fillies & Mares Joburg Spring Challenge, and Choisanaada, the Highveld 3YO Winter Series victor, in their bets. Both are capable of running into the frame at rewarding odds.
Earlier in the afternoon, the Grade 3 TAB Starling Stakes (Race 4) for three-year-old fillies over 1400m has a wide-open look to it. Elegantrix and Tina Lovelace bring genuine Grade 1 juvenile form to the table, while the unbeaten Stormy Day could easily steal the spotlight. The Johan Janse van Vuuren-trained latter won both sprint starts with authority and should relish the step up in trip.
Still, the value play could be her stablemate Pretty Persuasive, whose winning course-and-distance form is a significant advantage around the testing Turffontein circuit.
The Grade 3 Betway Graham Beck Stakes (Race 5) for the colts and geldings is far less complicated, with Tin Pan Alley – another Sean Tarry flagbearer – setting a lofty standard after an emphatic Grade 2 success in the Joburg Spring Challenge, when he downed older rivals in his first run after a gelding operation.
Runner-up in a Grade 1 over 1600m as a juvenile, this gelded son of The United States looks every inch a potential top-liner for the months ahead.
Tarry-trained runners should also feature prominently in two of the Listed races. Quantum Theory (Race 3, 1160m Golden Loom Handicap) is expected to bounce back from a disappointing Spring Challenge effort returning to a more suitable sprint trip, while stablemate World Of Alice (Race 6, the Yellowwood Handicap over 1800m) made a stylish winning reappearance over a distance short of her best last week and should build on that momentum.
With proven Grade 1 horses, emerging three-year-old stars, and a bulging exotic pool, Saturday’s Charity Mile meeting has all the ingredients of a high-stakes prelude to the 29 November Summer Cup spectacle. Expect Confederate to tighten his grip on ante-post favouritism, but there’s also plenty of room for shrewd punters to find value elsewhere on a standout Highveld card.
Clive Robinson
