The second Highveld meeting of the week takes place at Turffontein’s Inside track on Thursday 26 February, and while five of the eight races are maidens – including a Work Riders opener – there’s enough exposed form later on to play with confidence rather than hope.
This is a card where patience and profile matter. Two runners look primed to atone for narrow defeats, while a long-suffering grinder may finally get his overdue reward.
Race 7 is the race that could anchor exotics. Stuart Pettigrew saddles a potent coupling over 1600m, both lightly raced and trending the right way, and it may pay to side with the upward curve of three-year-old Never Never Land. His last-start second over 1450m at the Vaal had “step me up” written all over it. He hit the line with purpose under a three-point penalty and now stretches to 1600m – a move that looks tailor-made.
The son of Ideal World reunites with Philasande Mxoli, who partnered him to a debut second and a fluent 1400m maiden win. That familiarity counts. He’d previously justified strong market support when scoring cosily over 1200m under Gavin Lerena, and confirmed his progress when flashing home for second back at the Vaal. A two-point rating rise to a career-high mark shouldn’t halt the momentum. With natural improvement and the extra 200m to suit, Never Never Land is the one they have to beat.
Race 6 offers a similar “back me next time” angle with Corne Spies’ Pomodoro mare Golden Aspen. She was desperately unlucky not to follow up her Turffontein Standside win when beaten narrowly over 1450m at the Vaal under a three-point penalty. From a wide draw she was forced to concede ground early, yet still rattled home for a close-up third.
Now ideally berthed in gate three over 1600m and racing off an unchanged mark, she looks poised to recapture the winning thread. Marco van Rensburg knows her well, and 1600m on the Inside track should allow her to settle closer without expending petrol. At what should be generous eachway odds in a competitive field, Golden Aspen is a proper value play rather than a sentimental one.
Then there’s Race 5, where consistency screams for reward. Bristol Hercules hasn’t won for 596 days, but the market often over-penalises that stat while ignoring the detail. The Mike and Mathew de Kock-trained son of Lancaster Bomber has finished third four times and second on another three occasions in his last 10 starts, and he chased home a highly rated progressive three-year-old over 1450m here last time at level weights. That was no hollow second.
Off an unchanged mark and back over 1600m, he meets nothing of that calibre. With Callan Murray booked, this looks a winnable assignment if he reproduces that figure. He’s the type punters often desert out of frustration, and precisely the sort who pops up at an inflated price.
Clive Robinson
