Catch the Willow Express for a Spring Spree

A biting cold snap had us checking the calendar and wondering if spring would ever arrive. The appearance of the Spring Spree Stakes on a Turffontein race card has been reassuring.

A cracking set of sprinters lining up for Saturday’s 1200m Listed dash around the Inside track is sure to put bounce in the step of racing fans. (Sadly, we can’t call them racegoers as they’re still not allowed to go – so to speak.)

All eight runners are fast, charismatic sorts and trying to single out one seems a fool’s errand. So, punters with deeper kitties will be putting their cursors, or crosses, on the “F” for field.

The top-ranked contender is seven-time winner Mr Flood with a merit rating of 119. For that privilege he pays with an impost of 64.5kg in this company. That lump puts him top of the list for elimination from bet permutations, but his class means he could still steal it.

Puerto Manzano comes off a 112-day break and must carry 61.5kg, which might give some pundits pause. However, a career record of four wins and two seconds from six starts might have them including him after all.

A horse with proven class, a decent barrier draw and a bearable weight (56.5kg) is Willow Express from Sean Tarry’s Randjesfontein stables. This guy might have fewer wins to his name than the others, but he has been campaigned around the country in two- and three-year-old feature events – including the Golden Horseshoe and the SA Guineas.

Those experiences, and gelding, have toughened up the son of Willow Magic and got him focused for a step up to the real big time – starting here perhaps.

Willow Express’s main danger is in-form Vaseem from Roy Magner’s yard. The Vercingetorix gelding is aiming for a hat-trick in his 15^th start and cannot be left out of any bets.

Saturday’s Cape Town race meeting is a re-staging of last weekend’s abandoned fixture. The scheduled Durbanville meet has been scrapped in favour of putting on the races that were washed out – although new nominations et al were called.

Xavion is still fancied to win the main race, the Listed Sophomore Sprint, but could face an unexpected challenge from Safe Return.

SELECTIONS

Turffontein Saturday

Race 1:

6 Buck’s Fizz, 3 Portrayal, 1 Lazy Guy, 2 Freezing Fast

Race 2:

2 Silver Tycoon, 6 Safe Passage, 4 Sentbydestiny, 3 Bowie

Race 3:

2 Eastern Belle, 4 Beltway, 3 Coral Dawn, 3 Amicus Curiae

Race 4:

6 Zaviah, 2 Understated, 1 Lyntys Legacy, 3 Royal Tiger

Race 5:

3 Intercity, 1 Arizona Lady, 4 Cap Estel, 7 Zazu

Race 6:

3 Full Velocity, 5 Big Burn, 9 Lucy In The Sky, 1 Thumbs Up

Race 7:

4 Willow Express, 6 Vaseem, 2 Puerto Manzano, 5 Rapid Fire

Race 8:

1 Second Base, 5 Sound Of Summer, 3 Green Haze, 4 Orpheus

Race 9:

3 Rozara, 1 Aurora Light, 11 Mercer Girl, 9 Life Goes On

Pick 6:

6 x 1,3,4,5,7 x 3,5 x 2,4,5,6,7,8 x 1,5 x 1,2,3,9,10,11 (R720)

PA:

2,3,4 x 6 x 1,3 x 3 x 2,4,6 x 1 x 3 (R18)

Kenilworth Saturday

Best: Race 6 No 1 Kasimir

Value: Race 3 No 14 Kiss In The Rain

Scottsville Sunday

Best: Race 5 No 1 Hasta Manana

Value: Race 7 No 5 We All Chomies