Greenlight to cast a Spell on Spring Challenge day

The Highveld racing season shifts to a higher gear at Turffontein on Saturday with the running of two Grade 2 races, the Joburg Spring Challenge and the equivalent event for fillies and mares.

Multiple Grade 1 winner Got The Greenlight is the name on the marquee as he gets his big-race campaign rolling after a short but well-deserved post-winter break.

With a second and a third in the Durban July to his credit in the past two years, trainer Joey Soma’s entire would normally be the proverbial good thing in the Challenge, Race 7, a 1450m weight-for-age contest on the Inside course.

However, the presence in the line-up of another Joburg star will give punters a moment’s pause. MK’s Pride was given a slightly shorter off-season breather by trainer Paul Peter but showed he has remained in good form with a courageous win in a Pinnacle Stakes event over this course and distance 21 days ago.

Of course, MK’s Pride is more of a sprinter than Got The Greenlight, so they pair did not bump heads during the Durban racing fest, but they did meet earlier, in the 1400m Grade 2 Hawaii Stakes at Turffontein back in March – when the former showed tremendous fight in a narrow victory.

That said, Got The Greenlight could gain the upper hand racing fresh and with a smidgeon more merit-rating and pedigree class.

Craig Zackey takes over from Muzi Yeni on the son of Gimmethegreenlight and will be keen to secure the ride for the upcoming Summer Cup and, possibly, Cape Met.

These two runners should see punters through in the Pick 6, though the likes of Bingwa and Copper Mountain must be included in Trifectas and Quartets.

The fillies and mares’ heat has drawn just six runners, probably because of the presence among the entries of hot new-kid-on-the-block Under Your Spell.

The three-year-old filly has racked up five wins in six outings in nine months and seems to be getting better as she matures. A facile victory in the Grade 1 Alan Robertson Championship at Scottsville in early June put paid to any doubts about her quality, while a similarly commanding win over this course and distance at Turffontein on 11 September was an intimidating message to challengers.

With Under Your Spell showing capability over an extended sprint, many lucrative mile and sprint features around the country will be on trainer Sean Tarry’s radar.

The Capetown Noir filly did once have an off day, in the Fillies Nursery at Turffontein in May, and punters fearing something similar have a solid back-up in Peter’s Big Burn, who has a three in four record.

SELECTIONS

Turffontein Saturday

Race 1:

6 Manaajim, 2 Star Aglow, 1 Golden Aspen, 5 Back To Formentera

Race 2:

11 Manhattan, 7 Magnum P I, 6 Abayyaan, 10 San Quintin

Race 3:

5 Earl, 4 Fifth Of July, 6 Immeasurable, 1 Shangani

Race 4:

6 The Kop, 3 Southern Song, 4 Our Coys, 1 Reunion

Race 5:

2 Sentbydestiny, 8 Magical Flight, 4 Rouge Allure, 1 Netta

Race 6:

4 Under Your Spell, 5 Big Burn, 1 Victoria Paige, 2 Thumbs Up

Race 7:

1 Got The Greenlight, 2 MK’s Pride, 10 Bingwa, 7 Copper Mountain

Race 8:

3 Now You See Me, 5 City By The Sea, 2 Sea Ways, 1 Foreign Field

Race 9:

5 Clafoutis, 2 Top Wesselton, 8 Timbavati River, 1 Black Thorn

Pick 6:

1,3,4,5,6 x 1,2,4,8,9 x 4 x 1,2 x 1,2,3,5,7,8 x 2,5,8 (R1800)

PA:

5 x 3,6 x 2,4,8 x 4 x 1 x 3,5 x 5 (R12)

Durbanville Saturday

Best bet: Race 6 No 1 Captain’s Ransom

Value bet: Race 7 No 1 Nexus

Greyville Sunday

Best bet: Race 3 No 4 Red Sole

Value bet: Race 7 No 5 Love Bomb