Lucrative trip up the coast beckons for Richard Fourie

The Cape Town ace’s book of rides at the Fairview Polytrack meeting has fancied runners on every line, most of them for local champion trainer Alan Greeff.

The duo should get their afternoon off to a rousing start in Race 1 with The Black Manx, though it won’t do Win bet punters much good as the three-year-old is likely to start in the red. Trifectas that include PE debutantes Sonny Quinn and Ruby Woo seem the obvious way to go to start building a pot with which to follow Fourie through the card.

Fourie has a fair chance of a quick double with Derecho in Race 2, but Gavin Smith-trained stablemates Jo Loves and Sea Island might stymie him.

In the third, the rider turns out for jovial Zietsman Oosthuizen and his charge Al Qaasim, who must rate an excellent chance in a Maiden Plate sorely lacking in quality.

It’s in Races 5 and 7 with Marmara Sea and Viking Moon – two of the brightest current stars in the Eastern Cape equine firmament – that Fourie looks unbeatable.

All Marmara Sea’s eight victories have come on the Poly and he has a three-from-four record over this course and 1600m distance. The case is strengthened by the fact that he was caught flat-footed in his most recent race – the East Cape Poly Challenge, his third run after a nice rest – and couldn’t quite catch upset winner Thomas Tucker.

Said Tucker opposes again, but cannot be relied upon, as demonstrated by his last star when he was a horrific 17 lengths adrift of the winner. Smith’s Sailing Lizard is a much more sensible choice to pair with Marmara Sea in an Exacta bet.

Viking Moon is all class and should hand Fourie his third or fourth accolade of the day. This horse showed his love for the synthetic surface with a four-in-a-row run a short while back.

Overenthusiasm in the East Cape 1400m in early April saw his unbeaten run undone, but Fourie has the strength and persuasive manner to get Viking Moon to save his best for the end.

Another rider eyeing a decent Fairview haul is Luy Mxothwa, who offers value aboard Oosthuizen’s Queen Louise in the fourth and Juan Nel’s new acquisition Oscar Wilde in the eighth.

SELECTIONS

Race 1:

5 The Black Manx, 2 Sonny Quinn, 6 Ruby Woo, 1 Ownyourfate

Race 2:

1 Jo Loves, 9 Derecho, 6 Sea Island, 2 Sumida

Race 3:

1 Al Qaasim, 3 Jaspero, 4 Excelsior, 2 Mhlabeni

Race 4:

4 Queen Louise, 2 Inbetween Dreams, 1 Bend Not Break, 3 Latifah’s Dream

Race 5:

1 Marmara Sea, 5 Sailing Lizard, 8 Encryption, 4 American Landing

Race 6:

1 All Things Nice, 5 Angel Bouquet, 3 Elusive Jade, 4 Galactico

Race 7:

1 Viking Moon, 4 What A Winner, 5 Wolfgang, 6 La Bella Mia

Race 8:

4 Oscar Wilde, 11 Atkinson Grimshaw, 9 Natural Jade, 2 Dive Captain

Pick 6:

1,2,3,4 x 1,2,3,4 x 1,4,5,8 x 1,3,5 x 1 x 2,4,9,11 (R768)

PA:

1,9 x 1,3 x 1,2,4 x 1 x 1,5 x 1 x 4 (R24)