Vaseem can slip past the out-of-sorts speed kings

The main race at the Vaal on Thursday sports a high-class field but some head-scratching form. Several of the well-proven sprinters in Race 7, a Pinnacle Stakes event over 1200m, are either returning from rests or have gone off the boil – leaving a nice gap for a couple of the lesser-performed candidates at the lower end of the weight scale.

Not that any runner is really “less” as every one of them boasts a merit rating above 100.

The one with the brightest current form is five-year-old Vaseem, who has been a horse transformed since joining Roy Magner’s stable a year ago. In that time, the five-year-old has won four times and been placed thrice. His only miss came in the Gauteng Merchants in November, when the form book got stuck in muddy ground.

From a No 4 draw, with 54kg to carry and Raymond Danielson on board, Vaseem looks poised to claim some big-name scalps.

Those names include Lucky Houdalakis-trained Mr Flood, who was unbeatable for many months in 2020 but lost his mojo thereafter and has recently been rested.

Another missing his earlier-career sparkle is the Azzie yard’s Rivarine, now eight and perhaps not quite as invested in the contest as he was a while ago.

It’s a similar story for Paul Peter’s Bold Ransom.

Eden Roc was given a seven-month sabbatical by Sean Tarry after competing with distinction against top-level sprinters over a long period. His comeback effort a month ago was lacklustre and he might need another hard sprint in the legs before he is back to his best.

The same might be suspected of stablemate Warrior’s Rest.

Famous last words, as they say. They also say form is temporary, but class is permanent, so any one of the speed merchants can burst into flame at any moment.

So, punters with a bit of spare cash lying about might want to include a few of these sometime luminaries in exotic bets.

Of the rest, Celestial Love has had a few problems lately but is a sprinter of quality and will not be out of the winner’s box for long, while Winter Smoke starts with a very handy galloping weight.

An interesting race.

SELECTIONS

1: 2 Heart And Mind, 8 Tabby Kat, 1 Blindedbythelights, 3 Kitty Corner

2: 8 Rock The Fox, 4 United Prince, 7 What A Tiger, 6 Vartacus

3: 1 Picara, 12 Flying Vixen, 5 Twice As Wild, 16 Western View

4: 2 Forgotten Time, 1 JP Two Thousand, 11 Porfirio, 3 Another Thief

5: 1 Bard Of Avon, 6 Moonshiningthrough, 7 It’s About Time, 4 Ballon D’Or

6: 9 Duke Of Sussex, 4 Flying Bull, 1 Prince Evlanoff, 3 Imperial Master

7: 9 Vaseem, 7 Celestial Love, 10 Winter Smoke, 2 Eden Roc

8: 2 Suited Connector, 10 Funky Music, 7 In Cahoots, 13 Corapi

Pick 6: 1,5,16 x 1,2 x 1,4,6,7 x 1,3,4,9 x 1,2,4,7,9,10 x 2,7,10,13 (R2304)

PA: 4,8 x 1 x 1 x 1 x 4,9 x 7,9,10 x 27,10,13 (R48)