R7.5m Pick 6 means Big T is more than a charity case

A million bucks will be handed to deserving causes at Turffontein Racecourse on Saturday, but many more millions are available to anyone – even horribly undeserving people – who can decipher the enigma that is the form of runners at the race meeting.

The big attraction for punters is a R7.5 million Pick 6 Megapool. Then there are the smaller matters of a R1.5 million Jackpot pool and a R1.4 million Quartet pool on the main race, the Grade 2 Peermont Emperors Palace Charity Mile. And there’s more.

The Charity Mile sees 16 runners linked with 16 charities in a random draw. The winning horse’s charity gets a R150 000 cheque, with the runner-up delivering R100 000 and third and fourth R75 000 each. All the other 12 charities get R50 000, no matter how badly their nags perform. Nice.

By contrast, needy punters don’t have the luxury of “their” horses acting like palookas. They’ve got to get their choices right if they hope to get a slice of that Pick 6 pie.

All of this means trainer Stuart Pettigrew and jockey Diego de Gouveia find themselves under a lot of pressure. The two  are tasked with getting a filly called Anything Goes across the line in first place on Saturday – not in the main race but in Race 6, the Peermont Emperors Palace Ready To Run Cup.

This blissfully unaware filly will have the hopes and dreams of tens of thousands of people riding on her as the obvious banker for the Pick 6. All other legs of the exotic bet are the proverbial selection nightmare, where just about anything can win.

It’s not only the great unwashed that’s banking on Pettigrew and De Gouveia, the owners of Anything Goes – Messrs Van Schalkwyk and Marx – are eyeing a tidy R450 000 first prize, which is way more than on offer for the more prestigious Charity Mile contest.

But it’s the latter that stirs the true racing enthusiast’s spirit, with a high-class line-up and decent cases to be made for each and every hopeful. A number of runners are out to do well enough to seal a spot in the upcoming Summer Cup, while a clutch of raiders and riders from down country add further spice.

The betting market tells the story of how open it is, with joint favourites Riverstown and Crown Towers at a vulnerable 13-2 and four others in single figures. At the other end of the scale, at 33-1, is Orpheus, who would not be as outlandish a winner as those odds suggest.

Other interesting runners include Charles, the sometime R6 million yearling purchase who has been moved from Cape Town to Mike de Kock’s Randjesfontein stable to see if a change of scenery might stir the beast to start recouping some money for his billionaire Irish connections.

Tristful, Hudoo Magic and Crown Towers travel up from Durban for the day and not for the scenic drive, while 2019 Summer Cup champ Zillzaal has his first outing since that day of glory.

Champion trainer Sean Tarry fields four and it is only the brave, foolhardy or broke who’ll leave any of them out of a Pick 6 permutation.

An intriguing day awaits.

Selection – Charity Mile (Race 7):

4 Riverstown; 16 Cornish Pomodoro; 15 Orpheus; 3 Infamous Fox

Betting:

13-2 Riverstown, Crown Towers

7-1 Cornish Pomodoro

8-1 Tierra Del Fuego

17-2 Charles, Hero’s Honour

10-1 Astrix

14-1 Victoria Paige

15-1 Green Haze

16-1 Magic School

18-1 Tristful, Infamous Fox

20-1 Zillzaal, Youcanthurrylove

25-1 Hudoo Magic

33-1 Orpheus

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