Ghost Town to progress
The Hennenman air disaster to be remembered thirty years on.
USEFUL. Ghost Town may not be the best handicapped runner in Race 6 at Turffontein tomorrow but he looks to have loads of room for further improvement and should provide punters with some decent value. Picture: JC Photographics
There will be a sombre atmosphere at Turffontein tomorrow as many people will gather at the racecourse, not only for the racing, but also to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Hennenman air disaster in which 24 people died.
The majority of those who died were jockeys but there was also one trainer, five officials, two owners and three crew members. All the races are named after those who perished with the main race being the 30th Year Anniversary Hennenman Memorial Progress Plate over 1600m on the Inside track.
As a rule one would go for the best handicapped runner to win a race of this nature but occasionally one has an up-and-coming horse who could rise to the occasion. This could be one of those timesasthereisalottolikeabout Ghost Town, who has only raced three times.
On debut, despite losing a length, this Erico Verdonese trained runner only went down a neck to Monty Python. The second horse in that race who was beaten a short head, Imperial Ounce, came out and won at Turffontein on Saturday, beating Liberado by 1.25 lengths.
When Ghost Town made his second trip to the racecourse, he too beat Liberado by 4.50 lengths. Three winners have come from that form line.
When Ghost Town ran again, this time over 1600m on the Vaal straight, he again lost ground at the start but once jockey Craig Zackey got him going, this son of Judpot easily moved up to the leaders and won going away. The fact that he won by only 0.80 lengths saw him penalised just 1.5kg. Two winners have already come from that form line, including second-placed Bold Viking who came out to beat Querari Viking in his next start.
Ghost Town looks to be way better than his rating which he will need to be if he is going to beat this field.
It is worth noting that Zackey has stuck with Ghost Town as opposed to Glider Pilot, one of the highest rated horses, who he has ridden in all but one of his starts. Glider Pilot would probably prefer further but is quite decent and looks the main threat to Ghost Town.
Matador Man is something of an enigma in that he has loads of ability but tends to lose his races at the start. He was tried in blinkers last time in a sprint and despite losing ground, ran on well to finish just 2.05 lengths behind Tandava in the Grade 2 Senor Santa Stakes.
