Cash in on a Quartet

I have never made a secret of the fact that my favourite bet is the Quartet. The payouts are big and it does not tie up your money for a whole bunch of races – you know your fate quickly.

Of course, they are not that easy to catch and my formula is to oat two horses and take the field. It is expensive but one can also take a percentage.

Why the discussion? Well, the Listed Syringa Handicap over 1600m for fillies and mares at Turffontein on Sunday, is the kind of race which suits that formula. This race was carded to be run last Sunday but was postponed when all the horses from Randjesfontein could not get to the meeting the meeting. The one change as that this time it will be run on the Standside track rather than the Inside track.

The reason for my logic is that I really like two horses in this race and those will be my floaters.

Geoff Woodruff has an up-and- coming three-year-old in Insignia. The daughter of Go Deputy has only raced four times for two wins and a one-length third place behind Oh My Darling.

Last time she scored a 0.30-length victory over Make Me Happy but she won that race despite suffering some interference. She is 2kg under sufferance on handicap with most of the others but she is surely a better filly than her rating of 83 suggests – and she’s going to get even better.

Marco van Rensburg has ridden her to both wins and is back aboard . They have the added benefit of No 1 draw.

Redberry Lane is the second runner. The four-year-old daughter of Western Winter is trained by Sean Tarry and is one of the most consistent fillies in training. In her last nine starts she has one win, six seconds and two sixth places but her last five starts have seen her in runners-up berth behind some very good horses, including Nother Russia, She’s A Giver and Simply Royal.