Racing Express, Wednesday 16 March 2022: Pettigrew set to strike

Trainer Stuart Pettigrew may have saddled only 23 winners so far this season, but it does not mean the shrewd conditioner is one to ignore. Pettigrew has a much smaller yard than the big boys, and pound-for-pound rates among the best in the country. In fact, he is currently in 22nd spot on the trainers’ log and boasts a win/place strike rate of 55.78%.

Of all the trainers above him on the national log, at the time of writing he is only just surpassed by Mike de Kock, whose win/place strike rate is 56.79% and Paul Peter on 56.38%. Tomorrow Pettigrew has three runners on the eight-race card on the Turffontein Inside track and by all accounts he should up his strike rate. In Race 4, a MR 96 Handicap over 1500m, Whafeef will fly the yard’s flag.

 As the runner with the lowest net merit rating, he is in a challenging field, but jumping from gate No 4 and carrying only 50.5kg thanks to the 1.5kg allowance apprentice jockey Philasande Mxoli brings to the party, the three-year-old colt will have every chance to score his elusive second career win. It is important to note the blinkers shown in Computaform have since been removed for this race.

The full edition of Wednesday’s Racing Express, as found in The Citizen, is available here

Pettigrew’s two other runners will both be in action in Race 5, a MR 80 Handicap, also over 1500m. Castle Corner and Admiral Dooley, both two-time winners, are expected to be heavily involved in the business end of this contest. A slight preference is for Admiral Dooley as he is the better drawn of the pair in barrier No 4.

He has achieved his best results attacking from the front and jockey Kabelo Matsunyane, who knows this son of Soft Falling Rain well, will probably use his gate speed to have the three-year-old gelding up with the pace. Castle Corner has only had three runs this season and with improved fitness could return to the winning way he ended last season, when he followed up his maiden win with another victory. Although drawn to jump from gate No 8, which is not ideal on the Inside course, this should not be a problem for this Ideal World gelding as he usually tends to come from off the pace.