Stay with Ali Bon Dubai and Arte to show the way
But the form book is of limited use to punters as they seek the winner of this Listed race as only three of the 11 runners have ever tackled the trip before.
COURSE SUITED. Ali Bon Dubai runs well on the Inside track at Turffontein and looks a banker all bets when he runs in Race 6 today. Picture: JC Photographics
Turffontein racecourse is probably the truest test of thorough-bred stamina in South Africa, so whichever horse wins the 3200m Racing Association Handicap tomorrow immediately becomes a candidate for bigger long distance races on the national calendar.
But the form book is of limited use to punters as they seek the winner of this Listed race as only three of the 11 runners have ever tackled the trip before.
And only one of the three showed any aptitude for it, namely Grant Maroun-trained mare Arte, who won a FM 58 Handicap over the “two miles” back in January.
That was on this same stretch of turf, so the bang-in-form daughter of Ideal World must be a serious consideration.
She is partnered Piere Strydom, the supreme judge of pace who will know where to position his mount on the first gallop past the grandstand.
However, Arte will not have it all her own way.
Ali Bon Dubai stands out as a matured, much-improved horse who will be targeting feature-race trophies in the near future, having pushed his merit rating up to 90 with four wins in the past year – with a close-up second over 3000m also on his CV.
Mark Khan, another master of pace, has this ride for his old partner in glory Geoff Woodruff.
KwaZulu-Natal trainer Frank Robinson considers it worthwhile to make the long journey up country with Top Classman, a four-year-old Mogok colt who has been making a name for himself over ground and could quite conceivably be a match for this field.
Local Turffontein handler Joe Soma won this race last year, so knows what it takes.
He fields Tirzan, who, curiously, is by sprinting sire Seventh Rock but who has won over 2000m.
Horses often confound even the sharpest students of pedigree.
The next best might be Walter Smoothie and Horseplay, but punters taking larger exotic perms might be well advised to go with the field in this race.For fl oats in Trifectas and Quartets, Ali Bon Dubai and Arte look the part.
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