This Agenda is overt

If you are one of those punt­ers who believe in the “third run after a layoff” principle then there is a good value bet on tomor­row’s Vaal card.

There is a belief, and evidence to back it up, that when a horse comes back from a layoff, he needs a couple of runs to get rid of the cobwebs and it that third run back which will result in his opti­mum performance.

Many horses run well enough when fresh, fail in their second starts and then come back well the next time. There are others who take a couple of runs before they are put back over their ideal distance and that looks to be the case with Hidden Agenda in Race 4, a MR 88 Handicap over 1800m on the Inside track.

Scott Kenny’s runner hit form in August last year, notching up three successive wins, and then ran a 1.50-length third behind Jubilee Handicap winner Liege in an Open MR 98 Handicap over 2000m on the Vaal Classic course.

His next start came in a MR 93 Handicap over 1800m at Turffon­tein in yielding going and the son of Brave Tin Soldier could only finish fifth, beaten 6.50 lengths by Stonehenge. He was reported to have been making a respirato­ry noise which could explain the poor run.

Hidden Agenda was out of ac­tion until April when he came back in a 1200m race and finished five lengths behind Machismo. He followed up with a 3.75-length eighth behind Count Tassilo over 1400m at the Vaal and he now, in his third run, returns to 1800m which is more to his liking. Gunt­er Wrogemann takes the ride.

Malinga is interesting in that he had a great win over the course and distance in his first run back after a layoff and now one has to wonder whether he will go flat in his second start after the layoff. If not, Alec Laird’s charge has to be a big runner. rs with chances in­clude Dawn Assault, Bold Viking and Top Shot.