Times find a treasure

One can debate many things in horseracing – talent, merit rating, jockeys and trainers – but you cannot argue with times. When a horse puts up a good time, it indicates the animal has ability.

In addition, the shorter the race the better times are as an indicator of competence because those races rely less on early pace. So when My Treasure runs 1400m at the Vaal in a time of 82.11sec, one has to take notice. The average time for this class is 83.05sec so that was a pretty time.

Having said that, the times on that day (17 December) were generally quick with Captain Aldo winning in a time of 81.64sec. The Lucky Houdalakis-trained My Treasure carried 60kg when he won his last race, beating Strongmind by a neck, and only received a 1.5kg penalty for the victory. He does take a leap in class Race 6 at the Vaal today but will have 56.5kg on his back on this occasion.

One can add a second factor into the equation – the fact champion jockey Gavin Lerena takes the ride. Lerena has only ridden My Treasure on two occasions and on the first occasion, finished a 1.70-length third behind The Gobi in a Maiden Plate over 1200m at the course.

Last time out Lerena was back in the irons and rode the perfect race aboard the four-year-old son of Right Approach. He timed his run to perfection and got up close home to win easier than the 0.25 lengths suggested.

My Treasure clearly enjoys this course and distance as he has raced three times over the straight 1400m for two wins and a 2.65-length third behind Light The Way. My Treasure has been lightly raced and with only seven runs under his belt, perhaps there is a lot more to come from him.

The obvious danger, and likely favourite, is Bulleting Home from the Sean Tarry yard. He, too, has not been overworked and as a four-year-old, has only raced 10 times. He won very well last time, beating Loco Por Ganar over 1600m on the Turffontein Inside track, and a run earlier had finished a one-length second behind Joe Soma’s talented Graduation Day.

S’manga Khumalo takes the ride on the son of Western Winter and this race should prove an interesting tussle between the two.

Move Like Jagger has his moments, and it is worth noting most of those moments come when Piere Strydom takes the ride. He is aboard the Louis Goosen-trained runner once again so the six-year-old son of Daylami is definitely worth including in Trifectas and Quartets.