Two possible bankers at Turffontein

Just nine runners will go to post for the first and third legs (Races 4 and 6), seven horses are carded to run in Race 5 and just eight in Race 7. The reason for the theory is that small fields often result in a false pace, which makes the race vulnerable to an upset.

However, that is less true in cases where horses are good enough to set their own pace or if the race is a sprint. As a result one could take a chance and banker Straw Market in Race 5 and Duty Dance in Race 7 and load the other legs.

Straw Market takes a huge drop in class when he lines up for this MR 97 Handicap over 1600m. His last three races were the Listed Drum Star Handicap over 1800m on the inside track, the Grade 2 Colorado King Stakes over 2000m at this course and the Grade 2 Betting World 1900 at Greyville. He placed in all three features, so this event should be comfortably within his scope, despite top weight of 60kg.

He will be coming back from a 74-day break but the Ormond Ferraris-trained son of Windrush does run well when fresh and should be hard to oppose. Champion apprentice Nooresh Juglall takes the ride and for Pick 6 players, one has the benefit of stablemate Dual Asset as back up.

Duty Dance runs in a MR 90 Handicap over 1160m. Paul Matchett’s charge has raced three times for one win and two places and looks well above average. He ran a 1.75-length second to Here Comes Billy over the course and distance last time out and with just 50.5kg to shoulder, should be very hard to oppose.

BEST BET
RACE 7
NO 7 – DUTY DANCE