Unpicking the R8-million Pick 6 puzzle

Horse racing fans in 28 countries will have their eyes focused on the Highveld’s Turffontein racecourse on Saturday.

Four Grade 1 races on a bumper Champions Day card have been accorded World Pool status, which means punters around the world can take certain bets on those races, via totes in their own jurisdictions, with all the wagered money being co-mingled into massive pools administered in Hong Kong.

This can mean bigger payouts for winners and definitely means greater market stability, with a clear picture of potential payouts when one places a bet.

Marketing blurb for the World Pool system says it combines “the finest racing from around the globe with the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s betting operation, which boasts the deepest and most liquid pari-mutuel pools on the planet”.

Elite company

Prestige race meetings such as Royal Ascot and the Melbourne Cup are World Pool hosts and it is a big deal for the Big T in Joburg’s scruffy south to be in such elite company.

The World Pool bet types are Win, Place, Quinella, Exacta and Swinger – on Races 6 to 9 on Saturday.

These four races also form the rump of the local Pick 6, which the TAB reckons will amass a pool of more than R8-million on the day, with a carryover boost of R2-million.

Bettors will be redoubling their form study efforts in search of a “shrewdy” or two to unlock those millions.

There is near-universal relief over a standout Pick 6 banker candidate – in the shape of unbeaten three-year-old filly Gimme A Nother, who goes for her seventh win and will be at around 1-5 with the bookmakers when she lines up at the 1600m pole for Race 6, Leg 3, the R1-million Grade 1 Empress Club Stakes.

Punters need a red-hot banker as the rest of the Pick 6 on this major race day is mighty competitive.

It kicks off in Race 4, the Grade 2 Hawaii Stakes, in which colt Sandringham Summit is a warm favourite. In nine runs, David Nieuwenhuizen’s charge has never been out of the prizes and has impressed to the extent that he has been syndicated for stud at the tender age of three.

Question marks

There are, however, small question marks about this son of Gimmethegreenlight. It is his first venture into open company and the Hawaii’s 1400m might be a tad sharp for him these days.

In opposition is fellow three-year-old Lucky Lad who promised to be among the very best of the generation until injury sidelined him for seven months.

Trainer Sean Tarry will have been pleased with this fellow’s comeback run in a sprint and he cannot be left out of calculations.

Others to consider are Anfields Rocket, back in his old stamping ground; highly-rated Cape raider At My Command; Unzen; Texas Red, and White Pearl.

To accommodate some of these in a reasonably priced permutation, many players will go narrow in Leg 2, Race 5, the Wilgerbosdrift Bridget Oppenheimer SA Oaks.

Mike de Kock-trained Silver Sanctuary is an odds-on favourite and the budget-conscious can make her a second banker. The safer option is to include Let’s Go Now and Frances Ethel – with Darling Harbour as a spot of value.

Computaform Sprint

Leg 4, Race 7, the Computaform Sprint, looks full of pitfalls and first picks Dyce and Thunderstruck might need complementing with progressive Golden Sickle and perhaps one or two others.

Leg 5, Race 8, the SA Derby, shapes up as a head-to-head between the well-proven Purple Pitcher, from Robyn Klaasen’s yard, and up-and-comer Marauding Horde. The latter’s trainer, De Kock, commented this week that he saw the remainder of the field as “handicappers” – providing justification to include only the principal two.

The last leg, Race 9, the Premier’s Champions Challenge is the most difficult piece of the jigsaw, with a plethora of classy horses who could produce their best form on the day and grab the lion’s share of the R2-million purse.

Defending champ Puerto Manzano is a course and distance specialist and must go in. Top trainer Sean Tarry has been bullish about Cousin Casey, while a flood of money has been coming for Summer Cup winner Royal Victory, a raider from Durban.

The advice here must be to take as many horses as possible.

A suggested Pick 6 perm:

1,3,5,7,8,10 x 1,3,9 x 6 x 1,2,3,6,12 x 1,6,9 x 2,3,4,7,11,12 (R1,620)