Callan Murray’s change of direction could prove fruitful.
Horse racing fans are accustomed to fixtures being postponed – but we have seldom, if ever, seen one brought forward in time.
Monday’s scheduled meeting at Scottsville racecourse will now be staged one whole day earlier – on Sunday 10 August.
Operator Race Coast is known for an innovative approach, but travelling forward in time? Or is it back … or both?
The task of alerting unwary punters to the unusual move is challenging, so this article serves to help The Citizen’s readers get their scrambled timelines sorted.
The Scottsville meeting has been brought forward to replace a Kenilworth card that had to be postponed to Wednesday 13 August because more than a week of heavy rain left the Cape Town course a tad too soggy for safe galloping.
Scottsville’s slightly revamped card looks heavy going itself, very tricky, which could mean decent payouts for some smart punters.
Several upcountry jockeys due to travel to Cape Town on Sunday have had to change their travel plans.
Among them is Callan Murray, one of the top-flight jockeys striving to put wins on the board while the recent championship contenders take well-earned breaks from riding.
Murray now makes a jaunt down to Maritzburg from his Joburg base – and rides five horses with lively winning chances.
He does duty for trainer Garth Puller in Races 1 and 3, aboard Holy Star (2.50 the win) and Clintostar (2.00) respectively, and could get his day off to a good start.
In Race 4, Terminal Velocity (4.00) from the in-form Gareth van Zyl yard gives Murray another decent mount.
In Race 8, he rides Clinton Binda’s raider Black Egret (5.00 joint favourite) in a hot-looking sprint. This son of current boom sire Rafeef seldom runs a bad race and looks well overdue his next win.
A Pick 6 bet could turn out to be expensive given the wide-open look of some races, so a PA might be the way to go on a quiet Sunday afternoon.
PA suggestion:
10 x 3,9,11 x 4,7 x 4,5,8 x 6 x 6,9 x 2,8 (R72)
