Sean Tarry has a strong hand.
The Highveld spring/summer season shifts up a gear at Turffontein on Saturday with the Betway Spring Challenge topping the bill and a Pick 6 pool of R3-million expected.
Sean Tarry loves a feature race meeting and the former national champion will arrive on the Inside track with a truckload of hot prospects – most notably the three runners he fields in the main event, a Grade 2 contest over 1450m.
Lucky Lad has earned his lofty merit rating of 124, having excelled at the top level and shown an electric turn of foot at the business end of a race. At the weight-for-age terms, he has the measure of his opponents here.
Tarry and regular rider Richard Fourie speak glowingly of the son of Gimmethegreenlight, As something of a yard favourite, trainer and jockey will be keen to see him regain his best form after a somewhat tepid past season.
Lucky Lad recently returned from a six-month vacation and hinted that the old magic was still there when he finished third in a Pinnacle sprint at the Vaal.
That warm-up should have sharpened up the five-year-old, an edge he might need if he’s to beat dangerous stablemates Quantum Theory and Tin Pan Alley. For purposes of the Pick 6 and Jackpots, it would be wise to include all three.
There are no real banker options on the day for Pick 6 punters but, for those on budget, Race 8 offers up two precocious fillies who might provide enough cover.
If they’re as good as their early form suggests, Johan Janse van Vuuren-trained Pretty Persuasive and Tony Peter’s Perfect Miracle should fight it out.
Suggested Pick 6 perm:
1,3,4,5,8 x 1,3,9,10 x 2,9,10,11 x 2,4,12 x 2,4 x 3,5,9,10 (R1,920)
