Picture: iStock
For punters who love to delve into the world of the exotic bets, a banker is often seen as a prerequisite for success.
It would be nice to find a banker at a good price but often won has to find a runner at a short price to fill that role.
But, as a good friend of mine used to say, a winner is a good bet at any price, and that could be the case in Race 3 at Hollywoodbets Greyville on Wednesday when Garth Puller sends out Flag Man in a Maiden Plate over 1600m on the turf track.
This three-year-old colt is by Flying The Flag out of Irresistable Chris, which makes him a half-brother to Capetown Beauty who will be contesting one race earlier.
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Flag Man has run twice, his first over 1200m at Hollywoodbets Scottsville. There was hardly a farthing for him on that occasion and he went off at 66-1. However, he put up a solid performance to finish fifth, beaten just 3.25 lengths by Flight Path.
For Flag Man’s second outing Puller pushed him up to 1600m at Greyville and this time there was a fair amount of money for him and he started at 5-1. Unfortunately, he lost his race at the start by rearing but kicked on resolutely to finish a 0.60-length second behind Spring Flyer.
That race is turning into a decent form line as three runners have gone on to win their next starts and they are fourth-placed Master Of The Turf, fifth-placed Laudato and, most recently, sixth-placed Billy Of Tea.
Puller is certainly not taking any chances as he has engaged Richard Fourie to ride his charge.
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