No. 1988
MONDAY 4th - THURSDAY 7th NOVEMBER 2013
ISSN 1023 / 6996
FLAMINGO PARK 12:20pm (Monday) p.4
VAAL
12:00pm (Tuesday) p.12
KENILWORTH
Exciting Sort. The talented Dennis Drier trained Captain On The Run has won two of her three starts and makes her Summer Of Champions debut at Kenilworth on Wednesday
12:25pm (Wednesday) p.26
VAAL SAND
12:35pm (Thursday) p.35
MR94 HANDICAP at Vaal on Tuesday
T
A bumper ten race programme is offered at the Vaal on Tuesday, where Mike De Kock saddles the talented Royal Academy gelding Rocco’s Luck in the afternoon’s topliner. The 5yo makes his seasonal debut and warrants inclusion, if not in need of the outing.
he Vaal meet forms a double header with the Greyville night meeting, which was postponed from last Wednesday evening. Tuesday also happens to be Guy Fawkes Day, and while it is not one of the most popular celebrations on the calendar, punters will be hoping for fireworks.
The day’s lack of profile probably stems from the fact that we are thankfully more concerned with animal and human safety considerations these days. It also sadly does not come with the benefit of a public holiday.
Quality
Plenty of sparks should be provided in the R94 000 MR99 Handicap at the Vaall though, with a mixed bag,
but quality field of ten lining up in the second leg of the popular Jackpot bet. Rocco’s Luck is a versatile sort who has won his 5 races from 1200m to 1800m. We know that Mike De Kock only pushes them when they have ability and he twice chased the silverware in Champions Season. He was not disgraced in both the Gr3 Lonsdale Stirrup Cup and the Gr3 Mango 2200, when on the
heels of the winners. Rocco’s Luck won his last start, when beating his highly thought of stablemate Mercurial Brave in an MR 97 Handicap over the Scottsville 1800. He returns from a 15 week rest , and has relocated to Gauteng, with obvious feature aspirations.
Firing
His stablemate Cannon had a tough Gauteng feature programme last season after winning two of his first four starts, but was not disgraced when reaching for the stars. He was injured at his return run, when staying on well for 5,75 lengths behind
(GB)
Stavinsky over 1450m in a similar class handicap at Turffontein. That run would have brought him on, and he cannot be ignored.
Ferraris Duo
Ormond Ferraris and Sherman Brown team up with the Lundy’s Liability gelding Dual Asset, who races in the famous orange and red Chow silks, most notably worn in bygone days, by The Apache. Dual Asset lumbers joint topweight with Rocco’s Luck, and is never far off the action. He stayed on well behind Royal Zulu Warrior
last time at his second start of the season and may prove dangerous if ridden conservatively. His stablemate Irish Gift steps up in class after winning his last race 13 weeks ago. A winner of 3 of 22 starts, Irish Gift looks dangerous on 52kgs, and could be the lurker. Cont. p.2