No. 2054 ISSN 1023 / 6996
MONDAY 23rd - THURSDAY 26th JUNE 2014
FLAMINGO PARK 12:20pm (Monday) p.5
KENILWORTH 12:45pm (Tuesday) p.13
SCOTTSVILLE 11:40am (Wednesday) p.24
VAAL 12:40pm (Thursday) p.33
CONDITIONS PLATE at Vaal on Thursday A jockey described the Vaal sand track as appalling after a race last Thursday and implored Phumelela to sort the surface out. That does not bode well for safety or form and it is a puzzling state of affairs, bearing in mind that the majority of the season still lies ahead. But at least we are back on the turf this week.
A
nybody who earns a living out of this game and has the courage to stand up and be counted is to be applauded and one can conclude that Gavin Lerena is not the only man who holds the
opinion that the track is in an unacceptable condition.
That’s The Spirit
Lerena had just ridden the Johan Janse Van Vuuren first timer Midnite Spirit to win the second race last Thursday when he urged the racing operator to do something
about the surface issues, and even went so far as to attribute that as a direct cause of senior jockey Marthinus Mienie being unseated at the start. That won’t give us too much confidence when it comes to form assessment but if punters are nervous,
how should the jocks be feeling?
Back To Turf
But Thursday sees us on the Vaal turf outside track where a well filled eight race programme is laid on and with month-end upon us, the pools should be a lot healthier than they have been these past few days. The sixth race, a R105 000 Conditions Plate hosts a quality field over 1200m and Sean Tarry’s Skitt Skizzle tops the Sporting Post ratings. The astute Tarry looks to have found the right turf
sprint for this enigmatically talented son of Jet Master, who is still an entire, although any possible future as a stallion looks unlikely at this stage. Skitt Skizzle is a course and distance winner and he appears to have displayed breathing issues when not enjoying the mile last time and running 14,75 lengths behind July hopeful, Master Sabina. His penultimate start saw a fair 3,25 length second behind the very capable Anyday Anytime over Thursday’s course and
distance, which appears his optimum trip at this point.
Ferraris Duo
Ormond Ferraris saddles a classy coupling of two six year olds in joint topweight Snowdon and the former Mike De Kock-trained, Link Man. Cont. p.2
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Tel: Mike Sharkey 082 372 2682 www.highlandsfarmstud.co.za