Vaal Thursday

Discuss todays racing here..

I will start the discussion of with this question..

Is this the poorest card of the decade?

Not the best card, but we getting use to that on the highveld....

Skyblade and Mother's Eyes my best 2 for the day and my roughie is Siciliano in the 7th.... Will watch the first and see where the better going is, if any...

Probably now officially my least favourite course, but what the hell. Fortunately, we only race there 724 times a year (weather permitting...

which is your least favourite course magic ...the inner or outer grass track or the world class sand track?

hibernia Wrote:

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> Discuss todays racing here..
>
> I will start the discussion of with this
> question..
>
> Is this the poorest card of the decade?


Could be Bob, but we also have Ngong...............hard call

pirates Wrote:

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> which is your least favourite course magic ...the
> inner or outer grass track or the world class sand
> track?

The whole damned lot. Don't get me wrong, I think the alternative surface which the sand course offers is fantastic and should be the envy of those of us who have to make to do one surface, but from a form analysis point of view I find the Vaal in all its configurations to be very hard to read. Oh well, I soldier on.

For me from a punting (and horse friendly) point of view, regarding least favorite courses, nothing in SA can come close to the goat track in 'Maritzburg - but to each his own. That being said, the Vaal certainly does not have a lot going for it either.

Regarding the quality of the card today, not too long ago a lot of us were complaing that there are not enough races for the zillions of maidens - so from that point of view having 6 maiden races on a 10 race card is sort of what we asked for? 2 of the remaining 4 races are MR 90's - not too bad for a midweek out of season meeting imo.

And nobody is forcing anybody to have a punt - the 'punting masses' certainly don't care too much about the 'quality of the card' and will punt regardless - if you don't fancy the card, just wait for tomorrow night and have a punt on a 'quality card' - if it doesn't get rained out again <

Yes, I have seen worse cards than this, even discounting those low grade meetings. As far as the Vaal v. Scottsville match up goes, it is a close run thing I agree. Maybe I notice the Vaal more because there are more meetings there than at the Royal Pietermaritzburg Racecourse.

According to Matthews newsletter( Whisperer ) he has two strong bets today for his members.

Must be a good card then

african sunset - pl
winter desire - pl
jet jamboree - pl

Some thoughts for today at the Vaal:

R3: Oscavar looks hard to beat if ready after a rest; Moongazer has run well this trip and could benefit if Oscavar is not 100% ready after a rest
R4: Nautical has very little to beat here (probably better without the blinkers) but not guaranteed to stay the trip - if she fails anything could pop up
R5: Emblem Park should like this trip and could win this for the in-form Woodruff yard; only dangers imo are Kudos (who could still improve) and Winter Desire
R6: Competitve handicap; not much separating Bold Al and Indigo Amigo, while Strike a Light won his maiden very easy and could still be ahead of the handicapper; Lago Lida is dropping in the ratings and could surprise over this trip
R7: Al Bling at 10/1 looks good value in this handicap after an impressive maiden win, but is at level weights with the year older and consistent Sun Emperor who should again go close; Super Break could find a place as well
R8: Jet Jamboree and Kings Entourage have both disappointed in their last runs; they could both improve and put those efforts behind them, but watch out for President Elect who likes this trip and could surpise if the going dries up a bit.
R9: House of Wax looks the right one if he likes the blinkers which he tries today; Spectacaboolous could be worth another chance after a disappointing effort on soft ground last time while Mulanje Gold is in form and should feature again
R10; Mothers Eyes looks tough to beat and imo only an above average debutant could be a danger

Play well

My roughie would be fort announce in the 8th