Vaal Sand Thursday 22 Aug

Done jottings on another thread to be posted shortly but think it better to keep them separate from the daily thread so please post your comments, opinions, selections etc here... a mixture of some very poor races and some competitive ones. Will be very interested to see THH's speed ratings for the maidens! lol

Giving these a go...

Win treble... R1 11 Cosmic Tom x R2 5 Panjo x R6 6 Olympic Spring

E/W Patent... R5 12 Big Lion x R7 10 Blue Concorde x R8 4 Maji Moto

Risky semi-idiots e/w double... R5 7 Border Patrol x R6 7 Summer Sari (and adding sand debutants R7 7 Ganesh and R8 1 Luxardo for a yankee)

Elvis, Louis G and all others directly connected with runners, hope your horses at least give a good account of themselves (tu)

Be(s)t of luck to all (tu)

Looks a very nice day's racing; would wait for the scratchings, but for me 4 stand out: Both Panjo and Lord Hawke ran above theilr allocated MR's imo and I think both will follow up - preference because of the price for Lord Hawke; also Olympic Spring also cantered in the last time Striker was aboard, but the price is a bit on the short side imo; best value definitely Mr Alfonso in the last - has the draw and will watch Tornado Twister in the first closely to see the 'quality' of the form

Until tomorrow (tu)

Lord Hawke's new MR is 80 and set to carry 63kgs

best to all ...owners, trainers, jockeys and punters....oh,,,and the bookies too.....:)o

Looking forward to a day at the Vaal tomorrow, travelling up with Foxxy & Mark Dixon's horses, hopefully we'll lead in at least one winner.

P.A
1,5/1/3/6/3/2/4.6

rashid Wrote:

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> P.A
> 1,5/1/3/6/3/2/4.6


I see you worried about the first and the last leg....:P...

Speed ratings for main contenders with previous Vaal Sand form

RACE 1 MDN 1000m
85…Cosmic Tom 16/10
81…Tornado Twister 7/1
72…Salute the Sun 16/1
71…Golden Dollar 14/1
62…Play-Play 20/1
58…Don Vito 20/1
57…Im No Mickey Mouse 66/1
??…Flaming Sun 40/1
Should the draw be a factor here the top 3 would at a disadvantage, yet the top 2 rated have shown form that is 3-5 lengths superior to the rest.
A compromise…will float Golden Dollar in the quartet as a banker, with one of the top 2, find a place for Mickey Mouse and Flaming Sun, most probably at the expense of Don Vito. Noted that Salute the Sun has shown reasonable form from poor draws and should be included…yet more likely one to watch in future when running from a favourable draw.

RACE 2 MR 84 1450m
101…Panjo 6/10
100…Dual Alliance 9/2
..95…Baron Zemo 11/2
..92…Funny Glory 8/1
..86…Romeo’s Reward
Whilst the Dual Alliance comeback run was disappointing, on past form there is very little between him and Panjo. Not feeling comfortable with any of the contenders here.

RACE 3 MDN-F 1450m
65…Calypso Girl 22/10
62…Berryfields 8/1
52…The It Girl 12/1
49…Temps Perdu 25/1
Think this is the lowest set of ratings I have ever had for a race. Whilst Calypso Girl ran reasonably well on 1st Aug. she was last week over 1600m…some favourite!
Looking at ‘sand’ stables and favourable draws…then Nondweni’s Filly appeals.

RACE 4 MR 74 1450m
100…Velddrifter 8/1
..98…Lord Hawke 16/10
..97…Aces High 3/1
..97…Bareback 16/1
..95…Where’s My Chop 3/1
..88…Sermon 7/1
Going to be needing your best problem solving and decision making skills here.
Where’s My Chop is undoubtedly the most consistent sand performer around with 10 good runs during the last year…however his top figure of 95 does not look good enough to win here, place sure! Then we come to the ‘bounce’ patterns of the top 4 rated contenders and there are clearly more questions than answers around those performances, then there are the distance changes for them all and things get even cloudier! Keeping it at its simplest, that each horse puts it best foot forward – follow the ratings.

RACE 5 MDN 1800m
75…Solar Energy 11/2
71…King 8/1
70…Atlas Grove 10/1
68…Big Lion 9/2
66…Border Patrol 14/1
63…Seldom Seen Kid 75/1
??…Ali 9/2
??…Glitter Ali 2/1
An open looking event with two sand debutants topping the boards, in a very moderate field, along with Big Lion who’s main ‘claim’ to fame is that PS keeps the ride. Going with Ali in the PA.

RACE 6 MR 68F 1800m
92…Elegant Bay 4/1
91…Olympic Spring 11/10
86…Summer Sari 12/1
85…Tizasmartdollar 8/1
82…Beautiful Dawn 7/1
80…Aloha Bay 16/1
Shapes up as a 2 horse race with Elegant Bay looking the better ‘value’. Summer Sari looks a fair place proposition and Pretty Lady the lurker.

RACE 7 MR 72 1800m
96…Blue Concorde 11/2
92…Hunter Valley 8/1
91…King’s Joy 6/1
90…Cockney Tiger 3/1
90…Giro Jet 3/1
89…Divine Invitation 12/1
88…Sugar Ray 20/1
Blue Concorde put up his best performance of his ‘comeback trail’ last time out (after 10 races) and looks fairly ‘well in’ here in this competitive event. Hunter Valley has the best history but with 2 poor runs from his last 3, and the appy strategy, not that confident. Was ‘undone’ by Cockney Tiger’s follow-up win lto and not that keen on him again today, especially with the 10 week break. Think Divine Invitation should be included in quartets and likely to have the stable companion Ganesh there as well.

RACE 8 MR 78 1000m
101…Stavinsky 10/1
100…Maji Moto 6/1
..98…Authenticated 14/1
..97…Shine Tiger 5/1
..97…Gabronza 6/1
..95…Annaconda Moon 33/1
..91…Mr. Alfonso 12/1
If the result of race one indicates a draw preference it may help to get clearer here.
Otherwise, it seems very tricky, and the jockey engagements further cloud the issue.
Maji Moto still looks competitive but this is very open and would not be surprised to see something like Princess Alberta sneak in.

S.KHUMALO -S.G.TARRY -MR C.J.H.VAN NIEKERK.JUST ONE HORSE 4 THE DAY.
VS VS VS VS VS VS
P.STRYDOM -M.G.AZZIE-MRS OPPENHEIMER.

It take a master Like Tarry to beat an odd on Favorite(tu)& with Khumalo on board .


Saturday.RACE 7
Empire of the Sun -S.G.TARRY-KHUMALO
VS VS VS VS VS VS
the oaks-R.R.SAGE-G.WROGEMANN
WINNER-THE OAKS.

2cents Wrote:

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> Lord Hawke's new MR is 80 and set to carry 63kgs


Anything stands out for you tomorrow 2cents

All the best 2cents. Lord Hawke won a great race last time and even with a big weight can repeat. (tu)

Elvis hope Silver Specialist runs a big race tomorrow. (tu)

Care R1... Louis newcomer now as short as 2/1 from 16s