Clairwood preview..by Leon Setaro

Clairwood racing preview





From Kloof, looking out to Kensington in Durban and onto the sea beyond

The loss of training days at Summerveld are starting to mount as rain continues to fall on an almost daily basis; they can't do fast work in the slop and it's only a matter of time before the effects start to show on those horses that need extra pacework to keep ticking over. For today at Clairwood however, the track conditions have been posted as 'good' believe it or not and the accuracy of this reading in real terms remains to be seen. Expect it soft with kickback.



No standout investment recommendations at this stage but the 5th race does have the money making look about it where a profitable plan can be worked around race favourite No.1 Honour the Jury (2/1). He couldn't have been more impressive last time out in the wet when winning his maiden with the greatest of ease and finishing some 6 lengths clear of the 3rd horse. Although there was nothing in the field his excellent run before that behind King Fernando provides reassurance as there's been 5 subsequent winners coming from that race. The potential is clear to see after only a few runs from this youngster and he must be in with a big chance here.





Race 5 No.1 Honour the Jury - race favourite at 2/1

There is however a joker in the pack that comes in the form of No.3 Yankee Stadium at 7/1, a huge strapping individual who according to trainer Paul Lafferty is a champion worker on the sand. He got bumped around and lost momentum last time out which put paid to his chances so best to ignore that performance. Laff rates him and believes there's plenty more still to come and is hoping for a win here. The big questionmark however is how he will take to the track conditions? With a horse this size there has to be doubts with give in the ground, if he isn't troubled then must be a very real contender for the winner's box.



Race 5 No.3 Yankee Stadium @ 7/1 - excellent value if he handles the conditions

Clearly the reliable factor here is Honour the Jury who has showed he relishes soft conditions and should have the ability to knock off a field of this nature. He's a worthwhile win wager but with the exacta cover in place - Yankee Stadium to win and Honour the Jury to run second. Looking beyond these two and No.4 Brutus Maximus is not to be written off, he returns from a short break and with Anton Marcus carded to ride, must be showing something worthwhile at home and has shortened a point in the betting.

Summary - combo split wager


- Win bet - Race 5 No.1 Honour the Jury, and
- Exacta bet - Race 5 1st No.3 Yankee Stadium, 2nd No.1 Honour the Jury



NB. No Goodman podcast today due to technical problems

You are cooking the gas! Well done

Plenty of MDK short ones the first few races,Will try and hold onto some of my tank for Taiki Dancer in the 8th..

Good post Leon!

PEGASUS LEGACY,ALDERRY,SCULPTOR,THANKS DAD & JARATHON...

Happy Punting guys enjoy...

Eastern paradise,crashing crook,bonito and tiwi bomber are my fancies for today.

R1 Ask The Afghan
R2 Fantasy lane
R3 Sunny Day

Alderry flew late,one for the note book,the winner also Grail Maiden could be the one to follow ,especially over longer..

Hibs,tell us something new, not what we just saw.Boring, not the race ,you.

now, now, MR SCARFACE...totally unnecessary comments...

I agree with u Polo, comments from scarface unnecessary... Hib's comments r always excellent & does alot to make ABC a great forum...

with you MR RIGZO....MR HIBBS...is one of the most loved person on this forum..

Thats what this is,a forum. I have a right to air my view. Why do you guys want to think for me? Hibs is a great guy but we all have different point of views.