It’s been a torrid week for many punters. Thagar Moodley is one of the Interbet traders who so diligently supplies me with material for this Hits and Misses column. Referring to the thwarted coup on Uncle Charlie (40/1 – 4/1) he said, ”I have not seen a horse backed in for so much for a very long time.” Uncle Charlie had finished mid pack in a barrier trial, then clocked in 12th of 16 in a Scottsville sprint before the lights were put out at Greyville on the 14th October, only to succumb by half a length to Marchetto.
Second Request, another heavily traded horse that day met the same fate, finishing second to Arianos Shadow, whilst Thanksgiving, backed from 22/10 to 16/10 also failed to get the job done.
Other costly flops included Trippi’s Express, Earl of Warwick and Streetfighting Man at the midweek Durbanville meeting. The following day in Joburg, Fire Side (7/2 – 18/10) managed to get toppled by Kimberley raider, Traffic Jam. Kissable, and the day’s highest traded horse, Mazari (14’s down to 4’s) were others to deflate punters hopes.
Thunderstorms brought a premature end to proceedings on Saturday’s Grand Series at Turffontein. Isle de France justified support in the opener, but punters got zapped in subsequent races. African Daisy (4’s into 5/2) was beaten by bottom- of -the- boards, Neng Kapa Neng (50/1) then Insignis, who shortened into odds-on, got stuck in the rainy bog in Race 3, after which the meeting was aborted.
Jeffrey Bernard was a bohemian racing journalist during the 70’s and 80’s who could genuinely emphasise with dispiriting struggles like these, which gamblers must confront when losing. He wrote articles for a time in the Sporting Life, and his gritty, Low Life column in The Spectator was tellingly described by Jonathan Meades as “a suicide note in weekly instalments.” A hard-drinking character whose chaotic life was turned into a West End play, called “Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell”, starring Peter O Toole, his boozy excesses inevitably saw him needing time recovering in hospital, prompting this recollection.
“In the next bed there was an Irishman who told me that he’d been psychologically unable to work for ten years. ‘”At one point,”” he informed me, the mention of the word “”work”” made me feel physically sick.”” The psychiatrist in the place was Irish too. On the third day of my confinement he came along with a great wad of papers, an instrument for measuring blood pressure, a thermometer and a midday newspaper. I thought he was going to ask me the story of my life, but not a bit of it. He got straight to the point: “Do you think Tiernascragh can beat Phaestus?”I had a look at the weights and told him no. ‘”You really are in a bad way, “” he told me and left to back Tiernascragh and thus prove I was mad.
When he came back he told me he’d won on the horse of his choice, but that he’d had a saver on Phaestus just in case I happened to know what I was talking about. As he left the room he remarked, “We had a journalist in here once who was so good at tipping that we kept him in for five months!””
Perhaps inspired by such sustained winning spells, local punters have recovered to savour their share of successes too -especially those that follow Paul Peter on the Highveld. The Turffontein based trainer landed a notable treble on the 11th October. Corrido (6/1 – 7/2) won a Work Riders race to get things underway, then Gavin Lerena steered Monopolize home at 6/10 in the second, followed by Peruvian jock Carlos Herrera Gomez rousted Rebels Champ to round off a fine three timer when romping in a Pinnacle Stakes.
Furla’s win in Race 3 was one for the “sharpies’. Diane Stenger’s filly woke up big time over the 1200m sprint to eke out a slim margin victory over Rosario. Devoid of form in four tries prior to a break, Furla was punted from 40/1 into 20/1 after three months off track. She’d obviously improved and strengthened during the time off – Randall Simons was the winning jock.
Horseplayers in Durban landed some serious hits on Sunday. Roy’s Riviera, Golden Pheasant (20/1 down to 5’s but with a deduction due to a scratching) and Flamenco Dancer (also backed as a long-shot) all received proper support and obliged.
Entered in a Pinnacle Stakes, Roy’s Riviera represented a huge edge in class having run about three lengths off Oh Susanna, African Night Sky, Redberry Lane and Fiorella in potent features during the KZN Winter. Despite sleep-walking out the stalls, she duly proved much the best to bring a smile to those who punted her at 4/1, or bankered her in exotics through Interbet’s user friendly links with SafTote .
Golden Pheasant, trained by Darryl Moore, landed a strike in a MR 72 handicap. The task may have become somewhat easier with Drunken Sailor coming out at the start, but it was still a gallant second win from 10 starts for the son of Antonius Pius.
Flamenco Dancer’s win in the finale was full of drama. In an actively traded race between the top two, Dunzie and The Bungalow, it took an alert market reader to notice money coming for Dennis Bosch’s filly from an opening call of 20/1. Flamenco Dancer, who last won in December 2017, prevailed by a lip in a blanket finish at an SP of 6/1. If Jeffrey Bernard was still around and on the winner, he would’ve most certainly overdone the celebration!