The racing scene was low key this weekend compared to what fans enjoyed at the recent Durban July. International sport was instead where awesome action unfolded with two of the greatest tennis players of all time clashing in another epic. Novak Djokovic beat Roger Federer 13/12 after the first ever fifth set tiebreaker @ Wimbledon, (this after saving two Championship points), to lift the coveted tennis trophy.
And, England rode some miraculous luck to sneak past a desperately stiff New Zealand on a technicality, after scores were tied both after 50 overs and in the ensuing super over. Quite why the number of boundaries should have any bearing on declaring a World Cup result is mystifying – playing another super over till there is a clear winner is eminently more sensible. Perhaps, the cricketing administrators thought it was such an impossible scenario that they not think things through rigorously and came up with such a random rule?
Given what happened in the final over of regulation play with a boot touching the rope turning a “catch” into a six and a freaky deflection from a throw in off a diving Ben Stoke’s bat adding a crucial four runs for England – the Kiwis are entitled to feel gutted. Of course, every result pleases someone, yet sporting outcomes, like life, are not always fair and fate can be capricious and cruel on the losers.
Leaving out one horse in a Pick 6 Leg is one way of tempting fate, but who could blame any rational punter for kicking 70/1 bomb, Master of Fire into touch in the finale at Scottsville. Merit rated at 42 after seven starts by running 10, 11, 10, 12, 14, 10 and then another last of 13 at his most recent jog around the track, he looked an utterly hopeless case. That is until he woke up mystifyingly to win by a couple of lengths under apprentice Jason Gates, leaving all thoughtful horseplayers totally bewildered.
Snow Palace got the best speed figure at Scottsville, scoring 92 in a Maiden over 1400m to sustain the excellent form of ‘the Tobie Spies stable. The grey Potalo Palace filly has improved at each start and had no trouble in romping to victory to land a heavy gamble.
Top rating at Turffontein on Saturday was recorded by Purple Diamond (s/s 96) He ran down Dread the Dragon who had skipped clear 400m out. The winner was once officially rated as high as 100 but had plummeted down to a 73 with the handicappers.
Provided they’re still in one piece, if horses drop far enough down the class ladder, they can resume winning ways. It’s hard though for punters to make a call whether they’re betting damaged goods or a generously handicapped gift. Difficult decisions for sure but not as hard as it must be for Federer and his fans or staunch Kiwis to deal with the tough beats they suffered.