A Cup of gold beckons
The World Pool Gold Cup 3200m marathon often throws up surprises, so the Quartet bet is a must for all punters looking for a big payday at Greyville on Sunday.
The Quartet pool on Race 7 is set to hit R10-million, while the bookmaker odds are 6-1 bar one. That spells good value.
The good form of favourite King Pelles (2.60 a Win) makes him impossible to ignore as a banker choice. But, after that, all bets are off – or rather ON!
Even rank outsider Positive Attitude (101.00), has a case.
This Dennis Bosch-trained six-year-old has run no fewer than eight of his last nine runs on soft ground, which doesn't seem to suit him. The sole effort not in the slosh, on the Greyville Polytrack, he won well.
He is a son of speed sire Rafeef, but he has won over 3000m. Put him in.
A more obvious candidate for inclusion is Holding Thumbs (6.00), who was runner-up to King Pelles in both the Tote Derby at Scottsville and the Gold Vase at Greyville. There is no reason to think he can turn around that form but he could be in the mix at the end of the long trek.
Madison Valley (9.00) ran a cracking race for trainer Frank Robinson in the Durban July, finishing fifth, just 3.15 lengths off the winner. He's in good nick and a further plus is that leading jockey Gavin Lerena has opted to stay aboard.
Madison Valley's stablemate Shoot The Rapids (15.00) was close-up runner-up in the 2024 Gold Cup and has shown signs of a return to best form after being gelded earlier this year.
Champion jockey Richard Fourie can sniff out an unlikely winner if anyone can. He has chosen to ride Eastern Cape raider Bournemouth (17.00), who has ruled the stamina roost at Fairview this year.
Future Swing, Navajo Nation and Nebraas might also be weighed up.
A selection: 3 Positive Attitude, 1 Shoot The Rapids, 4 King Pelles, 2 Madison Valley
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