Vaal Thursday 22 June 2017 Best Bets

WELLSPRING has taken very well to blinkers and shown smart improvement as a result of the headgear. He stayed on for a creditable 3rd behind two useful types at Turffontein recently and should be very competitive in this line-up.

OHIO was bitterly disappointing in a workrider’s event over ten furlongs last time but that was in treacherous underfoot conditions and he is far better than the performance. He should acquit himself well despite dropping to the mile today and the son of Ideal World is a lively contender with in-form championship seeking jockey Delpech in the saddle.

The consistent ALL NIGHT FLIGHT renews his rivalry with ALPINE GLACIER and the pair should feature prominently in the finish of this handicap. They were separated by a neck in favour of the latter when they met behind the Louis Goosen trained speedsters Effortless Reward (winner next time out) and Hashtag Strat (3rd in KZN since) at Turffontein late in May. The former is only 0.5kg worse off and upon close inspection, one would have noticed that his jockey almost came down when things got really tight in the latter stages & this pairing bumped right at the death. The top rating is his yard’s only runner on the card and in-form pilot De Melo takes the ride.

The good-looking SNOW IN SEATTLE prefers racing down the straight and he bounced right back to form with a cracking last c & d effort three weeks ago. He was penalised two pounds for his exertions but meets a weaker line-up this time around and has strong claims of going one better from his favourable draw.