Bellerophon to slay his Turffontein rivals

Jack Milner

A Pinnacle Stakes over 2400m heads up Sunday’s eight-race meeting at Turffontein where they race on the Standside track.

The best weighted runner in the field is Breeze Over followed by Poets Warrior but this event looks to be at the mercy of another runner who is starting to make a name for himself in the stayers’ ranks and that is Bellerophon.

The three-year old son of Vercingetorix has already clocked three wins and two of them have been over ground. Trained by Fabian Habib, he has come on in leaps and bounds and will get even better as he continues to mature.

Bellerophon is a legendary Greek hero famed for slaying the Chimera and taming the winged horse Pegasus and that looks to be the apt name for this gelding as he also has shown a lot of courage. His last two wins have been by small margins and at no stage did he look like throwing in the towel when coming under pressure.

Perhaps he did disappoint in the Grade 2 SA Derby and the earlier Listed Derby Trial when finish unplaced but he did show his mettle thereafter in a MR 86 Handicap over 2400m at the Vaal when staying on strongly to beat Titans Of War by 0.20 lengths.

He has been carrying weights of 55kg, 60kg and 59.5kg in his last three races but he is carded to carry just 52kg in this event.

The last time he carried this weight he fought on gamely to beat well-performed stayer Battleground by a short head.

To make his chances even stronger, he will be ridden by Mickaëlle Michel, who is not only in outstanding form but will take a further 1.kg off his back. So, with just 50.5kg to carry he could be the outstanding bet on the card.

The main threat could come from Mike Azzie-trained Deception Pass. The five-year-old gelding has been running well over 2000m without winning and will be tried over 2400m for the first time.

It is a kind of hit-or-miss issue with him but he does come in with just 52kg so that could make him competitive.

The other threat could come from another Azzie-trained runner, Poets Warrior, with Gavin Lerena up. The six-year-old son of Wylie Hall boasts a flawless three-from-three record over 2400m and is unbeaten in both attempts over this course and distance. His partnership with Lerena has also been highly productive, with the gelding suffering just one defeat from four rides under the champion jockey.

His latest outing in a 3200m feature can be forgiven given the circumstances, and the return to his optimum trip looks a major plus.

Lerena’s day begins aboard the beautifully bred Australian import Beautiful Rosie in the opener. The Mike and Mathew de Kock-trained daughter of Maurice is exceptionally well-related and makes plenty of appeal on pedigree alone. As is often the case with imported fillies making their local debut, the betting market may prove the most reliable guide. Any meaningful support for Beautiful Rosie should be viewed as highly significant and respected accordingly.

Jack Milner’s selections

Race 1: 1 Beautiful Rosie, 14 Social Graces, 9 Hoc Est Vita, Elusive Dragon, Midnight Special

Race 2: 11 Rivera, 9 Snowblade, 7 Mfulathela, 2 Bisou Bisou

Race 3: 11 Minerva Fae, 8 Apparition, 1 Master’s Lady, 5 Pennys Choice

Race 4: 10 Kwaito, 1 Isaac Stephan, 2 Echoes Of War, 8 Berry Lancer

Race 5: 5 Be All You Can Be, 7 Master Smoker, 6 Jimmy Vega, 4 The Reason

Race 6: 4 Bellerophon, 8 Deception Pass, 3 Hotarubi, 1 Poets Warrior

Race 7: 7 Sosoru, 14 Dante’s Bond, 3 Max The Magician, 1 Captain Selvie

Race 8: 1 Korcula, 3 Gimmesumluv, 4 Beautiful One, 2 Nicolson Landing

BEST BET

Race 6: 4 Bellerophon

VALUE BET

Race 3: 11 Minerva Fae

BEST SWINGER

Race 4 1×10

BIPOT

R108

Leg 1: 1, 9, 14

Leg 2: 7, 9, 11

Leg 3: 1, 8, 11

Leg 4: 1, 10

Leg 5: 5, 7

Leg 6: 4

PLACE ACCUMULATOR

R144

Leg 1: 7, 9, 11

Leg 2: 8, 11

Leg 3: 1, 10

Leg 4: 5, 7

Leg 5: 4

Leg 6: 3, 7, 14

Leg 7: 1, 3

PICK 6

R360

Leg 1: 1, 8, 11

Leg 2: 1, 10

Leg 3: 4, 5, 6, 7

Leg 4: 4

Leg 5: 1, 3, 7, 11, 14

Leg 6: 1, 3, 4

JACKPOT 1

R40

Leg 1: 1, 10

Leg 2: 4, 5, 6, 7

Leg 3: 4

Leg 4: 1, 3, 7, 11, 14

JACKPOT 2

R60

Leg 1: 4, 5, 6, 7

Leg 2: 4

Leg 3: 1, 3, 7, 11, 14

Leg 4: 1, 3, 4