Full Throttle. Geoff Woodruff’s smart 4yo Lockheed Jetstar looks the business and very tough to beat in a small field
The classy and very promising Lockheed Jetstar adds lustre and interest to the Vaal meeting (MR 94 Divided Handicap) on Tuesday. Robert and Robyn Muir’s son of Jet Master looks poised to launch trainer Geoff Woodruff back into winning ways after a quiet February.
Woodruff is without question one of South Africa’s top racehorse trainers and he will no doubt be putting the screws on as the Gauteng Season gets into top gear, after a quiet February month that saw him saddle just two winners.
Feature Outlook
This race does not form part of the exotic bets on the day, but the seven horse field should create plenty of speculation and keen interest, with one or two contenders likely to have feature race aspirations in the months ahead.
One of these is the 4yo Lockheed Jetstar is a handsome bay colt with a massive deficit on his personal balance sheet. While the yellow and pink Muir silks have been worn by some of our great horses, the R1,4 million paid to acquire him at the National Yearling Sale must feel like light years away right now.
But Lockheed Jetstar has not done a lot wrong and with 4 wins from 1000m to 1700m from his 7 starts, he is a fellow with plenty of exciting scope. He only really needs to repeat something on the lines of his Listed Wolf Power 1600 effort to lower the flags of his opponents here.
Generalisation
It was a month ago that he registered a smart fifth running on 2,50 lengths behind the very smart General Sherman, to whom he was conceding 2kgs. While punters who had installed him favourite may not agree with our sentiment, it was a nice effort.
Lockheed Jetstar moved up smartly from midfield and was not stopping at the business end. He had Amur Affair 1,75 lengths ahead of him, and we go to print on the eve of the running of the Gr3 Acacia Handicap on Saturday , where that filly faces up to some smart sorts of her own sex. There might be a measure of collateral confidence to be gained from an anticipated forward showing from Amur Affair.
Consistent. The Lucky Houdalakis trained Tiger Flash is fit and game but has to give weight to some fair sorts
Flash Of Hope
Trainer Lucky Houdalakis will probably argue our assertion that Lockheed Jetstar will have the edge over his talented Tiger Dance gelding, Tiger Flash. The 4yo ran in the Hiroshima race last Saturday, where tote favourite American Storm was tote favourite and withdrawn at the start. Tiger Flash replaced the Lerena horse at the top of the charts, but ran a very dirty fourth to shock winner Forestation.
His form prior to that was good and he beat Soweto Slew over the Vaal 1400m at his penultimate in an MR 94 Handicap. We can’t see him giving the Woodruff Jet 4,5 kgs and a beating somehow.
Festive
Tiger Flash is coupled with the 5 time winner Festival Spirit, who carries only 48kgs, courtesy of his apprentice rider. The 6yo has lost form recently and looks unlikely to upset the applecart here with his late dash style.
St John Gray’s consistent Sarge gelding Egyptian ran slightly below best last time, when eighth and 5,25 lengths behind Dual Asset in a 1800m MR 81 Handicap at Turffontein.
This is tougher but the 5yo drops 6,5kgs in the weights. He meets the lightly raced Mike De Kock trained 3yo Captain Lars, who beat him by 4,5 lengths in that Dual Asset race, on 6kgs better terms. That could be a determining turnaround, but we don’t know how good Captain Lars really is.
He is coincidentally another R1,4 million purchase (not bad in a midweek seven horse field!), but it concerns us that he made a respiratory noise last time out and may have his issues judging on the fact that he has only raced five times in ten months.
Set To Rule. St John Gray’s Sarge gelding Egyptian has an outside chance at the weights
Another Plane
Devin Little and Piere Strydom team up with the former Justin Snaith trained gelding Spitfire Run, who appears to have lost form at his last five runs. The 6yo Silvano gelding appears to have reached a ceiling in his racing career, and while he likes to run freely out front, Strydom will have to conjure up some magic to inject some enthusiasm for the task at hand.
Flying High
The horse named after the first dedicated business jet to enter service and produced from the early 1960s through the 1970s, looks the highflyer and the business here. Lockheed Jetstar is a confident selection to get his Gauteng, and possibly even Champions Season programme on track, and win this comfortably.
