Trainer Johan Janse van Vuuren sends out a pair of runners on Thursday 5 October at the Vaal that deserve special attention.
Chasing Happiness, who lines up in Race 4, a Graduation Plate for fillies and mares over 1200m, was a runaway winner or debut, with her official victory margin set at 4.1-lengths.
It must be noted, however, that this three-year-old daughter of Rafeef did not face a particularly strong field that day. Making her debut, she was the odds-on favourite, shortening to 15-10, and she obliged by producing the run widely expected over 1000m at Turffontein.
What impressed most, was how she refused to let the field drag her down to their level. She produced a class performance.
For that effort, she was rated 85, but there’s every possibility that she has a lot more to offer, especially if having to work a bit harder.
On Thursday she’s bound to face a lot more resistance as three horses are rated higher than her, but she does look destined for feature racing.
In Race 8, a MR80 Handicap over 1000m, Janse van Vuuren’s Covert Operator could break his recent cycle of winning alternate races to go in again.
The five-year-old was a late bloomer with his first eight runs producing just three top-four finishes. His next 11 runs, however, saw him scoring five times as well as recording four top-four finishes.
Covert Operator goes into the race with a career-high rating of 83, having been penalised just three points for his last victory.
Gavin Lerena, who has ridden Covert Operator to four of his five wins, is back in the saddle. The jockey will also be aboard Chasing Happiness again.
Whorly Whorly is carded to line up in Race 5, a MR72 Handicap over 1400m.
This nine-year-old made headlines five weeks ago when he recorded his twelfth career win, in the process becoming an equine millionaire having raced a whopping 80 times.
He will be carrying the legendary Piere Strydom.
Strydom and Whorly Whorly share a long history together, with the jockey first swinging a leg over the Great Britain gelding way back on April Fool’s Day in 2017. That was Whorly Whorly’s first run out the maidens.
The pair have teamed up every so often, recording three wins from ten outings, and on Thursday it will be 2,378 days since they first hit the track together – quite a remarkable feat for the two “old-timers”.
Clive Robinson
