Turffontein Racing Tips - Four Best Bets for 22 October

Simon Lewis

Editor

Last updated: 1 hour ago

Simon Lewis 1 hour ago

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Eight races take place on the Turffontein Inside turf track from 12:35-4:40pm SAST.
Mission To Mars looks the strongest win candidate in Race 6 over 2000m.
Boundless Love offers a more adventurous angle in Race 7 at a forecast 8.00.

Turffontein's Thursday card features a mix of maidens and handicaps (Getty Images).

Thursday racing at Turffontein

Thursday racing at Turffontein
Race 6 - Mission To Mars (2) | 15:30 SAST | 2000m
Race 1 - Astrophile (6)
Race 4 - Vision Of Gold (11)
Race 7 - Boundless Love (6)

The card features a mix of maidens and handicaps, with selections based on recent race form, course suitability and declared runners. Four horses stand out from the meeting, including a progressive three-year-old, a return-to-form contender and a potentially well-treated course specialist.

Race 6 - Mission To Mars (2)

Jockey: Philasande Mxoli | Trainer: Stuart Pettigrew

Mission To Mars has won two of his last four starts and was third behind stronger opposition at Vaal on 17 September. His previous two victories came at Turffontein and a return to a sounder surface can help this five-year-old rediscover winning form. He is well positioned on the weights against several of Thursday's rivals.

Prince Of Kildare rates a key danger while Diwali Rocket arrives off a win over 1800m at Vaal. Mission To Mars is the headline selection despite a relatively short forecast of 1.70.

Race 1 - Astrophile (6)

Jockey: Savanna Valjalo | Trainer: Tony Peter

Three-year-old Astrophile has been knocking on the door with two runner-up finishes and two fourths from five starts. She finished fourth over 1000m at Vaal on 8 October and now benefits from a 1.5kg rider allowance. Her consistent maiden form makes her a sound contender to get the meeting underway.

Stablemate Nicci Beach should improve on her debut fifth while newcomer First Frost is worth watching in the market. Both represent risks to Astrophile whose reliability earns the selection.

Race 4 - Vision Of Gold (11)

Jockey: Callan Murray | Trainer: Mike de Kock

Vision Of Gold has finished third in both career outings, most recently over 1200m at Vaal after a lengthy break. The lightly raced three-year-old should be fitter for that run, while the extra 250m could unlock further improvement. Callan Murray takes the ride in a contest that looks within reach.

Purple Rain has twice been runner-up over this course and distance while Polly Plummer is another realistic threat. Vision Of Gold makes the shortlist at an indicative 3.50 forecast.

Race 7 - Boundless Love (6)

Jockey: Chase Maujean | Trainer: Robyn Klaasen

Boundless Love boasts a great record coming into this race, finishing 3-1-1-3-7-2-3 since the start of April. This five-year-old finished third at Vaal on 22 September and is dropping in class from an unchanged mark and has drawn well in gate two for this run. Those factors make him an intriguing win or each-way candidate, particularly at his projected price.

War Reporter and Industrialstrength return after promising second-place finishes and both warrant respect, although their wider draws may leave them with work to do. Boundless Love is our big value angle at an 8.00 forecast.

Verdict

Turffontein racing

Turffontein's Thursday card offers great options for high payouts and I'm backing wins for Mission To Mars, Astrophile, Vision Of Gold and Boundless Love.

Mission To Mars Win

Race 6

@1,70 - 2 Units

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Vision Of Gold Win

Race 4

@3,50 - 1 Unit

up to R15,000 + 100 Spins

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Astrophile Win

Race 1

@3,50 - 1 Unit

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Boundless Love Win

Race 7

@8,00 - 1 Unit

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Simon is a talented sports writer in South Africa with a strong focus on cricket having played first-team level for UCT, including playing at two Universities Weeks.

From a young age Simon was an avid reader of cricket magazines and books, and went on to be Editor of The Googly, CricketScene SA and SA Cricket, in addition to being a Features Writer on SA Sports Illustrated.

He has interviewed most of South Africa's premier cricketers and was the first writer to interview a teenaged Jacques Kallis.

Simon has also written about English and local football, rugby and cricket, in addition to major international tennis and golf stars and competitions.

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