Domeyer heads for Highveld to partner promising Captain Lannister

As a former champion apprentice with a number of big race wins notched on his belt, 2021 has been pretty much a non-event for jockey Aldo Domeyer.

A fractured thumb in June meant he missed most of the KwaZulu-Natal season, including a ride in SA’s most famous race, the Vodacom Durban July.

Still, statistics to the end of October show he has started the new term in style with 24 winners from 89 rides. That’s a hugely impressive strike rate.

One thing about Domeyer is that you know he’ll always answer the call of his dad, Andrew Fortune, husband of trainer Ashley Fortune. She has also started the new season well and is in eighth place in the national log.

This time the request from Andrew Fortune was to travel to Turffontein on Thursday for three possible winning rides — Secret Is Ours (first race), Buck’s Fizz (second race) and Captain Lannister (fourth).

It is Captain Lannister who is the reason for the journey to the Highveld as the lightly raced three-year-old — he has only contested three races — looks a promising prospect judged by his run at Scottsville.

That day in May, Captain Lannister ran a creditable fourth behind Ambiorix in the Gold Medallion. A  reproduction of that run could see him notch the second win of his career.

However, waiting to take on Captain Lannister are two tough rivals in Moonshiningthrough (Raymond Danielson) and Team Gold (Muzi Yeni). The former hails from the Johan Janse van Vuuren stable while Team Gold is trained by Roy Magner.

In early betting, Fortune’s second race mount, Buck’s Fizz, trained by Ashley Fortune, has been priced up favourite at 22-10. This might be a cautionary move by the bookies and the market needs close monitoring to see if support comes nearer to “off” time.

Buck’s Fizz has raced four times and his first venture into handicap company in October yielded a creditable third behind Sean Tarry’s useful performer, Grappler.

The opponents to Buck’s Fizz include Code Zero, Corvette Captain and Escape Artist, with the first-named — another good ride for Yeni — likely to pose the main threat to Domeyer’s mount.

Domeyer has a good ride in the opening event on Secret Is Ours, but Mike de Kock’s runner, Masaaken (Gavin Lerena), will be no pushover in this first race on the card.

Punters searching for a Pick 6 banker might consider Paul Peter’s runner, Van D’Orcia, in the seventh race. As usual, this season’s leading jockey, Warren Kennedy, will be in the irons and he’ll be looking to get the better of Back To Black and Eskimo Pie.

In the fifth race, the same combination teams up with Ocean Warrior, but preference here is for De Kock’s charge, Bureau Des Legende, with S’manga Khumalo in the saddle.

After a narrow defeat at Greyville last time out, Candice Dawson’s gelding, Banha Bridge, will have his backers in the sixth race where Tarry’s Lion Of The Desert (Raymond Danielson) and Barend Botes’s runner, Bey Suyay, boast decent form.

SELECTIONS

1st Race: (1) Secret Is Ours (5) Masaaken (2) Liverpool Legend (3) Orus Apollo

2nd Race: (1) Buck’s Fizz (3) Code Zero (2) Corvette Captain (8) Escape Artist

3rd Race: (4) Indlamu (5) Sound Of Summer (1) Whorly Whorly (3) Approach Control

4th Race: (2) Captain Lannister (8) Moonshiningthrough (3) Team Gold (9) Social Image

5th Race: (4) Bureau Des Legende (2) Ocean Warrior (6) About To Storm (3) Barney’s Pride

6th Race: (1) Lion Of The Desert (4) Banha Bridge (3) Bey Suyay (5) Little Prince

7th Race: (5) Val D’Orcia (6) Back To Black (8) Eskimo Pie (3) Sea Ways

8th Race: (1) Qunetra (8) Irish Rain (7) Chasing Mavericks (4) Flying First Class