Divine Odyssey, unbeaten in four starts since transferring to Port Elizabeth, was scratched on Friday morning by trainer Johan Janse van Vuuren due to lameness.

So now Marmara Sea could prove hard to beat in this Pinnacle Stakes over 2000m.

This has been a Port Elizabeth fairy tale story as the son of Soft Falling Rain arrived at Alan Greeff’s yard a maiden and immediately fell in love with the Polytrack. He has since reeled off 11 wins with nine of those on the Polytrack.

After gaining his confidence on the Polytrack Marmara Sea went on to win two races on turf but he is always a different proposition on the synthetic surface.

He has won over 1800m on this surface but he was beaten in both of hos previous tries at 2000m, but both of them were on the turf.

He comes in as the best weighted by at least 2.5kg and with Greg Cheyne up, is worth taking a chance as a banker in all bets on a tricky card.

If one is looking to add in a back-up in the Exotics then Ancient Times looks the obvious choice.

 

Jack Milner’s selections

Race 1: 2 Honest Quest, 3 Kuznetsov, 6 Then In Focus, 7 Eurydice

Race 2: 1 Jacksonville, 4 Power Surge, 2 Irish Sea, 7 King Of Luv

Race 3: 3 Gift Of Giving, 1 Magic Moments, 2 Silver Slippers, 6 Twice The Secret

Race 4: 2 Ferrari Ice, 10 Alado’s Pride, 3 Star Of The South, 13 Zig Zag

Race 5: 1 2 Marmara Sea, 5 Ancient Times, 3 Jaeger Moon, 4 Herodotus

Race 6: 6 Princess Of Winter, 1 Paris Opera, 10 Space Oddity, 2 What A Blizzard

Race 7: 1 Mesmerizing Moon, 2 Pink Legacy, 11 Zulu War Cry, 6 Quick Count

Race 8: 6 Tuk Tuk, 5 Winter Assembly, 2 Ticket To Ride, 3 Knave Of Diamonds

 

BEST BET

Race 5 No 2 Marmara Sea

VALUE BET

Race 8 No 6 Tuk Tuk

BEST SWINGER

Race 3 1×3

 

BIPOT

R108

Leg 1: 2, 3

Leg 2: 1, 2, 4

Leg 3: 1, 3

Leg 4: 2, 3, 10

Leg 5: 2

Leg 6: 1, 6, 10

 

PLACE ACCUMULATOR

R216

Leg 1: 1, 4

Leg 2: 1, 3

Leg 3: 2, 10

Leg 4: 2

Leg 5: 1, 6, 10

Leg 6: 1, 2, 11

Leg 7: 2, 5, 6

 

PICK 6

R1125

Leg 1: 1, 2, 3

Leg 2: 2, 3, 9, 10, 13

Leg 3: 2

Leg 4: 1, 2, 4, 6, 10

Leg 5: 1, 2, 11

Leg 6: 2, 3, 5, 6, 7

 

JACKPOT 1

R75

Leg 1: 2, 3, 9, 10, 13

Leg 2: 2

Leg 3: 1, 2, 4, 6, 10

Leg 4: 1, 2, 11

 

JACKPOT 2

R75

Leg 1: 2

Leg 2: 1, 2, 4, 6, 10

Leg 3: 1, 2, 11

Leg 4: 2, 3, 5, 6, 7

 

 

 

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