Put it in the net with Lineker

05 February 2016 - 02:59 By Mike Moon

A horse of a different colour - that was Wolf Power. If you were around in South Africa in the early 1980s you'll remember the name: headline news and a welcome highlight in a dark, fractious time. If you were lucky enough to see the colt race, you would not have forgotten it. Two things stood out about Wolf Power: his unusual colouring - strawberry roan changing to dappled grey - and his freakish speed.The combination made him a spectral presence: a haunting grey vision that flitted by other horses, making them look very mortal.Master jockey Jeff Lloyd told me: "He was by far the best horse I've ever ridden." And, believe me, "The Guv" sat on a few good ones.Why raise this ghost of the past? Because the Wolf Power 1600 at Turffontein tomorrow revives memories of the great one.Sadly, it isn't the marquee event on the day, just a Listed-level contest, alongside two Grade 3 sprints for precocious three-year-olds. It's time the racing suits upped the status of races named for our heroes.Wolf Power won the Queen's Plate, the Germiston November Handicap and the Hawaii Stakes - twice each - among his 18 victories. But his finest moment was the 1979 Met, when he looked dead and buried in the closing stages but then spooked leaders Spanish Pool and Devon Air to seize the prize.Last weekend's Met produced another astonishing finishing burst - from Smart Call, on whom all my readers made piles of money by following my tip at 8-1.After that magic Met moment, the Cape summer season switches to pause. Racing's a fast-moving good; the spotlight swings to Joburg.Trainer Justin Snaith targets multiple wins on big race days, to put his patrons in the spotlight in glamorous settings. But last Saturday's meeting was something else. "If it has four legs and is feeling good, it's running," he declared of his string before Met day.He saddled an astonishing 34 horses on the day and was pretty well rewarded for the effort - with a world record eight wins from 12 races.In marked contrast, he has just one runner at Turffontein tomorrow. But the young blondie isn't only about chucking kitchen sinks. His lone runner, Lineker in the Grade 3 Tony Ruffel Stakes, is a promising individual who has won twice and run just behind Rabada and Noah From Goa. Few of his opponents here are in that league and Snaith has an excellent chance of putting yet another owner's name in lights.The Wolf Power 1600 is loaded with good performers gearing up for the Jozi autumn season.Trainer Geoff Woodruff is in cracking form and has three of the 10 candidates, so one leans his way in picking a likely winner. Choosing between the trio is still hard, though. I'll opt for Master 'N Commander, a progressive sort with a handy draw and the champion jockey holding the reins...

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