Sunday’s Reggae 6 a knotty affair

START Sunday's Reggae 6 by throwing the kitchen sink at the opening event for five-year-olds, non-winners of two races, horses who are yet to revisit the winners' enclosure since landing a maiden event.

Always a scrappy bunch, older non-winners-of-two are low-level claimers hiding under the frocks of condition races, hoping to get as many chances among their peers before being thrown to wolves lurking in the claiming forest.

CAPTAIN FANTASTIC, GOLDEN LAWYER, BELLEZA GRIS, NOBLE MONARCH and SHEER DE JOUR should provide ample cover to emerge unscathed from the Reggae 6 opener.

WAH A GWAAN, second-best to speedy debutant DREAM CATCHER, on January 24, should go one better in the Mercury Sprint, a worthwhile banker on an otherwise knotty card.

Load up on the third, which has course-specialists at five furlongs straight, plus Canadian SASH ON thrown in on a $1m claim tag, an event in which a combination of soundness and back-class will determine the winner.

The fourth is also a tricky event in which inconsistent stayers could find themselves outsprinted at a mile by sounder and faster rivals in a relaxed pace. Therefore, use both speed and stamina horses for insurance purposes.

Similar to the opener, four-year-old maidens, most of whom will still be struggling to win a race as five-year-olds next season, can never be trusted. Therefore tread carefully in the fifth by using LIFE IS LIGHT, ATILA and REPORTABLE OFFENSE.

Close the Reggae 6 by banking a $200,000 claimer, SUDDEN FLIGHT, who is on a hat-trick of blink sprints and is best drawn along the faster stands' side at four furlongs straight.

REGGAE 6

Race 1: 2, 3, 7, 8 10

Race 2: 5

Race 3: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Race 4: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7

Race 5: 4, 9, 10

Race 6: 16

TOTAL: $4,500

TWILIGHT 6

Race 4: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7

Race 5: 4, 9, 10

Race 6: 16

Race 7: 1, 2, 3, 4

Race 8: 2

Race 9: 7

TOTAL: $720

BONUS BETS

KWIK 4

Race 2: 5

Race 3: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Race 4: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7

Race 5: 4, 9, 10

TOTAL: $3,600

STRIKE 4

Race 6: 16

Race 7: 1, 2, 3, 4

Race 8: 2

Race 9: 7

TOTAL: $160

BEST THREE

Race 2: Wah A Gwaan

Race 8: Barnaby

Race 9: High Diplomacy

OUTSIDER

Race 3: Sippin On Sushine