It’s that time of year again, commonly known as the “silly season”, when the Christmas spirit begins to permeate more rapidly among all levels of the community and a time when thoughts turn more to holidays and parties and less towards work.

It is also the season when the country’s racing focus is firmly set well down South in Cape Town and a combination of factors results in smaller fields at local meetings and fewer of the better class horses stretching their legs on the local tracks.

But it is also the time when the smaller fields offer opportunities of some good bets and when success in the major exotics like the Pick 6, Jackpot and Place Accumulator could be somewhat easier.

The meeting at the Scottsville Racecourse on Wednesday, December 15, is a perfect example of just that with three legs of the Pick 6 and Place Accumulator having six and seven runners and one of the three including a potential banker.

The old adage that the smaller the field the bigger the upset is not always the case but what is true is that Swingers, Exactas, Trifectas and Quartets become a lot easier – and cheaper – to get.

Looking at the three races concerned on Wednesday, Patrick Lunn’s classy filly, Legally Blonde, makes her first local appearance since just being touched off by Princess Sassi in the Golden Slipper at Greyville on Vodacom Durban July Day. Prior to that she had put up a sensational performance at Scottsville to win the Grade 1 Allan Robertson Fillies Championship.

She has had one run since Greyville and that was at Newmarket three weeks ago when she failed to feature. Back on KwaZulu-Natal turf she looks too good for her five opponents and could be a banker in the exotics. She could also act as the banker in Exactas, Swingers and Trifectas

The first leg of the Pick 6 is over 2 400 metres and, as there is the coupling of Tupolev and Broadhaven, one only need five horses to include the field if the race looks too tough to narrow the selection. This could be a race to produce an upset which would then offer useful dividends in Exactas and Swingers and the Trifecta could also pay well.

The other small field constitutes the last leg of the Jackpot and a quick glance at the form suggests one might get away with just two or three horses. Neil Bruss’s Gold Bid and Dennis Drier’s Sun Worship have both been lightly raced and have shown some ability and could be all that are needed in the exotics. Rebel Patriot has shown some recent form and Ze Daniel’s last effort was an improvement suggesting they would be worth including in bigger permutations.

So small fields are not a bad thing and punters certainly can benefit from them if they do their homework, study the form and watch the betting.