WSB Cape Town Met: Snaith To Conquer Again?

The finest thoroughbreds in the country line up this Saturday as the second biggest race day in South Africa commences at Kenilworth with a 12-race program to look forward to, including the WSB Cape Town Met over 2000m. There will be no shortage of quality in the Mother City with plenty of value on offer, and pools worthy of putting your favourite costume on to take a swim in. With this year’s showpiece hosting just 11 runners in the main race, punters, like you and I, will hope the odds will be in our favour with a smaller field hopefully resulting in bigger payouts.

Race 1 – WSB Maiden Plate (1400m)

‘’It’s not about how you start, but rather how you finish.” Clearly, that was said by a punter who couldn’t find a winner in the first race of the card, and thankfully, this won’t be us as Peut Etre Moi looks too tough to oppose. Jockey S’manga Khumalo will mount the Justin Snaith-trained filly for the Drakenstein Stud and should notch up her first career victory. Tons of money has come in for the 3-year-old daughter of Master Of My Fate, so this might be worth an early inclusion of all weekend multiples.

Race 2 – Racehorse Owners Association Maiden Plate (1400m)

Again, ante-post money could sway our thoughts into decisions with Jockey Grant Van Niekerk teaming up with trainer Andre Nel on Gentleman Joe. The son of Gimmethegreenlight produced a stellar debut run over this distance when finishing fourth behind Pomodoro’s Jet and will look to change his fortunes around at the second time of asking. Nel has also brought a beautifully bred first-timer to the course in Futurismo, which will be ridden by Keagan De Melo, costing Sabine Plattner R1.2m. The first selection of the race, however, goes the way of Steinbeck, who, if expected, will bring home another winner for the Khumalo-Snaith combination. The son of Silvano was a runner-up in his last two starts and looks ready to claim his first of many wins this afternoon.

Race 3 – Racing 240 MR 85 Handicap (1000m)

Age before beauty will be the tale of race 3 on today’s program as Double Charge stands out as the first selection. The 5-year-old gelding will be one of the oldest horses in the race, coming up against some speedy 3-year-olds and 4-year-olds. Jockey Greg Cheyne will be hoping to make experience count for the Nel stable, and despite being held by Transact in his last run, the son of Twice Over puts the blinkers on and holds attractive prior form to his name.

Race 4 – World Pools Pinnacle Stakes (1400m)

The start of what is expected to be a massive Pick 6 pool gets underway in Race 4 with a host of quality horses on show. Once again, Snaith holds a strong hand, training four competitive runners in the race, including the winner of the Cape Mile, Warrior. Despite the confidence coming from the yard, jockey Richard Fourie will have other ideas on the Vaughan Marshall-trained Look For Hounds. The 4-year-old gelding carries 53.5kg on his back and will be hoping to get back to winning ways. I suggest going wider in the opening leg of the Pick 6 but Look For Hounds is a horse that should certainly be included.

Race 5 – City Of Cape Town Summer Juvenile Stakes (Listed) (1000m)

Despite the Grade 1 action to follow later in the day, the Summer Juvenile Stakes featuring some of the best 2-year-old sprinters in the country looks to be the toughest race to call. There are multiple winners in the race, and as we’ve seen before with 2-year-olds, they are more than capable of disappointing us at our lowest moment. The top selection in this race goes the way of the Gavin Smith-trained horse, Cruise Control, ridden by champion jockey Warren Kennedy. The son of Querari won at the first time of asking at Fairview and looks to be a progressive sort. The value on offer is extraordinary, so worth going each way in this case.

Race 6 – Cape Racing Politician Stakes (Grade 3) (1800m)

One of the best bets on today’s card looks to be in race 6 in the form of Pacaya for the Duke of Richmond Syndicate. The son of Trippi has been campaigning in Grade 1s and will be suited to the step-up in distance, running over 3 and a half lengths behind Jet Dark in the Queens Plate. Once again, the Khumalo-Snaith combination could be the winning team here. The manner in which he stayed on last time out shows that he could be tough to oppose in this field.

Race 7 – Pongracz Cape Flying Championship (Grade 1) (1000m)

Blink and you could miss this race! The betting suggests that this will be a match race between Rio Querari and Real Gone Kid, with the latter hoping for successive victories over the 5-year-old champion sprinter. Rio Querari is 3kgs better off at the weights this time around, but my selection lies elsewhere. Hello Winter Hello has won back-to-back races to start the new season and is unbeaten for the Johan Janse van Vuuren stable. De Melo retains the ride here and could spring an upset with his blistering pace.

Race 8 – Schweppes Majorca Stakes (Grade 1) (1600m)

Race 8 of Saturday’s program sees an intriguing battle in yet another Grade 1 feature. Captain’s Ransom is the early odds-on favourite after winning the Cartier Paddock Stakes last time out. She just beat Chansonette over a furlong extra last time out, but holding an unbeaten record over 1600m, my money is on the 3-year-old to make amends this time around. The daughter of Vercingetorix beat the highly sought-after filly, Desert Miracle, in her last start over a mile and should be up to the task at hand.

Race 9 – WSB Cape Town Met (Grade 1) (2000m)

The finest horses in the country will line up at the 2000m mark at Kenilworth with one objective in sight: crossing the finishing line first to be crowned winner of the WSB Cape Town Met. Loads of money has come in for a number of horses already and given the quality of thoroughbreds on showcase, it’s easy to see why.

The 2021 Durban July winner, Kommetdieding, looks to claim another milestone victory back on his home turf in the Mother City and faces tough opposition in the form of this year’s Queens Plate winner, Jet Dark, as well as Linebacker, who went toe-to-toe for cross the post first in last year’s July.

Snaith has four runners in this 11-horse field, including a two-time July winner in Do It Again, as well as the winner of the Cape Guineas, Double Superlative.

The top selection here though comes in the form of Linebacker, who will be much fitter now with this being his third run after a rest. The Captain Of All gelding welcomes Van Niekerk back in the saddle, who have teamed up to win on a number of occasions. Vaughan Marshall will have his work cut out for him as a trainer to beat Snaith on a day as big as this.

Quartet: Linebacker (6) – Kommetdieding (5) – Jet Dark (4) – Cirillo (2)

Race 10 – Western Cape Stayers (Grade 2) (2800m)

The last time trainer Mike De Kock came to the course with just one runner, he was in the winner’s enclosure with Desert Miracle on July day last year. This time, a similar outcome could occur with Sparkling Water being the only runner for his stable. With Khumalo on board, you can never rule this filly out of the running, especially considering how she won her last start over 2400m by over 3 and a half lengths in Gauteng. She quickened up well and should find delight over two furlongs extra.

Race 11 – Prime Trees MR 84 Handicap (1400m)

Tout A Fait has been impressive in his last two starts and eyes a hat-trick of wins in this race. The 3-year-old son of Master Of My Fate will be mounted by in-form apprentice Rachel Venniker for the Snaith yard. He has cracked a neat draw of gate 3 and will likely adopt his usual tactics by setting his own pace for the chasing field. With Venniker on board, Tout A Fait will get the extra 1.5kgs off his back and should notch up a first career hat-trick.

Race 12 – WSB FM 75 Handicap (1400m)

Met day concludes with Race 12 which looks to be one of the trickiest races on the card to call. Island Treasure has done nothing wrong in her career so far, winning at the second time of asking 1200m. The way the daughter of Pomodoro ran on in that race suggests that there may be more to come of her, and with Gavin Lerena in the irons for the Lucinda Woodruff stable, the pair could end Saturday’s meeting on a high note and take us to treasure island.

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