Three of the last nine Cape Classic winners have gone on to triumph in the Cape Guineas and Greg Ennion aims to make Eighth Wonder the fourth after the way the Captain Al colt totally defied his lack of support in Saturday’s Magnum test to spring the biggest Classic shock in 15 years.
Nobody wanted to know the Moutonshoek-bred who drifted ominously from 12-1 to 20-1. Just about the only ones who showed any interest were owners Ockie Schoeman and Braam van Huyssteen, the latter watching on his phone in the Twickenham rain.
But MJ Byleveld was able to make light of a terrible draw and send his mount on just inside the final furlong (“I was impressed with the way he quickened”) to beat the strong-finishing Rodney by two and a quarter lengths with 5-2 favourite Hard Day’s Night less than half a length away third.
Ennion said: “He won this very comfortably and he is only going to get better from now on. This was his third run for me and today was the first time he wasn’t exhausted afterwards – previously he was absolutely b…ered.
“I don’t know about the Selangor on November 21, although obviously I will have a look at it, but our mission all along has been the Guineas. So too is the Derby because he is going to go over ground.”
Ennion has been training for almost 40 years but big race triumphs have been hard earned – and equally hard to come by – and he is understandably intent on making the most of it now that fortune is smiling on him, reflecting: “We can all train the good ones but it’s a question of getting them – and for small yards that is almost impossible.”
Rodney will go for the Selangor and the Guineas with Aldo Domeyer reporting: “He ran on well but this was too short for him.”
Hard Day’s Night, who went to the front just under 400m out but never looked like pulling away, has the CTS Million Dollar carrot influencing future plans. “The Selangor?” queried Joey Ramsden. “Who knows? The sales race is worth so much money.
“But I was pleased with Hard Day’s Night. While I wouldn’t want to take anything away from the winner, I honestly thought mine ran well because he was totally not wound up.”
Purple Mountain (fourth) and fifth-placed Brilliant Crimson both ran far better than their big starting prices would suggest and Candice Robinson said: “Brilliant Crimson would definitely prefer a mile, he is improving and he will be a better horse in six months’ time.”
Forward Drive, much happier allowed to bowl along in front, coughed afterwards but that may not have been significant as Ian Sturgeon said: “He was a bit bubbly and I am sure this will bring him on.”
Captain Chaos hit the pens as he jumped – he lost five lengths according to the starter although the commentator put it at 12. However Justin Snaith was even more brassed off than Ronnie Sheehan, in his case because of the way the race was run.
Snaith said: “It turned into a sprint – Bernard Fayd’Herbe (sixth on Aspara) said he had never been so fast round the turn – and I don’t train horses for races like that.”
– Michael Clower
– Picture: Eighth Wonder winning the Cape Classic at Kenilworth yesterday (courtesy of SportingPost.co.za)
