The brilliant but so-temperamental Cloth Of Cloud has her first race since winning the SA Nursery over eight months ago in the Fairview Wines Sophomore Sprint at Kenilworth on Saturday.

S’Manga Khumalo, doubtless prepared for the filly to slam on the brakes as she hits the line, also partners Trip To Heaven for Sean Tarry in the Khaya Stables Diadem Stakes when Mercury Sprint winner Red Ray returns to take on fellow Grade 1 winners Gulf Storm and Talktothestars in the Khaya Stables Diadem Stakes.

Nine of the 13 runners in the Diadem are also in the Betting World Cape Flying Championship a fortnight later. That race is also the prime objective of Carry On Alice who possibly saw more daylight than planned when disputing it from halfway and being unexpectedly beaten in last Friday’s Cartier Sceptre Stakes.

S’Manga Khumalo

“No real excuses and we took it on the chin,” said Tarry. “It was a matter of being exposed – it’s hard when you are not getting cover – but her target is at the end of the month.”

Live Life, who was almost ignored at 22-1 and carries the Horizon colours, won as if she could be a new star in the sprinting firmament she now goes in search of the real money in the 1 200m CTS $500 000 on Sun Met day.

Candice Bass-Robinson said: “It was a little bit of a surprise but we have long had high hopes for this filly. She has a really bright future.”

However rider Grant van Niekerk could hardly believe it, saying: “Live Life really shocked me. I didn’t think she had much chance but she finished it off in style.”

Glen Kotzen has his early two-year-olds in the same blistering form as the rest of his string and Saturday’s debut winner Namibia was the third of Kenilworth’s seven juvenile races that have gone to him and Richard Fourie this term. The winner and third-placed Ostinato (also Kotzen) will take on Dutch Philip in the Met day Listed race.

It was appropriate that Namibia should be owned and bred by Gaynor Rupert after the decision to turn the Queen’s Plate meeting into a two-day affair proved such a success. The hardened cynics, expecting Friday’s crowd to be little bigger than a mid-week meeting, were pleasantly surprised. Indeed some of them were suggesting that next year’s Met should follow the same lead. It certainly has enough big races to turn it in to a two-day festival.

But back to Mrs Rupert. When she first became involved the Queen’s Plate was not much better attended than an ordinary Saturday and the only non-racing attraction was a few old cars in a tent. The new, and growing year-by-year, format is proving to have huge crowd-pulling appeal and, as many of the overseas visitors testified, is helping to put South African racing back on the world map.

Triple Crown winner Abashiri, returned not striding out after finishing last in the Queen’s Plate, has been scratched from the Met.

By Michael Clower