Candice Bass-Robinson and Aldo Domeyer have long maintained that Dutch Philip is a sprinter and the What A Winter colt went quite some way to proving their point when he dropped back from the 1 400m of the Cape Classic to take second to Silicone Valley in the World Sports Betting Cape Merchants (a Grade 2 handicap) at the beginning of last month and it will be fascinating to see how he fares against top sprinters like Trip To Heaven and Search Party in the Grade 2 Khaya Stables Diadem Stakes at Kenilworth on Saturday 13 January.
Dutch Philip (Liesl King)
Dutch Philip is comfortably the highest rated of the four three-year-olds in the race although he is 4.5kg below Trip To Heaven who was a most convincing winner of this 1 200m race last year. But Search Party and Sergeant Hardy are officially considered only 1.5kg above him. Search Party was third in last year’s race and second in the Grade 1 Mercury Sprint in July while Sergeant Hardy won the Listed Southeaster Sprint just before Christmas.
The race, which has been won by some real stars in the past, will again see some hot competition with Grade 1 winners Talktothestars and Always In Charge also in the line-up.
Khaya Stables has also raced a number of stars including Capetown Noir who won both the Cape Guineas and the Cape Derby. Its present big name horse is Last Winter who is second favourite for the Sun Met.
Those on course will be eligible for a number of lucky prize draws, including a chance to win tickets for the Met. Call 021-797 6037 for hospitality inquiries.
By Michael Clower
Final field and draws for the Khaya Stables Diadem Stakes (Grade 2) over 1200m at Kenilworth:
| 1 | 12 | Trip To Heaven | 60 | 118 | T A | R Fourie | Sean Tarry | |
| 2 | 8 | Search Party | 60 | 112 | A | C Orffer | Brett Crawford | |
| 3 | 1 | Sergeant Hardy | 59 | 112 | A | B Fayd’Herbe | Justin Snaith | |
| 4 | 16 | Always In Charge | 59 | 108 | BA | A Marcus | Vaughan Marshall | |
| 5 | 14 | Brutal Force | 59 | 108 | BA | M Seidl | Joey Ramsden | |
| 6 | 4 | Tevez | 59 | 108 | A | R Khathi | Candice Bass-Robinson | |
| 7 | 5 | Talktothestars | 59 | 106 | TBA | G Behr | Coenie de Beer | |
| 8 | 1 | Attenborough | 59 | 104 | A | D Dillon | Joey Ramsden | |
| 9 | 11 | Bishop’s Bounty | 59 | 101 | A | G van Niekerk | Justin Snaith | |
| 10 | 13 | Lord Balmoral (AUS) | 59 | 94 | BA | M Byleveld | Vaughan Marshall | |
| 11 | 10 | Macduff (AUS) | 59 | 94 | BA | …………… | Joey Ramsden | |
| 12 | 3 | Rock Of Africa | 59 | 90 | BA | A Andrews | Vaughan Marshall | |
| 13 | 6 | Wonderwall | 56.5 | 100 | T A | *L Hewitson | Sean Tarry | |
| 14 | 7 | Dutch Philip | 55.5 | 109 | A | A Domeyer | Candice Bass-Robinson | |
| 15 | 2 | Mujaafy (AUS) | 55.5 | 92 | A | A Delpech | Mike de Kock | |
| 16 | 9 | Barrack Street | 55.5 | 91 | T A | …………… | Sean Tarry | |
| Same Trainer – Not Coupled on Tote | ||||||||
| (1,13,16) (3,9) (4,10,12) (5,8,11) (6,14) | ||||||||
