Brett Crawford explained: “He had only just stopped coughing and so he wouldn’t have been ready for a racecourse gallop. I gave him a spin on the sand instead. He is a very athletic type so he doesn’t need a lot.”

Bernard Fayd’Herbe’s mount has, understandably perhaps, eased slightly in the betting and is now 9-2 third favourite (from 4-1). Legislate has hardened to 1-2 with Betting World but Geoff Woodruff’s Sansui Summer Cup and Triple Crown winner Louis The King remains second favourite at 4-1.

Grand Parade Cape Guineas third Kingvoldt, the only three-year-old in the race, continues to drift and is now 12-1 after opening at 8-1.

Outsider Ashton Park (40-1) sprained a joint when nearly brought down in the Diadem Stakes nine days ago but Mike Bass, looking for a seventh Queen’s Plate triumph, is now a little more optimistic. He said: “I wasn’t hopeful of running him at the beginning of last week but I am now. The joint was swollen for most of the last week and I haven’t worked him. He has just been walking. Hopefully I will be able to this week.”

Justin Snaith, successful with Gimmethegreenlight three years ago, said at the weekend that he doesn’t fear any of the opposition, just bad luck in running. He added: “We won’t mind if the gallop is fast or slow. I just want him to have every opportunity and after that, may the best horse win. Indeed I hope they all get a fair chance so that there are no excuses afterwards.

“Legislate was very impressive in his Kenilworth gallop on Wednesday. Obviously it is hard to work out exactly how good he was as he went on his own, but I thought he was super impressive.”

The champion trainer, speaking of the Vodacom Durban July winner’s chance on Saturday, referred back to the four-year-old’s winning return in the Lanzerac Green Point Stakes and said: “He wasn’t fully tuned, just ready enough to run a good race. Yet to blow away a field like that and break the course record was scary.”

Snaith is also expecting a good show from 25-1 shot Jet Explorer and said: “He could be a dark horse for the placings. He will be given a chance and he will be running on at the end. He will do well.”

Joey Ramsden has undertaken to “let everyone know” if any change is made to the provisional plan to run Cape Guineas winner Act Of War in the Julius Baer Politician Stakes and said: “That’s still the plan but I will know more during the week.”

In the J&B Met betting Legislate has shorted from 22-10 to 18-10 and Futura has eased from 7-2 to 4-1. There has been significant support for the Bass-trained Premier Trophy runner-up Helderberg Blue who is now a 16-1 chance after being as big as 40-1 at one stage.

Meanwhile, Justin Snaith is on target to beat his own fastest century and needs just 16 winners in the next 32 days to do it. He landed a treble at Fairview on Friday and, although overshadowed by triple scorer Mike Bass at Kenilworth on Saturday, he had two more to take his total to 84. But the champion trainer is only third – behind Mike de Kock and Sean Tarry – in the trainers’ log and needs to win at least one of Saturday’s two Grade 1 races to regain his early season lead.