They have taken the star colt out of the L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate which is run on the same day and is worth four times as much. The Queen’s Plate was previously said to be one of three options for his last race in South Africa before he goes overseas. The other two were the J & B Met and the Investec Cape Derby, both on 31 January.

Derek Brugman, racing manager for owner Markus Jooste, explained: “We are not 100% sure whether he will run in the Politician but we had to make the call 12 days out.

“We want to give him a run over slightly further than a mile to get a feeling of where we are with him. But, if we feel that we would rather give him another two weeks off before 31 January, we won’t run him in the Politician and will instead give him a gallop closer to the time. We will make a final decision in the next few days.”

Brugman indicated that it is still the plan to run the Joey Ramsden-trained colt in either the Met or the Cape Derby, but a decision on which race is likely to be deferred until after the Politician. Act Of War, who has won his last six races, is 15-2 for the Met.

On paper at least he has the Politician at his mercy. He is officially rated 7.5kg in front of the next highest horses, Mljet and Imperial Gold.

Piere Strydom, who won last month’s Selangor Cup on him but opted for Harry’s Son in the Guineas, will be back on board if he does run in the Politician.

Picture: Act Of War (Liesl King)