Hawwaam might have just scraped home in the Grade 3 Tony Ruffel Stakes over 1400m at Turffontein on Saturday but he showed himself to be a potential champion in the process.

The horses immediately behind the leader slowed it up in the early stages and Gavin Lerena had difficulty relaxing the classy Silvano colt.

He used up valuable fuel in the process and had to draw on some more of the remaining reserves to make up the deficit in the straight. Furthermore, he was carrying a 2kg Grade 2 penalty and was running fresh over a trip too sharp. With all this taken into account, he would have been forgiven for coming out second best when a war of attrition developed up front.

However, instead he found the necessary extra to remain unbeaten.
Runner up Inexhaustible was beaten only 0,3 lengths, but with all due respect is unlikely to share the same patch of finishing-line ground with Hawwaam again.

De Kock had been considering sending Hawwaam straight into the Gauteng Guineas but was ultimately glad he ran him on Sunday as he said “racing experience is what this horse needs.”

Hawwaam’s trip to run in the Cape Guineas was aborted when rumours of an African Horse Sickness outbreak meant there was a threat that he would have to be kept in unsuitable vector protected quarantine conditions. De Kock said at the time, “His value and reputation are too high to have risked such an arduous trip.”

This statement was given more impact by Soqrat’s victory in the Cape Guineas and narrow second in the star-studded L’Ormarin’s Queen’s Plate as it has to be assumed the latter was not viewed in quite the same light as Hawwaam before travelling down to Cape Town.

De Kock has his best chance of landing the Triple Crown since his legendary Horse Chestnut became the first to achieve the feat 20 years ago. The first leg has two options, the Cape Guineas and the Gauteng Guineas, and the second and third legs are the Grade 1 SA Classic and SA Derby respectively. Soqrat already has the first leg under the belt and Hawwaam will be a short-priced favourite to join him. The pair will then go for the SA Classic together.

Querari colt Inexhaustible has a chance of staying the Guineas distance on pedigree. Third-placed Vontreo, who ran on strongly, is by Mambo In Seattle out of a Captain Al sprinter but gives the impression he will relish the step up to a mile. The disappointment of the race was Reach For The Line, who finished last and is proving a touch unreliable to date.

The Highveld three-year-old fillies do not look to be a vintage bunch and are hard to assess at present. This was underlined in Sunday’s Grade 3 Three Troikas Stakes over 1400m. Last year’s Equus Champion two-year-old Return Flight carried the maximum penalty of 5kg and found nothing after leading. The fancied Ronnie’s Candy raced too strongly from a wide draw and also faded. The De Kock-trained Storm Destiny flew up from far back to win, catching Running Brave on the line. This pair had been beaten by both Ronnie’s Candy and Return Flight in the Grade 3 Fillies Mile.

Later, Celtic Sea, who was narrowly behind Storm Destiny in the Fillies Mile, albeit when giving away 3kg, ran a fair 1,4 length fourth behind Hawwaam in the Tony Ruffel.

All in all The form of the Fillies Mile always looked dubious due to the narrow second-placed finish of the exposed 88 merit rated I Like It so it was not altogether surprising that the winner Ghaalla failed to place in the Cape Fillies Guineas. However, she does remain highly regarded by the De Kock yard.
The Johannesburg filly who does strike as being full of class is the SA Fillies Nursery winner, the St. John Gray-trained Ronnie’s Candy, but she needs a good draw as she raced too hard in the Fillies Mile and repeated the antic on Sunday. Before that, in a race which did pan out well for her, she won the Grade 3 Starling Stakes over 1400m easily.

Nevertheless, the Grade 2 Wilgerbosdrift Gauteng Fillies Guineas and the other legs of the Triple Tiara are at this stage looking to be wide open.

Earlier in the day in the Listed Storm Bird Stakes over 1800m the Gary Alexander-trained Chijmes provided a first Graded winner for the deceased Royal Academy sire Ato. The latter’s only Grade 1 win was over six furlongs in Singapore, although there was some stamina in his female line. The big, rangy Chijmes had no problem with the trip. He led and stayed on well under a fine ride by Dennis Schwarz. The next three in the running Atyaab, Owlinthetree and Marchingontogether all stayed on well and could be Derby prospects. The favourite Green Haze faded after being the first to challenge Chijmes and might not have stayed despite being by Gimmethegreenlight out of a Western Winter mare who won over 2000m.

The Grade 3 London News Stakes was won in amazing style by the St. John Gray owned, trained and bred-Dawn Assault. The G-Bets Summer Cup runner up led under Karl Zechner but was overtaken by both Al Danza and Pietro Mascagni. Zechner carried on riding vigorously even when he went a length down and the horse came back to win on the line. Dawn Assault is still an entire and is building up a record which might see him one day joining his father Call To Combat at Gray’s breeding operation at Hadlow Stud in the KZN Midlands.

By David Thiselton

The Vaal stages a ten race meeting tomorrow and there look to be some fair opportunities for punters.

In the first leg of the PA over 1200m Lady Lexington showed good pace on debut over 1160m before being run out of it late. She will have come on from the run and is the one to beat.

Atrevete was not too well away and green on debut before making eyecatching late headway and with a better start and one run under the belt can also be included in the PA as she will appreciate the 200m step up in trip.

In the first leg of the Pick 6 San Fermin was not disgraced against some good sorts last time over 1160m and she was finishing well. She is now the best weighted horse according to official merit ratings in this Assessment Plate over 1200m and this once highly touted filly can claim her third career win. However, Against The Grain is a classy sort who can rise above her current merit so despite officially being 4,5kg under sufferance with San Fermin it would be no surprise to see her winning. Those two should be enough for the Pick 6.

In the first leg of the Jackpot over 1200m Carbon Atom is a well-bred sort being by Fort Wood out of the classy speedster Welwitschia and he has taken well to blinkers. He just failed over 1200m last time but was finishing strongly and can get it right this time. The form of Palace Chapel’s last win over 1200m has been franked although the horse he beat, Oravar, proved to be better suited to 1000m. He was also reported to have made a breathing noise in that win and has to give Carbon Atom 3kg. There won’t be much in it and this pair should be enough for the exotics.

In the sixth race over 1600m only two horses should suffice again. Both Seville Orange and Pale Lilac have struck as fillies who have a touch of class and both are now starting to fulfill their promise. Seville Orange showed a good turn of foot to win comfortably last time over this trip and she can continue to progress. Pale Lilac ran with first time blinkers on last time over a trip of 1400m which is too sharp and won easily. She had dropped to an attractive merit rating of 70 and the five point rise to 75 should not stop her over a step up in trip she will appreciate.

In the seventh over 1600m Silver Thursday had no luck in her last start over 2000m when caught wide thoughout and her race was run a long way out. Although she has always struck as one who would enjoy middle distances her best ever run was over this trip when a narrow second to Takingthepeace in the Grade 2 Gauteng Fillies Guineas. Being by Silvano she should be coming into her own and she now gets blinkers on over her best form trip. She is the best weighted horse so should go close if taking to blinkers.

Blossom by Silvano out of the Triple Tiara winner Cherry On The Top looks to be promising and must also be included despite having a tough task according to official merit ratings. Algebra won her maiden by 11.75 lengths over 1400m but this is much harder task although she can be included alongside Blossom. Flying Fable made a fine comeback from a long layoff and should also be included. Crimson Royale has been highly tried and was unlucky last time with second time blinkers on over 1400m so she can also be put into the Pick 6 and Jackpot.

The last two legs of the Pick 6 are relatively tough being a 1400m fillies and mares handicap and a 1400m handicap respectively. Samarra is tipped to win the eighth. She has dropped to a competitive merit rating and goes well for 2,5kg claimer Dylan Lerena so can go close over her probable ideal trip. Get Your Grove on has two wins and a close second in her last three starts over this trip and although she has been given a four point raise for that last second she is a progressive sort who should be right there. Gold Dawn is coming into her own and as one who runs on well over 1200m she should enjoy this trip. Lady Negra, Bullsade and Jailhouse Jazz should also be included in the Jackpot and Pick 6.

Manitoba is the selection in the ninth. He went close over 1600m last time when just run out of it and will enjoy this trip. Master Boulder has been in a good space lately and after finishing well over a sprint last time will enjoy the step back to the trip of his last win. Blue Diamond Road enjoys this trip and takes a drop in class. Lute Society, Rockstar Child, Swing Vote, Now And Forever, No Man’s Land, Greto and Decision Time can also be included.

By David Thiselton

Buffalo Bill Cody, ruled out of the Queen’s Plate by a temperature and an abnormal blood count, is set to miss the Sun Met as well.

Mike de Kock said on Saturday: “His temperature is down  will be alright but he missed a week’s work and I am not going to take a chance. Also he has a very fast pedigree and I am not convinced he will stay.He won’t run in the Met.”

There is also a doubt about Doublemint, cut from 60-1 to a slow as 20-1 after his win in the Glorious Goodwood Peninsula Handicap.

Justin Snaith said: “I will have to talk to the owners and then make a decision but I think it would be a bit doubtful. At level weights the Met would be a big difference.”

Joey Ramsden will aim Twist Of Fate at the R5 million CTS1600 after the colt’s convincing win under top weight in the BMW Politician Stakes.

By Michael Clower

Justin Snaith heads towards the Sun Met like a cowboy with a smoking gun in each hand. Last year’s winner Oh Susanna and his July hero Do It Again (and how apt is his name!) showed they are in deadly form by taking the two big ones at Kenilworth on Saturday – and the bookmakers are suitably impressed.

Betting World halved Do It Again’s price from 28-10 to 14-10 and cut Oh Susanna from 12-1 to 7-1. World Sports Betting did much the same but go slightly bigger at 16-10 and 8-1.

Snaith, whose third championship is suddenly looking a lot more likely, said: “Oh Susanna is tough, the most aggressive filly to train and very much like Dancer’s Daughter in that respect. She wore ear muffs for the first time on Saturday to calm her down.”

Asked if he thought Do It Again will be better over the Met’s ten furlongs than the mile of Saturday’s L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate he replied, enthusiasm clearly bubbling: “Oh yes. His mile runs have usually been good but every time I don’t feel confident I look at the July and the final furlong where he was most impressive.”

He can start looking at the Queen’s Plate as well now. Do It Again made up six lengths in the final 300m to pip Guineas winner Soqrat almost on the line and this was no Cape crawl turning into a sprint either. Despite the strong head wind the 97.29 sec time was the fastest since Mother Russia eight years ago.

Richard Fourie, who had boldly predicted Met victory after the Green Point, this time said: “He is going to be hard to beat and I am already looking forward to the race. When I asked him, there was so much horse and he gave it to me in one rush.”

The Twice Over-sired winner is a living tribute to breeder Robin Bruss’s vast bloodstock experience and is owned by Nick Jonsson, Jack Mitchell and Bernard Kantor who paid tribute to the man her regards as the unsung hero of the Snaith Racing operation, Chris Snaith.

Rainbow Bridge, still second favourite for the Met but now out to 9-2, was beaten three lengths into third but had a bit of an off day by his standards. He was one of the slowest away and was under pressure turning for home. True, he accelerated strongly but this time it was more like a high-powered saloon than a Ferrari. “Now we know how good he is,” said Eric Sands, philosophically declining to take the result at anything more than face value. “But I don’t think the extra two furlongs of the Met will worry him.”

A little sadly perhaps, Legal Eagle could only manage fourth in the race he won three times and in the process he said goodbye to his ten-race unbeaten mile run.

“I had every chance,” related Anton Marcus. “It was a true run race and I felt I was in a perfect position but at no stage did I think I was going to win. He never travelled the way I thought he would but I still wouldn’t swap him for anything.”

For the second season running Lady In Black chased Oh Susanna home in the Cartier Paddock Stakes and this time she finished a length closer. But it was Paddock number five for Snaith, Fourie’s second and the third with a Drakenstein home bred for Gaynor Rupert who also celebrated her biggest day of the year with Inara in 2015.

The Snaiths went home with four winners but Brett Crawford outpointed them with three on the Friday and three more on Saturday.

By Michael Clower

Randall Simons, second on Soqrat: “I thought I might hold on but out of the corner of my eye I could see Do It Again coming.”

Bernard Fayd’Herbe, third on Rainbow Bridge: “It was a good run but I never felt I would get there. I came upsides Richard Fourie and then he went on.”

Corne Orffer, fifth on Undercover Agent: “I sat second as long as I could before going on but he is a big-striding horse and I wanted them to go faster.”

Lyle Hewitson, sixth on Snowdance: “She ran a great race but a mile against the boys at this level was tough.”

Donovan Dillon, seventh on Hat Puntano: “He never raised a gallop and we are going to check him out to see what is wrong.”

By Michael Clower

Rainbow Bridge may thwart Legal Eagle’s bid to go into the record books – alongside Pocket Power and nineteenth century star Riley – as a four-time winner of the L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate.

The four-year-old would be unbeaten in six starts had things not gone against him in the Green Point. Forget about that little bit of overweight and concentrate on the energy he needlessly burnt up fighting for his head when the pace was too slow for him. As Eric Sands himself put it: “The horse revealed a chink in his armour.”

That chink surely cost him more than the 2kg he was receiving and the three short heads he was beaten. Assuming stable companion Amazing Strike makes it a proper gallop there should be no repeat and Bernard Fayd’Herbe is a Queen’s Plate star with five wins in 18 years.

A bigger concern is the way the gelding works himself up once he realises he is on the way to the races. So far it hasn’t stopped him but this is his biggest test and the crowd will be by far the largest he has ever seen.

Tomorrow’s Kenilworth showpiece has been billed, somewhat imaginatively, as the race of the century – we have already had a few of these and there are still another 81 years to go – but there is no doubt about it promising to be a cracking contest, particularly after the Green Point’s skin-tight finish.

Legal Eagle has never been beaten in ten starts over this trip, he is officially a kilo and a half better than anything else in the race, is partnered by a jockey bordering on genius bidding for his eighth Queen’s Plate and his trainer is now odds-on to win his fourth championship. To suggest defeat is nigh-on sacrilege. In truth, everything will have go right for Rainbow Bridge if Legal Eagle is to meet his mile Waterloo.

Brett Crawford is convinced that Undercover Agent has come on since the Green Point when Corne Orffer’s mount was obliged to play into the hands of the other principals to avoid the race turning into a sprint. Do It Again will also be much better suited by a proper pace.

The money continues to come for Buffalo Bill Cody and he was as short as 4-1 yesterday morning. Beaten only in the second of his six starts, he receives the half kilo Northern Hemisphere allowance here. Victory would require at least a six kilo improvement on his rating but it would certainly come as no surprise.

Soqrat is the tenth three-year-old to run in the race since 2000. Gimmethegreenlight won in 2012 and four of the others made the frame. Randall Simons’ mount won the Cape Guineas quite comfortably and his trainer is a genius.

Of the others Hat Puntano ran pretty near his rating when over four lengths fifth in the Green Point but you can get 125-1 about him. “He would have improved since and he certainly won’t be disgraced,” says Joey Ramsden who has won the race three times. “He will be a runner but it’s going to be hard for him. As I said before, it’s the hottest Queen’s Plate for years.”

It is not a race for outsiders. Favourites have won eight of the last 12 runnings and during that period the only winner to start at a longer price than 7-1 was Gimmethegreenlight (13-1).

But the outcome is almost entirely dependent on whether Jessica Slack has Ideal World’s stud reputation in the forefront of her mind when deciding on Amazing Strike’s tactics for his final racecourse appearance. If she doesn’t, Legal Eagle could join the history-makers.

Oh Susanna may repeat last year’s Cartier Paddock Stakes win and today Nous Voila appeals at 9-2 in the Cartier Sceptre.

By Michael Clower