Justin Snaith was full of admiration for his top class sprinter Kasimir who became the first horse since the great Flobayou to complete the Grade 2 Cape Merchants/Grade 1 Cape Flying Championship/Grade 2 Diadem treble when winning the latter race over 1200m on Saturday.

Flobayou, trained by current Sun Met-winning trainer Eric Sands, did the treble twice in succession in the 1994/1995 and the 1995/1996 seasons.

Snaith said, “Kasimir’s problem was being drawn on the inside and the outside horses had an advantage on the day. First he got in a race with the inside horses and beat them, then he was challenged by Chimichuri Run and found more again and then he fended off Speedpoint. Whatever horse came at him he beat him, but that is him he is just full of courage.”

The Captain Al gelding faced the headwind breeze for half of the race as he was angled outward by Richard Fourie which is another factor which added to the merit of the performance.

Last year’s sprinting division was relatively weak and the four open Grade 1 sprints were won by different horses. The Equus Award panellists were left with a headache and Will Pays was made the Champion Sprinter on the grounds of collateral form and he had also won a Grade 3.

However, Kasimir looks the real deal and already has one hand on the trophy. However, Snaith confirmed he would avoid both the Computaform Sprint at Turffontein and the Tsogo Sun Sprint at Scottsville. His next big target is the weight for age Grade 1 Mercury Sprint over 1200m at Greyville on 27 July, the last weekend of the season.

By David Thiselton