The Grade 1 Cartier Paddock Stakes over 1800m at the L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate meeting on Saturday could produce a banker in Front And Centre.

This classy daughter of Dynasty cost herself in the Grade 1 Woolavington 2000 last season by hanging badly inward. However, she has apparently been cured of that antic and from draw two with Anton Marcus up she looks tough to oppose as she is improving all the time.

The Northern Hemisphere-bred Queen Supreme, who has not yet actually turned four, receives a 1kg hemisphere allowance. She ran an outstanding 1,6 length fourth in the Gauteng Summer Cup and would have strengthened and improved a lot since, so from draw eight will be the chief threat.

Snapscan has also strengthened and improved, which is not surprising being by Oratorio, and she comes off an easy win over this trip in the Grade 3 Victress Stakes in which she went from last to first.

She was well beaten in last year’s Woolavington 2000 but did have the winner of that race, Silvano’s Pride, well beaten in the Victress. She was receiving 3kg from the latter in the Victress and beat her by 3,55 lengths but she was likely more forward as it was her third run of the season. Therefore she will still have something to prove in the Paddock Stakes running against fillies who will be at their peaks, but she is beginning to look the part despite not being imposing.

Santa Clara produced an electric performance in last season’s Grade 2 KRA Fillies Guineas and being by Duke Of Marmalade she will also be coming into her own. However, she has disappointed since that run, first in the Woolavington, then the Garden Province and she has been beaten cosily by Silvano’s Pride and Front And Centre in two respective 1400m outings this season. However, she had tough draws in the former two events and likely needed the latter two. Furthermore, she has never before run over 1800m and that should be her ideal trip, so she could surprise like she did in the KRA Fillies Guineas.

Silvano’s Pride will be cherry ripe having her third run after a rest. The rest will be wary of her trying to gallop them into the ground like she did in the Woolavington, which was also her third run after a layoff. She does have the widest draw of all so might have to do some work to get to the front and that could be her undoing. 

Miyabi Gold beat Snapscan over 1800m in her seasonal reappearance but the form was reversed in the Victress where she was beaten 3,25 lengths. However, she is now 2,5kg better off and being by Silvano will still be as good as ever as a five-year-old and can place.

Driving Miss Daisy is a big three-year-old who is unknown over this trip, but as she was running on well for second in the Cape Fillies Guineas she could be a dark horse here.

Platinum Class looked promising last season but has run two disappointing races this term and has to bounce back.

Drama Queen ran fifth in the Cape Fillies Guineas and could improve over this trip but she would be a surprise winner.   

Water Spirit and Castellano are way out at the weights here and look held.

By David Thiselton

Bernard Fayd’Herbe is a rare visitor to KZN in the off season so when he does make an appearance it is best to take note.

He was aboard King Cyrus when Andre Nel’s runner made his debut at Kenilworth where he found some market support before finishing a little less than five lengths off Cape Of Storms.

That was back in November last year but Nel has a happy knack of earmarking horses that are likely to take to the poly track which is probably the reason for his move to Byron Forster who runs his Summerveld yard.

King Cyrus gets his chance in the first on the poly at Hollywoodbets Greyville today but he may have to take a back seat to the filly Glitter And Gold.

Johan Janse van Vuuren has a solid Summerveld base with seasoned trainer Pat Lunn at the helm and Glitter And Gold made a smart poly debut when second to Whizz Of Odds last time out. Gavin van Zyl’s filly looks headed for bigger things come Champions Season which puts that form into perspective.

Track & Ball have her in the red with King Cyrus second favourite at 4-1.

Fayd’Herbe is often the go-to man for Frank Robinson, the two teaming up recently with Roy’s Riviera in the Flamboyant Stakes on Boxing Day. He has two rides for Robinson, Do Or Dare an obvious stable fancy in the second. The gelding doesn’t know how to run a bad race but has also been costly to follow – a beaten favourite in his last four outings.

With Fayd’Herbe up he may be worth another chance in spite of Chattertons Keeper and Ralph The Rascal more fancied in the market.

Ralph The Rascal impressed in his barrier trial, never coming off the bit and can feature in what stacks up as modest company. Chattertons Keeper was not too far back on debut behind the highly regarded Trip To Africa and should come on from that effort. However, his position at the top of the boards may be more due to the presence of Anton Marcus in the saddle for Wendy Whitehead, not a common combination.

Fayd’Herbe teams up with Princess Analia for Robinson in the fifth where the 12-1 currently on offer looks fairly generous given that she is down in class and back on the poly where she boasts some of her better form. Although only a four-time winner, she does seem better than her recent form suggests and you ignore at your peril.

American Princess, blinkered for the first time with Marcus aboard, is ruling favourite ahead of Dean Kannemeyer’s runner Arrabiata, these two dominating the market.

Fayd’Herbe’s agent was on the blower to Louis Goosen for the ride on Truly Wicked in the fourth with Marcus hoping to change the fortunes of Roy’s Physco who is still looking for his second win after a string of placed efforts.

He looked a winner last time out before Romanesca bulleted home from the tail of the field to win going away. He has a worrying tendency to always find one or two better on the day.

Truly Wicked’s merit rating has been dropping steadily and he looks competitive off his new mark. Marcus has jumped ship to partner the market leader but Fayd’Herbe is a more than capable replacement.

By Andrew Harrison

The field for Saturday’s R1.5 million L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate is back in double figures after last year’s nine when Legal Eagle tasted defeat for the first time in four years.

Mike de Kock, successful just once so far with Mother Russia in 2011, will – as expected – be two-handed with last year’s runner-up Soqrat (Callan Murray) and hot favourite Hawwaam (Anton Marcus). Bernard Fayd’Herbe replaces the injured Robert Khathi on 66-1 shot Crown Towers.

Fayd’Herbe has won the race five times starting with Trademark 19 years ago while Marcus rode the first of his seven Queen’s Plate winners on Empress Club back in 1993. Richard Fourie, successful on Do It Again 12 months ago, is the only other riding in the Kenilworth showpiece to have won it before.

Hawwaam is marginally odds-on with most bookmakers at around 19-20 while Sun Met winner Rainbow Bridge, beaten over three lengths into third last year, shares second favouritism at 11-2 with Soqrat who failed by only a neck 12 months ago. Do It Again and Green Point winner Vardy are both on 6-1 with the others well into double figures. You have to go back to 13-1 shot Gimmethegreenlight in 2012 to find a Queen’s Plate winner starting at a bigger price than 7-1.

The 11 declared for the Cartier Paddock Stakes is the smallest for the 1 800m Grade 1 since Beach Beauty, and more particularly the subsequently scratched Igugu, scared off all but four others in 2012. Beach Beauty started odds-on that day but was beaten by Thunder Dance ridden by the now Hong Kong star Karis Teetan for Brett Crawford who supplies the 18-10 favourite Front And Centre.

Champion sprinter Kasimir reappears in the Design Indaba Pinnacle and on Friday Candice Bass-Robinson runs five in a bid to extend her remarkable record in the Cartier Sceptre Stakes. Victory for one of them would mean that the Milnerton trainer has won the 1 200m Grade 2 in each of the four years she has held a licence. Last year’s winner Clouds Unfold is the shortest-priced of the quintet at 9-2 and the Sean Tarry-trained Celtic Sea is favourite at 16-10.

By Michael Clower

“This is the biggest weekend of the year in my opinion and a lot of time has gone into planning for it,” says Justin Snaith. “I have put horses away for the last two months and that is part of the reason why the yard has been quiet recently [he hasn’t had a winner at the last three Cape Town meetings]. It’s going to be exciting.”

It wasn’t when he found stable star Do It Again coughing two days after that Green Point rough house but the dual champion trainer is confident that the antibiotic won’t leave the horse flat. “We know the ones that can flatten horses and we make sure we don’t use them. The one Do It Again had was only aimed at the respiratory. It was also a mild one that is easy on the stomach.”

But the five-year-old’s preparation was interrupted. How much of a problem is that going to be? “Last Saturday was his best work-out yet so we are getting there and I’m very happy with him. Obviously it’s a tough field and the Jo’burg boys are confident but that just makes it good racing in my book.

“That said, the way things have turned out we could be better aimed towards the Sun Met but this, remember, is Do It Again. For me he is still the best horse in the race and it’s really just a matter of whether I have got him 100%.”

Richard Fourie’s mount won last year’s L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate but his Vodacom Durban July performances suggest he could be a better horse over further than a mile. Snaith does not agree. “When he is ready and revved up he can run any distance. But the length of the rest he had between the July and the Green Point was too long. Five months out of a horse’s career is ridiculous and in the Green Point it was as if I had brought him back from a major injury. He was half-asleep. But he is waking up now.”

This time the gelding will have a pacemaker. “We have had too many races in Cape Town lately where they have just cantered, and some where the feature has been run in a slower time than a maiden on the same day. We can’t have that and so Crown Towers is running to ensure that the pace is an honest one.”

And how worried is he by Hawwaam? The normally bullish Snaith did not answer the question in the manner you might have expected or in the way the punter would have hoped, but what he said went a long way towards explaining how he deals with the pressure of expectation from the racing public in general and from owners in particular.

He took his time about answering too. “I have gone into this race like I have done with almost every other race in my career. I don’t care who is in it – Hawwaam or any other you like to name – because it makes no difference to me. I focus purely on my own horses. I feel this is the best way and mine will be there on Saturday as ready as they can be. And, trust me, we normally get it right.”

He certainly did last year when he also won the Glorious Goodwood Peninsula Handicap as well as the Cartier Paddock Stakes for the third successive season. Can Silvano’s Pride, Miyabi Gold or Platinum Class make it four?

“Their last start [all in the Victress Stakes just before Christmas] was a bit of a flat run and the reason was so that they should be ready for Saturday. They are equally talented and I think Myabi Gold is going to be a massive runner but Silvano’s Pride needs things to go her way. I have had an issue with Platinum Class’s feet and her form suggests she is better on the soft but we are hoping for an improved effort.”

And in the other features? “You can expect a very good run from Belgarion and Nexus at the weights in the Peninsula Handicap. I think they are good enough to be in the Met but instead I am saving them for Durban.

“A fast pace in the Heineken Chairman’s Cup would play into Strathdon’s hands – it was too slow in the Cape Summer Stayers – and a slow one would suit Doublemint.”

By Michael Clower

Ten horses ranging from Do It Again on a 136 merit rating down to Crown Towers on 103 will line up for Saturday’s premier weight for age mile, the Grade 1 L’Ormarin’s Queen’s Plate, and it will arguably be the best field seen in South Africa this century. 

There has been a record sale of early tickets for the glamorous event and there should be a vibe on course in keeping with the meeting’s status as “the Royal Ascot of South Africa.”   

Last year’s Queen’s Plate was dubbed “the race of the century” due to the presence of Do It Again, Rainbow Bridge, Undercover Agent, Soqrat, Legal Eagle and the filly Snowdance. The first four of those mentioned will be lining up again and with the addition of Hawwaam, Vardy, One World and Twist Of Fate it could be argued that it is an even better field this year, although it does not contain as many Grade 1 winners. Hat Puntano’s presence ensured seven Grade 1 winners were in the race last year, compared to five this year. 

The second lowest merit rated horse this year is the 116 merit rated Pack Leader, who did beat both Undercover Agent and Do It Again in the Grade 2 WSB Green Point Stakes over 1600m last time, although he was receiving 2kg and will now face them at level weights.

Do It Again is the Queen’s Plate title holder and is the reigning Equus Horse Of The Year as well as being the Equus Champion Miler, Champion Middle distance horse and Champion Older Male.

That he is at such big odds compared to the hot favourite Hawwaam is partly due to his below par Green Point run.

However, trainer Justin Snaith is not concerned about that outing.

He said, “It was a bit of a quiet run but it was extremely rough. He was bullied the whole way around the turn and in the straight he wasn’t going well enough and was cut off. But he also just needed the run. It was too long since his previous race.  There was nothing for him to run in and he fell asleep just sitting waiting for the Green Point. But he has now had that run plus a gallop on the Kenilworth grass last Tuesday. Under the circumstances he is going to make up a lot of ground on those that beat him in the Green Point. He is ready but it is a very good field. It’s very exciting.”

Snaith admitted that Crown Towers had been entered to ensure a good pace. This four-year-old Camelot gelding has landed the perfect draw to make the most of this role, ten out of ten. Bernard Fayd’Herbe will thus be able to decide what he is going to do as the race unfolds.

Track And Ball have the Mike de Kock pair Hawwaam and Soqrat at the top of the boards at 9/10 and 5,25/1 respectively. Do It Again and Rainbow Bridge are next best on 5,50/1 apiece and the Green Point winner Vardy is quoted at 6,5/1. One World is 14/1, Twist Of Fate and Undercover Agent are each 28/1, Pack Leader is 44/1 and Crown Towers is 66/1.

Hawwaam is a winner of eight from just nine starts. However, he can still be called unexposed as he has won most of his races with consummate ease. The one win where he did have to do a little bit of work was in the Grade 1 Daily News 2000 where he beat Twist Of Fate by 1,60 lengths, but that race did not pan out well for him. On the other hand, despite being a three-time Grade 1 winner, he has not faced horses as strong as Do It Again and Rainbow Bridge, so nobody knows exactly how good he is. He has some temperament issues and everybody in the country will be hoping there is no repeat of the starting stall antic which saw him having to be scratched from the Vodacom Durban July.

Hawwaam has drawn in pole.

Twist Of Fate is drawn two. He has a huge heart and will try his best. The trip is interesting considering he won the Politician Stakes over 1800m last year despite pulling. He could give some cheek.

Pack Leader is drawn three. This five-year-old was generally kept to longer trips in previous seasons, so is interesting here as he was dropped out from a wide draw in the Green Point and ran on well for fourth. He now has his third run after a layoff.

Do It Again is drawn four as opposed to six out of nine last year.

The Green Point winner Vardy is drawn five. He has always had class and a turn of foot and he was always going to come into his own as a four-year-old this season. He faces Rainbow Bridge, Undercover Agent and Do It Again on 2kg worse terms but should still beat them on paper, although obviously the Green Point can’t be taken at face value as most of the runners were returning from layoffs, Vardy included. 

Soqrat is drawn six and will be hoping to go one better than his narrow second last year. He is the ultimate professional as he can be turned on and off at will and he has a fine burst of speed and the ability to sustain a finish.

One World, who was runner up in the Green Point is drawn seven, He is versatile and can lead or run on from off them.

Rainbow Bridge, who has a fine turn of foot, is draw eight compared to four last year when staying on for a 3,05 length third.

Undercover Agent, who likes to be up there, is drawn nine and although courageous he looks held by Do It Again, Rainbow Bridge and Soqrat. 

This not to be missed race is off at 16h45 at Kenilworth on Saturday. 

By David Thiselton