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

Kenilworth is all set for Saturday’s “race of the century”, the Grade 1 L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate (LQP), which pundits are hailing as the strongest ever renewal of the country’s premier weight for age mile, and the horse who could claim to be the most ignored, Soqrat, is the choice to win.

Soqrat is one of a two-pronged attack by Mike de Kock and his son and assistant trainer Matthew said, “It is a big test for them but they are up to it.”

The bookmakers don’t even rate Soqrat the best of his stable and have him at 7/1 and Buffalo Bill Cody at 9/2.  

Soqrat suffered a “nightmare” 27 hour journey down to Cape Town two weeks before the Grade 1 Cape Guineas, but even that did not stop him winning a strong renewal comfortably.

He has early pace, a superb temperament, a lovely action, a tremendous turn of foot and the resolve to stay all the way to the line. He also has a plum draw of three. However, he is attempting to become only the second three-year-old since 1973 to win the LQP.

The yard couldn’t separate him and four-year-old Buffalo Bill Cody, who gets a half-a-kilogram Northern Hemisphere-bred allowance and traveled down well about two weeks ago.

The Irish-bred has won five of six starts and his three races over a mile have been won by an average of over four lengths. He probably needed his last start too,where he showed a fine turn of foot from a handy position. He could be anything but it is going to be tough jumping from the widest draw of all in his first ever feature start.

The joint-favourite Legal Eagle attempts to join the great Pocket Power by winning this race four times in succession.

Trainer Sean Tarry reckons in terms of ability and current form this will be the strongest field Legal Eagle has ever faced but added, “He is good enough and his preparation has gone according to plan. To have a fair pace would be the greatest thing for such a good race as there would then be no stories afterwards, but if there happens to be no pace Legal Eagle has proven he wouldn’t mind that either.”

Eric Sands has two horses involved, the joint-favourite Rainbow Bridge and Amazing Strike.

It would seem obvious the latter is in as a pacemaker, although Sands was non-committal on this question.

Rainbow Bridge needs a good pace as he becomes unsettled when the pace is as slow as it was in the Green Point Stakes or when he finds no cover. The bookmakers, by making him joint-favourite, are claiming he is able to perform a lot better with a true pace as he is 2kg worse off with all three of the trio who narrowly beat him in the Green Point. He was previously unbeaten in five starts and Sands said, “I would say he is probably now at his peak.” As a horse who can play up before a race, the big crowd might be a concern. However, the sophisticated LQP audience is quieter than the Sun Met one. He is drawn well in four and if everything pans out well this powerful racing machine will be finishing like a train, considering he was the fastest finisher of all in the Green Point despite having over-raced.

Justin Snaith’s imposing Vodacom Durban July winner Do It Again looks set, like his father Twice Over, to have a tremendous four-year-old season. His finish in the Green Point proved he is effective over the mile, which is on the sharp side for him. Snaith also runs the only filly in the race, Snowdance, who is unbeaten in two starts over the course and distance, both of them Grade 1s against the girls.

Snaith said, “Do It Again is in very good form and is looking amazing, everything has gone according to plan. Snowdance is very well and was very impressive in her comeback run. She will give the boys a go.”

Snowdance enjoys being handy or in the front so has a tough draw of eight, especially if Amazing Strike does turn out to be a specialist pacemaker. However, if able to relax up there she can produce her tremendous kick and won’t be easy to catch if hitting the front. Do It Again, drawn six, is able to run on from behind.  

Brett Crawford was bullish about his Rising Sun Gold Challenge winner Undercover Agent and said, “He has improved this season and is a lot stronger and more mature mentally. He has come on since the Green Point and has done a really good gallop since.”

Joey Ramsden knows all about winning the Queen’s Plate and said about Hat Puntano,“I hope he improves a lot. He hasn’t done a lot since the Green Point. We’ve freshened him up, but he’s a hard horse to judge. He was left flatfooted in the Green Point due to the slow pace, but I don’t know if he has the pace to get up there. It is going to be very hard from his wide draw as you are reliant on what the horses inside of you do.”

The Queen’s Plate has always been the aim for Infamous Fox although trainer Candice Dawson admitted he was up against it on form. She said, “He unfortunately ran disappointingly in his last two runs which was not an ideal preparation but he was coming off African Horse Sickness Vaccines and seems fit and well so we stuck to our guns and are just hoping he gives a nice run.”

Soqrat is selected to beat Legal Eagle with Undercover Agent, Do It Again and Rainbow Bridge next best. Snowdance and Buffalo Bill Cody are difficult to ignore and whoever comes out on top it is truly going to be the race of the century.

By David Thiselton