David Thiselton
The Gr 1weight for age HF Oppenheimer Horse Chestnut Stakes, to be run over 1600m at Turffontein Standside on Saturday, will have its best field for many a season, even if there are only nine runners.
The Gr 1 SA Classic and Gr 1 Wilgerbosdrift SA Fillies Classic have also attracted smallish but quality fields.
The Horse Chestnut shapes as a mile championship featuring the L’Ormarins King’s Plate winner The Real Prince against See It Again, who was an unlucky 0,25 length third in the King’s Plate before winning the WSB Met.
The Highveld challenge is led by Main Defender, who defeated the subsequently named Equus Horse Of The Year Dave The King by 2,75 lengths when winning this race in 2024.
Last year’s winner and runner up, Cosmic Speed and Texas Red are also in the line up.
There is also the reigning Highveld Horse Of The Year Fire Attack, whose King’s Plate run can be ignored as his preparation was interrupted and he proved it was all wrong when bouncing back to win first time out back on the Highveld.
His Alec Laird-trained stablemate Atticus Finch, a former Gr 1 Betway Summer Cup winner, was impressive when waltzing home to a three length win in this season’s Gr 2 Allied- Steelrode Onamission Charity Mile, despite carrying topweight.
The 117-rated three-year-old Tin Pan Alley has been preferred for this race as it is probably a more suitable trip for him than the Gr 1 SA Classic over 1800m.
The field is completed by Pressonregardless, who is outgunned on paper, but he has come into his own this season and possesses a lot of class.
See It Again is officially rated 130, so is officially 1kg better off with The Real Prince, who is rated 128.
On L’Ormarin’s King’s Plate form it is The Real Prince who emerges the victor by 0,25 lengths, but See It Again had to wait a tad to get into top gear in that race due to Dave The King falling back on him and that might have made the difference between victory and defeat.
On WSB Met form See It Again emerges the victor as The Real Prince was beaten 1,25 lengths into third.
See It Again had tough draws in both the King’s Plate and the Met, ten out of 14 and ten out of ten, and he has now drawn eight out of nine.
The draw should not bother him as he has a magnificent turn of foot.
Richard Fourie replaces the injured Andrew Fortune, a world class jockey for a world class jockey, so that is a further bonus to See It Again’s chances.
The Real Prince, who is also a Hollywoodbets Durban July winner, drew six in both the KIng’s Plate and Met and is now drawn seven. He also has a magnificent turn of foot and has his regular world class rider in Craig Zackey up.
Main Defender has his second run after a long layoff and came last in his comeback over 1160m in a small field. He has an exhilarating turn of foot at his best and has drawn well in four with the world class reigning champion jockey Gavin Lerena up.
Fire Attack will be running on strongly from draw five under Calvin Habib.
Cosmic Speed drew three when winning last year under Zackey and is now drawn six under Ryan Munger. However, he has 3,45 lengths and 3,20 lengths to make up on The Real Prince and See It Again respectively from King’s Plate form.
Texas Red was drawn five last year and has pole position this year with Matsunyane retaining the ride, but its a much tougher field.
If the Atticus Finch who won the Charity Mile turns up, he must have a chance from draw three, but he hasn’t been seen since being pulled up with something amiss in the Summer Cup. He was also last in the July, after having epistaxis.
Tin Pan Alley beat older horses in the Gr 2 Betway Jo’Burg Spring Challenge over 1450m, but Atticus Finch emerges better here at the weights on the form of that race and Tin Pan Alley might prefer the shorter 1450m trip. However, he has drawn well in two and Keagan de Melo is up.
Pressonregardless has Callan Murray up, but not only has to jump from draw nine out of nine, but he is officially 10,5kg under sufferance with the best in See It Again. He can’t be completely discounted though because this long-striding sort will relish the fast pace generated by a better class of horse, provided he finds cover from that wide draw.
In the SA Classic the highest rated horse, Gr 1 Hollywoodbets Cape Guineas winner Jan van Goyen, has draw well in three out of nine, while his Jackpot City Dingaans conqueror Trust has drawn two. The Gr 2 Gauteng Guineas one-two Splittheeights and Grand Empire have drawn eight and one respectively while other likely fancied horses One Eye On Vegas and the exciting but unexposed Errol Flynn have draw seven and six respectively.
In the Wilgerbosdrift SA Fillies Classic Hazy Dazy has drawn four out of ten in her bid to keep her Wilgerbosdrift Triple Tiara hopes alive.
