Thousands of food, music and horseracing enthusiasts braved the inclement weather to attend the annual SplashOut Seafood & Jazz Racing Festival at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth on Saturday, 24 February.
Despite the rainy weather, the Cape Racing team delivered on their promise of a seafood and jazz extravaganza against the backdrop of thrilling horseracing that featured 10 heart-stopping races on the card.
A dozen food trucks in the seafood village, three jazz bands – including the Juvie Boy Entertainers who recently won the Section Two finals of the Hollywoodbets and KKKA stadium competition – and a vibrant kids’ zone provided sustenance and family-friendly entertainment off the track, while serious punters and budding racing enthusiasts closely followed the on-track action.
Equine super-athletes reign supreme
In the SplashOut Cape Derby (Gr1) over 2000m, GREEN WITH ENVY trounced rivals by coming from far back to record a wide margin victory over the dual Gr1 winning filly, BEACH BOMB, with long- time leader, ORIENTAL CHARM, keeping on for third at 100/1.
As decisive as the Derby demolition job was, the Gr2 Khaya Stables Diadem Stakes sprint feature was a desperate duel after THUNDERSTRUCK fought off persistent challengers on both sides to win the 1200m race.
The SplashOut Prix du Cap (Gr3) was contested over 1400m, where DOUBLE GRAND SLAM proved much the best, racing full of energy on the turn before making a bold inside rails move to romp home.
Meanwhile, the City of Cape Town Cape of Good Hope Nursery (Gr3) 1200m sprint fell to ONE STRIPE, who simply had too much sustained pace for the opposition.
Concluding the Cape Racing Summer season in style
The SplashOut Seafood & Jazz Racing Festival closed the Cape Racing Summer Season, and officially concluded the first phase of a year-long rejuvenation project which aims to transform the iconic racecourse into a world-class racing and lifestyle venue.
Cape Racing’s COO, Donovan Everitt expressed his satisfaction, saying “it was heartwarming to see a cross-section of the Cape Town community descending upon Hollywoodbets Kenilworth to support the final Summer Season events. We have been blown away by the support from both the general public and racing fraternity, and I am excited to see this support continue to grow as we start planning for the 2024/2025 Season.
“Special thanks also go out to the SplashOut team for the integral role they played during our renovations, and for all their support to help making our Summer Season a success.”
Added Eugene Naidu, SplashOut General Manager, “SplashOut was delighted to partner with this prestigious horseracing event and family-friendly social occasion for the second year running. It was also fantastic to see SplashOut’s contribution to the first phase of Hollywoodbets Kenilworth’s refurbishment project come to life.”
