– By Mark van Deventer
The Gr 3 Cape Classic gets Cape Racing’s Summer Festival of Racing underway at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth on Saturday, 2 November. Seven aspirational three-year-olds line up in this 1400m contest that serves as an appetiser for the Hollywoodbets Cape Guineas on 14 December 2024.
It remains to be seen if any of them will develop into major candidates for that Gr 1 in mid-December. GREAT PLAINS (109), ALL OUT FOR SIX (107), MAKAZOLE (106) TALK TO THE MASTER (103) and MAURITIUS KESTREL (102) have already breached the century mark according to the official handicapper.
As this is a level weights event those ratings should pinpoint the contenders, but 3YO’s are apt to make rapid strides from one start to the next. The visually impressive BOUNDLESS ENERGY, though lagging with an OMR of just 90, may seem to have a stiff task, but is not a forlorn hope. The way he quickened up to glide past steady older rival, Das Gute, suggests that he is a smart horse and likely way better than rated.
GREAT PLAINS proved much the best over MAKAZOLE in the Gatecrasher Stakes in early June, but fluffed his lines subsequently when striding somewhat awkwardly from a wide draw around the Hollywoodbets Greyville bend. He’d flashed a wonderful finish at his previous romps and did so again when too far back early to trouble VJ’s Angel in the Gr1 Premier Champion Stakes, so the grey son of Danon Platina is a quality performer when all parts are in working order.
MAKAZOLE in turn narrowly pipped MAURITIUS KESTREL at levels in the Eastern Cape feature suggesting there is little between those two.
TALK TO THE MASTER lacked early speed but stayed on purposefully behind Hollywoodbets Cape Guineas winner Snow Pilot and only a couple of lengths off One Stripe, who is right at the top of the three-year old crop. That gives him a legit shake here.
Vaughan Marshall trained stable mate ALL OUT FOR SIX was only caught late in the Langerman, a sterling try given that he cast a shoe in running. He returns 133 days since that bold front running bid on soft going and will be a clear pace factor in this short field.
CAPTAIN WEST caved in from a wide draw 49 days ago behind Radicchio in a disappointing fail. That was way below what he showed when spitting out On My Honour who has gone on to impress at subsequent starts. And the booking of senior rider Luyolo Mxothwa on this Brett Crawford entry, rather than MAURITIUS KESTREL, could be significant.
There are many imponderables in this year’s Cape Classic and hazarding a selection is guesswork. Wide cover in the exotics may help the indecisive. Depending on market prices close to the jump, GREAT PLAINS, TALK TO THE MASTER and BOUNDLESS ENERGY qualify for the spec bet short list.
LION RAMPART sports a sky-high OMR of 111 going into the five-furlong, Need for Speed Sprint (Race 2), on the back of a standout juvenile campaign that saw him win three times from seven starts. Vaughan Marshall’s runner chased home high-class stable mate, One Stripe in the Winter Nursery and thumped the reopposing Miss World in the Somerset.
The speedy LION RAMPART now drops down to the minimum trip where he holds a victory from a single try over 1000m. HANDSOME PRINCE poses a danger as he ran well against older horse, Dean Street, three weeks ago and, like LION RAMPART is also 1/1 over this C &D.
ROMAN AGENT ran close to LION RAMPART at the start of his career, then won twice thereafter before losing his way. He can improve after gelding so is another to be considered.
LUHAMBA PHAMBILI who also acquitted himself admirably when pitched against older speedball, Lunarcam, must be respected. If he can transfer that extremely promising Hollywoodbets Scottsville form to his Cape campaign, then he is in for a productive Summer.
Eleven go into the gates for the Southeaster Sprint, a Listed dash over five panels. This brain-teasing handicap is carded as Race 6 – off time 15h20. In theory, all horses have an equal chance of winning at the weights – that’s if the handicapper has got his sums right and the entries are sufficiently tuned up to run to form.
Pressed to weed out contenders from the pretenders, the somewhat smudged crystal ball reveals THE ABDICATOR, DEAN STREET, FUTURE VARIETY, MEU CAPITANAO, DANCE VARIETY, NORDIC CHIEF and GIMMELIGHTNING as possibilities.
THE ABDICATOR blew the start last time, but prior to that ran the highly regarded Captain Arrow (2nd in this race last year) close at level weights. With a cleaner break he can use effective stalk and pounce tactics to optimise the light weight of 53.5kg he is set to carry.
DEAN STREET is a credit to the calm competence of Lucinda Woodruff who has managed this difficult thoroughbred with aplomb. Now a six-time winner from 26 starts he is a hard horse to run down when in a galloping frame of mind and he too comes in here with just 53kg to carry. If DEAN STREET is a live candidate then NORDIC CHIEF (only half a length back on the same weight terms three weeks ago) also comes into the equation.
Candice Bass Robinson’s FUTURE VARIETY won the Southeaster in 2023 and may now have plausible Gr 1 aspirations. After all, he nearly toppled ace sprinter, Thunderstruck in the Gr 2 Khaya Stables Diadem Stakes as a 3YO and will be physically more robust this season.
The steadier of 62.5kg could be an issue, however. To illustrate, Adam Marcus’ Dance Variety is 5.5kg better off than FUTURE VARIETY compared to a meeting at the start of the year when beating the Bass Racing’s representative by half a length.
GIMMELIGHTNING is a hold up sprinter so is often left with too much ground to make up. On a line through clashes with Meu Capitano (who has won half his eight starts) he must have a squeak. He would prefer a strong headwind and needs the front runners to stagger to make his late rally count.
All in all, a hard race to decipher. But it will be a great spectacle over in 58 seconds-and-change flurry. The outcome should reveal which of these horses are worthy of a tilt at the De Grendel Cape Merchants on the 22 December or other upcoming sprint features.
