By Ada van der Bent
Regarded by many trainers as a stepping stone to bigger things, the Gr 2 Cape Merchants has nevertheless been won by some darn good sprinters, none more so than the champion of the mid-nineties, Flobayou.
Trained by Eric Sands for Sir Robert Bellinger, this grand stamp of a horse fully deserves the title of “King of the Merchants”, for the simple fact that he is the only horse in history to have won the 1200m dash on three occasions.
In 1994, he downed Making Mischief and Guineas winner Bushmanland to land the spoils for the first time. Twelve months later, Bushmanland was strongly favoured to cause an upset, however, in the end the sheer class of Flobayou conquered all and Bushmanland again had to settle for third, with future Gilbey Stakes winner Bold Thatch splitting the pair.
Flobayou rounded out the treble in 1996, lumping 59 kg to a 1.50 length victory over Steel Blade and the filly Eternal Dancer.
Although he remains the only triple winner, four others speedsters have managed to win the Merchants on two occasions.
Chichester ran in the seventies when he won it as a four-year-old, a remarkable effort, given that he had won the Gr 1 Cape Derby at three! He repeated as a six-year-old by defeating specialist sprinters of the ilk of Bolero and Lords (who became a noted sire of sprinters).
Almost three decades would pass before we witnessed another dual winner. Eli’s Game, trained by Mike Bass, defeated champion Free My Heart by a neck in 1999, only to increase that margin to a length two years later.
Remarkably, this teak tough sprinter lined up for the 2004 race at the advanced age of nine and showed up his much younger rivals to finish a joint second, beaten just a length by five-year-old O Caesour, who went on to complete the double twelve months later.
As his name suggests, O Caesour was sired by Varsfontein stalwart Caesour, the only stallion to sire two dual Merchants winners.
His diminutive son Tevez, a half-brother to the brilliant sprint mare Val De Ra, registered his first graded success in the 2013 Merchants and successfully defended his title twelve months later when runner-up Daring Dave denied the Bass stable a rare trifecta, with the winner’s stable companions, the fillies Hammie’s Hooker and Lanner Falcon, finishing third and fourth.
Speaking of fillies, five members of the fairer sex have lifted the Merchants trophy in modern times.
In 1975, the Terrance Millard-trained Ovarownde topped a fine field of male rivals to score by a half length from a luckless Ocean City, who had also filled the runner-up spot the previous year.
Eleven years on and the Cape Merchants belonged to yet another Millard-trained filly, the brilliant Sunera. Jumping from the inside draw, this blazingly-fast import outclassed her field to record a facile three-length victory over Lord Randolph, with another top distaffer Izindaba finishing a length back in third.
Exceptional fillies struck a blow for the weaker sex in quick succession at the end of the eighties. For a horse that twice in her career had to be treated for chipped knees, Paddy Kruyer’s Dynamite Lady enjoyed a remarkable four-year-old career. She flashed her exceptional turn of foot to defeat Justerini in the 1989 Merchants and subsequently went on to beat Northern Princess in the Gr 1 Garden Province.
Twelve months later, she returned to defend her crown but came up against a rampant Wainui, who sped to a two-length victory, with Dynamite Lady back in fourth.
The last filly to claim the Merchants was Dance With Al, who put one over her male counterparts with a convincing victory in the 2010 renewal, despite coming off a three-month rest.
She was the first of a remarkable five Merchants winners sired by Captain Al, who himself had won the sprint in 2000. She was followed two years later by Cap Alright, while Search Party triumphed in 2016. In 2018, four-year-old son Kasimir claimed the Merchants in a season which saw him earn the Equus Champion Sprinter award.
Erik The Red rounded out Captain Al’s quintet in 2020 when he became the first three-year-old in 22 years to claim the 1200m dash. He returned to birthplace Varsfontein Stud for stallion duties and will be represented by his first runners this season.
Now sponsored by De Grendel, another clash of the speed merchants will take place this weekend and with last year’s winner Cosmic Highway back to defend his title under Rachel Venniker, there is both a chance of a new dual Merchants winner being crowned, and a lady rider claiming the race for the first time.
