By Mark van Deventer
In a fascinating World Sorts Betting Cape Town MET showdown – will 3YO Eight on Eighteen hole out in the historic Cape Town Gr 1?
With the older horses, barring SEE IT AGAIN, so closely clustered in the ratings, smoking out the winner of the Gr 1 World Sports Betting Cape Town MET over 2000m might hinge on a couple of factors. Just how good is the sole 3YO participant and now ante-post favourite, EIGHT ON EIGHTEEN? And what impact will the likely strong pace have on each contestant?
If only SEE IT AGAIN could be assured of running up to his best figures, then the puzzle would be solved. The high-class son of Twice Over is top rated by some margin and will relish a fiercely run ten-furlong race on a galloping track. So, what’s not to like about Michael Robert’s charge?
The main query is current physical condition. SEE IT AGAIN tottered in stone last in his L’Ormarins King’s Plate prep run three weeks ago, though the official stipes report indicates that nothing obviously wrong was detected.
Stable feedback is that the Durban based star is battling to recover from his cross-country travels. He had an arduous time of it when competing in the Gr 1 Betway Summer Cup at Turffontein over 2000m at high altitude, where he bravely gave the winner, the reopposing ATTICUS FINCH 6kg’s, and was only beaten 2.5 lengths into fifth spot.
If SEE IT AGAIN is revived in time for Saturday’s historic Gr 1 at scenic Hollywoodbets Kenilworth, then he will be a major player. However, should he underperform again, then the race is there to be won by emerging three-year-old challenger, EIGHT ON EIGHTEEN.
He has twice finished a length or two shy of One Stripe, the stand- out of his generation in South Africa, who has recently been sold in a private deal and is slated to be trained for turf races in America by Graham Motion.
In the Hollywoodbets Cape Guineas over a mile, Justin Snaith’s charge produced similar 800m and 400m come home sectionals to One Stripe before succumbing by 1.25 lengths. Building on that level of performance whilst carrying just 54kg’s would make him mighty dangerous against older foes conceding around 6kg’s.
His jockey Richard Fourie, familiar to Hong Kong fans from a most successful stint in 2013, feels the son of Lancaster Bomber will have no problem handling the extra 400m.
If his mount is indeed nearly as good as One Stripe and sees it out fine, then EIGHT ON EIGHTEEN could well justify heavy market support from opening bids of 12/1 down to current quotes of 3/1.
There is a lone filly in the race, RED PALACE who figures to work out a smooth commute from draw 1 stalking the pace along the inside rail. She ran a fine second in the Gr 1 Paddock Stakes when done for finishing speed by Double Grand Slam, and though she has been impressing astute trainer Dean Kannemeyer with sharp workouts, it remains to be seen if her overall form stacks up quite strongly enough.
The older male entries are tightly matched on ability figures and seem to take turns beating each other. ORIENTAL CHARM won the Gr 1 Hollywoodbets Durban July in a perfectly judged front running steal but will face more pace pressure here. On collateral form, he has a similar ability rating to ROYAL AUSSIE, who might be at his absolute best up to a mile.
MONTIEN emerged with great credit when holding second behind One Stripe in the Gr 1 L’Ormarins King’s Plate after racing handy from a wide gate, but he must again get over from draw 15. Piet Botha’s aptly named; Dare to Dream Racing Stables has a seriously live WSB CPT Met contender.
RASCALLION, second in the World Sports Betting Cape Town MET last year and the winner of three feature races from his last four starts is an admirable, high-class stalwart for a confident, Vaughan Marshall, who knows what it takes to win this race. RASCALLION will run his heart out as always but lengthens stride rather than quickens so needs everything to fall into place perfectly. Gate 16 complicated matters.
MAGIC VERSE has a similar shake to RASCALLION on their recent 1800m Premier’s Trophy clash though the horse to take out of that showdown is probably FUTURE SWING, held tight at a crucial stage under Oisin Murphy, then finishing sharply just 1.2 lengths off.
He was surrounded in close proximity by re-opposing pace presser, LITIGATION; temperamental deep-closer, PACAYA; a resurgent, ZAPATILLAS and another on-pace runner, BARATHEON. Further evidence to confirm how tightly these horses are packed.
Andre Nel has been striving diligently to remedy top quality stayer, MASTER REDOUTÉS foot issues, hence no build up races as intended.
AL MUTHANA who caused a 80/1 boil-over in the 2023 LÓrmarin’s King’s Plate when downing champion miler, Charles Dickens, has been off beat for some time and needs to shine up.
The 2025 World Sports Betting Cape Town MET promises to be an exciting spectacle and World Pool punters have big incentives to solve the handicapping puzzle. The size of the field combined with the open nature of the contest will lead to nourishing dividends across the different wagering options.
With some trepidation, EIGHT ON EIGHTEEN is selected over FUTURE SWING, RASCALLION and MONTIEN, with fickle, SEE IT AGAIN lurking as the “mystery horse.”