Cape Derby entries ring a Met day bell

Once a Kenilworth card-topper, the race ended up being incorporated into Met day in the modern trend to pack all racing’s jewels into a limited number of razzmatazz social race days.

However, it was felt that this programming denied some progressive young horses a crack at both the Met and the Derby in the same year – especially after three-year-olds broke the one-time Met hoodoo for their age group.

So, this year, the Cape Derby has been scheduled for 22 February – allowing for the “golden” rest period of three weeks after the Sun Met.

But, best-laid plans and all that….

Firstly, no three-year-olds made it into the Sun Met line-up, so the Cape Derby might as well have been run on that day. Then, when entries for the Derby closed this week, many of the 15 names rang a Met day bell: most of them were in action on the meeting’s undercard.

Apparently more by chance than design, a couple of Met day minor features became “prep” runs for the Derby. Of special note was the Grade 3 Politician Stakes, with the first five horses past the post in that contest becoming Derby candidates.

The Politician Stakes winner, Justin Snaith-trained Silver Host, had his merit rating hiked from 87 to 102 after an impressive 2.25-length triumph over Super Silvano from the Brett Crawford stable (upped from 94 to 100).

The former has landed the No 1 draw for the Derby; the latter No 9.

Crawford also saddled the third horse, Parterre, who gets draw seven, while fourth-placed Sir Michael (trained by Dean Kannemeyer) will have to start from a wide slot.

Sun Met 2020 hero Vaughan Marshall has nominated two for the Derby: It’s Complex (fifth in the Politician) and Cane Lime ’N Soda, a colt who was unplaced in the R5-million CTS 1600m on the same day.

Just missing out on that massive prize was Snaith’s Sachdev, who nonetheless delivered a second-place cheque of a cool R1 million and is now aimed at the less lucrative but more prestigious Derby.

Fourth in the CTS 1600, landing a purse of R500,000 was Sean Tarry’s grey colt Invisible, under the hands of international superstar jockey Ryan Moore. Another Tarry runner, On My Mind, ran downfield.

Both youngsters are now up for the Derby, which officially brings down the curtain on the Western Cape summer season.

Most of the above-mentioned horses are untried over the Derby’s 2000m trip, but many of them appear to have the pedigree to stay that far.

Standing out among the entries is Viva Rio from the yard of Glen Kotzen.

This gelding by Oratorio was an eye-catching runner up in the Cape Guineas in December, before trotting up at odds-on in a Progress Plate mile in January.

Unsurprisingly, bookmakers have installed Viva Rio as a 22-10 ante-post favourite.

Crawford’s King Of Gems, unplaced in the Guineas and third in a recent Pinnacle Stakes mile at Kenilworth, is 9-2 joint second-favourite with Sachdev, while Silver Host can be had at 15-2.

Field for the Grade 1 Cape Derby, 2000m, R1 million, 22 February (draw, name, weight, MR, trainer):

1 Silver Host 60 102 Justin Snaith

2 Golden Ducat 60 89 Eric Sands

3 Padre Pio 60 105 Dennis Bosch

4 Viva Rio 60 118 Glen Kotzen

5 King Of Gems 60 109 Brett Crawford

6 Invisible 57.5 95 Sean Tarry

7 Parterre 60 100 Brett Crawford

8 Azores 60 92 Dean Kannemeyer

9 Super Silvano 60 100 Brett Crawford

10 It’s Complex 60 91 Vaughan Marshall

11 Sachdev 60 108 Justin Snaith

12 Cane Lime ‘n Soda 60 100 Vaughan Marshall

13 On My Mind 60 89 Sean Tarry

14 Sir Michael 60 99 Dean Kannemeyer

15 Arctic Drift 60 85 Candice Bass-Robinson

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