Jet Dark, far left, wins the Cape Town Met, just ahead of Kommetdieding, at Kenilworth on Saturday. Picture: Peter Heeger/Gallo Images
The 2023 WSB Cape Town Met will always be remembered for the epic duel to the wire by Jet Dark and Kommetdieding, the two best 1600m-2200m horses of their era, in their swansongs before going to stud.
Their battles have been intense, with little between them. We think of the two ungelded fellows trading punches in the Queen’s Plate, the Met and the Champion’s Cup of 2022, and how they finished adjacent in the Durban July and the King’s Plate.
Adding colour to the story is that trainer Justin Snaith revealed Jet Dark’s ornery temperament, while Michelle Rix spoke of how Kommetdieding was a lamb to handle.
It might be a minor surprise to find out that Jet Dark and Kommetdieding only faced each other six times, in careers of 19 and 18 starts respectively. So, the thrillers mentioned above are about the extent of it. That those races are so memorable, though, links the names forever and marks them out for something approaching greatness.
As Jet Dark’s co-owner Tommy Crowe said after Saturday’s Met, Jet Dark and Kommetdieding helped forged each other’s legend.
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They might one day go down in history alongside In Full Flight and Sentinel in South Africa in the 1970s – which was akin to fierce contests abroad: Sea Biscuit and War Admiral in the US in the 1930s, Affirmed and Alydar in the ’70s and Henrythenavigator and Raven’s Pass in the UK in the noughties.
It’s interesting to note, as evenly matched as they were, Jet Dark had the upper hand statistically – finishing ahead in five of the six trysts.
It’s interesting to note, as evenly matched as they were, Jet Dark had the upper hand statistically – finishing ahead in five of the six trysts.
Scanning the duo’s records, it is remarkable how often both bumped heads with Linebacker, another five-year-old of whom great things were predicted.
Vaughan Marshall’s gelding raced Jet Dark 12 times, finishing behind him eight times. He met Kommetdieding 10 times and only got the better of “the people’s horse” twice.
Over two seasons, the two tyros (and perhaps Linebacker, too) were clearly superior to a host of other regular opponents, such as Firealley, Rascallion, Russian Rock, Speed Machine and Seeking The Stars.
It will be intriguing to see how the progeny of Jet Dark and Kommetdieding shape up against each other.
Jet Dark has the more purple pedigree – being by super sire Trippi out of a Jet Master mare.
Kommetdieding’s father Elusive Fort is a perfectly respectable stallion, though not as celebrated – yet his dam Adorable is by the mighty Captain Al and, as we know, mum’s the word in many a stable.
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