Green Point a beacon of light in the gloom

Recently, this vision has been of the Green Point Stakes, which is due to be run at Kenilworth on Saturday – when the rain will have gone away and the lights might be back on.

Two washed out race meetings at the Vaal, including the Grand Heritage fixture, have got us staring hard into that flame and fondly remembering the finish of last year’s Green Point Stakes, which was widely acknowledged to be the most exciting race of 2018.

That day, Legal Eagle just pipped Undercover Agent, Do It Again and Rainbow Bridge in a blanket finish for the ages. This year, the latter three were lined up for a repeat, while the amazing Legal Eagle was substituted by ballyhooed colt Hawwaam.

Sadly, a spark was extinguished on Tuesday when the Mike de Kock-trained prodigy was scratched from the Grade 2 contest. “Not again!” sighed weary punters in the stygian murk, remembering Hawwaam no-shows at other recent meetings and, famously, his withdrawal at the start of this year’s Durban July when he got hot under the collar and hurt himself in the starting stalls.

It’s a blow to the opening feature race of the Western Cape summer season, no doubt – losing the frisson of a dangerous raider from the north. But the remaining eight combatants do still offer a beacon.

Cape Town racing is in a bit of a dark place at present, with falling turnovers, a declining horse population and leading stakeholders fading away, so rays of sunshine are badly needed.

Dual July champ Do It Again and popular Rainbow Bridge are pretty evenly matched, while Undercover Agent is always a threat – as are the likes of rising stars Vardy and One World. That lot should provide more than enough watts to light up a Saturday.

Trainer Justin Snaith has warned that Do It Again is only 80% tuned up as he tackles the “top horses in the country” in the weight-for-age event over 1600m, a trip that might nowadays be a bit sharp for him.

We should also remember that this fellow’s principal mission is an unprecedented third Durban July sash and Snaith won’t want to have him too revved up this early in the journey.

For all the glamour and sense of expectation, the Green Point is not the main race on Saturday’s card. That honour goes to the Grade 1 Cape Fillies Guineas, a time-honoured classic with major implications for the stud book.

It’s very early in the three-year-old season to be confidently predicting an outcome to this showdown. Expect whopping pay outs for the Quartet, Trifecta and Exacta – and go as wide as possible wide in the Pick 6.

Green Point Stakes betting:

16-10 Do It Again

12-5 Rainbow Bridge

9-2 Vardy, One World

17-2 Undercover Agent

16-1 Head Honcho

28-1 Pack Leader

35-1 La Favourari

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.