Hawwaam king-designate of the Queen’s

The four-year-old superstar’s name jumped out when a 10-strong field of entries for 2020’s first Grade 1 event was unveiled on Friday. Mike de Kock’s charge will carry 60kg under the weight-for-age conditions – as will all the other nominated runners, being four- and five-year-olds.

With his record of eight victories from nine outings, the son of champion sire Silvano unsurprisingly tops the bookmakers’ boards at odds-on.

If betting is taken as the indicator, the main challenge will come from Hawwaam’s stable companion Soqrat, a multiple Grade 1 winner and unlucky runner-up in the recent Summer Cup at Turffontein, who was chalked up at 9-2 earlier in the week.

Other names catching the eye in the field for the 1600m, R1.5-million contest include last year’s winner and two-time Durban July champion Do It Again, 2019 Sun Met victor Rainbow Bridge, and Vardy, impressive winner of the Green Point Stakes a fortnight ago.

De Kock has to date carefully kept his two stars away from each other, so there’s no collateral form to assess – as indeed there isn’t for Hawwaam with the likes of Vardy or Rainbow Bridge.

However, after the way Hawwaam easily accounted for Do It Again in the recent Premier Trophy at Kenilworth, support for the latter has waned somewhat – although diligent form watchers will point out that Justin Snaith’s brilliant gelding had a rough passage in that race, needed the outing, and could bounce back strongly.

Nonetheless, Hawwaam – a son of champion stallion Silvano – will be the name on everyone’s lips. Even owner Sheik Hamdan bin Rashid al Maktoum’s blue and white silks perfectly match the prestigious race day’s famous colour code.

Supplementary entries will be allowed up until next Friday, 3 January, after which the draw and final declarations will be made.

The Queen’s Plate has risen in status over the years to become the country’s premier weight-for-age race for milers and its honour roll boasts a long list of legendary horses: Sea Cottage, In Full Flight, Politican, Wolf Power, Jet Master, Pocket Power and Legal Eagle, among other luminaries.

The UK’s Daily Telegraph newspaper has named the LQP race meeting one of the top five in the world for glamour and sense of occasion.

The quality of the contest is always high and this year’s likely line-up looks as good as ever – as demonstrated by such well-performed horses as One World, Twist Of Fate and Undercover Agent languishing at long odds.

Final field for the Grade 1 R1.5-million L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate over 1600m at Kenilworth on 11 January (name, age, gender, weight, MR, trainer):

Do It Again (5G) 60kg 136 Justin Snaith

Rainbow Bridge (5G) 60kg 134 Eric Sands

Soqrat (4C) 60kg 133 Mike de Kock

Hawwaam (4C) 60kg 131 Mike de Kock

Vardy (4G) 60kg 128 Adam Marcus

One World (4C) 60kg 127 Vaughan Marshall

Twist Of Fate (4C) 60kg 127 Adam Marcus

Undercover Agent (5H) 60kg 127 Brett Crawford

Pack Leader (5G) 60kg 116 Glen Kotzen

Crown Towers (4G) 60kg 103 Justin Snaith

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