There’s a new ‘best horse’ in the country

There’s a new “best racehorse in South Africa” after the handicappers hiked three-year-old One Stripe a whopping 14 merit points for his victory in last week’s L’Ormarins King’s Plate at Kenilworth.

That lifted the Vaughan Marshall-trained colt to a merit rating of 132, one ahead of five-year-old See It Again, who had ruled the roost for about a year following the retirement to stud of his old foe Charles Dickens.

See It Again finished stone last in the King’s Plate, but his MR remained unchanged – a decision that went unexplained by the handicappers.

One Stripe had his rating hoisted to 132 from 118 “after impressively winning” the historic weight-for-age Grade 1 contest over 1600m.

The handicappers decided that fourth-paced Royal Aussie should serve as the line horse for assessing the race as he confirmed the MR of 124 he had achieved in the 2024 King’s Plate, when third to Charles Dickens.

This meant runner-up Montien, who beat Royal Aussie at level weights by 2.80 lengths, was adjusted to 129 from 120.

Three horses get drops

Counter-intuitively, third-placed Gimme A Prince was dropped to 129 from 130 “as this was his highest achievement in his latest four starts”. Gimme A Prince, once a champion sprinter, has taken to longer distances with relish and even holds an entry for the 2000m WSB Cape Town Met later this month.

At My Command and Al Muthana, who finished third last and second last respectively, were also demoted in the order of merit.

Double Grand Slam, winner of the other Grade 1 race on Saturday, the 1800m Cartier Paddock Stakes, had her rating pushed up to 122 from 119 after a striking performance.

Here, the handicappers made runner-up Red Palace the line horse, keeping her MR pegged at 119.

This saw fourth-placed Rainbow Lorikeet raised from 105 to 111 and Saartjie dropped from 118 to 116.

Leading merit ratings as at 8 January 2025

One Stripe 132

See It Again 131

Main Defender 130

Gimme A Prince 129

Montien 129

Winchester Mansion 129

Dave The King 128

Dyce 128

Green With Envy 127

Cousin Casey 125

Lucky Lad 125

Oriental Charm 125

Royal Victory 125

Snow Pilot 125

William Robertson 125