No slow lane in the Cape Flying

Fear and loathing of the tiresome Cape Crawl will be forgotten for all of a minute on 25 January as the Cape Flying Championship flies past us at a tremendous lick.

The 15-strong line-up for the R1.5-million 1000m race, auspiciously sponsored by the Hong Kong Jockey Club, is the best possible gathering of currently active South African sprinters.

The competition is hot and it’s a prestigious Grade 1 contest, so there won’t be any of the tactical sauntering at the head of the field that sometimes bedevils big races at Cape Town’s Kenilworth racecourse.

Last year’s winner Dyce is back to defend the crown, with his fearsome team of trainer Lucky Houdalakis and jockey Piere Strydom in tow, but might find this opposition a smidgeon tougher than he faced 12 months ago.

Threats

However, the six-year-old gelding is no stranger to a challenge, having overcome adversity more than once to register 10 career victories.

The main threat is likely to come from Dean Kannemeyer-trained Gimme A Prince, who has been flirting with longer distances in recent times but showed his fighting spirit and natural speed when grabbing third place in the L’Ormarins King’s Plate a couple of weeks ago.

Also in everyone’s reckoning will be the vastly improved mare Asiye Phambili, recent winner of the Cartier Sceptre Stakes for trainer Gavin van Zyl. Champion jockey Richard Fourie has elected to stay with the five-year-old in choosing from among a few potential rides – including long-time favourite partner Lucky Lad from the Sean Tarry yard.

The latter was out of his comfort zone over the mile of the King’s Plate and will surely show more of his inherent class over the short trip.

Grade 1 mile for fillies and mares

An interesting runner is Cruise Control. Gqbertha master trainer Gavin Smith has high regard for this son of underrated speed sire Querari, having raided up and down the coast with him – with some encouraging if unspectacular results. With 13 wins under his belt, he is always a speedster to respect.

The other main supporting event on the Kenilworth card – for Cape Town Met day – is the Maine Chance Farms Majorca Stakes, a Grade 1 mile for fillies and mares.

Only seven of the 12 entries have accepted to race, despite the R1-million purse on offer – probably due to the presence of a couple of high-quality individuals, namely Double Grand Slam and Fatal Flaw, who promise an intriguing four-year-old/three-year-old showdown.

The final field for the World Sports Betting Cape Town Met will be announced on Thursday evening.

FIELDS
(number & draw, name, weight, MR, trainer, jockey)

Cape Flying Championship, Grade 1, 1000m, R1.5m, open @ WFA:

1 Future Variety 60 112 Candice Bass-Robinson Aldo Domeyer
2 Cruise Control 60 118 Gavin Smith Muzi Yeni
3 Surjay 60 124 BJ Crawford/JI Crawford Luyolo Mxothwa
4 Dyce 60 128 Lucky Houdalakis Piere Strydom
5 Ziyasha 60 119 Clinton Binda Raymond Danielson
6 Gimme A Prince 60 129 Dean Kannemeyer Craig Zackey
7 King Regent 60 114 Glen Kotzen Denis Schwarz
8 Cafe Culture 60 113 Lucinda Woodruff Serino Moodley
9 Lucky Lad 60 125 Sean Tarry Grant van Niekerk
10 Questioning 60 124 Vaughan Marshall Juan Paul v’d Merwe
11 Seeking The Stars 60 118 Vaughan Marshall Gavin Lerena
12 King Of The Gauls 60 109 Tony Rivalland #Rachel Venniker
13 Asiye Phambili 57.5 116 Gareth van Zyl Richard Fourie
14 Cosmic Highway 60 115 Dean Kannemeyer Sean Veale
15 Bereave 60 116 Adam Marcus Kabelo Matsunyane

Maine Chance Farms Majorca Stakes, Grade 1, 1600m, R1m, F&M @WFA:

1 Kinda Wonderful 55 104 Eric Sands Athandiwe Mgudlwa
2 Rascova 60 119 Glen Kotzen Gavin Lerena
3 Roccapina 55 111 Candice Bass-Robinson Juan Paul v’d Merwe
4 Double Grand Slam 60 122 Justin Snaith Richard Fourie
5 Celtic Rumours 60 107 Sean Tarry Grant van Niekerk
6 Scarlet Macaw 55 111 Candice Bass-Robinson Kabelo Matsunyane
7 Fatal Flaw 55 115 7 BJ Crawford/JI Crawford Craig Zackey