KwaZulu-Natal’s champion season only starts in May, but there have already been three strong feature races so far this year.
Cape Eagle won the first of them, the 1750m Michael Roberts Stakes on 15 January, capping a run of four wins from his last five having loved frontrunning tactics.
Captain Fontane’s victory in the 1200m Marula Stakes 10 days later was arguably more exciting due to him having to charge through late to catch stablemate African Skyline.
The latter came out to win a good race straight after while Captain Fontane himself went onto pick up February’s feature, the 1500m Fever Tree Stakes, in style, giving some useful sorts an easy beating while conceding weight to them all. Strong form indeed.
So, who will it be on Sunday 26 March in the Listed Kings Cup over 1600m (Race 6) at Hollywoodbets Greyville, the Eagle or the Captain or does it not end there?
Captain Fontane seems a more confident horse this season and should now go on to prove himself at the highest level, while Cape Eagle has won his last three with a combined margin of 10,80-lengths and could be too hard to catch carrying a full 5,5kgs less.
Lord William, however, showed promise in winning his local debut after the well-bred three-year-old battled at the highest level in his hometown in the Western Cape.
If he truly gets to master the 1600m, he could give his elder counterparts, the above-mentioned stakes winners, a tough time. Nice race.
One of the highlights of the day is sure to be card opener, where Glen Kotzen’s colt Aberdeen makes his local debut, in a Juvenile Plate over 1400m. This bay colt by Visionaire (broodmare sire of brilliant See It Again) was eye-catching on debut in the Western Cape and was expected to win his next start. But he was thrown in the deep end taking on some high-class individuals in a valuable sales race. He beat more than half the field home and that kind of form should be too strong for the field he now meets.
Another Cape-based sort that should take all the beating is Madison Blues who has had excuses in his last few starts and should make a winning local debut for trainer Paul Lafferty (in hot form) in Race 4, a 1600m Maiden Plate.
Other value types who also look to have solid eachway chances are Kittyboys Girl (Race 2), Sea Master (Race 7) and Valerias Dream (Race 8).
Clive Robinson
