Clive Robinson
One of Cape Town’s foremost racing and social events, the L’Ormarins King’s Plate meeting, will be hosted at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth on 7 January 2023 with Saturday’s bumper 10-race card including two Grade 1 contests, headlined by the prestigious weight-for-age Grade 1 L’Ormarins King’s Plate (Race 8) over 1600m.
This year’s vintage renewal is dominated by unbeaten ‘talking horse’ Charles Dickens and two-time defending champion Jet Dark, though few will dismiss the chances of local fan favourite Kommetdieding.
Three-year-old Trippi colt Charles Dickens delivered the goods in the Grade 1 Cape Guineas over the same course and distance of the King’s Plate three weeks ago, running out an emphatic winner by more than four lengths from last season’s Equus Champion Two-Year-Old colt Cousin Casey.
He could not have been more impressive in his first go at the distance and, with the promise of more to come from Candice Bass-Robinson’s charge, is a confident choice to take another step towards greatness and become just the third sophomore to strike gold in the race’s rich history – after Gimmethegreenlight (2012) and Jet Dark himself in 2021.
Justin Snaith-trained Jet Dark will be bidding to become just the third horse to win the race in three consecutive years after the legendary Pocket Power, who won four in a row, and another former Horse Of The Year, Legal Eagle, who the race from 2016 to 2018.
Five-year-old entire Jet Dark, himself a son of Drakenstein Stud’s resident stallion Trippi, is a four-time Grade 1 winner who, unlike the exciting Charles Dickens, has been there and done it. He was second in the Durban July behind Sparkling Water, a close-up third in the Grade 1 Gold Challenge behind re-opposing Al Muthana, second in last year’s Cape Met to Kommetdieding and was a creditable fourth in the Cape Guineas of his year. His record is impressive and another bold winning bid can be expected, but conceding 5kg to the undefeated rising star that is Charles Dickens could prove a bridge too far.
Stablemate Captain’s Ransom, who edged out Jet Dark in the race for Horse-Of-The-Year honours last season, should strike Grade 1 gold for the Snaith outfit in the Grade 1 Cartier Paddock Stakes, a race she won last year en route to Equus glory.
The superstar racemare boasts six Grade 1 wins to her name and ought to add a seventh with a second Paddock Stakes success in Race 7. She got the better of a fast-finishing Marina and the 2022 Cape Fillies Guineas winner Chansonette in last year’s renewal and will be a popular choice to defend her crown 12 months on.
Durban July heroine Sparkling Water and recent start-to-finish Cape Fillies Guineas Make It Snappy add further intrigue but they’ll need to raise their game to thwart Snaith’s stable star.
The Okapi Ladies Invitational gets the day going with an all-female rider cast in Race 1. Snaith dominates the race with six runners and is likely to get the day off to a winning start with Bonika, Pacific Green, Butterfly Beauty and Betty Boop his main hopes.
Aussenkehr has finished second in four of his last six starts and this son of Elusive Fort should score a deserved and overdue maiden win for the Snaith team in Race 2. And if that isn’t enough for the powerful stable and its followers, stablemates Rio Querari and We’re Jamming should run well in Race 4 so boxing Swingers and Exacta bets could be the way to play in Leg 1 of the carryover Pick 6 which is expected to gross R6 million.
Cape Fillies Guineas runner-up Ciao Bella reverts to sprinting in the Grade 2 Cartier Sceptre Stakes (Race 5) over 1200m and could recapture the winning thread and add to the Snaith team’s success on the day before stable stalwart Do It Again lines up in Grade 2 Premier Trophy looking to add to his stakes earnings of almost R10 million.
Future Swing, Future Turn and Nevada King provide Snaith with a strong winning chance in Race 9, so boxing Swinger and Exacta bets – and Trifecta bets too – should yield a profit, and it could pay to back Navy Strength to follow up his last-start victory over the course and distance when he lines up in the 2500m Grade 3 Chairman’s Cup (Race 10).
