Belgarion has been priced up at 22-10 to win the R1-million Cape Town Met over 2000m at Kenilworth on Saturday 30 January.
Belgarion, winner of last year’s Vodacom Durban July, suffered his first defeat since he was gelded when third in the L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate over 1600m on 9 January.
However, he was not suited to the slow early pace and clearly has the Met as his main aim. Richard Fourie’s mount is certainly a worthy favourite and is the runner they will all have to beat.
Rainbow Bridge has run well in this race, winning it in 2019 and then runner-up last year to One World. The Eric Sands-trained runner is quoted at 9-2 while stablemate and half-brother Golden Ducat is at 6-1.
Mike de Kock has opted to run Queen Supreme in the Met other than the other Grade 1 race, the Majorca Stakes for fillies and mares over 1600m. The Irish-bred mare comes into the Met as one of the best handicapped runners and is in top form. She has to be a major contender.
Snaith also has Do It Again, who looks to be regaining form. He ran second to Rainbow Bridge in 2019 and could be coming right and the right time. Anton Marcus takes the ride.
Trainer Adam Marcus has put three-year-old filly Princess Calla into this race and she will be another to consider as she will carry just 51.5kg.
BETTING
Cape Town Met
22-10 Belgarion; 9-2 Rainbow Bridge; 5-1 Queen Supreme; 6-1 Do It Again, Golden Ducat; 9-1 Princess Calla; 18-1 African Night Sky; 25-1 Running Brave; 33-1 Cirillo; 40-1 Silver Operator; 80-1 Sovereign Spirit
Cape Flying Championship
33-10 Celtic Sea; 9-2 Erik The Red; 11-2 Kasimir; 6-1 Rio Querari; 7-1 Russet Air, Run Fox Run; 18-1 Ultra Magnus, Vernichey; 25-1 Bold Respect; 33-1 Pacific Trader, Cartel Captain, Elusive Trader; 35-1 Tempting Fate; 40-1 Constable
Majorca Stakes
12-10 Captain`s Ransom; 22-10 Clouds Unfold; 17-2 Chat Ching; 12-1 Silvano`s Pride; 14-1 Sing Out Loud; 16-1 Pretty Young Thing; 25-1 Kelpie; 28-1 Indi Anna; 33-1 Helen’s Ideal; 40-1 Third Runway; 50-1 Icon Princess
FINAL FIELDS
CAPE TOWN MET (Grade 1) PRESENTED BY CAPE RACING R1,000,000 2000m 1 – 6 RAINBOW BRIDGE (A E Sands) L J Ferraris 60.0 – 132 2 – 9 DO IT AGAIN (S J Snaith) A Marcus 60.0 – 131 3 – 11 BELGARION (S J Snaith) R Fourie 60.0 – 130 4 – 10 CIRILLO (S G Tarry) G Lerena 60.0 – 126 5 – 4 AFRICAN NIGHT SKY (S J Snaith) R Khathi 60.0 – 115 6 – 3 SOVEREIGN SPIRIT (C Bass-Robinson) A Domeyer 60.0 – 106 7 – 2 GOLDEN DUCAT (A E Sands) W Kennedy 59.5 – 128 8 – 7 SILVER OPERATOR (V H Marshall) S Mbhele 59.5 – 112 9 – 8 QUEEN SUPREME (M F De Kock) K de Melo 57.5 – 126 10 – 5 RUNNING BRAVE (F Bronkhorst) G Cheyne 57.5 – 119 11 – 1 PRINCESS CALLA (A N Marcus) G van Niekerk 51.5 – 116 Same Trainer: (1,7) (2,3,5)
CAPE FLYING CHAMPIONSHIP (WFA) (Grade 1) PRESENTED BY CAPE RACING R750,000 1000m 1 – 14 KASIMIR (S J Snaith) …………… 60.0 – 128 2 – 13 RUSSET AIR (C Bass-Robinson) A Domeyer 60.0 – 125 3 – 6 PACIFIC TRADER (B Crawford) S Cele 60.0 – 123 4 – 4 BOLD RESPECT (B Crawford) G Cheyne 60.0 – 120 5 – 9 ULTRA MAGNUS (P B Muscutt) K de Melo 60.0 – 120 6 – 5 RIO QUERARI (S J Snaith) G van Niekerk 60.0 – 113 7 – 10 CARTEL CAPTAIN (D R Drier) O Noach 60.0 – 107 8 – 12 ELUSIVE TRADER (G W Ennion) G Behr 60.0 – 105 9 – 11 CONSTABLE (C Bass-Robinson) R Khathi 60.0 – 103 10 – 8 CELTIC SEA (S G Tarry) G Lerena 57.5 – 126 11 – 3 RUN FOX RUN (B Crawford) A Marcus 57.5 – 122 12 – 7 ERIK THE RED (S J Snaith) R Fourie 56.5 – 114 13 – 1 TEMPTING FATE (D R Drier) L J Ferraris 56.5 – 113 14 – 2 VERNICHEY (G van Zyl (Jnr)) W Kennedy 54.0 – 114 Same Trainer: (1,6,12) (2,9) (3,4,11) (7,13)
MAJORCA STAKES (WFA) (Grade 1) PRESENTED BY CAPE RACING(For Fillies and Mares at weight for age) R500,000 1600m 1 – 10 CLOUDS UNFOLD (C Bass-Robinson) A Domeyer 60.0 – 122 2 – 1 SILVANO’S PRIDE (S J Snaith) L J Ferraris 60.0 – 118 3 – 9 PRETTY YOUNG THING (B Crawford) G Cheyne 60.0 – 115 4 – 4 SING OUT LOUD (B Crawford) A Marcus 60.0 – 109 5 – 2 KELPIE (B Crawford) K de Melo 60.0 – 107 6 – 8 THIRD RUNWAY (G S Kotzen) M Winnaar 60.0 – 107 7 – 6 INDI ANNA (P B Muscutt) G Lerena 60.0 – 105 8 – 7 HELEN’S IDEAL (JMT Stewart) S Cele 60.0 – 104 9 – 11 ICON PRINCESS (JMT Stewart) W Kennedy 60.0 – 104 10 – 3 CAPTAIN’S RANSOM (S J Snaith) R Fourie 55.0 – 116 11 – 5 CHAT CHING (C Bass-Robinson) G van Niekerk 55.0 – 114 Same Trainer: (1,11) (2,10) (3,4,5) (8,9)