Summer Cup hopefuls out in force at Greyville on Sunday

Danie Toerien

One of the highlights of this weekend's racing comes up on Sunday at Hollywoodbets Greyville, where four of the runners entered for the Betway Summer Cup will be making their seasonal reappearance in a Conditions Plate over 1400m.

Not only are the four runners entered for the R6-million Summer Cup, but two of them top the first log which was released earlier in the week.

See It Again, who tops the log, will be joined by Royal Victory (second on the log), Madison Valley (tenth), and On My Honour (eleventh), on Sunday in Race 8.

It is interesting to note that trainer Michael Roberts has again engaged the services of jockey Rachel Venniker to ride two-time Grade 1 winner See It Again. Venniker was aboard the Twice Over-gelding at the start of his career before making way for Piere Strydom.

While Raymond Danielson and Keagan de Melo also got an opportunity to swing a leg over See It Again, Roberts has recalled Venniker. It won't come as a surprise to see her as number one rider for Robert's star performer going forward as she is his protégé.

See It Again, who finished fifth in last year's Summer Cup, had just a solitary prep run (over 1600m which he duly won) before his first attempt at the R6-million race, and it seems that Roberts will be taking the same approach. Bettors who want to see the six-year-old in action before the Summer Cup, will probably flock to the track or be glued to their television sets on Sunday at 16:10.

Topping the first Summer Cup log, See It Again doesn't need to win on Sunday to ensure his place in the final, but a disappointing performance could perhaps force Roberts to add another prep run to his schedule.

Trainer Nathan Kotzen will be hoping that history does not repeat itself when he sends out Royal Victory on Sunday.

Last year Royal Victory ran second to See It Again in their only prep run, and the Pathfork gelding again finished one position behind See It Again in the Summer Cup. In his defence, he didn't have the clearest of passages.

That preparation was in stark contrast to the path followed in 2023 when Royal Victory won the Summer Cup. Back in 2023 Royal Victory was not given an end-of-season break. In fact, he had five runs without a break leading up to his greatest career win.

Madison Valley, who finished fourth, 0.15-lengths ahead of See It Again in last year's Summer Cup, will by all accounts find Sunday's 1400m way too short, but trainer Frank Robinson's goal is probably just for his five-year-old to blow the cobwebs away.

Trainer Glen Kotzen will probably feel the most pressure come Sunday as a disappointing showing by On My Honour could see his chances of remaining in the Summer Cup field on the edge of a slippery slope.

This Gimmethegreenlight gelding did run fourth in the Grade 2 World Sports Betting Guineas over 1600m at Greyville earlier in the year and then went on to run third in the Grade 3 Hollywoodbets Dolphins Cup Trial over 1800m at the same venue.

His biggest victory, however, came in the Listed Racehorse Owners Association Stakes over 1600m at Fairview on the Polytrack. In fact, two of his three career wins was on the Fairview poly.

Last seen he ran eighth in the Hollywoodbets Durban July, 6 lengths behind the winner The Real Prince. He did shorten from 33-1 to jump at 16-1 on July Day, so was obviously fancied in some quarters.

Victory on Sunday, on the other hand, or a close finish against the log leaders, could well cement On My Honour's place in the final Summer Cup field.

It must be noted, though, that a number of Summer Cup hopefuls will be in action later where they will get an opportunity to prove their credentials. On 1 November three Graded races will be contested at Turffontein, namely the Grade 2 Allied Steelrode Onamission Charity Mile, the Grade 3 Betway Graham Beck Stakes over 1400m, and the Grade 3 Starling Stakes also over 1400m.

On 9 November Turffontein will also be the venue for the Grade 3 Betway Victory Moon Stakes over 1800m.

With so many feature races still to be contested before the running of the Summer Cup on 29 November, the final log could be a very different document from the first draft.