ack Milner: Although eight horses are carded to run in the R1-million L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate at Kenilworth on Saturday, it is hard to look past the top four in the betting for the winner of this Grade 1 race over 1600m.
The Grade 2 Green Point Stakes is the often a good pointer to the Queen’s Plate and many horses have pulled off the double, such as Pocket Power, Legal Eagle and even Vardy last season.
This season Belgarion won the Green Point Stakes by 0.40 lengths from Rainbow Bridge, with a short head back to Cirillo. Now Justin Snaith has added 2019 winner Do It Again into the mix and as there is R3 million kicking off the Pick 6 pool with a likely pool of R10 million, those four should comfortably see you navigate this race.
Snaith is vocally bullish about the chances of his runners and with good reason. Belgarion has been a revelation since having been gelded and has reeled off six wins in a row since. Among those are the Vodacom Durban July, the Green Point Stakes and the Peninsula Handicap, and he is unbeaten in three runs over the course and distance.
“All the guys who have been doing work in our yard agree Belgarion is the one to beat,” Snaith told colleague Danie Toerien during the week.
However, it is unlikely Luke Ferraris or Gavin Lerena did any work in the Snaith yard as one doubts whether either of them would have expressed the same view.
Rainbow Bridge had to miss his warm-up run with urticaria, which is a type of hives. That brought him into the Green Point Stakes without the hoped preparation, so his second place was particularly good, especially as he was reported to be “hanging out throughout”.
The one concern is that trainer Eric Sands has often expressed the view his charge does not perform well in a second run after a layoff. However, that last run should have done him the world of good and this could be an ideal race for the 2019 Met winner. Ferraris takes the ride for the second time.
Sean Tarry sends out Cirillo and the son of Pomodoro put up a sensational run in the Green Point Stakes in blinkers. He is 1kg worse off with both Belgarion and Rainbow Bridge but he should also have come on well from that run and he could find the extra needed under Lerena.
Snaith is adamant Do It Again is back to his best so he must come into contention.
The other Grade 1 event is the Cartier Paddock Stakes over 1800m and this race has attracted a lot of attention thanks to the participation of unbeaten Summer Pudding.
She has done everything asked of her and yet there are still doubters out there. Many pundits claimed there was no way she could win the Summer Cup from a wide draw and a heavy weight.
She romped home, yet the doubters still remain.
Trainer Paul Peter is obviously tentative as expectation are high, but he feels the daughter of Silvano is doing very well. “She is eating up and her work is excellent,” said Peter. “She lost some weight after the Summer Cup but she’s got it all back and is looking bright and very fresh.
“This is the first time in the Cape, the race first on left-handed track, but good horses just know how to up their game.”
Hopefully she can silence the critics once and for all, and close in on the 11-win record set by Home Guard in the late 1960s.
Jack Milner’s selections
Race 1: 8 Real Advisor, 1 Royal Flush, 4 Freedom Park, 2 Emperors Decree
Race 2: 9 Orange Bowl, 1 Cape To Rio, 2 Sovereign Rose, 5 Golden Dah