The Drakenstein Stud team continued their fabulous winning run when their Lancaster Bomber homebred Snow Pilot stormed to victory in the R2 million Hollywoodbets Gr1 Cape Guineas at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth on Saturday.
The victory made it a year-on-year double in the classic of kings for Drakenstein, and a glorious follow-up on another Lancaster Bomber product in Beach Bomb, who won the WSB Gr1 Cape Fillies Guineas victory two weeks earlier.
Snow Pilot (JP van der Merwe) gets the better of the gallant Red Palace (Anthony Andrews) to win the Hollywoodbets Gr1 Cape Guineas (Pic – Chase Liebenberg)
It was a third strike in the big race for Justin Snaith after Solo Traveller (2010) and Double Superlative (2021), and a first Cape Guineas victory for new Cape Town resident and former Met winning jockey JP van der Merwe, who was only narrowly shaded on Silver Sanctuary in the WSB Cape Fillies Guineas, a fortnight earlier.
With the house-full signs up at the historic revamped venue, the Cape summer sun shone brightly on the capacity crowd enjoying some high-quality action-packed racing on the fourth day of the 2023/24 Cape Summer Season of Champions.
A field of eleven went to post for the headliner, with Sean Tarry saddling the only out-of-towner in the shape of the talented, Tail Of The Comet.
Touted in some quarters as a below-strength renewal in the absence of the Highveld-based top four rated 3yo’s in the land in Sandringham Summit, Main Defender, Purple Pitcher and Gimmeanotherchance, the mile contest produced a grandstand finish and hailed an emerging star in the shape of Snow Pilot, who found his feet after consecutive feature seconds.
Beaten by more fancied stablemate Hluhluwe in the Gr2 Cape Punters Cup, Snow Pilot raised his game after being in striking distance for much of the race.
Just when the filly Red Palace looked to be going on to rewrite the history books, JP van der Merwe switched Snow Pilot out and he stormed home to beat the gallant Red Palace (25-2) by 0,75 lengths in a time of 98,27 secs.
Kevin Somerville and Gaynor Rupert join the Snaith team at the victorious lead-in (Pic – Chase Liebenberg)
The winner’s stablemate Hluhluwe (33-10) came from some way back to bank third a further 1,25 lengths adrift to shade the fast-finishing Green With Envy (4-1) into fourth.
The victory by Snow Pilot underscored the huge void left by his 2018 Gr1 Tattersalls Gold Cup winner Lancaster Bomber (War Front, who died suddenly at the age of 7 in 2021.
The winner is out of the Cape Fillies Guineas winner Snowdance, who was also conditioned by Snaith.
Now a winner of 2 races with 7 places from 9 starts, Snow Pilot took his earnings to R1 453 525.
Hats off to the Andrews family and their runner-up Red Palace, who ran her heart out in a bid to be the first filly in thirty years after Little Ballerina to win the colts’ Guineas. Her eight week break may have taken the edge off her fitness, but she wasn’t disgraced in defeat.
Enjoy the replay:
