2017 Sun Met connections (photo: hamishNIVENPhotography)Saturday, 28 January 2017 was the inaugural running of the Gr1 Sun Met Celebrated With Mumm. I confess I was a little nervous of what this year’s event would produce. J&B have been around all my race-going life and their withdrawal, while not unexpected, still left one feeling a little bereft. A 39 year sponsorship is not to be sneezed at and was always going to be a tough act to follow, but I think Sun Met succeeded.
Firstly, the weather played along, which is always a huge help. We had enough rain during the week to get the track just about perfect and Sun Met Saturday dawned warm and sunny. There was a bit of a traffic jam trying to get to the event, but things moved along steadily enough for it to add to the anticipation, rather than be an annoyance.
New sponsor
The course was beautifully dressed (photo: hamishNIVENPhotography)
The sponsors and organisers had clearly gone to a lot of time, trouble and, let’s face it, expense, but it all seemed focussed in the right places. The course was beautifully dressed and the Sun Met and Mumm branding was everywhere, which immediately gave a sense of identity and coherence. Gone the traditional yellow and red and in its place the Sun guys had gone for a fresh, bright colour scheme which lent itself well to the party crowd and ‘Decades of Glamour’ theme.
I loved the bold colours and thought the winning post looked particularly jolly. The sponsors successfully borrowed the idea of a fun and user-friendly installation for the selfie snappers, strategically placed just behind the winner’s enclosure which got the crowds closer to the horses. There were interesting touches such as the electronic running boards along the track and lots of extra cameras, including one mounted on a jib arm along the track to film the canter pasts and post race activities on the track. The running boards were the source of a certain amount of concern among the horse folk, but were judiciously employed so as not to upset the horses and were deftly updated after every race to display the details of the winning horse. Nice touch!
The tents and hospitality areas were sensibly spaced, allowing the course to feel pleasantly full, but not uncomfortably so and it was still possible to get around with ease. If I had to be nitpicky, the picnic areas along the rail might have been better placed back from the rail as tried so successfully at the L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate this year, as the areas were not full and kept a lot of the public away from the rail and the cut and thrust of the fight for the line – perhaps this was why there was no roar from the crowd as the gates crashed opened this year.
While there was not the Met crush of my youth, there were more than enough people to provide an atmosphere. The Sun guys also seemed to hit on a really great vibe – the crowd was definitely Cape Town dressed up, there was a playful, festival atmosphere and those who came seemed in the mood to have fun. All in all, the stage was set for a great afternoon’s entertainment and as always, the racing delivered in spades.
The Racing
The 13 race card looked a bit of a marathon, but with great horses, great racing, lots of visiting horses, jockeys, trainers and even TV presenters, the crowd got more than their money’s worth and the afternoon flew by. A little like the July, the Met also seems to bring out racing folk that one doesn’t see at any other time of the year, so there were lots of fun people to catch up with, including Felix Coetzee, home for a brief holiday from Hong Kong.
Snaith Racing opened proceedings by winning the first race with Captain Swarovski (one of their 8 card winners from last year) for Michael de Broglio. Joey Ramsden’s Goodhope Racing team drew first blood in the first of the day’s features with Donovan Dillon securing the Listed Summer Juvenile Stakes for Bernard Kantor with his homebred Call To Account.
Brett Crawford gave an inkling of what was to come, winning the inaugural KUDA Sprint. The prospect of a 20 horse cavalry charge for R1 million in a field of 2yos is something of a daunting prospect, but Corne Orffer brought Mrs Sherrell’s Bold Respect home in a fighting finish from Wonderwall. The CTS US Dollar sales races swept into their second year and phase 2 with the one million dollars now split in half, allowing two bites at the cherry with an added carrot should the same person own the winner of both races. Having missed out on the Queen’s Plate festival, it was wonderful to see the Hunkydory Investments team on course to lead in their CTS Sprint winner, Live Life. The CTS Mile laurels belonged solely to William Longsword, who put the strong field to bed with a contemptuous 1.75 lengths.
I must comment on the exquisite winning trophies, which are beautifully crafted. Last year Investec produced a documentary explaining the design and manufacturing process and they are yet another touch which helps set the day apart.
Hmmm…
Being a stickler for tradition, it was curious to note that the CTS runners had names added to the number cloths, while the Cape Flying field did without – rather odd for a race with Gr1 status. However, Carry On Alice’s distinctive blaze was easy to pick out as she flattened her ears to break her Kenilworth hoodoo. It was a much deserved victory for her delighted connections and great to see our champion trainer and jockey combination secure a Gr1 win.
The day produced another bit of history when Candice Bass-Robinson celebrated her first Gr1 with a very accomplished performance by Nightingale and Anthony Delpech – clearly back to best after his shoulder op – in the Klawervlei Majorca Stakes. Congratulations to the Mauritzfontein / Wilgerbosdrift team, who have yet another good filly to add to their broodmare band.
Fantastic Frankie
Frankie Dettori added a touch of fun (photo: hamishNIVENPhotography)
While only 9 starters took their place for the Investec Cape Derby, the crowd got their money’s worth from an ebullient Frankie Dettori who rode a beautifully judged race, getting the jump on the field to steer Edict of Nantes to a clear victory and another win on the card for Brett Crawford. He also thrilled the crowd with one of his famous flying dismounts. Securing Frankie for the day was a coup for the organisers and Frankie rose to the occasion. He was in Gallic good humour all day, smiling and waving to the crowd, posing good-naturedly for photographs and adding a touch of flair and fun to the day’s proceedings.
Frenchman Stephane Pasquier also added to the visiting jockey ranks and, having made his visit a busy one with rides at Turffontein, the Vaal, Fairview and Kenilworth, got a solid working tour of our local horses and facilities. The inaugural Sun Met also saw a high quality field turn up to do battle and when one is presented with a field of horses of this quality, all you can do is be grateful for days, sponsors and races like this. It is always a shame that only one can win when so many deserve to, but given the spirit of the day, there could be no more appropriate winners than the Whisky Baron Kieswetter boys and their brass plaque and they were soundly cheered home. Also a very nice touch was the post race parade with Greg Cheyne taking Whisky Baron for a victory canter to show off his sash to an appreciative crowd. Huge congrats to Brett Crawford and his team on their third Met victory.
The Cape Stayers is always a crowd pleaser with the horses jumping right in front of the grandstand and I was chuffed to see Krambambuli and Aldo Domeyer celebrate a well deserved win for Snaith Racing.
Brett Crawford saddled his fourth winner of the day in Winter Prince in the Richmark Holdings Handicap (with a son of previous Met winner, Imperious Sue) and he and the stable deserve special fuss for a stellar day’s results.
‘Uncle Den’ Dennis Drier and Sean Veale grabbed a nail-biter in the penultimate race of the afternoon with the daughter of Horse Chestnut, The High Life and the Snaiths bookended the meeting with their winner in the last, Gimme Six with Gavin Lerena in the saddle for Hassen Adams. As the sun set over Kenilworth and the last of the horses were loaded for the drive home, the racing fraternity handed over the reins to the party crowd.
Fun for Everyone
The ‘Decades of Glamour’ theme went down well with the crowds (photo: hamishNIVENPhotography)
Huge congrats to the sponsors and organisers who achieved a very successful first crack of the whip. Although plans for a bridge across the chute could not be realised, the logistics worked well. The course looked beautiful, there were no problems with starting stalls, loose horses or any other mishaps and there was certainly plenty on the card to please the purist. As a bit of fun, the breeding fundis would have enjoyed seeing all of Cloth Of Cloud, Silver Mountain and Helderberg Blue (all out of Our Table Mountain) in the CTS Sprint, Majorca and Cape Stayers respectively; full brothers Red Ray and Brutal Force lined up against each other in the Cape Flying Championship and William Longsword and his half sister, Real Princess represented their family in the CTS Mile and Majorca Stakes.
There were equal amounts of blue blooded racing folk on course, with a large gathering of the Garrett and Laird family appropriately stationed in the first floor Garrett Bar. It was a privilege to get a warm hug from Marlene Laird, frail but still full of life and good humour and getting to share some of their racing stories and memories. Syd Garrett single-handedly won 11 Metropolitan Stakes during his career, with Russell, Syd and Alec Laird collecting another 6 between them to date. With Syd Garrett’s youngest daughter, Glendyr and members of the extended Laird family having travelled from far and wide to attend the race was a bit of solid gold racing provenance, particularly on such an auspicious day. It was rather a shame their presence wasn’t made more of.
There seemed enough entertainment on course to keep the day trippers happy without the need for the ‘doef-doef’ music of years gone by and the horses and crowds co-existed very happily. I bumped into Sun International’s Rob Dalton on the apron towards the end of the day, who expressed satisfaction with how the day had gone. With no post race press conference it is hard to know what the day’s attendance and turnover were, but it seemed a very promising start to what will hopefully grow into a long and lasting partnership. Cheers!
