Horse Of The Year! Variety Club is amongst the fifteen L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate entries
Gavin Van Zyl’s outstanding 4yo Slumdogmillionaire is amongst the fifteen first entries for the R1 million Gr1 L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate to be run over 1600m at Kenilworth on 12 January 2013.
Despite a moderate fourth in Wednesday’s Gr3 Christmas Handicap run at Clairwood, the SA Classic winner Slumdogmillionaire is poised for an assault on the J&B Met and is bound to strip a fitter horse in a fortnight from now.
First run in 1861, South Africa’s most prestigious weight-for-age mile has fast grown into one of Africa’s great social and sporting events under the sponsorship of one of this country’s great wine estates.
L’Ormarins is the main estate in the Anthonij Rupert group of farms and is situated in the magnificent Franschhoek area of the Boland.
The farm owned by longstanding breeders and supporters of the sport in South Africa in the Rupert family, has sponsored this great race since 2005.
A Haze Of Blue and White! Pocket Power memories are made of this! Arthur and Rina Webber hold the trophy aloft with Gaynor Rupert and Marsh Shirtliff to the right
The race sponsorship has grown to R1 million today from humble royal beginnings of a prize of a silver plate and 500 sovereigns donated to the winner by Queen Victoria.
The traditional elegant theme of white and blue has captured the quintessential class of a Cape drenched in history and the modern.
While a maximum field of sixteen can be accommodated, the weight terms of the race pander to the purist preference where the best horse is favoured to come out tops.
With current South African Horse Of The Year and magic miler Variety Club in the likely starting line-up, it is possible that more entries can be anticipated as the opposition adopt a wait-and –see approach.
Supplementary entries close on Monday 31 December when the weights are published.
The draws and final field will be announced on Thursday 3 January 2013.
The initial entries:
WHAT A WINTER (5H) 0.0 120 Mike Bass
VARIETY CLUB (4C) 0.0 118 Joey Ramsden
JACKSON (4C) 0.0 116 Brett Crawford
BRAVURA (6G) 0.0 113 B Joey Ramsden
RUN FOR IT (5H) 0.0 109 B Justin Snaith
SLUMDOGMILLIONAIRE (4C) 0.0 109 Gavin van Zyl
CHANGINGOFTHEGUARD (4C) 0.0 107 Justin Snaith
DEPARDIEU (4C) 0.0 107 Dean Kannemeyer
TAIPAN (4C) 0.0 107 Dean Kannemeyer
TRIBAL DANCE (4C) 0.0 107 Vaughan Marshall
CASTLETHORPE (AUS) (5G) 0.0 106 Mike Bass
FABIANI (7G) 0.0 106 Glen Kotzen
ICE MACHINE (4G) 0.0 106 Garth Puller
MARTIAL EAGLE (7G) 0.0 106 Yogas Govender
BULSARA (6G) 0.0 102 Gavin van Zyl
