Between them, Vardy and Hawwaam threw different spanners into the 2020 Gr1 Sun Met mix in the L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate on Saturday.
Today is the final opportunity to supplement an entry – it costs R22 770 – into the 2000m weight-for-age contest to be run over 2000m at Kenilworth on Saturday 1 February,
Is this a taste of the Vardy elation to come on 1 February? (Pic – Chase Liebenberg)
After Saturday, Mike de Kock’s Irish-bred Queen Supreme, an outstanding winner of the Cartier Gr1 Paddock Stakes is a possible Met supplementary, although her connections may opt for the softer Majorca Stakes route.
South Africa’s leading bookmakers Hollywoodbets adjusted the Sun Met betting after the Queen’s Plate with Hawwaam retaining favouritism at just over 15-10 and with Vardy coming in to 22-10.
See the Hollywoodbets Met ante-post market here
“I think our adjusted betting pretty much sums it up. Hawwaam is clearly not the superstar that everyone has made him out to be and, despite the fact that he is a champion, he is certainly beatable. And if it were not for the fact that all the horses were affected by the delay at the start debacle it appears that the public will think he is the only one that suffered. That is the major reason he is still favourite,” suggests Hollywoodbets Patrick Bradley.
Bradley said that Vardy has shown in his last two comprehensive victories how much he has improved and is indeed the rising star and without a doubt is now the horse to beat.
He feels that One World is very consistent but is well held.
“Then we have last year’s runner-up Do It Again, who is clearly not at his best but certainly cannot be written off as well as 2019 Met winner Rainbow Bridge, who is incredibly honest and consistent.”
He is of the opinion that Soqrat (8,80 lengths off Vardy on Saturday) has had a tough season and could quite possibly give the race a miss.
None of the other current Sun Met horses on the day really put their hands up as serious contenders.
The Met weights will be published later today.
Declarations are due by 11h00 on Monday 20 January.
