Dynasty colt Act Of War will be ridden by Anton Marcus
A L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate champion and a Vodacom Durban July winner are just two of the equine luminaries that stand tall on the star-studded Gr3 Cape Classic honour roll in recent years. The traditional first 3yo clash of the Summer Of Champions at Kenilworth today has all the signs of a great race with local hero Act Of War taking on the highly vaunted Mljet.
On the official handicapper’s ratings, Mljet is slung in here and receives as much as 4,5kgs from Joey Ramsden’s champion 2yo of last season, Act Of War.
While this won’t be the first time these two promising colts will clash this season, the outcome will certainly be a psychological one for whoever one comes out tops.
Credentials
The Dynasty colt Act Of War swept all before him last season, winning 3 of his 4 starts, including two features. He has been rested 10 weeks.
On the flipside, Jet Master’s son Mljet was plying his trade on the East Coast and won his first two starts, before an incident- filled third behind Harry’s Son in the Gr1 Thekwini. He has been rested 13 weeks.
Listing the merits of the talented two, neither of whom will be at their peak, is not a difficult task in itself and the process of logical assessment and elimination may work.
The Logic
Joey Ramsden and Anton Marcus
Ramsden won the race last year with Red Ray. Act Of War knows the track. Ramsden enjoys the use of a treadmill. Act Of War can settle or lead. Anton Marcus rides him.
Mljet has 4,5kgs in his favour.
So Act Of War ticks a few more boxes than his adversary.
If only it was that simple!
Second String
The second of the Marshall runners is Al Capitano, who won the second of his six starts at his first start as a 3yo in September.
The victory in a low-key handicap at Durbanville was an indicator of his well-being after just one unsuccessful KZN Champions Season start.
He runs at level weights with his stablemate, and there can be little question as to the stable elect.
Champion Family
Muzi Yeni rides Heartland
Muzi Yeni is in town to pilot Justin Snaith’s runaway debut winner Heartland, a full-brother to champion Jackson.
The Highlands bred son of Dynasty was backed in to odds-on and won on his coconut under Anton Marcus.
He gets weight from the top two (but enough?) and his performance will be one of the fascinating sub-plots of an intriguing race.
Off Day
Glen Kotzen’s Zingaro was beaten by Prince Of Eden on debut but then came out at second time of asking to beat the boom horse Brutal Force on his debut.
Zingaro’s post-maiden effort was not the best run when running some six lengths behind Evening Storm in an MR 77 Handicap.
He was difficult to settle there and jockey Greg Cheyne reported that he had felt something amiss in running. The colt was examined and nothing was found.
If we give him another chance by disregarding that run, he is definitely worthwhile including as a trifecta horse.
Hot Property
Joey Ramsden’s second-stringer is the Silvano colt Prince Of Eden.
Trainer Paul Reeves trains outside hope Moonlight Runner
A long-priced winner at his only run when holding Zingaro to a head, he comes off an eleven week break and has grabbed the best of the draw.
Moonlight Runner is rumoured to be the hottest property in the Paul Reeves string.
The son of Latino Magic has done little wrong since winning his maiden over Saturday’s course and distance and two decent and narrowly beaten seconds at his subsequent starts suggest he is going to be a horse who will pay his way.
This will be the toughest he has faced and his progress will be monitored closely.
Outsiders
Sheer Trouble improved smartly at his second start to shed his maiden beating subsequent runaway winner Bruno over a mile at Durbanville three weeks ago.
The nicely bred son of Silvano is unexposed and thus very difficult to guage.
Dolfie Maeder-trained Saint Donan is the only maiden in the nine-horse field.
He ran on into third on his debut early in September, and would have to be quite special to challenge here.
Boat Race
While the contest is probably a cut and dried boat race between Act Of War and Mljet, it does become murky when we look beyond the two.
Heartland is well related and won beautifully on debut.
Zingaro has shown promise and may have had an off day last time.
Prince of Eden has the draw and is unbeaten.
Moonlight Runner has proven consistent and has a hadny galloping weight. He hails from a yard that we don’t rate amongst the feature winning teams in the Cape. Are we playing with fire?
