Top Sort. Blake looks set to get back to winning ways again
The sun sets on Met day with the running of the crowd pleasing spectacle of the R300 000 Gr2 J&B Jet Stayers over the full 2800m circumference of the Kenilworth summer track. Dean Kannemeyer’s smart son of Dynasty, Blake, goes for a historic double in a race that requires endurance and stamina and will separate the men from the boys.
This race, formerly known as the J&B Reserve Stayers Handicap, sees the field jumping from a starting position practically in front of the grandstands. It creates tremendous excitement at railside with the unique atmosphere, sounds and emotions of a process that very few folk ever get exposed to in their lifetimes.
The stress and finality of the start might be second hand stuff for many of those involved in horseracing, but the novice racegoer often finds the shouting and screaming of desperate instructions and pleas, punctuated with the odd colourful expletive from the brave jockeys in their metal cages, to be cutting edge entertainment.
For the seasoned punter, that nerve wracking spring of the gates can hit one in the core of the being like an executioner’s blade, particularly if the last of the day’s beer money and bus fare is riding on the outcome!
Open Door
The race has attracted a medium sized field but has an open look about it. The 6yo Blake has only won once in his eight starts since last year’s race, but looks well handicapped and appears to be returning to form at just the right time .
Blake’s last season ended on a high note with a superb third in the country’s premier staying event behind his stablemate, In Writing. His Gr1 Ladbroke’s Gold Cup effort earned him a break and he took three runs to find his form and fitness.
His 2,50 length fourth in the Cape Summer Stayers in December was followed by a much better effort when beaten 0,50 lengths by Jeppe’s Reef over the course and distance of a Pinnacle Stakes in mid January.
Solid Stayer. The Mike De Kock trained Ilsanpietro goes for a first Cape win.
Top Game
Blake will have to bring his best game to the track to beat the De Kock visitor Ilsanpietro. The Brazillian-bred son of Mark Of Esteem is a hardknocking multiple Group winning 6yo who has the second Cape outing of his career, after failing to feature in the 2012 J&B Met behind his stablemate Igugu.
He ran 3,85 lengths behind Blake in the Gold Cup, and is now 2,50 kgs better off with the Kannemeyer runner, whom he meets on home turf. Ilsanpietro should strip fit after a two good prep runs in January, and he will be ridden by stable jockey Anthony Delpech.
Phillipi trainer Stan Elley would dearly love to end Met day with a feature winner, and his Silvano gelding Punta Arenas looks overdue to score. With three feature seconds at his last three outings, the 4yo Winter Derby winner may well be crying out for this trip.
He ran a terrific race in the Peninsula Handicap when storming through late, to be beaten only 1,2 lengths by Hill Fifty Four, who takes his place as a fancied horse in the Met.
Consistent. Stan Elley’s Punta Arenas will be finishing strongly
Master Stroke
Darryl Hodgson may have pulled a master stroke with the engagement of leading jockey Piere Strydom, for the frustratingly talented Putney Flyer.
Hodgson’s 4yo son of Miesque’s Approval is a consistent sort, who produces a strong finishing effort and is seldom far off the action. He should suit Strydom’s late-dash style of riding, but is 3kgs worse off with Blake on their Summer Stayers clash, where he finished a half- length in front of the Kannemeyer runner.
Chris Puller jumps into the hot seat aboard the luckless Nysean Bolt, for Greg Ennion. The 2011 Winter Derby winner has been whispered about at his last two starts, but has finished a combined thirty lengths adrift. At his penultimate start in the Cape Summer Stayers, he was ridden very handily by Grant Van Niekerk, and faded to finish 18,35 lengths behind In Writing.
He had no chance in the Peninsula Handicap at his last start when losing many lengths at the start. Both of those runs told us nothing, and if he is half as good as his trainer says he is, he could well pop up and win this race.
Strike One
Stephen Page sends out the Strike Smartly 7yo gelding Two Strikes, who has run two consecutive seconds in this race in the past two years. Felix Coetzee rides our dark horse of the race, who has registered his four wins from 1600m to 2500m. As the winner of the 2010 Gr3 Cape Summer Stayers, he has the ability and class to win a race of this nature – although that is quite some time ago.
Treading Water
Joey Ramsden is always a factor in these staying races, with his superior fitness regimen which includes the extensive use of a very effective treadmill at his yard. He sends out a coupling of Crown Of Gold and the pacemaking, A Boy Named Sue.
Crown Of Gold ran his best race in recent months over serious ground with a flying second to Badger Lake in the Durbanville Cup over 3200m. The winner did not frank that form at his next few runs, but it could be that Crown Of Gold is at his best over this sort of trip and comes in a fit horse.
The presence of the enthusiastic A Boy Named Sue virtually guarantees a genuine pace, and the Caesour gelding is an honest but limited sort. He ran a fair 1,25 length second to last Saturday’s winner Barossa Valley over 2500m at his penultimate start, and is always worth a quartet inclusion.
Girl Talk
The only filly in the race is the Vaughan Marshall trained Dubai Gina, who looks competitively handicapped on 53,5kgs off her 104 rating. Carl Burger’s shock 2011 Gr2 Gold Vase winner Grey Cossack is still trying to win another race, and while showing a glimmer of his old fight last time, looks badly handicapped here.
The unsound Paddy O’Reilly has relocated from Glen Kotzen out in the Boland to the therapeutic environs of Mike Stewart’s scenic Noordhoek yard. While Gr3 placed over 3200m, he has not won for three months short of two years, and would need some improvement to feature.
Second Jackpot
The race will form the final leg of the second jackpot exotic on the day, and warrants the inclusion of at least five runners. Blake and Ilsanpietro represent the class, but the likes of Punta Arenas, Nysean Bolt, Two Strikes and Putney Flyer warrant consideration if things go their way.
Then the game filly Dubai Gina could enjoy the test of stamina, and may embarrass the boys. Enjoy the sunset!
