Will We See It Again?

Michael Roberts rode his only Met winner fifty years ago and returns to the scene of his maiden Grade 1 success as a trainer on Saturday 25 January in a bid to win the Cape showpiece again – this time as a trainer.

For those old enough to remember, Captain & Tennille’s smash hit ‘Love Will Keep Us Together’ was topping the charts in a time now mostly long forgotten.

‘Muis’, as the living legend is fondly known, steered the Cyril Rickaby-trained champion Sledgehammer to victory in the then Benson & Hedges Metropolitan on 18 January 1975, beating present-day Summerveld neighbour Garth Puller on Elevation by 2,25 lengths.

Fast forward to Hollywoodbets Kenilworth on 25 February 2023 and Piere Strydom brought See It Again through with a pulsating finish to beat local champion Charles Dickens and win the SplashOut Gr1 Cape Derby.

That was a momentous moment for the 70 year old trainer, who became the first KZN trainer since Dennis Drier who saddled The Sheik in 2000 to win the historic classic.

Muis now looks to repeat the Grade 1 achievement with the same horse and jockey in the World Sports Betting Cape Town Met on 25 January.

Talking to the Sporting Post after his raceday at Hollywoodbets Scottsville on Sunday, Muis said that See It Again’s L’Ormarins King’s Plate effort could be ignored as he had rapped a joint.

“We have got him back to himself now and it makes sense to go for the Met again. He ran fourth behind Double Superlative last year and Piere (Strydom) naturally knows him very well.”

Interestingly, the two champions have only won the Met once each. Muis , as we already mentioned, in 1975 on Sledgehammer, while Striker won on Angus in the Plattner silks back in 2003. They certainly, with respect, would be the combined oldest-trainer jockey combination in recent living memory to lift the silverware next Saturday!

 

Talking to the Sporting Post last Sunday, after saddling Northern Warrior to win the final race on his tribute raceday, the eleven-times SA champion recalled that the first running of the Hollywoodbets Scottsville feature named in his honour was in 1990, when won by Toorak.

Dawson Trail won the Michael Roberts Handicap in 1992, the year he became only the sixth non-British or Irish jockey to land the UK Flat Racing Jockeys’ Championship, having ridden 206 winners during the season.

He recalls having won his own race five times – three as a jockey and twice as a trainer. He saddled West Coast Gold to win in 2008 and followed up in 2009 with the Australian-bred Tropical Empire.

“It’s a great honour and I appreciate the acknowledgement and tradition that has well and truly stood the test of time,” added Muis as the only recipient of an annual raceday in South Africa.