The Met is in every way the Wimbledon of horse racing in South Africa.
The 2017 iteration of this race is just one step away from being a pure WFA championship event with rules which makes it a ‘WFA plus a single Gr1 penalty’ – and most runners with a real chance would normally have won a Gr1.
Nominations included four 3 year old colts and one filly. The last 3yo to run was KING OF PAIN in 2013 (year of MARTIAL EAGLE).
2013 J&B Met – Martial Eagle
The scarcity of 3yo runners must be partly affected by the proximity of the Cape Derby on the same day.
BELA-BELA is the only filly nominated for a race which really has seen fillies or mares do very well. Receiving 2.5kgs gives females a fighting chance and even though only a few have run in recent years, those few often place.
In the 7 post Pocket Power Mets, only 10 fillies have run. 3 of 10 fillies have won vs 4 of 100 colts. Within that Mother Russia ran 2nd twice, and Beach Beauty 5th and 3rd.
Who is The Horse?
As the nominations came out, it was obvious that reigning Horse Of The Year LEGAL EAGLE looked the obvious favourite.
Legal Eagle beats Marinaresco in the Green Point Stakes
As a lightly raced and brilliantly campaigned champion, Tarry has kept LEGAL EAGLE as far away from handicaps as a trainer could, and after the July as a 3yo has never set foot in one.
The Green Point Stakes on 3 December turned the Met on it’s head from a betting point of view as MARINARESCO’s fantastic turn of speed threw a shadow over LEGAL EAGLE’s professional win.
It was such a display of prowess coming from a prep very similar to LEGAL EAGLE, that anyone who watched had to wonder whether the 0.4L deficit could see the tables being turned with an extra 400m and 0.5Kgs.
The question was no longer if it was possible, but now whether it was probable.
Fear or Favour
The Met’s advantage over the July and the Summer Cup is that aspiring winners do not have to worry about penalties on the way there, and what you get are races like the Green Point and the Queens’ Plate which give you every ounce of Gr1 displays without “fear or favour”.
The Met betting opened reflecting the Green Point result with LEGAL EAGLE and MARINARESCO looking to make it a boat race and being offered about 2/1 the pair and some as low as 16/10 the pair.
Next in the betting were last season’s top 3yo’s IT’S MY TURN, BELA-BELA, and BLACK ARTHUR.
Marinaresco – now outright favourite
But the market quickly remembered that the days of 4yo’s with 53 kgs and 54 kgs have come and gone and the drift set in immediately as the task of carrying 57 kgs to 59.5 kgs made the challenge of tackling LEGAL EAGLE and the hot challenger a bit daunting.
Current 3yo’s still have a job to do and only HEAVENLY BLUE has attracted some early ante-post bets from those prepared to forfeit if the horse does not run.
Marinaresco Outright
Money talks and some significant wagers on MARINARESCO has flipped him to outright favourite and LEGAL EAGLE has slipped a point out as a call for support.
There is some respect for July winner THE CONGLOMORATE, but for the rest shopping around can get big odds on the rest.
Master Sabina – back him at 20-1
MASTER SABINA is one who can win anything as long as it’s a handicap and the Summer Cup champ is 20/1 everywhere.
Some say it’s not a betting race this time, but as usual if what you like wins then that’s not true.
If you can pick either MARINARESCO or LEGAL EAGLE, you are actually being offered odds which could make for a nice bet come the day, and certainly something to double onto.
