The CommunityFest, featuring the Gr2 Cape Punters Cup, launches the 2024/25 Summer Festival Of Racing at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth on 23 November.
The Cape Racing Summer Festival of Racing is arguably the premier season of horseracing in South Africa and offers eight vintage racemeetings from 23 November 2024 to 16 March 2025, all hosted at the Southern Suburbs HQ.
One Stripe – progressive 3yo and Hollywoodbets Cape Guineas candidate (Pic – Chase Liebenberg)
Entries were received on Monday for the Gr2 Cape Punters Cup, previously the Concorde Cup and prior to that the Selangor Cup, which last produced a Cape Guineas winner a decade ago when Joey Ramsden’s Act Of War achieved the feature double.
Prior to that it was Ramsden’s Milnerton neighbour Dean Kannemeyer who had Le Drakkar (2008) and Express Way (2006) go the same prep-feature double-up route.
While the history of it all doesn’t tell us much, we wonder whether the nine strong entry received for the traditional classic prep will include this year’s Hollywoodbets Cape Guineas winner?
CAPE PUNTERS CUP (Grade 2)
| 6 | All Out For Six | Vaughan Marshall | 107 | |
| 1 | Captain West | Brett Crawford | 103 | |
| 7 | Eight On Eighteen | Justin Snaith | 110 | |
| 5 | Empire State | Candice Bass-Robinson | 89 | |
| 3 | French Flame | Dean Kannemeyer | 98 | |
| 9 | Garrix | Piet Steyn | 87 | |
| 4 | Major Master | Candice Bass-Robinson | 85 | |
| 2 | On My Honour | Glen Kotzen | 108 | |
| 8 | One Stripe | Vaughan Marshall | 112 | |
| (9) | ||||
On the face of it, just 9 entries is mathematically disappointing – we had 10 starters in 2023, 16 in 2022, 8 in 2021, 10 in 2020 and 11 in 2019.
Topping the ratings is Vaughan Marshall’s One Stripe (112) who is SA’s joint fifth highest rated 3yo male, with all of those above him, Highveld based.
With stablemate All Out For Six, the son of One World will be a candidate to give veteran Vaughan Marshal’ his sixth Cape Guineas success – his last being Tap O’Noth and William Longsword in 2017 and 2016 – both sons of Captain Al, whom Marshall saddled to win the Guineas in 2000!.
History shows that Snow Pilot was runner-up to stablemate Hluhluwe in the 2023 Gr2 Cape Punters Cup and went on to win the Hollywoodbets Gr1 Cape Guineas.
In 2022 Cousin Casey was the winner – in fact it was the son of Vercingetorix’ last victory ever – of the inaugural Cape Punters Cup, in a field of 16 that did not include Cape Guineas winner, Charles Dickens.
Like Charles Dickens, Double Superlative skipped the Punters Cup won by Pomp And Power in 2021. Snaith’s Twice Over colt came straight out of his Maiden win in September, to a fourth place behind Trip Of Fortune in Gr3 Cape Classic, and then straight into the ‘Classic Of Kings’.
Russian Rock (Grant Behr, outside) silences the crowd as he beats Grant van Niekerk and Linebacker in 2020 (Pic- Chase Liebenberg)
Russian Rock was a shock winner of the Cape Guineas in 2020. He didn’t go the then Avontuur Estate Gr2 Concorde Cup route either.
The 2020 Cape Punters Cup was won by Malmoos, who beat Linebacker, who subsequently went on to chase Russian Rock home in the classic a month later.
Linebacker was to go on, like Green With Envy, and achieve the hat-trick of the Jonsson Workwear Gr1 Cape Derby, the Gr2 KRA Guineas and the Daily News in his 3yo term. He never won again, but did chase Kommetdieding home in the then Vodacom Gr1 Durban July of 2021.
Supplementary entries for the Cape Punters Cup close at 11h00 on Friday 15 November. Declarations are due by 11h00 on Monday 18 November.
