The Candice Bass-trained son of Vercingetorix, Viva’s Liberte, has struck as one who could go places as he gets older and goes over further and he has been gelded and is an entry in the Politician Stakes over 1800m on WSB Met day (Picture: Wayne Marks)
There is always the hope that the three-year-old male crop will be something special and it is not unusual for the eventual champion of the crop to emerge at a later date than January, whilst prominent horses who disappoint midway through the season have been known to bounce back before too.
A look at the last two Equus Champion Three-year-olds, Eight On Eighteen and Green With Envy, shows that they only emerged as potential champions after being stepped up to 2000m.
Eight On Eighteen’s first win of his three-year-old season was in fact in the WSB Met, although he did get close to the top class One Stripe in the Gr 1 Hollywoodbets Cape Guineas.
He ended the season a three-time Gr 1 winner, with all of the wins being over 2000m.
Green With Envy emerged as a potential champion after his effortless Gr 1 Cape Derby win and he went on to win the Gr 2 WSB Guineas and Gr 1 Daily News 2000 too.
A cloud hangs over Gr 1 Hollywoodbets Cape Guineas winner Jan Van Goyen, who went too fast in the Gr 1 L’Ormarins King’s Plate and appeared to run a flat race too as he was gone quickly in the straight, while his Dingaans conqueror Trust also disappointed over the weekend.
However, it should be remembered that the Equus Champion Three-year-old colt of the 2019/2020 season, Got The Greenlight, ran a 6,25 length fourth in the Gr 3 1400m event that was the equivalent of what Trust raced in on Saturday and he followed that with a relatively poor run in a 1600m Sales race in Cape Town. Got The Greenlight, who like Jan Van Goyen had won the Gr 1 Champion Stakes over 1600m at Hollywoodbets Greyville as a two-year-old, started 14/1 for the Gr 1 SA Classic, an indication of how diminished was his star, but he bounced back to win it. He went on to finish a narrow third in the Gr 1 SA Derby, he won the Gr 1 Daily News 2000 and he finished second in the July. He ended his career a five-time Gr 1 winner.
Big City Life and Legislate were other three-year-old champions who only emerged as potential stars after respectively winning the Cape Derby.
So it is not too late for a star to emerge from the current crop.
However, the crop’s reputation is in tatters at the moment.
The general overview is that the Cape Town three-year-old form was muddled and Jan Van Goyen put them in their place in the Cape Guineas, but he then blotted his copybook on Saturday and his conqueror in the Gr 2 Jackpot City Dingaans, Trust, then followed suit by disappointing in the Gr 3 Got The Greenlight Stakes on Sunday.
Jan Van Goyen and Trust will have to bounce back or other potential stars will have to emerge in the WSB Met, Splashout Cape Derby or Highveld Triple Crown series for faith to be restored in this crop.
There are plenty of middle distance to staying types who have likely not been seen at their best yet, with the like of Viva’s Liberte, Better Man and Fox On The Run likely to come into their own as they get older and go over further, while Happy Verse has always struck as top class and Gimmie Rules should also come into his own soon, while Jan Van Goyen and Trust should both bounce back.
