Great Plains will be out to become the third Snaith-trained three-year-old to win the prestigious L’Ormarins King’s Plate. (Picture: Wayne Marks)
Justin Snaith has a fine record in the Gr 1 weight for age L’Ormarins King’s Plate, especially with three-year-olds, and his charges Snow Pilot, Royal Aussie and Great Plains will be out to land him the big race for the fifth time.
Jonathan Snaith said about the three candidates,
“Royal Aussie is one of the most honest horses around and excels in races over a mile. He was the fastest finisher in the 2024 L’Ormarins King’s Plate and is expected to deliver another sterling effort under British Champion Jockey Oisin Murphy.
Great Plains is an aggressive three-year-old, which is why Justin decided to enter him in this Grade 1 race against older rivals. He is in superb form at home and has the potential to deliver a strong performance, even though he has a hard task at the weights with One Stripe.
Snow Pilot is currently in excellent shape and appears to be performing effortlessly. His last victory was impressive, and he seems to have improved since his last encounter with One Stripe in October, where Snow Pilot finished just a length ahead. However, in this rematch, One Stripe benefits from a six-kilogram weight advantage. Snow Pilot has the look of eagles and is match ready.”
Jonathan rates See It Again as the chief danger and said, “See It Again is widely regarded as the best weight-for-age miler in South Africa and deserves the utmost respect, despite a recent trip to Joburg that could count against him.”
Snaith’s first win of the country’s most prestigious weight for age mile was in 2012 with Gimmethegreenlight, who became the first three-year-old to win the Queen’s Plate for 39 years, the previous one to do it being the Syd Laird-trained Yataghan in 1973.
His next win in the big race was with Twice Over gelding Do It Again in 2019.
He later won it two years in succession with the Trippi colt Jet Dark in 2021 and 2022.
Jet Dark became the first three-year-old to win it since Gimmethegreenlight.
All three of Snaith’s King’s Plate/Queen’s Plate winners have achieved fame for various reasons.
Gimmethegreenlight has become a record-breaking stallion. He has been national champion stallion three times and in 2022/2023 was not only leading sire but also the leading sire of two-year-olds and of three-year-olds (the championships are decided on stakes earnings). He was the first to achieve that treble since at least 1953 and he might possibly have been the first in history to have done it. He then repeated the treble last season.
Do It Again became the most succssfull runner in the history of the country’s most famous race, the Hollywoodbets Durban July. He is the only horse to ever run in the July six times and he won it twice and finished in the frame on every one of the other four occasions.
Jet Dark became the first three-year-old for at least fifty years to win two open Gr 1 races as a three-year-old when landing the L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate and the Champions Cup in 2021.
Jet Dark is predicted to do big things at stud too.
