Richard Fourie has ridden three of Justin Snaith’s four Cape Derby winners to date. Owner Nick Jonsson’s colours (pictured above) have triumphed in the Cape Derby before, but not with a Snaith-trained runner. The odds are 3/10 that the Snaith/Fourie/Jonsson combination will prevail in the Splashout Cape Derby on Saturday, but on the other hand three of Snaith’s four winners of the big race have been with under the radar runners. (Picture: Chase Liebenberg)
The Great Syd Garrett Of Roamer Lodge trained a horse called Feltos to win both the WSB Met and Splashout Cape Derby in the 1945/1946 season and no horse since has achieved that double in the same season.
The Justin Snaith-trained and Nick Jonsson and Johann Rupert-owned Eight On Eighteen is odds on favourite to pull off this double on Saturday at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth.
The Drakenstein Stud-bred Lancaster Bomber colt is a scopey sort whose class has already carried him into the history books as only the fifth three-year-old since the Second World War to win the Met.
Couple that class and progressive profile with a magnificent turn of foot and proven stamina and he should have no problem beating the other six runners, none of whom are merit rated within 20 points of him.
Eight On Eighteen is officially merit rated 127 and the second highest rated horse in the field, his stablemate Sail The Seas, is only rated 103, while the others are all rated below 100.
That means he is officially 12kg and more well in with the whole field.
Furthermore, he has the record-breaking jockey Richard Fourie aboard and jumps from a plum draw of two.
No wonder his odds are 3/10.
However, the Cape Derby has been known to spring surprises.
It is significant that Justin Snaith has sprung three of those surprises because four of the six rivals Eight On Eighteen faces are Snaith-trained stablemates.
In 2014 the Snaith-trained Dynasty colt Legislate, who was destined to become Equus Horse Of The Year, set sail for home from the tail of the field together with the 6/10 favourite Captain America and despite his odds of 28/1 he outran the latter to win by 1,45 lengths.
In 2016 Snaith sent out the 12/10 favourite Black Arthur, but he could only manage a 2,60 length fourth as his unheralded 16/1 chance stablemate It’s My Turn romped home by two lengths.
In 2022 the Snaith-trained Jonsson-owned Cape Guineas winner Double Superlative jumped at odds of 10/11 in the Cape Derby but proved no match for his stablemate Pomp And Power, who was backed in from 50/9 to 91/20.
Pomp And Power’s resolute gallop in a fast run race took him from midfield to a cosy 1,50 length victory over Universal with Double Superlative beaten 4,75 lengths into third.
Snaith’s only other Cape Derby winner was back in 2008 and on that occasion the result went as expected with the 33/10 joint favourite Russian Sage getting up by 0,25 lengths.
So it could be said that three out of Snaith’s four Cape Derby wins were unexpected.
But on the other hand Richard Fourie has ridden three of his previous Cape Derby winners, Russian Sage, Legislate and Pomp and Power.
Piere Strydom was aboard it’s My Turn but does not have a ride in the big race on Saturday.
Last year an unheralded runner called Oriental Charm, who finished third at odds of 100/1 off an 87 merit rating, needs no introduction today as a 125-rated horse who has won the Hollywoodbets Durban July and finished second in the WSB Met.
So all of the above history just proves Saturday’s race is not as cut and dried as it seems.
Three-year-olds at this time of the year can still be unknown quantities.
A quick glance at Eight On Eighteen’s opposition on Saturday shows that all of them could still blossom into top class thoroughbreds.
The Andre Nel-trained Zeitz (Vercingetorix) has a relaxed style of running and a fine turn of foot, the Snaith-trained Sail The Seas (Vercingetorix) has shown a big action and good turn of foot despite still looking immature, the Piet Steyn-trained Garrix (Vercingetorix) is full of substance and class, the Snaith-trained Native Ruler (Vercingetorix) looks to be in the same resolute-galloping mould as Pomp And Power, the Snaith-trained Dawn Till Dusk has a good action and nice turn of foot and the Snaith-trained Express Yourself (Trippi) is a big, immature sort who will improve plenty if he settles better than he did last time.
Eight On Eighteen will be hard to beat, but it will nevertheless be an intriguing race and more than one star might emerge from it, as was the case last year.
