Justin Snaith and Nick Jonsson must be a short price to claim a fifth WSB Met in succession together such was the obvious well-being of the 2025 winner and 2024/2025 season Equus Horse Of The Year Eight On Eighteen at Hollywoodbets Durbanville on Saturday. Jonsson owns the Drakenstein Stud-bred Lancaster Bomber entire in partnership with Johann Rupert (Picture: Wayne Marks)
The former Equus Horse Of The Year Eight On Eighteen pulled off a fine comeback victory in an A Stakes race over 1400m at Hollywoodbets Durbanville on Saturday and there were a number of other notable performances on the day.
Eight On Eighteen gave 4,5kg to the progressive Dean Kannemeyer-trained four-year-old Hawwaam gelding Hah Lah Lah and as they entered the final 150m it looked like it was all over with Hah Lah Lah half-a-length clear and not stopping over his probable optimum trip. However, Eight On Eighteen was then given a couple of backhanders by Richard Fourie and he literally cruised past Hah Lah Lah. He was eased by Fourie late, which allowed Hah Lah Lah to get within a short-head. The Justin Snaith-trained superstar’s victory was ominous and his rivals for the Gr 1 L’Ormarins King’s Plate and Gr 1 WSB Met would have taken note with trepidation.
That was a second race in succession Kannemeyer and Craig Zackey had lost by a hair’s breadth. In the previous race the Rafeef first-timer Royal Eagle had made a bold bid to hold on from the long odds-on favourite Bullet Tooth Tony (Hawwaam). However, the latter, trained by Lucinda Woodruff, just got up on the headbob.
However, Kannemeyer has plenty to still be excited about this season. He later sent out Continue To Dream to win with ease in a C Stakes race over 1400m, forging 3,25 lengths clear of Ferryman from a handy position and doing it effortlessly under Zackey off an 89 merit rating. It was the clash of the progeny of respective Equus Champion Broodmares, because Ferryman is a Vercingetorix half-brother to the multiple Gr 1 winners Rainbow Bridge, Hawwaam and Golden Ducat, all being out of Jet Master mare Halway To Heaven, while Continue To Dream is a Gimmethegreenlight full-brother to the multiple Gr 1 winners Gimme A Prince and The Real Prince, all being out of Trippi mare Real Princess.
Continue To Dream, now unbeaten in two starts, looks likely to follow in the footsteps of his full brothers, while Kannemeyer and owner/breeder Khaya Stables will have a fine chance of adding yet another Gr 1 Hollywoodbets Cape Guineas to their list of achievments. Kannemeyer has won that iconic sire-producing race six times and done it twice for the owner of Khaya Stables, Lady Christine Laidlaw, with Noordhoek Flyer in 2009 and Capetown Noir in 2012. The pair not only have Continue To Dream in their Guineas bow this season, but also Viva Asterix, a Vercingetorix full-brother to the talented Hollywoodbets Durban July fourth-placed Viva’s Liberte. Viva Asterix is also unbeaten in two starts after winning impressively over 1250m on Wednesday at Hollywoodbets Durbanville over a trip which is likely well short of his optimum and he did it off a 92 merit rating in just his second career start.
Kannemeyer, Khaya Stables and Zackey also won another race on Saturday. Their promising Vercingetorix filly Getorix Princess, who is out of the Gr 1 wfa Jonsson Workwear Garden Province-winning mare Zarina (Master Of My Fate), was sent off as 17/10 favourite in the third race, a maiden for fillies and mares over 1250m and she won cosily by 0,70 lengths. It was her second career start and she could have classic pretensions too.
Justin Snaith had a treble on the day and all of them were with Drakenstein Stud-bred horses. In the second the Futura filly Sauterelle, who is part-owned by Gaynor Rupert’s daugher Caroline, converted 17/10 odds to win her second career start over 1250m by a comfortable two lengths under Fourie, although her time was slower than Getorix Princess’s.
Later, Snaith won with Drakenstein-homebred Verse For Suzanne. This regally-bred filly by Vercingetorix out of former Equus Horse Of The Year Oh Susanna made it two wins in three starts when winning a Class 4 handicap over 1600m by 2,50 lengths off an 83 merit rating as the 5/2 second favourite,. The win gave JP can der Merwe a double as he had won the first race on the Glen Kotzen-trained What A Winter gelding Premier Winter.
Adam Marcus has been in good form and his nine-year-old soldier All About Al, whom he also owns, won for the ninth time in the class 4 eighth race over 1000m off an 87 merit rating under 2,5kg claimer Sifisokuhle Bungane.
The last race saw yet another successful comeback to race-riding for 59-year-old Andrew Fortune. It was his first meeting for more than two months after being injured in a fall and in the last three races, his only three rides on the day, he finished second, third and first. He won on his wife Ashely’s charge Axis Power, a five-year-old Flower Alley gelding, who won a D Stakes race by half-a-length.
