Cousin Casey’s last win in the Gr 2 Punters Cup at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth in November 2022, 20 months ago. (Picture: Wayne Marks).
A sequence will be kept going if Cousin Casey wins the Gr 1 HKJC Champions Cup on Sunday (July 28) at Hollywoodbets Greyville.
Brett Crawford won it with Sail South in 2017 and with Captain America in 2018, Eric Sands won it with Rainbow Bridge in 2019 and with Golden Ducat in 2020 and Justin Snaith won it with Jet Dark in both 2021 and 2022.
Sean Tarry won it last year with Princess Calla and will keep the sequence of trainers having two successive winners going if Cousin Casey wins it on Sunday.
Furthermore, Richard Fourie has ridden one of the winners in all three of those aformentioned doubles and he rode Princess Calla last year, so he would have to lose on Dave The King on Saturday to keep that particular dimension of the sequence going.
Cousin Casey has not had the best of luck with draws in Gr 1s this season, drawing eleven in the Betway Summer Cup, 13 in the Wilgerbosdrift HF Oppenheimer Horse Chestnut Stakes, 12 in the Premier’s Champions Challenge and 15 in the Gr 1 Hollywoodbets Durban July.
However, he did draw well in two in the Gr 1 Hollywoodbets Gold Challenge and made the most of it, finishing a 2,20 length second to Dave The King.
He is now drawn in pole and the distance should be right down his alley, considering he finished second in all of the Gr 2 IOS Drill Hall Stakes over 1400m, the Gold Challenge over 1600m and the July over 2200m.
Dave The King, on the other hand, is probably at his best over a mile as he does take quite a hold.
Cousin Casey does well under S’Manga Khumalo, who rides him for the fourth time in succession, and he is third favourite with Hollywoodbets on 5/1 behind See It Again (18/10) and Dave The King (4/1).
