An epic clash will happen between Charles Dickens and Jet Dark on January 7 at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth over 1600m as Kevin Sommerville, the racing manager of Drakenstein Stud, has confirmed the former is all set to take his place in the Grade 1 weight for age L’Ormarins King’s Plate.
Sommerville said, “Charles Dickens’ next target is likely to be the L’Ormarins King’s Plate. He pulled up well from the Guineas and both Gaynor (Rupert) and Candice (Bass-Robinson) are happy for him to take his place in the King’s Plate.”
Sommerville said a discussion about overseas ambitions or a stud career for Charles Dickens had not happened yet.
He said, “We will be taking it one step at a time.”
He continued, “He is a special horse and Gaynor is at present just enjoying every moment of his career.”
Gaynor will be especially looking forward to the King’s Plate.
She has sponsored this premier weight for age event for some twenty years and has famously turned it into a meeting with its own special atmosphere. It has become known as “The Royal Ascot” of the South African racing circuit thanks to her meticulous and innovative marketing efforts.
Her Drakenstein Stud have never before won this race as owners, although they did breed Jet Dark, who has won the last two renewals.
Both Jet Dark and Charles Dickens, a Drakenstein homebred, are by the stud’s outstanding stallion Trippi.
Gaynor described last Saturday, where Charles Dickens put up a performance for the ages to win the Grade 1 R2 million Hollywoodbets Cape Guineas in effortless fashion, as her best ever day on a racecourse.
Kevin said, “He is a very, very smart horse, but we don’t yet know quite how far he can go. Each step is a graduation to the next class. The King’s Plate is a huge step up from the Guineas and will give him his best chance yet of showing his true ability.”
Jet Dark put up a performance for the ages himself in last year’s L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate (the name of the race has changed to King’s Plate since King Charles III ascended to the throne after the passing of Queen Elizabeth II).
Jet Dark’s finishing burst in the last 200m of last year’s race showed him to be a world class race horse.
In the previous year’s race Jet Dark became only the second three-year-old since Yataghan in 1973 to win the Queen’s Plate (the other three-year-old being Gimmethegreenlight in 2012).
So that is what Charles Dickens is up against.
A win will see his stardom rise to a new level.
Kevin spoke of the impact Charles Dickens had had on the racing public.
He said, “It was wonderful to see so many people on course on Saturday to witness this really outstanding horse and hopefully he can continue his career in similar vein.”
The inspiration for the mating which produced Charles Dickens was his full brother, called Charles, fetching R6 million at the sales.
The latter went on to finish second in the Grade 1 Cape Derby, second in the Grade 3 Track And Ball Derby and second in the Grade 2 Emperor’s Palace Charity Mile.
Another full-brother, four-year-old Somerset Maugham, recently won the Listed Settlers Trophy over 2000m at Durbanville.
Charles was an eye-catching individual, as his sales price bears testament to, and Kevin confirmed Charles Dickens had also been a fine looking foal.
He said, “He was always an outstanding individual right from the beginning. He is not big and not small, but is incredibly well balanced and well proportioned. His physical make-up works well for him. He is very much in his father’s mold. His mother is an exceptionally beautiful daughter of Dynasty. She is a classic, high class mare and Trippi/Dynasty is turning out to be a good cross.”
Other examples of the cross are Grade 2 KZN Guineas winner Wild Coast and Grade 2 Western Cape Fillies Championship winner Amanzimtoti, who are both by Trippi out of the Dynasty heroine Beach Beauty.
Trippi is now 25 years old and, although still covering a few mares, is in his twilight years as a sire.
Charles Dickens is a natural successor to the great stallion, as is Jet Dark, although the latter is owned by Nick Jonsson and Tommy Crowe.
However, for now, both the connections and the racing public can’t wait to see Charles Dickens in action on the racecourse again.
