L’Ormarins King’s Plate day started with one less superstar than it ended because the Brett Crawford-trained Dynasty filly Make It Snappy has put herself in line to achieve superstar status alongside the like of Charles Dickens, Jet Dark, Kommetdieding and Captain’s Ransom.
She won the Grade 1 Cartier Paddock Stakes from start to finish under Luyolo Mxothwa, holding on by 0,30 lengths from last season’s Equus Horse Of The Year Captain’s Ransom, who was out to retain the trophy.
It gave Crawford a second Cape Fillies Guineas/Paddock Stakes double.
He did it with the Sabine Plattner-owned Bad Girl Runs in the 2004/2005 season.
It is not a unique feat as Terrance Millard did the double at least twice and so did David Payne.
The first ever winner of the Grade 1 Cape Fillies Guineas in 1969, the Millard-trained Claneum, also won the Grade 1 Paddock Stakes and following her Palmistry (1973), Artists Pride (1977), Petrava (1985), Olympic Duel (1990), Shepherd’s Moon (1994/95), Hoeberg (2000/2001) and Bad Girl Runs (2005/2006) had also done the double before Make It Snappy became the ninth horse to do it on Saturday.
She gave the Hollywood Syndicate their first ever Grade 1 win in the WSB Cape Fillies Guineas on December 3 and made it two on Saturday.
Owen and Lesley Heffer, owners of Hollywoodbets, were not able to be at the Cape Fillies Guineas as it was run on the same day as their son Tyson’s wedding. It was therefore a special moment on Saturday when they were present this time to lead Make It Snappy in.
Hollywood, who lease Make It Snappy from her breeders Ridgemont Highlands Stud, are clinging on to their lead in the National Owners Championship.
Their runners have earned R6,649,325 but Drakenstein, who have more Grade 1 firepower, are only R623,987 behind.
Make It Snappy might have taken the lead in the points standing part to the Equus Horse Of The Year award as the only twice Grade 1 winner of the season to date.
The most amazing aspect to her success is that she has only had five career outings and and she could still be anything.
She is scopey and progressive so nobody knows how much more she still has to come.
Charles Dickens has been talked of in the same breath as the like of Horse Chestnut and Sea Cottage lately and it would be a harsh critic who said he lost any glitter on Saturday as he would have had to face the brunt of the South Easter coming down the inside for his run and was beaten narrowly.
But could Make It Snappy be such a horse too?
It is not unusual for new superstars to emerge in the second half of the season.
An overseas example springs to mind.
There has seldom been a more hyped horse than Celtic Swing, who in the British winter of 1994 was headlines virtually everyday as the horse who was going to be the next Nijinsky.
Alas, his star faded when beaten a neck in the 2000 Guineas. He went on to win the French Derby before being well beaten in the Irish Derby and retired.
However, by the end of the season history had Lamtarra, whose four run unbeaten career included wins in a Listed event over seven furlongs, and he then won the Derby, the King George and the Arc.
Make It Snappy was supplemented for the Met just before Christmas and will be out to become the first horse in history to do the Cape Fillies Guineas/Paddock Stakes/Met treble.
She did not have an easy time of it getting to the front on Saturday and yet still found extra late to repel the Horse Of The Year. She beat three other Grade 1 winners too, Silver Darling, Sparkling Water and Rain In Holland.
This makes her a particularly exciting prospect.
How good is this rangy bay?
We will all find out on January 28.
