Eight On Eighteen became the first horse since the Syd Garrett-trained Feltos in 1945/1946 to win both the Met and the Cape Derby in the same season. (Picture: Wayne Marks).
Graeme Hawkins (Gold Circle)
Predictably, the warm order favourite Eight On Eighteen (11/20) followed up on his sensational WSB Cape Town Met (Gr1) victory over 2000m four weeks ago by taking out the R1,5-million Grade 1 SplashOut Cape Derby over the same track trip at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth on Saturday. But whereas Eight On Eighteen’s “Met” success was hugely impressive, it is probably fair to suggest that his Derby victory over the weekend was “workmanlike” rather than eye-popping, but the 3yo son of Lancaster Bomber got the job done as Champions do.
In his post-race interview, Justin Snaith expressed the view that Eight On Eighteen is still very much on the immature side and a long way from being the finished article. On that basis owners Nick Jonsson and Johan Rupert have lots to look forward to but in the meantime, they can bask in the glory of a second Grade 1 success in the space of a month. On a day when times were generally faster than average, Eight On Eighteen stopped the clock at 126,01 seconds, exactly two seconds slower than standard, and well outside the 123,68 seconds he put up when winning the “Met”.
Now the Handicappers face the unenviable task of trying to make sense of the result, but perhaps they will conservatively accept that Eight On Eighteen ran nowhere close to his official rating of 127 and show some leniency to the placed horses Sail The Seas (103), Garrix (97) and Native Ruler (91). Eight On Eighteen, bred by the Drakenstein Stud, has now won four of his eight starts to date with career earnings of R4,7-million and has been partnered to all his victories by Champion jockey Richard Fourie.
Gimme A Prince was all the rage to win the Grade 2 R600 000 Khaya Stables Diadem Stakes over 1200m and he duly delivered under Craig Zackey in the colours of the race sponsor for trainer Dean Kannemeyer. Gimme A Prince tracked the slower than expected pace set by Royal Aussie and Seeking The Stars but the 6yo son of Gimmethegreenlight quickened smartly when called for his effort and was never really in danger of defeat, although the winning margin fell way short of his spectacular victory in the Cape Flying Championship (Gr1) a month ago. Café Culture stayed on strongly to grab the runner-up berth with Questioning completing the Trifecta.
Earlier in the day, Gimme A Prince’s full brother, The Real Prince, showed a clean pair of heels to his rivals in the R275 000 City Of Cape Town Jet Master Stakes (Listed) over 1600m. See It Again drifted ominously from 5/10 to start at 2/1 as the money came in buckets for The Real Prince who eventually went off as the tote favourite. Disappointingly, See It Again was a spent force approaching the final 300m and The Real Prince accelerated smartly from the back half of the field to win unextended by five lengths. This was his first attempt at 1600m, and the manner of victory suggests that the team of Lady Laidlaw, Craig Zackey and Dean Kannemeyer have plenty more to look forward to with The Real Prince.
Zackey and Kannemeyer also took out the R250 000 Schweppes Cape Fillies Classic (Listed) over 1800m with the progressive Give Me Everything (9/2) for Owner/Breeder Varsfontein Stud. Give Me Everything has now won three on the bounce and she leaves the impression that the further she goes, the better she will be.
The R250 000 SplashOut Prix Du Cape (Gr3) over 1400m produced a thrilling finish with less than a length covering the first four home at the line. Siddeley, yet another Stakes winner for the ill-fated Lancaster Bomber, was given a perfect ride by Gavin Lerena and the Lammerskraal owned and bred 4yo filly stayed on strongly to deny Princess Izzy, Mon Petite Cherie and Mia Moo in a driving finish. The odds-on favourite Roccapina had no luck in running when travelling strongly and searching for a way through down the inside, but for which she would almost certainly have gone close to winning.
The race meeting opened with a super impressive performance by the Gqeberha based 2yo daughter of Canford Cliffs, Direct Hit, who ran her local rivals ragged to land the R1-million SplashOut Cape Of Good Hope Nursery (Gr3) over 1200m in the very quick time of 69,47 seconds – faster than Gimme A Prince recorded when winning the Diadem. Trained by Alan Greeff and ridden by Richard Fourie, Direct Hit was never headed and had nearly three lengths to spare over Winter Snap at the winning post. Direct Hit was bred at Ridgemont who race the filly in partnership with Hollywood’s Devin Heffer.
Craig Zackey completed his four-timer in the final event when steering home the Adam Marcus-trained My Only Weakness to a narrow but cosy victory in this Class 4 Handicap (F&M) over 1400m. Sporting blinkers for the first time, the consistent My Only Weakness showed improved resolution to hold off Miraculous by less than half-a-length.
