Jan Van Goyen will be out to land a third Gr 1 (Picture: Wayne Marks)
Klein Jan Can Outrun His Older Rivals
Jan Van Goyen’s task of keeping the big guns at bay in the straight after he has hit the front in the L’Ormarins King’s Plate on Saturday will be akin to the Little Dutch Boy plugging the dyke with his thumb, such is the quality of older horses he faces!
The small three-year-old, who is named after a street in Holland which in turn is named in honour of a renowned Dutch landscape painter, can certainly not be considered a good thing to win the country’s most prestigious mile.
There are some negative points in his form.
Furthermore, he now faces a field of the best horses in the country.
However, the visual appearance of his Gr 1 Hollywoodbets Cape Guineas win is what gives him the edge.
He had been defeated before that by Trust in the Gr 2 Jackpot City Dingaans and the form of that race was done no favours by the fourth and fifth-placed horses Shadowfax and Copper Eagle, who subsequently failed to win Graduation Plate races and were beaten in those races by 98-rated and 94-rated horses respectively.
On the other hand, Shadowfax and Copper Eagle were beaten 4,70 and 5,60 lengths by Jan Van Goyen in the Dingaans, which is convincing enough in a sport of fractions.
The Dingaans was also Jan Van Goyen’s reappearance and the race did not pan out well for him, because he was caught wide, while Trust does also look to be a horse with exceptional potential.
Jan Van Goyen had the hard task of winning the Hollywoodbets Cape Guineas just two weeks after the Dingaans and had to travel all the way from Randjesfontein to do it.
Yet, he he made it look like a doddle.
He relaxed beautifully in the running and turned it on in fine style in the straight to win by an effortless 2,75 lengths.
His time of 98.45 seconds was 0,32 seconds quicker than his three-times Gr 1-winning stablemate Dave The King recorded in the Gr 2 Ridgemont Green Point Stakes.
Furthermore, he has had three weeks to settle into his Cape Town environment since the Guineas, and that would be a more ideal scenario than arriving on a float from Johannesburg three days before the race.
On the downside he beat three-year-olds whose form was muddled with none of them standing out in their earlier clashes.
On the upside, the form of the older horses he faces in the King’s Plate is also muddled with none of them dominating.
Nevertheless, Jan Van Goyen now faces the best in the country and it is not just one or two of the best, but an entire field of the best.
Three-year-olds winning the L’Ormarins King’s Plate is a rarity too with only five managing to have done it since World War II.
However, this decade has already yielded three King’s Plate winners, so the trend is changing.
Jan Van Goyen is tipped to win it from his good draw of two.
His stablemate Dave The King gave weight away to most of the horses who finished around him in the Green Point Stakes and he has likely come on from the run, so he should make a bold bid from the front from pole position under Ryan Munger.
The Real Prince was also carrying a 2kg Gr 1 penalty in the Green Point and will have come on from that run, so expect a fast finish from him and he should go close.
Sail The Seas is well drawn and was the second best performer at the weights in the Green Point, so he can do well from draw five.
Gladatorian was experiencing a left hand turn for the first time in the Green Point, so will have learnt from the experience and he has had another gallop around the turn since. He carried a 2kg Gr 1 penalty in the Green Point and will improve on his 3,25 length beating.
See It Again is full of class and if jumping on terms and bringing his best he will be right there.
Garrix finished like an express train in the Green Point after jumping from draw nine and has a similar draw here. It is his peak run and he has a winning chance too.
Eight On Eighteen is full of class, but this trip is short of his best and it is his seasonal reappearance after a six month layoff. It is unrealistic that a horse of such class will finish out of the frame, but the ones selected ahead of him just seem to be more likely winners of the race considering his likely ring rustiness.
Cosmic Speed is close to Sail The Seas and Eight On Eigtheen on Gr 2 WSB Guineas form, but he does have the widest draw of all.
Fire Attack is capable but has had an interrupted preparation and in this calibre of fiield those who have had the best preparations could emerge as the chief contenders.
Jet Force was only beaten 1,90 lengths in the Green Point from pole position and now has his peak run, but has to jump from draw 12. Along with Garrix, See It Again, Sugar Mountain and Questioning he will also be 2kg worse off with Dave The King for a narrow beating in the Green Point, while Sail The Seas will be 1kg worse off.
Sugar Mountain has improved and ran a cracker from a wide draw in the Green Point to be beaten just 1,15 lengths, but he was more forward in fitness than most of the field in that race and it s hard to see him being right up with this quality of opposition when they are at their peak.
Legal Counsel won the Cape Mile well and beat the like of Sugar Mountain and Garrix, but he has never faced a field of this quality before and has to jump from draw eleven.
They are selected in the order mentioned, but not with too much confidence as this is one of the most competitive L’Ormarins King’s Plates seen in many years.
The horses that are so close together are all high class, so it is an eagerly anticipated renewal!
It is going to be a humdinger!
