Double Superlative’s WSB Cape Town Met victory was miraculous, considering what he had been through (Picture: Wayne Marks)
Prolific Durban owner Nick Jonsson has revealed how against the odds the WSB Cape Town Met win of his comeback star Double Superlative really was.
He praised trainer Justin Snaith for an incredible training feat before confirming the five-year-old Twice Over entire did have a stud career ahead of him and the Met was likely to have been his last race.
Jonsson and Snaith retained their Met crown having won it last year with Jet Dark.
Jonsson has finished one-two before in his hometown’s biggest race, the Hollywoodbets Durban July, but Saturday might have topped that.
Not only did he finish one-three-four in the Met with Double Superlative, Without Question and See It Again, but he had earlier won both the R7.5 million Gold Rush over 1600m with Rapidash (Danon Platina) and the Listed Summer Juvenile Stakes over 1100m with Roman Agent (Vercingetorix).
Snaith trains all of those horses except for See It Again.
England-based Daniel Muscutt rode Double Superlative, becoming the first overseas-based jockey to win the Met, and Jonsson praised every aspect of his contribution.
Grant van Niekerk rode Roman Agent and Rapidash.
Snaith, Jonsson and Van Niekerk nearly capped their memorable day with victory in the Gr 2 New Turf Carriers Western Cape Stayers when yet another Jonsson-owned Twice Over, the Snaith-trained gelding Triple Time, failed to get there by a short-head.
Nick said about Double Superlative, “He’s an extraordinary horse, but Justin has done an unbelievable job to get him there. He had a very serious tendon injury and the chances of him ever running again were very slim let alone getting him back to that level. We took a long time to get him right and then when he came back into training he had the most terrible attack of colic and they literally thought they might have to euthanise him. Justin drove him to the hospital at one o’clock in the morning and they operated on him. That was about seven months ago. To have won the Cape Guineas so comprehensively and then come back after all that and win the Met is quite extraordinary.”
Nick added, “Walking in the cold water every day is very helpful for healing leg injuries. Mike Stewart is on Noordhoek beach so we often send horses there for a while to have time in the water. Double Superlative was there for months. John McVeigh and Johnny Cave were amazing too. They looked after him when he had the injury. John McVeigh had just had a huge back oparation, so he was lying on his back at the time unable to move, but I talked to him everyday and he would give me his opinion of the x-rays. Johnny Cave was doing all the treatment, so Double Superlative was in KZN for quite a while and from there he went straight to Mike Stewart.”
Although Jet Dark is by Trippi and Double Superlative is by Twice Over, both of the Snaith-trained Jonsson-owned Met winners are out of Jet Master mares.
This is paricularly poignant because Nick’s Uncle Hugh Jonsson bred the great seven-times champion sire Jet Master.
Double Superlative was bred by Jet Master’s owners, Pat and the late Henry Devine.
Jet Dark, who was also a dual winner of both the Gr 1 wfa L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate and Gr 1 wfa Champions Cup, is already at stud and Jonsson said about Double Superlative, “The chances of him running again are very slim. I don’t think he’s got anything more to do. He will definitely be going to stud. There is plenty of time and there are no thoughts yet on what his next move will be. We will see how he pulls up and take it from there.”
Nick said he had always supported Trippi, buying them every year from day one, and he had done the same with Twice Over.
Therefore he lamented there being not a single Twice Over on last week’s Cape Racing Sales Cape Premier Yearling Sale.
Nick has had unbelievable success with Twice Over’s progeny. Double Superlative became the third dual Gr 1-winning Twice Over he has owned following the legendary Do It Again and the latter’s three-parts brother See It Again.
Four-time Gr 1 winner Do It Again is statistically the greatest Durban July horse in history, as is well documented, See It Again won two Gr 1 classic as a three-year-old and Double Superlative has now added Cape Town’s greatest race The Met to his win of the country’s greatest sire-producing race, the Gr 1 Cape Guineas. That is eight Gr 1 wins Twice Over has given Jonsson. Twice Over’s only other Gr 1 winner is Sand And Sea, who, like Do It Again, was from his first crop.
Jonsson also owns Gr 2-winning Twice Over gelding Mucho Dinero, who was a late scratching from the Met, and of course Triple Time.
Nick said about the booking of Daniel Muscutt, “Towards the end of 2022, I had a conversation with William Haggas and told him we needed to bring another Engand-based rider out for the summer because we sometimes have more horses in big races than we have top class jockeys for and I said, ‘Who’s an up and coming young guy who can benefit?’, because the top riders all go and ride overseas during their winter. He said, ‘That is easy … Dan Muscutt is the guy.’ I spoke to Dan and he couldn’t come at that time. But about a month ago, out of the blue, we heard he was coming to Cape Town over this period and we immediately said ‘Let’s grab him.’ We tried to fill his book. Hell he rode well and is a charming young man, brilliantly professional. I can’t praise him more highly in all aspects. He rode work on every one of the horses. He walked the whole course on Friday with Justin and he rode Double Superlative exactly as Justin had asked him too. About a furlong and-a-half out switching inward was very smart, because the outside gap was closing. We were thrilled to have Dan and there is no question he will come back again.”
It was a hot day on Saturday and Double Superlative receives a welcome splashing after his famous victory from trainer Justin Snaith. It was Snaith’s third Met win. (Picture: Wayne Marks)
Nick was also full of praise for Rachel Venniker’s ride on Without A Question. His good thirds in the Gr 1 Splashout Cape Derby and Gr 1 Daily News 2000 had both come after being in handy positions from where he did not have to break stride and on Saturday he finished third again from a handy position. Rachel delivered Justin Snaith’s instructions to perfection.
See It again was a major disappointment in fourth place.
However, Nick said, “He’s just flat at the moment. We don’t know exactly, but he might have an underlying virus, because he doesn’t look himself and has just not been himself since before the King’s Plate. Everybody was saying I was going to win the Met, but I was replying ‘just be careful’, because there was a six length turnaround with him and Charles Dickens. I am sure Charles Dickens improved, but he didn’t improve six lengths. See It Again went backwards a lot and it was a terrible run in the King’s Plate. People explained it away by saying he’s not a miler, which is not correct. He is a fantastic miler (as his record attests to, although he is probably at his best over 2000m). So he should never have been 5/10 for the Met and we were worried about him, although his bloods getting closer to the race were good.”
Saturday’s race did not pan out perfectly for See It Again, but Nick said, “Whatever happened in the race, See It Again would not have won, it was not his day. He’s a fantastic horse, but he’s flesh and blood and horses can’t always be at their best, but we hope to see him back up there in the Champions Season.”
Nick praised Grant van Niekerk for his ride on the gelding Rapidash to win the lucrative Gold Rush. He likes the progeny of Danon Platina and believes Rapidash has a bright feature race future.
He said, “I don’t know how he was so long in the betting, because he’s a very nice horse with good form and he gets the mile easily. Most of those runners were sprinters. We were reasonably confident that we would win that race. Grant rode him fantastically I thought. That 13 draw was a blessing in disguise because he had to settle him at the back of the field and we knew that most of the field would be stopping because they’re sprinters. Rapidash will win us more races, I’m pretty sure of that … I think he’s got much more to come. I like Danon Platina and his time will come. I had a Danon Platina colt in the second race and Dan Muscutt was very complementary about him … this colt (Great Plains) was very green and has a nice stride.”
Nick owns the Kilimanjaro Bloodstock-bred Rapidash in partnership with Douglas Ross.
Nick was also thrilled with Roman Emperor. He had believed this grey Varsfontein Stud-bred Vercingetorix colt might go close to being the sales sales topper at last year’s National Yearling Sale and was surprised to secure him for R1 million. The reason might have been because his dual Gr 1-producing dam Secret Of Victoria is old. Secret Of Victoria is a daughter of the Champion broodmare and famous matriarch Mystic Spring, so Nick took his chances. It looks likely to pay dividends as he has won two out of three and already has bold black type. His wins have been eyecatching too.
Nick said, “He might run in the Nursery on Derby day and will then be put away … he is not going to go to Durban that is for sure.”
Nick thought Triple Time might have got up from the angle he saw the finish from.
He said. “He’s taken time to mature, but he’s going fo get better. He’s a lovely horse and will win us a big race one day I’m sure.”
He added, “I was very pleased that Mrs Plattner won that race though, because she puts so much into racing and it was wonderful she had a big race win on Met day when she was there.”
Nick had 12 runners on the day and the only other disappointing one besides See It Again was Call To Unite (Vercingetorix), who now looks unlikely to run in the Spashout Cape Derby.
Nick concluded, “It was a great day. Greg Bortz has done a wonderful job at Kenilworth, the organisation of the meeting was tip top … it’s very exciting.”
