Turf Talk Newsletter – 06 January, 2026

Jan Van Goyen – will he be the new big name or was his Gr 1 Hollywoodbets Cape Guineas win a false dawn? (Picture: Wayne Marks)

The Mike and Mathew de Kock-trained Jan van Goyen will be out to become only the sixth three-year-old to win the L’Ormarins King’s Plate since World War II, but he will on the other hand become the third three-year-old to do it this decade and the second three-year-old in succession.

He is a 2/1 chance with Hollywoodbets to pull it off.

He might be a twice Gr 1 winner already, but is in fact still relatively unexposed, because he won both of his Gr 1s by comfortable margins and without being put under undue pressure by his regular rider Callan Murray.

The winning margins were 3,70 lengths in the Gr 1 World Pool Moment Of The Day Premiers Champion Stakes and 2,75 lengths in the Gr 1 Hollywoodbets Cape Guineas.

In the Champion Stakes his time was 97,63 seconds, which was a touch slower than the 97,39 seconds recorded by the Gr 1 Douglas Whyte Stakes winner Golden Palm and was a lot slower than the 95,63 seconds recorded by I Salute You in the Listed Michel Nairac Stakes Darley Arabian, although the latter was carrying 4,5kg less than Jan van Goyen.

However, Jan van Goyen’s Cape Guineas time of 98.45 seconds was quicker than the Gr 2 Ridgemont Green Point Stakes time of 98.77 seconds by his stablemate Dave The King.

Furthermore, he looked to still have plenty in hand, while Dave The King was at the end of his reserves and being challenged on all sides.

Jan van Goyen’s only defeat over 1600m came in the Gr 2 Jackpot City Dingaans, but that was his first run for four months and he was caught wide without cover.

Jan Van Goyen will receive 5kg from the top rated horse Eight On Eighteen on Saturday, but off an official 118 he is 5,5kg under sufferance with the 129-rated Equus Horse Of The Year.

However, he has not yet had an opportunity to prove himself against older or higher rated horses. The LKP will be his acid test.

Eight On Eighteen, who achieved his high rating over 2000m and 2200m, is making his reappearance and has in fact not run since finishing second in the Hollywoodbets Durban July six months ago. He would obviously prefer further, but did finish a 1,25 length second to One Stripe in last season’s Hollywoodbets Cape Guineas and the latter then went on to win the King’s Plate.

However, Eight On Eighteen was beaten by Sail The Seas in the Gr 2 WSB Guineas the last time he came back from a layoff and he was only a long-head in front of Cosmic Speed in that race. He is a 5/1 shot with Hollywoodbets for the LKP, while Sail The Seas is 25/2 and Cosmic Speed is 33/1.

Dave The King won the Gr 1 wfa Hollywoodbets Gold Challenge and the Gr 2 Ridgemont Green Point Stakes, despite carrying a Gr 1 penalty in the latter race and achieved his 128 rating over this trip and over 1800m.

He is a 10/1 shot whilst See It Again, whom he beat by 0,35 lengths in the Green Point and with whom he will now be 2kg better off with, is 6/1. However, See It Again was coming back from a long layoff in the Green Point and lost two lengths at the start after flyjumping. Furthermore, See It Again’s downfield finish in the Gold Challenge was due to him being severely hampered. He did later beat Eight On Eighteen by 1,35 lengths in the Gr 1 wfa HKJC Champions Cup over 1800m. The bookmakers might also be viewing new trainer Justin Snaith’s Champion Trainer status as worth a point or two on the betting boards.

Dave The King beat The Real Prince by 2,50 lengths in the Green Point and will face him on the same terms in the King’s Plate and yet is 10/1 compared to The Real Prince’s 6/1. The 126-rated The Real Prince was returning from a four-and-a-half month layoff in that race and had caught the eye with an effortlessly fast finish in the Gr 2 IOS Drill Hall Stakes over 1400m before his Hollywoodbets Durban July win. He also beat Dave The King in the Champions Cup by 2,55 lengths. However, his 126 rating was achieved over that 1800m trip.

If the Champions Cup is a good measure of form for The LKP then it is questionable why the 127-rated Gladatorian is out at 14/1 odds. He won the Champions Cup but was already a 127 from his Gold Challenge run. He was said to have been unusually strong in the Green Point, where he was beaten 3,25 lengths. He was only 0,35 lengths behind Dave The King in the Gold Challenge and was closing fast. That should be a more accurate assessment of his mile ability and he should be more settled on Saturday having seen the course in the Green Point.

Without delving any further into the form it has become clear already from the above discussion that it is somewhat muddled among the older horses and they look to be ripe for a beating by a top newcomer.

On the other hand the horses Jan Van Goyen beat in the Cape Guineas have the same sort of muddled form and the Dingaans form is not looking too good either. Trust does look visually exceptional but he was only 5,10 lengths ahead of an East Cape horse in the Dingaans and 5,40 lengths ahead of Shadowfax, who was subsequently beaten 3,50 lengths in a Graduation Plate by a 98 rated horse at level weights.

In conclusion there are still question marks about Jan Van Goyen, but the visual appearance of his Guineas win make him an exciting prospect and he could give the De Kock yard a second win of the iconic L’Ormarins King’s Plate 15 years after winning it with the mare Mother Russia.

Oisin Murphy’s sole winner in two meetings in South Africa to date was aboard the Justin Snaith-trained Sail The Seas in a Middle Stakes race over 1400m at last year’s L’Ormarins King’s Plate meeting (Picture: Neil Morrice (PA))

David Mollett

Neither King Charles III nor Queen Camilla will be at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth in Cape Town for Saturday’s King’s Plate, but the meeting will still have a star attraction in five-times UK champion jockey, Oisin Murphy.

30 year-old Murphy returns to South Africa to partner eight horses for champion trainer, Justin Snaith. They include Eight On Eighteen in the L’Ormarins King’s Plate and Double Grand Slam in the Gr 1 Cartier Paddock Stakes.

Lambourn-based Murphy is rarely out of the headlines and 2025 was no different. He was involved in a car crash in April and was later charged with driving over the limit. He appeared in Reading Magistrates Court in July and was banned from driving for 20 months and fined 70 000 pounds.

However, Murphy feels 2025 was still a good year.

Interviewed on BBC Radio 4 he said: “You don’t get many chances at life and I have another chance now and this year has been great. I have had lots of big days in the saddle and lots of happy days outside racing as well.”

He added: “People here see me riding winners most days. I have a good life, travelling around the world, often on private flights, helicoptering here and there. But it’s rose-tinted because behind the scenes there can be great turmoil. Any sportsperson realises before they ever get involved that there are going to be good and bad days.”

In the Gr 1 L’Ormarins King’s Plate, Muphy’s mount, Eight On Eighteen, returns after an absence. The son of Lancaster Bomber hasn’t been seen in action since running second in SA’s most popular race, the Hollywoodbets Durban July, some 27 weeks ago.

No surprise then that the market has Mike de Kock’s talented three year-old, Jan Van Goyen, a three lengths winner of the Cape Guineas, as the firm favourite.

The jockeys who miss out as a result of Murphy’s arrival is Richard Fourie and Andrew Fortune.

Fourie is the regular pilot of Eight On Eighteen and also rode Double Grand Slam before his contract with Ridgemont saw Andrew Fortune having to take over.

Fourie could miss out on some jockey percentages of decent prize money. First prize in the King’s Plate is R1 781 250.

Fourie has been booked for Questioning in the King’s Plate and – despite his Matchem Stakes win in September – he faces an uphill task against the likes of Jan Van Goyen, Eight On Eighteen and Gladatorian.

Fourie and Fortune know the strength of Double Grand Slam but have serious chances of upsetting the Snaith-trained favourite in the Paddock Stakes in which Fourie rides the Ridgemont homebred James Crawford-trained filly, Reet Petite, who has won three of her four starts, while Fortune is aboard Wish List, who has just 1,25 lengths to make up on Reet Petite from the Gr 1 WSB Cape Fillies Guineas.

Murphy has a chance of kicking off Saturday’s meeting with a winner as his mount, Sweet Green, made a pleasing debut when second over the course and distance last month. The filly will sport the colours of Gaynor Rupert, backer of the L’Ormarins King’s Plate.

His mount in the Gr 2 Premier Trophy, Okavango, will strip fitter following his comeback run in November and has an each-way shout against Regulation, Zeitz and former Aidan O’Brien inmate, The Equator.

Laurence Wernars Told the success story of his life in Off The Record colum no. 59

This year’s Off The Record columns covered a wide range of ground, but a common thread ran through them: voices worth listening to and moments worth preserving. This wrap reflects on some of the quotes and anecdotes from the 45 columns in 2025 that added colour, context and humanity to the sport. The year started with OTR # 58, a fun piece on bizarre predictions for the racing industry entitled, Things That May Or May Not Happen in 2025.

Click here to read Charl Pretorius’ Review Of The Racing Year

Loch Tay won one out of two starts in Ireland and has won one out of three starts in Hong Kong. He has been tipped to win the last race on Wednesday (Picture: HKJC)

Tim Carroll Of At The Races has a strong fancy for the Club Handicap at Happy Valley on Wednesday, plus two other bets later on the card – the action starts at 12H40 SA Time.

This Wednesday sees a competitive nine-race card from Happy Valley and the final three races of the meeting are all Class 3 contests with race 9, The Des Voeux Handicap, over 6-furlongs, offering prize money of more than £200,000.

Now onto this week’s selections.

Click here for a comprehensive guide to the meeting