WSB Cape Town MET Challenges Fashion Convention with 2025 Theme
The World Sports Betting Cape Town MET returns on Saturday, 25 January 2025, and horseracing enthusiasts and fashionistas can officially get a head start on their preparations to dazzle and defy fashion convention with the official unveiling of the event’s theme – Couture Unleashed.
The iconic annual event, now in its 163rd year, is a much-anticipated fixture on the country’s racing calendar, drawing both sports fans and social butterflies to the recently upgraded Hollywoodbets Kenilworth property.
“With this daring theme, we expect racegoers to look beyond the runway and clothing rack and truly express their creative vision. We are excited to see big and wild interpretations that blend art, technology and couture,” says Cape Racing COO, Donovan Everitt.
Steeped in history, the prestigious World Sports Betting Cape Town MET is the highlight of the Cape Summer Festival of Racing, where some of SA’s top thoroughbreds will show off their stamina and skill.
The Cape Summer Festival of Racing kicks off on 23 November, includes eight festival days – including the MET – and will also introduce a Summer Music Festival series.
The 25 January event will once again showcase the very best horseracing action with a number of thrilling races on the card, including the 2,000m Grade 1 World Sports Betting Cape Town MET with its R5 million stake – a significant increase from the R2 million stake in 2024. The 2024 race saw DOUBLE SUPERLATIVE darting through the finish under visiting British jockey, Daniel Muscutt, to score a 33/1 upset.
“In addition to heart-stopping racing, the event will also showcase spectacular hospitality experiences, exciting activations, high-fashion, big name DJs and world-class entertainment, and after the last race, the venue will transform into a party for the ages” adds Everitt. “This is the city’s social event of the season, we are pulling out all the stops to make the 2025 edition of the MET the best one yet, and everyone is invited to join us and keep the festivities going until well into the night.”
Says World Sports Betting COO Ryno Du Plessis, “As the 2025 World Sports Betting Cape Town MET returns, a new era of elegance takes centre stage. With the theme Couture Unleashed, horseracing enthusiasts and fashion mavens are invited to break free from tradition, redefining luxury with daring style and unparalleled creativity.”
World Sports Betting Cape Town MET takes place on 25 January 2025. A variety of ticket package options will be available to suit every budget and guest. Tickets will go on sale via Quicket from early October.
Champion sprinter returns in Grade 3 Matchem Stakes at HWB Durbanville
Gimme A Prince is back, and a good run is expected. (Wayne Marks).
| 1 | 1 | Outlaw King | 57 | 106 | A | Corne Orffer | Dean Kannemeyer | |
| 2 | 2 | Zapatillas | 61.5 | 123 | A | Luyolo Mxothwa | Brett Crawford | |
| 3 | 3 | Zil Moris | 55.5 | 102 | A | Gareth Wright | Brett Crawford | |
| 4 | 4 | At My Command | 61.5 | 119 | A | Richard Fourie | Brett Crawford | |
| 5 | 5 | Look For Hounds | 58.5 | 108 | BA | Oswald Noach | Vaughan Marshall | |
| 6 | 6 | Coastal Commander | 60 | 111 | A | Sean Veale | Vaughan Marshall | |
| 7 | 7 | Montien | 61.5 | 116 | A | Anthony Andrews | Piet Botha | |
| 8 | 8 | Gimme A Prince | 61.5 | 130 | A | Craig Zackey | Dean Kannemeyer | |
| 9 | 9 | Sugar Mountain | 61.5 | 118 | A | Aldo Domeyer | Candice Bass-Robinson | |
| 10 | 10 | Questioning | 61.5 | 122 | BA | Juan Paul v’d Merwe | Vaughan Marshall | |
| 11 | 11 | Teflon Man | 55.5 | 103 | A | Serino Moodley | Dean Kannemeyer | |
R200 000 1400m BAKER MCVEIGH DIANA STAKES (Grade 3) Fillies and Mares WFA: 3yrs-8kgs 4yrs-0.5kgs No Apprentice / Female Sex Allowance
| 1 | 1 | Summer Lily | 55.5 | 92 | A | Grant van Niekerk | Justin Snaith | |
| 2 | 2 | Gold Poker Game | 60 | 107 | A | Aldo Domeyer | Candice Bass-Robinson | |
| 3 | 3 | Miss World | 51.5 | 97 | A | Anthony Andrews | Greg Ennion | |
| 4 | 4 | Princess Izzy | 55.5 | 99 | A | Richard Fourie | Brett Crawford | |
| 5 | 5 | Gimmie’s Countess | 51.5 | 105 | A | Serino Moodley | Dean Kannemeyer | |
| 6 | 6 | Dixieland Band | 51.5 | 100 | A | Joshwin Solomons | Greg Ennion | |
| 7 | 7 | Rainbow Lorikeet | 55.5 | 101 | A | Juan Paul v’d Merwe | Candice Bass-Robinson | |
| 8 | 8 | Unconquerable Lady | 55.5 | 96 | A | Craig Zackey | Candice Bass-Robinson | |
| 9 | 9 | Royals | 57 | 103 | A | Denis Schwarz | Glen Kotzen | |
| 10 | 10 | My Flower Fate | 55.5 | 87 | T A | Gareth Wright | Lucinda Woodruff | |
Awaiting new top broodmare sires!
Photo: Vercingetorix is expected to rise up the broodmare sire ranks.
None of the top ten stallions on South Africa’s Leading Sire of Broodmares premiership last season are still active at stud. So which of the current stallions active at stud in this country are poised to become top-class broodmare sires?
SARAH WHITELAW writes that Gimmethegreenlight and Vercingetorix, arguably the two best active stallions at the moment, both look sure to make their presence felt as successful broodmare sires.
Champion Sire in three of the past four seasons, Gimmethegreenlight appears poised to become a high-class broodmare sire. His G3 Magnolia Handicap/Listed Gardenia Stakes winning daughter Green Pepper became her sire’s first Grade One producer when she foaled the high-class Sweet Pepper (Trippi). The latter was a high-class two-year-old who won her first three starts including the 2022 G1 Allan Robertson Championship.
Another high-class filly out of a daughter of Gimmethegreenlight is the Dynasty daughter Tipsy Tarragon, winner of the Listed Syringa Handicap in 2023, while promising filly Polynomial (by Master Of My Fate) is out of the Gimmethegreenlight Aunt Polly.
Gimmethegreenlight’s late sire More Than Ready has enjoyed plenty of success as a broodmare sire, his daughters having produced more than 180 stakes winners including this year’s G1 FanDuel Fourstardave Handicap winner Carl Spackler.
With a plethora of Grade One winning daughters yet to be represented at stud, and some extremely well bred prospects still in the pipeline, Gimmethegreenlight looks sure to enjoy further success as a damsire in the seasons to come.
Champion Vercingetorix has already come up with a number of top-class daughters notably Grade One winners Chansonette, Vernichey and champion Mrs Geriatrix, and the son of top-class broodmare sire Silvano is another stallion sure to enjoy success as a broodmare sire. Among others, Vercingetorix is broodmare sire of 2024 Listed Hollywoodbets Super League Devon Air Stakes winner Whistle The Tune. The latter is out of the Vercingetorix mare Penny Whistle, an unraced daughter of former East Cape star, Pay The Piper.
By an outstanding broodmare sire in the form of Oasis Dream, Vercingetorix’s stablemate Querari is another stallion on the cusp of becoming a top-class broodmare sire. Querari mares have already produced the likes of Chansonette (G1 World Sports Betting Cape Fillies Guineas) and Peach Daiquiri (G2 World Sports Betting Fillies Guineas) – both of whom were sired by Vercingetorix. Querari’s G2 The Debutante winning daughter Cosmic Light, a full-sister to last season’s G2 Durban Golden Horseshoe winner Cosmic Speed, has produced a pair of very smart performers in the form of Cosmic Star (by Erupt) and Chyavana (by Flower Alley) respectively.
Querari is the sire of 2023 Listed Racehorse Owners Association Stakes winner Zoomie, whose six time winning dam is a daughter of triple G1 winner and Equus Champion Elusive Fort. The latter is also the sire of top-class racemare Siren’s Call, who proved to be a high-class broodmare. Siren’s Call, unlucky not to win the 2015 Triple Crown, is not only the dam of G3 Strelitzia Stakes/G3 World Sports Betting Magnolia Handicap winner Sound Of Warning (Trippi), but also ranks as the dam of recent Listed Settlers Trophy winner Call To Unite (Vercingetorix). Sadly, Siren’s Call had to euthanised recently suffering from laminitis.
Ridgemont’s five time G1 winning stallion Canford Cliffs has already made his mark with his broodmare daughters overseas. Canford Cliffs’ stakes placed daughter Bumbasina is the dam of six time Australian Group winner Amelia’s Jewel (her wins included the 2022 G1 Drummond Golf -Northerly Stakes). Another Canford Cliffs mare Aktoria is the dam of G3 Prix Greffuhle winner Greenland, and he also ranks as broodmare sire of Saturday’s Virgin Bet Ayr Silver Cup Handicap winner Alfa Kellenic. The latter, who is out of the Canford Cliffs daughter Silhuette, has won her last six starts in a row and six of her eight starts overall.
Another local stallion to have enjoyed good success as a broodmare sire further afield is Wilgerbosdrift’s G1 Travers Stakes winning stallion Flower Alley. His multiple stakes winning daughter Awesome Flower had a Gun Runner filly make $1 050 000 at the 2024 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, having produced three previous winners notably G1 Arkansas Derby/G1 Haskell Stakes winning sire Cyberknife (Gun Runner).
Another Grade One winning US sire, whose dam was sired by Flower Alley, is Smooth Like Strait (Midnight Lute). Out of the Flower Alley mare Smooth As Usual, Smooth Like Strait won graded races at two, three and four, and won the G1 Shoemaker Mile Stakes at four before finishing second, beaten half a length, in the 2021 G1 FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Mile presented by Permanently Disabled Jockey Fund.
Flower Alley’s G1 Ashland Stakes winning daughter Lilacs And Lace has also produced a high-class performer in the form of Japanese champion, and multiple G1 winner, Lucky Lilac.
Gerald couldn't hold back his tears...
Tipperary Tim won because he was very slow!
An undated photo of Tipperary Tim. (‘Patrick Horse’ on Facebook)
Tipperary Tim was an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 1928 Grand National. Despite his slow speed, he rarely fell.
De Kock's long-time assistant joins HWB at Ashburton
Vengi Masawi and Gavin Lerena with Jaham. (JC Photos).
From www.mikedekockracing.com
Mike de Kock’s assistant trainer Vengi Masawi (45) will be joining the Hollywoodbets Group as an assistant trainer based at their recently established and beautifully revamped pre-training and recovery facility at the Ashburton complex outside of Pietermaritzburg. He will be working with Trevor and Jo Brown in the two-year-old barns.
Born and raised in Zimbawe, Vengi was educated at the highly-ranked Rusununguka Secondary School outside of Harare. He spent much of his teenage years on the Woodleigh Stud Farm in East Mashonaland, where his father worked as a mechanic. The farm was owned by Dubbles Draper, who was married to Graham Carey, the grandfather of Ridgemont Stud’s Craig Carey. The great Ipi Tombe, bred by Peter Moor, was born in the same region.
The early seeds of horsemanship were planted at Woodleigh where Vengi soaked everything up like a sponge and assisted with mare coverings on the farm. There were times, he said, when he ran away from school to be with horses.
Vengi met businessman Brian Makwabarara, well known in Zimbabwe and South Africa as an auctioneer and racehorse owner. Brian helped Vengi to get a job at Borrowdale Park, where he joined then champion trainer Lisa Harris at the height of her success. He credits Lisa with much of his foundation knowledge of stable management and treatment of injuries. He rode work and handled her top horses Double Bluff, Divine Wisdom and Zimbabwean champion Earl Of Surrey, with whom he got to travel to Johannesburg for a raiding feature victory in 2004.
Vengi told: “I enjoyed my South African trip so much that I rushed back when an opportunity came. I worked for Gary Alexander for a few weeks at Turffontein before joining another former Zimbabwean, Sharon Patterson, at her spelling facility near Randjesfontein. After a while Mrs Patterson felt that I would do well in a big racing stable and she spoke to Diane de Kock. In 2007 she got me the job as a stable employee working alongside Mrs. De Kock and every season’s string of incoming two-year-olds, which has always been separate from the main yard.”
Vengi said that he moved to the main stable after veterinarian, Dr Terry Casey, was impressed with the way he bandaged and treated an injured runner. “Dr Casey asked, ‘who did this, it is very well done’ and he mentioned it to Mr. De Kock. I applied my knowledge and experience from Zimbabwe and that day it paid off.”
With Mike’s travels around the world, the extent of Vengi’s duties grew as he worked closely with erstwhile assistant trainer John Buckler and became a stalwart in the stable. Diane enrolled him at the Summerhill School Of Excellence in 2012, where he studied under Heather Morkel with the guidance of Mick Goss’s renowned multiple championship-winning team.
Vengi recalled: “We worked in teams, there was obviously a lot of academic work aside from the physical work with stallions, mares and foals and it was a priceless experience. We were each assigned a group of mares, my team leader was the exceptional Denali Mtshali and I was lucky to get the grey mare Jordie. She was the first to foal down with a colt they named Rabada. He became a champion and a stallion, and I am proud to this day of being the only graduate at the time to deliver what would later be a stallion!”
Jordie, the grey mare, with Rabada.
Mathew de Kock suggested that Vengi applied for an assistant trainers licence and helped him with the various test questions ahead of his written examination. “Mathew was a teacher to me. He’d draw up a list of questions and then mark my answers and discuss them afterwards until I was ready. I still get tears in my eyes when he phones from Australia to ask how things are going here.”
He also enjoyed working with jockeys Anthony Delpech, Callan Murray and Randall Simons and said they were like brothers to him in the stable. “Callan bought my wedding ring when I got married in Zimbabwe.”
Due to his knack with problematic horses, Vengi was asked to assist with the temperamental star Igugu, who needed two handlers to lead her in the parade ring and elsewhere. He also worked closely with horse behaviour therapist Malan du Toit, whose help was called in after another tricky customer Hawwaam’s controversial scratching at the start of the 2018 Durban July.
“I learnt a great deal from Malan, he is very good. We discovered that Hawwaam preferred being led into the stalls from his front side, so I’d take him by the reins and walk backwards into the stalls and then I’d crawl out and away from underneath the pens. I was going to join the horse when he was moved to the UK, but he was injured and returned here to stud. We’re all looking forward to see his progeny on the tracks. He was a top horse.”
While Hawwaam was the best he’d worked with, Vengi also has fond memories of Majmu, Soqrat and Triple Crown winner Malmoos. He is sad to leave the stable, but looks forward to his new challenge and re-uniting with former associates Anthony Delpech and Trevor Brown.
Mike de Kock commented: “Vengi is an excellent, intelligent horseman with people skills and these attributes give him a bright future in racing. He’s been a big asset to our yard, having progressed through the ranks to assistant trainer. We support his further growth and he’ll be joining a dynamic group of people who are going places. He has all the skills to be a trainer in his own right.”
Delpech said: “Vengi and I worked closely together for 10 years when I was stable jockey to the De Kock yard, so I know how talented he is as a horseman. He’ll start off in our two-year-old barn, but we have future plans for him in the pipeline.”
Today's Question
This photo was taken at the Highveld Racing Awards in 2008.
Question: Readers will know the man on the left (though today his black hair is on the grey side). Who is the gentleman on the right? Remember him?
Today’s Question Answer
Mark Rushton was the Clerk Of Scales at Highveld race tracks between 1990 and 2010. He was well loved and very popular for his warm nature and recognisable voice that rang out on the course loudspeakers after every race, “All Clear, The Race Is All Clear!” – a phrase often imitated by his fans. He was a fair and respected man, a peacemaker when things got heated in the jockeys room, and a smart, old-school dresser who insisted on wearing a jacket and tie to the track when everyone else didn’t. His attention to detail, punctuality and adherence to rules earned him the nickname, ‘Mr Belvedere’ (after the gentlemanly housekeeper in the TV series of the same name). Mark passed away in 2016.
