Durban-based owner Nick Jonsson’s best chance of winning a second successive WSB Cape Town Met lie with the Michael Roberts-trained Twice Over colt See It Again (Picture: Wayne Marks)
The three best progeny of Twice Over have all been owned by stalwart Durban-based owner Nick Jonsson and two of them, The Michael Roberts-trained four-year-old colt See It Again and the Justin Snaith-trained five-year-old entire Double Superlative, are still in training.
The legendary nine-year-old Twice Over gelding Do It Again was retired after making Hollywoodbets Durban July history on July 1 this year and is currently enjoying himself on the farm of his trainer Justin Snaith.
Jonathan Snaith said, “He is with us until we find the home all partners are happy and content with.”
Jonsson part-owns Do It Again together with Bernard Kantor and Nancy Hossack, all three of whom are steeped in horseracing and put the interests of the horse first.
Meanwhile, the 2021 Gr 1 Cape Guineas winner Double Superlative, who is owned outright by Jonsson, made a good recent comeback from a 16 month layoff, finishing second in a Progress Plate over 1250m at Hollywoodbets Durbanville.
Jonathan Snaith, asked whether Double Superlative would be going the usual route of a top horse i.e. the Gr 2 WSB Green Point Stakes, the Gr 1 L’Ormarins King’s Plate and the Gr 1 WSB Cape Town Met, replied, “Yes. If all goes well and he stays sound then that would be the plan, but Justin takes it day by day with him considering the seriousness of his previous injury, which almost ruled him out of racing entirely.”
Jonsson won the Met with Jet Dark last season and there is a fine chance that the same familiar cyclamen (pink), spectrum green crossed sashes, white sleeves and cyclamen cap will cross the line first this season, although the best chance of that happening likely lies with See It Again, whom he also owns outright.
Superstar See It Again has been doing well at Summerveld and will be heading down to Cape Town at the end of the month.
Michael Roberts said, “We might give him a run before he goes, although we are in two minds about it.”
He said about his targets in Cape Town, “The (WSB ) Green Point and then obviously the (L’Ormarins) King’s Plate and the (WSB Cape Town) Met.”
The Twice Over colt won two Gr 1’s as a three-year-old, the Splash Out Cape Derby and the Gr 1 Daily News 2000.
He beat the superstar Charles Dickens in the former event, so that was likely his best performance. The Met is run over the same course and distance, so will obviously be his chief target.
Roberts said about See It Again’s current well-being, “Improvement you can only see on a racecourse, but he has matured and filled out a lot. He is looking good and I am very happy with him.”
See It Again progressed tremendously in the second half of last season and clearly had the combination most champions have of ability coupled with a fine temperament. Roberts has said he was a relatively easy horse to train too.
He is not officially a champion at national level, but almost the entire industry believe he should be one. It is well documented that he should have been a shoe-in for the Equus Champion Middle Distance award.
He did pick up two KZN Racing awards though, the Champion Three-year-old Male and the Champion Middle Distance horse.
He will be in line for the Middle Distance and Older Male awards this season.
He performed well against the Champion Miler Charles Dickens in the WSB Mile at Hollywoodbets Greyville last season and was unlucky in that race, so, who knows, he could be a threat in the Green Point and the King’s Plate.
He is a candidate for Equus Horse Of The Year too, although the favourite for that accolade would almost certainly be Charles Dickens if they did price up for it.
Double Superlative and See It Again are on track to becoming Twice Over’s first sons at stud.
See It Again has likely booked his place in a stallion barn with his two Gr 1 wins and his outstanding Hollywoodbets Durban July runner up performance.
Jonathan Snaith said about Double Superlative’s stallion potential, “He won the Gr 1 Cape Guineas and is a beautiful looking horse, so there would be a place for him at stud, especially if he wins another race of stature.”
