Eight On Eighteen will be out to retain his WSB Met title in a fascinating contest that will have the purists buzzing with excitement (Picture: Race Coast)
The South African racing public have generally not reacted favourably to there only being eleven runners in next Saturday’s WSB Met, with six of them from one yard.
However, the purists of the South African racing population would not have been disappointed at all by the WSB Met field after close scrutiny.
Firstly, what would be the point of having nine more horses that had no chance?
Secondly, the country needs a Gr 1 wfa race over 2000m, because the biggest races in Johannesburg and Durban are both handicaps i.e. the Gr 1 Betway Summer Cup and the Gr 1 Hollywoodbets Durban July.
Cape Town can brag they have the major race that the best horse wins, because that is not the case with the biggest race in the country, the Hollywoodbets Durban July.
Last year Eight On Eighteen was beaten 0,25 lengths by The Real Prince in the July, but in fact he was the better horse because he was facing the latter on 2,5kg worse terms than weight for age.
He now gets the opportunity to prove his superiority on weight for age terms.
However, the connections of The Real Prince will point out that his L’Ormarins King’s Plate victory proved that he had blossomed and was now at his peak. They will be confident of proving the Eight On Eighteen fans wrong.
Gladatorian’s connections will point out they have already beaten The Real Prince on wfa terms in the Gr 1 World Pool Champions Cup. They could claim he is the best wfa middle distance horse in the land.
The Sail The Sea fans might nod in acknowledgement, but they would then point out that Sail The Seas finished just 1,50 lengths behind Eight On Eighteen in the Splashout Cape Derby and therefore performed better than The Real Prince did in the July. They might thus claim Sail The Seas is ready to assume the mantle, because, after all, he did beat Eight On Eighteen in the Gr 2 WSB Guineas at level weights and now, being more mature, he is ready to take him on over 2000m.
The See It Again fans will point out he won the Cape Derby and the Daily News 2000 as a three-year-old and, like Eight On Eighteen, he also lost the July by just 0,25 lengths … but not because he was 2,5kg worse off than weight for age with the winner but in fact he was a whopping 5,5kg worse off than weight for age terms with the winner Winchester Mansion. And See It Again has now arrived in Cape Town fresher than he has ever been before. His L’Ormarins King’s Plate run proved just what form he is in at present and for the first time he looks to be in a position to produce his best in the WSB Met.
The Garrix fans would be sitting quietly on he sidelines listening to these debates and would be thinking, “They have not seen the best of our boy yet.” He only just failed to land the winter triple crown and has always been spoken of as a horse who will come into his own as a four-year-old.
The Cosmic Speed fans would also be confident that their Gr 1 weight for age miler could see out the trip if switched off from pole position and he could be ready to pick up the pieces if the chief protagonists outbattle each other.
The Legal Counsel fans will have seen something not many others noticed i.e. he went the same speed as the favourite Jan Van Goyen had gone in the running of the L’Ormarins King’s Plate , which was later shown in the sectional timing to be way too fast, and yet he stayed on bravely right until the end and was only beaten 4,45 lengths, finishing 4,85 lengths clear of Jan Van Goyen and just a neck behind Eight On Eighteen. He is undoubtedly the dark horse of the race, because he has won over 1800m before and how much better will he do if ridden more conservatively?
The Okavango fans would likely acknowledge he has it all to do on Daily News 2000 and July form, but his easy win in the Gr 2 Anthonij Rupert Premier Trophy might have heralded a new dawn.
The Native Ruler fans will point out he might also have it all to do on the form of the Daily News 2000 and the July, but he was a touch unlucky in the July when running a cracking sixth from the widest draw of all, and they would add a line could be drawn through his last run.
The fans of The Equator will be hoping the best has not yet been seen of him and might envisage him having a chance if he sets a relentless gallop and stays on.
It is all set to be a great race.
In the media build up there should be head and shoulders pictures of he chief protagonists all lined up with a headline such as, “Who is the best in the land?”
The field could hardly be better.
The only possible horses missing, ability-wise, would be Fire Attack and Royal Victory, but the former is under a cloud having finished last in his last two races, while Royal Victory might now be past his best.
A promising three-year-old or two in the race could have been interesting, but realistically the form of this year’s crop has not stood up and it is understandable that trainers would rather target the Gr 1 Splashout Cape Derby and its build up race, the Gr 3 HKJC World Pool Politician Stakes.
The last three horses mentioned in the analysis, Okavango, Native Ruler and The Equator, could fall under the category of “have a ticket, have a chance.”
Any more than three of such runners in the field and it starts to be a negative on the race, because in a championship event you want as few hard luck stories as possible.
At the home of racing, the UK, their biggest wfa championship race, the King George and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, has had a biggest field this decade of ten runners. Nobody complains about he field size, because the racing population in England have a deep knowledge and appreciation of the sport.
SA racing fans are as passionate, but tend to lack the knowledge of the finer points.
However, they will have hopefully been convinced by the time Saturday the 31st arrives that the field in this year’s WSB Met is not something to complain about at all … rather it is a race to really savour.
Below: Kommetdieding’s celebrated WSB Met victory in 2022 was in a field of eleven, the same size as this year’s field (Picture: Wayne Marks)
