Turf Talk rate the Brett and James Crawford-trained Zapatillas (purple colours) as one of the best value each/way runners in Saturday’s WSB Met. (Picture: Wayne Marks)
Usually the favourites for the WSB Met go in to the race with a good reason or two why they can win and the chief protagonists usually boast top recent form.
However, this year’s Met is strange in that there are clouds hanging over the heads of a few of the horses at the top of the boards, while others would have to defy history.
Turf Talk takes a look at the interesting points and the anomalies in the form of this year’s runners in order of the betting market with the sponsor.
28/10 Eight On Eighteen – he finished just 1,25 lengths behind the best horse in the country, One Stripe, in his last race in the Gr 1 Hollywoodbets Cape Guineas and he is a big, progressive sort who should relish the step up in trip. However, he will become just the fourth three-year-old following Horse Chestnut (1999), Badger’s Coast (2000) and Oh Susanna (2018) to have won this race since Feltos won it in 1945.
9/2 Oriental Charm – he is out to become just the eighth horse in history to have won both the July and the Met. His best credentials are that he won the Hollywoodbets Durban July and made a fine seasonal reappearance when winning the Gr 2 WSB Green Point Stakes over 1600m. However, he carried bottom weight of 53kg in the July and, in his only Gr 1 appearance since, he was beaten 8,95 lengths into seventh in the wfa L’Ormarins King’s Plate. He will now be having his third run after a layoff and will relish the step up in trip. However, an 8,95 length beating in the King’s Plate is not usually associated with Met second favourites.
15/2 See It Again – he is a dual Gr 1 winner over this trip and he has been the best performed runner in the Hollywoodbets Durban July twice and the best performed runner in the Betway Summer Cup this season. However, he comes off a last place finish in the King’s Plate, beaten 16,70 lengths, an unheard of build up performance for any horse who has ever won the Met. He would be the horse to beat if that run is ignored and on his side is that he has produced one stand out performance in each of the previous two seasons he has come to Cape Town, so maybe the Met will be his stand out Cape performance this season. Against him is that he ran in Durban before travelling up to Jo’Burg for the Summer Cup and he then travelled to Cape Town. Experienced horsemen view that fact as a big detractor.
19/2 Red Palace – has good form and female winners of the Met have not been rare in recent times with all of Igugu (2012), Smart Call (2016) and Oh Susanna (2018) doing it in the last 15 years. However this will be her first ever race in open company against the boys.
14/1 Future Swing – he is consistent, but his last win was when carrying 54kg in the WSB 1900, hardly inspiring form for a potential winner of SA’s greatest weight for age middle distance race. However, he finished eyecatchingly strongly in the Gr 3 Anthonij Rupert Wyne Premier Trophy over 1800m for a close fourth and on paper at the weights is narrowly behind Rascallion on that run and slightly ahead of Magic Verse and Litigation and ahead of Zapatillas.
14/1 Montien – the L’Ormarins King’s Plate runner up has good hard knocking form, but failed in his only attempt beyond 1800m and his last win was in a Gr 3 more than a year ago.
14/1 Rascallion – was last year’s runner up and comes in to the race in good form, winning the Gr 3 Anthonij Rupert Wyne Premier Trophy over 1800m, but the only seven-year-old to win it this millenium has been the 80/1 shot Martial Eagle (2013).
20/1 Atticus Finch – Summer Cup winners have a dismal record in the Met with the previous horse to have won both races, or at least versions of the races, being Prince Bertrand, who won the Johannesburg Autumn Handicap in 1949 and won the Met in 1953.
25/1 – Magic Verse fnished second in the Gr 3 Anthonij Rupert Wyne Premier Trophy off a merit rating of 91, so although raised to 114 his improvement from hard knocking handicapper to Gr 1 wfa winner would be a giant leap.
35/1 Litigation – close third in the Premier Trophy, his only Graded win has been in the Gr 3 London News Stakes over 1800m at Turffontein just under a year ago.
40/1 Royal Aussie – he has been in the frame in the LKP twice and looks like a miler, with his only attempt beyond it being in last year’s Met when beaten nine lengths.
50/1 Master Redoute – has not run since winning last season’s Gold Cup. Has a good turn of foot and enjoys a scrap, but he is ring rusty and the Gr 3 Ridgemont Pensinsula Handicap carrying 53,5kg over 1800m is his best middle distance win.
55/1 Zapatillas – the Premier Trophy fifth-placed horse comes out better on mile form on a line through Royal Aussie than Oriental Charm does, so he might represent good value considering he did not have the best trip in the Premier Trophy was one of the unlucky runners in the 2023 Met.
60/1 Pacaya – has a Gr 2 and Gr 3 1900m and 1800m win respectively, and comes off a 2,10 length sixth in the Premier Trophy. He has flattered to deceive, but now that there is no talk about him perhaps he will deliver.
70/1 Baratheon – only seventh in the Premier Trophy and has never won a stakes race before.
100/1 Al Muthana – a twice Gr 1 weight for age mile winner, but this trip stretches him and he has been off form for a while.