Vintage LKP Field and Intriguing Paddock Stakes Line Up

Al Muthana is the defending LKP champion (Picture: Wayne Marks)

The L’Ormarins King’s Plate (LKP) sees a field of 13 of the best thoroughbreds in the land clashing on January 6 at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth in the country’s most prestigious weight for age mile and includes last season’ winner Al Muthana.

The latter, a Ricky Maingard-trained six-year-old gelding b y Deep Field, won at odds of 80/1 last season but as a twice Gr 1 weight for age mile winner with Bernard Fayd’Herbe back aboard he will not be ignored this time despite a wide draw.

Charles Dickens started the season as the one to beat in  this race, but he has been usurped as favourite by See It Again.

The latter;s connections looked at the Gr 2 Green Point Stakes over what thought to be tyhe too sharp mile distance as a stepping stone into this race and particularly into the WSB Met over 2000m.

However, he ended up winning it in effortless fashion by 1,75 lengths from Bthe perennial bridesmaid At My Command.

Charles Dickens could only manage a 2,15 length third.

However, the latter was reported to be hanging by jockey Aldo Domeyer and the Candice Bass-Robinson yard are satisfied with the work they have done on the Trippi colt since.

He is a homebred by Drakenstein Stud, which is an operation run by Gaynor Rupert for 20 years from the lower slopes her family’s wine estate, L’Ormarins, which sponsors the King’s Plate.

Drakenstein have bred the twice LKP winner Jet Dark, who now stands at their magnificent championship-winning stud farm, whose success was built around his father, Trippi, a USA imported sire who has produced 13 individual Gr 1 winners and 67 individual stakes winners.

Charles Dickens is also by Trippi and can give Drakenstein their first win in the LKP as owners.

Jet Dark was owned by Nick Jonsson and he owns two Drakenstein Stud-bred contenders this year.

He is favourite to win it with Twice Over colt See It Again and also has achance with the Trippi colt Hluhluwe, although the latter is a three-year-olds and the sophomores look to be up against it in this renewal.

Jonsson also owns two others runners, including the 2021 Cape Guineas winner Double Superlative.

His fourth runner is the Justin Snaith-trained Speed Machine and almost all pundits’ immediate thought about this horse is he is there to acft as pacemaker.

All of Jonsson’s three chief contenders, the Michael Roberts-trained See It Again and the Snaith-trained pair Hluhluwe and Double Superlative, will appreciate a strong pace.

This year’s Cape Guineas winner Snow Pilot, who beat Hluhluwe two lengths into third in that famous sire-producing event, is also a homebred by Drakesnstein. He is by the late champion freshman sire Lancaster Bomber and has landed a plum draw. Will the three-year-olds be able to match the best of the older runners though.

The most notable absentee from the line up is Gimme A Prince, who went close to beating Charles Dickens in the Hollywoodbets Matchem Stakes over 1400m. He sufferered a minor setback before the Green Point and had to miss it and this horse, who has never been easy to train must have suffered another setback.

Gimme A Prince’s Dean Kannemeyer-trained stablemate Cosmic Highway, who like the latter is a homebred by Khaya Stables, was third to Double Superlative in the 2021 Cape Guineas but as a sprint-miler type has a hard task here despite a pole position draw.

Gold Rush winner Royal Aussie is a fifth runner from the Snaith yard but looks to be up against it at this level.

The same can be said for the Glen Kotzen-trained Countdown, although he is a horse on the up so can not be ignored.

Countdown’s stablemate is full of talent and his inconsistency is explained by the South African rule of not being allowed to jump out of the hood. If the hood removal is not time well before the jump he tends to come out slowly and cost himself his chances. But when he did jump well recentky in a 1250m event he beat Equus Horse Of The Year Princess Calla and former Equus Champion Sprinter Rio Querari.

Terry and Annabel Andrews and their jockey son Anthony went close to winning the Gr 1 WSB Cape Guineas with filly Red Parade amd the same combination have the Piet Botha-trained Montien here, but despite his progressive profile this constitutes his toughest task to date by a big margin.

The final field: