Wish List’s first big target of the season will be the defense of her Gr 1 Cartier Paddock Stakes crown, which she is pictured winning last year under Andrew Fortune (Picture: Wayne Marks)
Justin Snaith has a powerful army for the Cape Summer Festival Of Racing, most of whom are already in motion heading for their big targets.
The Equus Champion three-year-old filly of last season Wish List will be joining them soon. She will have one run before the defense of her Gr 1 wfa Cartier Paddock Stakes crown and she will then avoid the WSB Met and instead run in the Gr 1 wfa Maine Chance Farms Majorca Stakes.
The rest of the yard’s older horse big guns have come out of their first runs well and Jonathan Snaith said in the aftermath of the Gr 3 Cape Mile at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth on Saturday, “See It Again was having nothing more than a preparatory outing following a considerable break from racing. He performed exactly as expected, and the run will have brought him on nicely ahead of the Cape Summer Season.
His ultimate target remains a second victory in the Gr1 WSB Cape Met, but he will first take his chances in the 2027 Gr1 L’Ormarins King’s Plate, which should serve as the ideal stepping stone towards his main mission. We expect him to be at his peak when it matters most.
Note To Self pulled up beautifully after his second place finish in the Cape Mile and we couldn’t be happier with his progress.
The most likely route for our Hollywoodbets Durban July winner will be the Gr2 Premier Trophy over 1800m before heading into the Gr1 WSB Cape Met. This programme should suit him perfectly and give him every opportunity to arrive at the Met in peak condition.
Eight On Eighteen is in phenomenal shape, and we are extremely pleased with his progress.
His summer campaign is mapped out, beginning with the Gr2 Green Point Stakes, followed by the Gr1 L’Ormarins King’s Plate, before tackling the Gr1 WSB Cape Met.”
Their stablemate Legal Counsel was the right horse for the Cape Mile and duly defended his crown under Richard Fourie.
Justin was able to get a run into Legal Counsel early in the season, so he had a fitness advantage over his two stablemates.
The tight nature of the Hollywoodbets Kenilworth Old Course suits the Legislate gelding too, because he likes to lie handy and is capable of staying all the way to the line after beginning his run early in the straight.
Once he had overtaken Chasing The Rainbow and Beware at the top of the straight nobody was going to pass this resolute galloper and he duly ran out an easy winner, beating Note To Self by 3,50 lengths into second with See It Again a 5,50 length third.
There has been difficulty getting fast gallops for Futura Park-based trainers, so Justin said racing horses had been the only way to get them ready.
He praised head of Racing Operations for the Western Cape, Kurt Felix, and said there was finally an operator who “might now get it right.”
He was referring to the fast track at Futura Park which he normally used and which was was currently down and presumably this means that Race Coast were addressing the issue. He added that unfortunately it had not happened this season, but it seems that going forward the fast track issue will be sorted.
There is reportedly also a trainer-friendly approach to the racecourses being used for grass gallops in the Western Cape.
Justin pointed out See It Again had had a tough campaign last season, so was pleased with his Cape Mile run and confirmed it would bring him on a lot.
Andrew Fortune was also very pleased with See It Again’s run and said he had moved well, but had just tired in the last three-quarters of a furlong, as was expected.
Note To Self came from last with long strides and Keagan de Melo said it was an excellent preparation run for a horse who was always going to find it tough running with a big weight against Gr 1 wfa performers like See It Again and Legal Counsel.
Snaith will have two previous winners of the big race in this year’s WSB Met renewal.
He and owner Nick Jonsson will in fact be going for an incredible fifth consecutive WSB Met win together and must be a short price to achieve it with both 2025 winner Eight On Eighteen and last year’s winner See It Again representing the partnership.
Snaith could also do it with Note To Self and Legal Counsel, who are not owned by Jonsson.
Justin has also never been averse to taking on older horses in the Met with a three-year-old if he feels there is one who is up to it. Two of his five Met wins have been with three-year-olds, with Oh Susanna doing it in 2018 and Eight On Eighteen achieving the rare feat seven years later.
Note To Self will be out to prove he is a genuine Gr 1 wfa horse as his biggest career win to date came when running off an 118 in the Gr 1 Hollywoodbets Durban July. Off a current 122 he has a lot to do to prove himself the equal of the like of Eight On Eighteen and See It Again, who are merit rated 132 and 130 respectively.
Legal Counsel, who is merit rated 128, finished second in last year’s Met and proved his class again in KZN with a hair’s breadth second in the Gr 1 wfa Hollywoodbets Gold Challenge over 1600m.
Among the yard’s three-year-olds the Vercingetorix filly Over My Shoulder lost her unbeaten record in the Gr 2 Western Cape Fillies Championship over 1400m on Saturday, but this Drakenstein Stud-homebred- half-sister to Eight On Eighteen will relish both the step up in trip in the Gr 1 WSB Cape Fillies Guineas and the long straight of the Summer Course. She was doing her best work late on Saturday and was only beaten 2,75 lengths into fourth place.
Snaith’s other Cape Fillies Guineas entry Verse For Suzanne, a Drakenstein-homebred by Vercingetorix out of Equus Horse Of The Year Oh Susanna, should also appreciate a step up in trip and a longer straight.
The yard have one of the favourites for the Gr 1 Hollywoodbets Cape Guineas, Vercingetorix gelding Kalahari King, and they also have the Vercingetorix colt Le Soleil, who has a bit to find with the well-bred and unbeaten Continue To Dream.
They have also entered the exciting grey Futura gelding Rain In France.
It should be a glittering Cape Summer for the powerful Snaith yard.
