The first weekend of the new year in South Africa is synonymous with the annual blue-and-white festival of the L’Ormarins King’s Plate, the most prestigious weight-for-age 1600m race in the country.
First run in 1861 in honour of Queen Victoria, this Grade 1 ‘mile’ is renowned for attracting a field of star-studded quality, and this year’s renewal – Race 7 on the nine-race card at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth on Saturday 6 January 2024 – is no exception.
Al Muthana was a surprise 80-1 winner of this race last year, downing hot-pot favourite Charles Dickens, but not likely to repeat those heroics 12 months on, if his recent displays are anything to go by. The latter, on the other hand, has maintained a very high level of form and consistency in his subsequent outings and looks good value to right the wrongs of last year. However, he won’t have things handed to him on a ‘Plate’ as his familiar foe and last-start conqueror See It Again is likely to mount a serious challenge.
Charles Dickens had his colours lowered by KwaZulu-Natal’s star of the turf See It Again in the Grade 2 Green Point Stakes recently over the same course and distance, and renews rivalry with the Michael Roberts-trained Twice Over colt on identical weight terms. And while he ought to play another leading role in his peak outing, no secret has been made of the fact that See It Again’s main mission is the month-end World Sports Betting Cape Town Met over 2000m, a distance more to his liking.
With that in mind, it should pay to follow the progress of Candice Bass-Robinson’s charge who has performed to his best up to 1600m, the distance over which he has registered both of his Grade 1 victories (Cape Guineas and Gold Challenge).
Recent Cape Guineas winner Snow Pilot and his Justin Snaith-trained stablemate Hluhluwe, who finished third in the Guineas, are the only three-year-old representatives in the race and how they fare against older rivals at this level remains to be seen, though their chances can’t be written off in receipt of 5kg from the favourite pair.
Double Superlative and Royal Aussie, two more from the Snaith yard, are well-performed individuals capable of filling the Quartet positions.
The supporting Grade 1 feature on the card, the Cartier Paddock Stakes (Race 6), has attracted a small field but that can be attributed to the presence of Princess Calla in the seven-horse lineup.
Trainer Sean Tarry has aimed the country’s Horse Of The Year at this sought-after 1800m event against her own sex instead of the King’s Plate against male opposition. She won the Grade 1 HKJC Champions Cup over this distance in her final appearance of last season before succumbing to defeat in both starts this campaign in two outings over shorter distances and in open company.
Princess Calla, having acquitted herself creditably on both occasions, should find competing against younger fillies, even under top-weight 60kg, an easier task and Richard Fourie’s mount is by far the best-weighted runner in the race on official ratings.
Tarry’s charge is a confident exotic-bet banker and is likely to be chased home by progressive Grade 1 Cape Fillies Guineas winner Beach Bomb who, as a well-bred Lancaster Bomber filly out of multiple Grade 1 winner Beach Beauty, continues to improve with each step up in trip.
Elsewhere on the card, At My Command is good value to confirm the improvement of his runner-up finish in the Green Point Stakes by winning the Grade 2 Anthonij Rupert Wine Premier Trophy (Race 5), while another of Tarry’s stable stars, Mrs Geriatrix, could repay the faith of her supporters when she reverts to 1200m for the Grade 2 Cartier Sceptre Stakes (Race 4).
Clive Robinson
