The Settlers Trophy headlines Cape Racing’s fixture at Hollywoodbets Durbanville on Saturday 21 September and the 2000m Listed event, Race 7 on a bumper 10-race card, is dominated by Champion Trainer Justin Snaith whose stable is firing on all cylinders.
Snaith and Vaughan Marshall have had a stranglehold on the Settlers Trophy, winning it twice each in the last four years.
However, it is the former who has a particularly good record in the race he won with One Way Traffic in 2021 and Somerset Maugham in 2022, with his runners – Bayberry (2020) and Triple Time 12 months ago – finishing second on both occasions of Marshall’s victories.
The latter will part with the trophy, won by Senso Unico last year, as he isn’t represented in this year’s renewal which opens the door for Snaith to reclaim the title. He has four strings to his Settlers Trophy bow including three runners for Jonsson Workwear supremo Nic Jonsson, whose cyclamen, green and pink silk are synonymous with feature-race success.
Snaith’s quartet is spearheaded by a pair of four-year-old geldings, Gold Rush winner Rapidash and unexposed Call To Unite, both progressive Jonsson-owned last-start winners over 1800m at the country course.
Riding arrangements suggest Rapdish, a son of Danon Platina, is the stable elect as Grant van Niekerk sticks with the R5-million earner who looked back to his best when winning on his seasonal debut earlier this month after bypassing the KwaZulu-Natal winter season and given time to furnish ahead of a potentially big-race summer campaign. And on the evidence of his winning comeback, that decision could prove a masterstroke!
Rapidash would have come on appreciably with the benefit of that outing and a five-point penalty isn’t likely to halt his momentum, even with 59.5kg on his back. He will strip fitter and should appreciate the extra 200m so is good value to follow up off a career-high mark.
Regally bred stablemate Call To Unite cost Jonsson R900,000 at the 2022 National Yearling Sale, which came as little surprise being a son of Grade 1 winner Vercingetorix and Elusive Fort mare Siren’s Call, winner of the Grade 2 Gauteng Fillies Guineas (Leg 1) and Grade 1 SA Fillies Classic (Leg 2) before her crestfallen second (to Pine Princess) in the Grade 1 SA Oaks in the 2015 Triple Tiara.
Call To Unite was highly regarded as a three-year-old but pulled up unsound when finishing downfield (10th of 13) in the Grade 3 Politician Stakes won by Champion Three-Year-Old colt Green With Envy in late January.
In two comeback outings this term, albeit at a lower level, he has looked better than ever. Snaith’s charge was heavily supported on his reappearance in mid-August and ran accordingly, staying on well to finish a close-up fourth over 1800m on the country course.
Despite being friendless in the market, Call To Unite confirmed the form and improvement of his encouraging return by winning over the same track and trip earlier this month, giving weight and a beating to a competitive field of hard-knockers.
He faces his toughest test yet against better opposition in the Settlers Trophy under a five-point penalty but, like Rapidash, there’s no reason to suggest that he shouldn’t continue on his upward trajectory, even off a career-high mark.
Of the nine runners in the field, progressive Call To Unite is the least exposed with the most scope for improvement so he could be a lot better than currently rated. He carries bottom weight of 52kg and it is worth noting that visiting KZN-based Jonsson Workwear-sponsored rider Rachel Venniker jets into Cape Town for the ride.
Well-performed eight-year-old Sachdev is the third of Jonsson’s three runners and isn’t without a chance either. He has proven his versatility and competitiveness over distances from 1200m to 2200m in a 31-start career and champion jockey Richard Fourie is a notable riding engagement.
It should pay to side with the Fourie-Snaith-Jonsson triumvirate and improving four-year-old filly Knockout in Race 6 over 1400m.
This daughter of Danon Platina handled the step up to 1400m with aplomb when an impressive last-to-start winner of her most recent outing at a higher level. She copped a six-point rise from the handicapper for that performance but, given the manner of her victory that day, Knockout should defy the penalty and confirm her superiority over re-opposing rivals School Policy and Fun Zone, despite the weight turnaround in favour of those familiar foes.
Clive Robinson
