BOLT IN CAPE TOWN:
Athletics legend and Olympics icon Usain Bolt has arrived in the Mother City and will be part of the festivities at tomorrow’s Sun Met horse race at Kenilworth. The now retired Jamaican sprinter and first person to hold both the 100 metres and 200 metres world records, is expected to address the media tomorrow morning.
IT’S ALL systems go for the Sun Met, with 20 of the most finely-tuned athletes in the world prepped and ready for a 2 000m race with literally millions riding on it.
The race takes place at Kenilworth Racecourse tomorrow and is among the highlights of the Cape Town social calendar.
Twenty of the best racehorses in the world are running in the main race, the 134th edition of the event.
L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate winner, Legal Eagle, has been drawn at gate 1 and will be running against some tough competition.
Highly fancied and experienced runner Captain America runs alongside Marinaresco with Sail South and Silicone Valley rounding out the first five gate positions.
Punters will fancy Krambambuli’s chances from gate 6, while Elusive Silva, Coral Fever, Gold Standard, Copper Force and Last Winter starting from gates 8 to 12 are all in with a good shout.
Nother Russia will fancy her chances following in her mother’s footsteps. She won the Queen’s Plate in 2011. Another horse on everyone’s lips is Oh Susanna, running out of Australia, carrying a jockey weighing just 51.5kg, by far the lightest of the bunch.
Oh Susanna starts from way outside, behind gate 20. However, she is one of the most-fancied horses to win the R5 million.
The marquees have been set up with their finishing touches being attended to when the Cape Argus visited the Kenilworth Racecourse yesterday.
The horses have been off-limits to anyone not directly involved with the races and the totes are ready and waiting for Cape Town to turn out in its finest.
The theme is Style ahead of the field and afro-chic prints are all the rage for the 2018 edition.
It should be mild on race day with a bit of cloud cover increasing the humidity factor, so be sure to keep hydrated while at the races. – Staff Reporter