Snaith holds powerful string
JUSTIN Snaith’s first horse for the SA Champions Season, Platinum Prince, will arrive at Summerveld today (Thursday) in order to take part in the Grade 3 Kings Cup on March 25 and the rest of his 30 horse-string will arrive next week Friday.
It will be the most powerful string Snaith has ever sent to KZN and includes dual Grade 1 winners Snowdance and Oh Susanna.
Snaith said, “We finished in the first three in many of the Cape Summer Season’s features, so the strength of the string lies in it being an all round one with runners over all distances. So we will have our work cut out, which is great, and we will stick to the same methods which worked in Cape Town.”
Summerveld trainer Tony Rivalland will oversee Platinum Prince’s care and training program until Snaith arrives.Snith said, “I saved Platinum Prince through the latter part of the Cape Summer for the Champions Season. He was very unlucky in the Premier’s Trophy, he had to eased out of the race, and then he flew home for third in the Peninsula”. The four-year-old Silvano gelding’s first two wins were over 1600m, but he has subsequently won three races from 1800-2000m so will probably find the Kings Cup, run over 1600m on the Greyville turf, a touch sharp, although he will come in fresh which will give him a shout. He has landed a plum draw of two among the 24 entries and has been allotted a weight of 54kg off his 100 merit rating. Snaith’s speedy filly Jo’s Bond will be the first of the rest to come out in the Listed KwazuluNatal over 1000m at Scottsville. The following weekend he will have runners in the threeyear-old pipe-opening events over 1400m at Greyville, the Grade 3 Byerley Turk and the Grade 3 Umzimkhulu Stakes, and among them will be a filly he rates, Dynamic Diana.
Kasimir
He will bring out his CTS 1200 runner up Kasimir and his Diadem winner Bishop’s Bounty on the same day for a Pinnacle event over 1100m.Snaith would prefer to keep Snowdance and Oh Susanna apart, but it will be difficult as the obvious starting point for both would be the Grade 2 Daisy Fillies Guineas on the SA Champions Season’s official opening night, Friday May 4 at Greyville, although the weight for age plus penalties Grade 2 IOS Drill Hall Stakes on the same night could be a viable option for Snowdance.
Snaith
Snaith said the decision on whether to run Sun Met winner Oh Susanna in the Vodacom Durban July would lie out of his hands, but he would prefer to avoid it considering the impact such a tough race can have on the rest of a horse’s career.