We want more, say the fans of Charles Dickens

The most famous line from Charles Dickens’s 1837 novel, Oliver Twist, is: “Please, sir, I want some more.” That’s exactly the feeling of racing fans after a horse named after the famous British writer kept his unbeaten record at Kenilworth on Sunday.

Starting at odds of 46-100 and taking on older horses, three-year-old Charles Dickens had long-standing racing enthusiasts searching for new superlatives to describe the son Bass-Robinson of Trippi as ’trainer s colt raced Candice to his fifth successive win.

This year’s exploits by stars such as Flightline and Baaeed were pushed onto the backburner as Charles Dickens indicated he could well pay Christmas expenses for his increasing band of followers.

One contributor to the Sporting Post website said, “He’s the best I’ve seen since Horse Chestnut”, and asked whether the colt “is not our Frankel?”

The acid test for Charles Dickens comes on December 17 in the Cape Guineas, where the Drakenstein owned-and-bred three-year-old will clash with last season’s Equus Champion two-year-old, Cousin Casey. It will not have been lost on the Drakenstein matriarch, Gaynor Rupert, that Charles Dickens is the second son of Trippi to hit the headlines in the past two years; the other is Justin Snaith’s top four-year-old, Jet Dark.

Which brings us along nicely to the race Mrs Rupert sponsors

— the L’Ormarins King’s Plate — to be run on January 7 for which Charles Dickens is the new 3-1 favourite. Imagine if Jet Dark, Kommetdieding, Captain ’ s Ransom and Charles Dickens are all accepted for this grade 1 contest. Kenilworth’s marketing department won’t need to go into overdrive as the meeting will be a “sell-out”.

Obviously, Charles Dickens will have to clear the Guineas hurdle first, but jockey Aldo Domeyer has no doubt about the horse’s ability, describing his mount as “a league above” the rivals he met on Sunday.

After his triumph on Puerto Manzano at Turffontein, it will be back to midweek fare for jockey Keagan De Melo as he travels to the Vaal on Tuesday to partner four horses for trainer Johan Janse van Vuuren.

The pick of the quartet could be the Silvano filly, Moraine, who bids to notch her third career win when she takes on six rivals in the third race.