Can Snaith’s champion Do It Again
DO IT AGAIN looks like starting the shortest priced Met favourite since Igugu won at 15-20 seven years ago. Richard Fourie’s mount, bidding to become the first since Pocket Power to complete the Durban July, Queen’s Plate, Met treble, eased slightly with some bookmakers yesterday but he was generally available at no more than 12-10.
Betting World has him at evens and goes 33-10 Rainbow Bridge, 7-1 Oh Susanna, 10-1 Head Honcho, 14-1 Legal Eagle, Made To Conquer, 16-1 Undercover Agent, 20-1 bar while World Sports Betting quotes 12-10 Do It Again, 33-10 Rainbow Bridge, 13-2 Oh Susanna, 12-1 Head Honcho, 14-1 Legal Eagle, 16-1 Undercover Agent, 18-1 Made To Conquer, 20-1 bar.
Only 12 have been declared against him leaving the 2019 R5 million Sun Met celebrated with G.H. Mumm (to give the race its full title), in the new strictly weight-for-age format, with the smallest field the race has seen in 25 years – and probably a fair bit longer. It was expected that the numbers would drop when the race conditions were changed but the historic ten furlong Grade 1 more than makes up for it in quality, and those that opted out at yesterday’s declaration stage were all long shots. Billy Prestage decided to take a chance with Milton – cut from 100-1 to 66-1 – and has engaged Randall Simons for his first Met runner as a trainer since taking out a licence over 40 years ago. He needs to beat three home to recoup his entry and declaration fees.
Oh Susanna
Justin Snaith, successful in the Met for the first time with Oh Susanna 12 months ago, is responsible for four of the 13 runners with July runner-up Made To Conquer (S’Manga Khumalo) and Peninsula Handicap winner Doublemint (Piere Strydom) joining the big two.
Andre Nel – Head Honcho (Keagan de Melo) and Kampala Campari (Aldo Domeyer) - is the only other trainer with more than one runner. The pair are his first Met contestants.
Hat Puntano (Donovan Dillon) takes his chance even though Joey Ramsden was unable to find anything that could have accounted for his rather disappointing seventh in the Queen’s Plate. Ramsden has yet to win the Met although he came within less than half a length with Bravura in Igugu’s year. There are 195 horses declared for the 12 races and Snaith is responsible for 32 (16%) of them. However this figure is down on recent years. The current champion trainer declared 35 last year, 40 in 2017 and 36 in 2016 when he made a clean sweep of the first six races and equalled the world record for winners at the same meeting on the one day with eight.
Marinaresco
Marinaresco has his first race since finishing third in last year’s Met in the 1 400m Al Fahidi Fort at Meydan on Thursday week. “He is doing very well in Dubai and we are hoping that he will run a place,” says Marsh Shirtliff in whose colours the 2017 Durban July winner races.
“But you can’t expect him to win against this sort of competition after being off for a year.” Shirtliff will not be there to cheer him on as he will be buying at the Cape Premier Yearling Sal the previous evening.