J&B Met Log

David Thiselton: Gold Circle Publishing

Justin Snaith is confident of winning the R2,5 million J&B Met on Saturday with his three-year-old Dynasty colt Run For It and is looking for two other Grade 1s on the day too for he rates Solo Traveller, who contests the Investec Cape Derby, as his best chance of winning on the card and also gives Emerald Cove a good chance of winning the Klawervlei Majorca Stakes.



Felix Coetzee, who rides Run For It, has won the Met fives times but his last win in the big race was 20 years ago on the Terrance Millard-trained Olympic Duel.



“It would be fitting to win it 20 years later,” he said. “He’s the best ride I’ve had since then although I’ve missed about 16 Mets in between.”



Coetzee spoke of the strong constitution that Run For it has and of his class.



As a son of Dynasty, he will also be improving all the time and should also have plenty of stamina reserves.



Run For It did slow work over 1300m on the Phillipi sand yesterday (Monday) and will do some pace work this morning (Tuesday).



Snaith said, “Run For It’s been the unluckiest horse of the Summer. He should’ve won the Cape Guineas and would have won the Peninsula by a couple of lengths had he not been taken out..”



“He has an excellent racing temperament. He switches off, perhaps even too much in fact. I’ve been tempted to run him in blinkers, but he travelled very well in the Peninsula, so is learning. He has an excellent turn of foot and will be turning it on in the straight.”



“He has a very good chance, especially as he is well weighted. I’m only worried about Mother Russia and Pocket Power. Mother Russia is in the form of her life. Pocket Power ran his quickest Queen’s Plate ever. He ran a fantastic race, it was just a helluva field. He will now be at his best.”



Run For It, unlike Mother Russia and Pocket Power, will not have to carry a 2kg Grade 1 penalty.



Snaith is also concerned about the current trend whereby jockeys are going towards the outside of the straight, making it hard for every horse to get a run.



However, the false rail will be a narrower three metres on Met day, meaning this is unlikely to happen, while there is expected to be no wind, so the jockeys will not have to try and hide from it.



Snaith made Solo Traveller his best bet on the card.



“He has everything in his favour. He is drawn in pole position and is the best in at the weights. The only thing I’m worried about is the other horses getting in the way. ”



“Solo Traveller’s work into this race has been top class. It’s the best he’s ever worked.”



Snaith was not concerned about the trip.



“He’s shown in all of his work that he will stay. He got a bit coltish on me in the Politician Stakes, so I’ve changed his work program going into the Derby and have given him more longer, slower work. He is maturing.”



Snaith confirmed that big race jockey Bernard Fayd’herbe was very pleased indeed with Solo Traveller’s current form.



Snaith is unable to separate Run For It and Solo Traveller.



On Emerald Cove, who won the Grade 1 Paddock Stakes on Queen’s Plate day, he said, “She’s doing well, but the draw is a problem and its quite a strong race. Her ideal distance is 1800-2000m but she is still very competitive over 1600m and the two horses to beat, Covenant and Gibraltar Blue, both have stamina doubts. She’ll run a big race, but its an open race and will be hard to win. If Covenant stays she’ll run well. Love Is In The Air will certainly have to be watched out for and then there’s obviously Gibraltar Blue, but it will be very hard for her to go from 1000m straight to 1600m.”



Emerald Cove’s only below par race was when going far too fast out in front over 1400m in the Diana Stakes and the same mistake will never be made again.



Felix Coetzee said he wouldn’t have a problem settling her.



Snaith also runs Dance With Al and Townsend in the Majorca and gave the former the better chance of the pair.



“Dance With Al is very well and is the dark horse. She has run third in a Grade 1 over a mile before. Her sprints have been great, but this is a strong race.”

Dean Kannemeyer has two outsiders in the J&B Met on Saturday, In Writing and Last Regal, but the yard is in excellent form and both have enjoyed very good preparations.



In Writing is a five-year-old Argentnian-bred gelding, that Kannemeyer has always thought a lot of.



“I thought he was my Met horse at the beginning of last season, but things went wrong,” he said. “He suffered a slight inflammation of the tendon and I decided there and then to give him eight months rest. Since he’s come back the aim of every run has been to bring him on. His last run (when running on strongly for a 0,95 lengths fourth in the Grade 2 Peninsula over 1800m) was very good and he is exceptionally well. He has had a very good preparation. The only reason he is merit rated 97 is because he was out for a year. He is better than that.”



Asked on his chances, Kannemeyer said that if Mother Russia was taken out of the race, it was not a great field.



“There’s also Run For It, but you have to be an outstanding three-year-old to win the Met. Horse Chestnut was a freak and Badger’s Coast also won it for the de Kock yard. But I respect Run For It as a very good horse. Pocket Power has been a brilliant racehorse, but you can’t carry on winning forever. Has he lost that kick he had?”



“If all goes well don’t be surprised to see In Writing running in the first four. Morne Winnaar knows him well and is an underrated rider.”



“Last Regal is not a bad horse,” he continued.



In the Peninsula, Last Regal, a four-year-old Jallad gelding, ran three wide the whole way and still ran on very well to be just two lengths back at the line.



“My jockey got off and said that if he hadn’t run wide he would’ve won the race,” said Kannemeyer.



“Last Regal has proved himself in the class of Tales Of Bravery,” he continued. “He lost to him in the Winter Classic, but beat him in the Winter Guineas and the Winter Derby. So if he has luck in running on Saturday he has as much chance as most of the horses, besides, as I said earlier, Mother Russia and Run For It etc. He has had a very, very soft route into this race. I aimed to have him especially ready for this race. He’s had three runs with decent gaps in between this season, so has had an excellent preparation. Muzi Yeni is a very good rider. He is very well balanced and horses run for him. ”



Both In Writing and Last Regal cantered over about 800m on the sand yesterday (Tuesday) and were seen to stretch out very nicely.



Kannemeyer spoke of his other runners on the card too.



“Chippendale (who runs in the first, a MR88 Handicap over 1400m) loves this course and loves this distance. “



“Silver Apples (who runs in the second, a Fillies and Mares Handicap over 1400) is a game filly and always tries her best. She’s suited to 1400m.”



“Sabatino (who runs in the fourth, a MR 104 Handicap over 1600m) has ability, but tries further and only the race will tell whether he gets it.”



Cypress Point runs in the eighth, a MR 94 Handicap over 1200m, and Kannemeyer said, “He’s won his last three and the handicapper has pushed him up. He has lots of ability and should go a mile, but I’m keeping him to 1200m to look after his knees as he is not the soundest of horses.”



In the tenth, the Grade 2 J&B Reserve Stayers over 2800m, Kannemeyer has Cree Lodge and Machiatto.



“I think Cree Lodge will get the trip and Gerrit also thinks so. He’s doing well and is a big runner. We’ve expected a lot of Macchiatto and he’s let us down a few times. He has taken time, though, and is getting stronger. He won well over 2500m last time and now tries 2800m.”

The Darryl Hodgson-trained Past Master put up very good work over about 800m on the Milnerton sand yesterday (Tuesday), pulling well clear of the merit rated 81 sprinter-miler Cool Conqueror.



Past Master doesn’t usually show a lot and Hodgson commented, “That was a very good workout for him.”



Hodgson is still mystified by Past Master’s Queen’s Plate run.



“We don’t know why, but he sprawled at the junction as if he was jumping a patch, and was unbalanced from then onward. He’s had a suspensory ligament injury before, so Gerrit (Schlechter) thought he’d gone wrong, but he pulled up sound and has shown no signs of anything wrong since.”



Past Master, after being out for ten months with the suspensory ligament injury, ran third over 1200m in his first run for Hodgson and then won a Graduation Plate over 1400m.



“I wasn’t thinking of the Met then, but when he ran third to Pocket Power in the Green Point, finishing very strongly, I then thought we were on our way.”



Hodgson then gave him what was intended to be a gallop in the Grade 2 Diadem Stakes over 1200m and he stormed home to win impressively by three lengths.



“That run flabbergasted me, to be honest,” said Hodgson. “Since then everybody’s been saying he’s a sprint-miler, but I see no reason why he shouldn’t stay. His dam sire is Western Winter and not many Western Winter’s get 2000m, but he is a horse who settles well and is by Jet Master so he should get it.



Hodgson saw Mother Russia and Tales Of Bravery as the dangers and added, “Don’t leave Pocket Power out and Flirtation is maybe a sneaker. The three-year-olds that have won the Met have been absolute champions and Run For It hasn’t struck me as being a Champion.”



He concluded, “I think Past Master will be in the first five.”



Later Wikipedia, who runs in the ninth over 1200m, put up a scintillating gallop on the sand over 800m, thrashing the hard-knocking maiden, Wind ‘Em Up, by at least 10 lengths.



Bayard, who runs in the first over 1200m, also put up an eye catching gallop.



Hodgson gave both Wikipedia and his coupling, Rose Royce, “big chances”.



He added, “Bayard is above average and has a good each-way chance.”



Hodgson reckoned Casey Cool, who runs in the fourth over 1600m, would have a chance if he reproduced his fine Queen’s Plate run.

Mike de Kock is happy with all of his runners for Saturday’s big Kenilworth meeting including the hot favourite for the J&B Met, Mother Russia, who was an easy winner of the L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate.



The only concern of most pundits has been whether she truly stays 2000m and de Kock said, “Her absolute optimum trip is 1600-1800m, but in last year’s Met only one horse overtook her in the run in and that was after she had been forced to take up the running early too. So I’ve no doubt that she gets the trip.”



“Flirtation was running on strongly in the Paddock having ended up on the outside fence from a good draw, so with more luck she could have won. But the turnaround in the weights with Mother Russia from the Summer Cup will make it very tough for her.”



“Rudra won so well last time that I was tempted into running him. He is at his best in soft conditions, but can perform well in firm going too.”



De Kock said of Gibraltar Blue, who contests the Grade 1 Klawervlei Majorca Stakes over 1600m, “While it was disappointing she didn’t win on Saturday, in terms of brilliance she has lost nothing. She was simply found out in that class over 1000m and did come up against potentially the best sprinter seen for some time. If her race had merely been a prep run for 1600m you would have to say it was an excellent run. Some people thought she went down short, but she always does that as her cruising speed is so high she has to be held tightly on the way down.”

All of the above were scripted by the genius that is David Thiselton (tu)

David Thiselton: Gold Circle Publishing

The J&B Met tomorrow sees the great Pocket Power making his swansong and he looks to be one of the chef contenders together with Mother Russia and Run For It.



Mother Russia won the L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate very comfortably.



She is better at 1600-1800m, but has proved she stays the 2000m trip, so as there doesn’t appear to be much pace in the race, she looks the one to beat.



The one possibility for setting a good pace could be the Mike Bass-trained Fort Vogue. He has travelled like a winner on a few occasions, but doesn’t go on with his effort.



On one occasion over 1800m at Clairwood Racecourse he fought for his head most of the way around and turned for home with a share of the lead, but kept on finding all the way to the line, going down narrowly to Flying Tristram.



It would be interesting to see him go to the front, especially considering that he will wear a tongue tie for the first time.



If a decent pace is set then Pocket Power and especially Run For It will become big dangers to Mother Russia, as they both relish this distance.



Run For It, unlike Mother Russia and Pocket Power, does not have the disadvantage of a 2kg Grade 1 penalty.



They say three-year-olds have to be absolute champions to win, but in today’s era most of our best older horses are campaigning overseas, so that theory may no longer apply.



Jockey Felix Coetzee has also spoken about the strong constitution of Run For It.



He has a laid back temperament and switches himself off in the running and this is followed by a tremendous turn of foot in the straight.



Furthermore, he has inherited the classy presence of his sire Dynasty.



Pocket Power is now eight, so possibly lacks the devastating kick he once had, but is sure to be running on and there are few horses with hearts as big as his.



He has a perfect draw of three and it would be no surprise to see him lying handy considering his liking for the distance.



Tales Of Bravery has a 2,5kg swing at the weights for a 2,75 length beating by Mother Russia in the L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate and should enjoy the trip, but has a wide draw. His regular jockey MJ Byleveld is out injured but is replaced by one of the most underrated jockeys in the country, Marthinus Mienie.



Bravura won the Grade 1 Investec Cape Derby over course and distance a year ago in brilliant, but was then forced out with a hind-leg injury. He has come back well and if finding his best will be a big runner.



Flirtation won the Sansui Summer Cup and was probably a touch unlucky in the Grade 1 TBA Paddock Stakes in her first Cape Town start.



She will love the course and distance and will be running on strongly, but has a tough task at the weights with Mother Russia on their Summer Cup meeting,



In Writing and Paddy O’Reilly are two outsiders worth considering. Both are well drawn and will love the trip, they both possess a turn of foot and have both enjoyed excellent preparations. Cask and Last Regal fall into this same category, but have wider draws to overcome.



On three-year-old form there is very little between Last Regal and Tales Of Bravery.



Super Storm is an improving four-year-old and could also earn a place, although he has a very wide draw to overcome.



Rushing Wind never runs a bad race and should be running on, while Rudra is a dark horse as he is scintillating at best and produced his best for the first time for a long time in his last start. However, he will appreciate rain which he is unlikely to get.



Past Master is packed with class and if he stays ad produces his best will be a contender, but his Queen’s Plate run is a bit off putting.



Lion In Winter faces stronger than in his last win but on the basis of that run looks likely to enjoy the trip.



Celtic Fire could be outclassed.



The selection is Mother Russia to beat Run For It and Pocket Power with Bravura and Flirtation next best.