J&B MET 130

J&B MET (Grade 1)
Kenilworth, Turf, 2000m
2 February 2013

Mike Moon
The TimesThe J&B Met is much more than a horse race. Raced in the dreamy Cape just as summer comes off its peak, it has come to symbolise the glamour of the racing game in South Africa.

If the Vodacom Durban July is all about power and glory - with the prestige of the country’s premier race, alcohol-fuelled corporate show-offs and big money wagering - the Met provides a more elegant, romantic interlude.

Met Day is like a huge garden party with equine entertainments. At Cape Town’s foremost social bash, being seen in the exclusive enclosures in eye-catching finery is, for many, at least as important as what passes the winning post first.

As such, the poshest do in racing is rather more than just the second-biggest race day in the land. A party with cavorting celebrities, outré outfits, sunshine and wine will always attract that extra bit of attention.

It’s small wonder whisky maker J&B has continued to pump money into staging the event since 1978, becoming horse racing’s longest-standing sponsor. J&B might already be an upmarket brand, but it still picks up priceless cache and glitzy publicity from the Met.

This is not to say the racing itself ain’t important. For racing folk, it’s right up there in quality, and for those of us who cannot be at glorious Kenilworth tomorrow, it is racing form rather than haute couture and haute cuisine that must be our focus.

Speaking of which, tomorrow’s 130th renewal looks a competitive affair - at least among the well-backed horses.

Handicap conditions for the Met are intended to ensure that the most talented horses do well. They’re not heavily penalised with weight in the saddle for their past successes and can show their true worth, all else being equal. This year the classiest contenders are also the ones with the most compelling recent form, theoretically narrowing down our choice of most likely winner. Top jockey Anthony Delpech, who hasn’t landed a choice booking for the Met, says he can see the winner coming from only “four or five” horses and hasn’t bothered to scratch around for a mount on an apparent no-hoper.

That seems a fair assessment.

Topping the betting boards at 18/10 is four-year-old colt Jackson, who is obviously a top racehorse and does well on this course. But many pundits and punters haven’t shaken off the bruising they took when he failed to meet a previous big challenge, in the 2012 Vodacom Durban July.

July winner Pomodoro has had a brilliant lead-up to the Met, with little having been in his favour. He has a good barrier draw, has had time to acclimatise to Cape Town and has the peerless services of Piere Strydom in the irons. Feisty mare Beach Beauty is consistent and is almost guaranteed to have a say in the finish.

J&B MET BETTING:

18/10 Jackson, 7/2 Pomodoro, 11/2 Beach Beauty, 10/1 Slumdogmillionaire, 12/1 King Of Pain, 14/1 Master Plan, 15/1 Bravura, 20/1 Run For It, 22/1 Hill Fifty Four, 40/1 Martial Eagle, 50/1 Tribal Dance, 66/1 Bulsara, Black Wing, 80/1 Ice Machine, In Writing, 100/1 Fabiani.

J&B MET SELECTION:

J&B MET (KENILWORTH RACE 8): 2 Pomodoro, 15 Beach Beauty, 4 Master Plan, 1 Jackson

For more information, please visit :

www.jbmet.co.za

Extract from The Times

IN PRAISE OF IGUGU

Click above to watch Igugu winning the 2012 J&B Met (Grade 1)
(Image : Gold Circle - Footage - SABC3)

“Heroine of the 2012 J&B Met”

David ThiseltonIn the run-up to the 2013 edition of the J&B Met we pay tribute to 2012 heroine, Igugu.

Racing enthusiasts from every corner of the industry cheered as one at around this time last year when the courageous filly Igugu, who is currently just a few weeks away from her overseas debut, passed the line first to complete a rare J&B Met and Vodacom Durban July double.

The greatness of the Mike de Kock-trained heroine’s win may not have been fully appreciated by all, as little went right for her in the build up and she had to overcome obstacles that would have been too much for an ordinary horse. De Kock recalled, “She had a respiratory problem and an ongoing foot problem that left us behind in our preparation. We ended up having to work her twice a day to catch up. She worked on the track in the morning and on the treadmill in the afternoon. There are not many horses that would have been able to take the work we gave her. But she has always been willing to do whatever you ask of her.”

Igugu had been due to run in the Grade 1 Paddock Stakes over 1800m for fillies and mares three weeks prior to the Met. The Galileo filly, who was four-years-old at the time, was virtually unbeatable at weight for age terms and her presence chased the opposition way, leaving a small field of only seven runners at final declarations.

The news early in the week of the race that she would have to be scratched due to an upper respiratory tract infection came as a shock to punters as she was the ruling J&B Met favourite. De Kock recalled, “Fortunately it was not serious and she was able to resume work quickly, which gave us just enough time.” On top of her intense work programme at Randjesfontein, Igugu still faced the arduous journey to Cape Town that she would undergo on the Tuesday before The Met. To compound matters, it was confirmed by the state veterinarians that she would have to stay in vector protected quarantine conditions while in Cape Town, as there had been an outbreak of African Horse Sickness within a 30km radius of Randjesfontein.

This meant being locked up at the Kenilworth Quarantine Station two hours before dusk until two hours after dawn, meaning De Kock and his team would not be able to check up on her at night, except through a viewing window. Igugu emerged from the station on the morning of the race sweating and she sweated up again in the pre-race parade. But De Kock was not concerned. Igugu went down to the post with her familiar shuffling style, which can be misleading, but to those standing on the rail nearest to her there was no mistaking the power packed into that unique action. However, it was a different story in the race, at least until the final 200 metres.

After the off she struggled to get into her usual good early position. Fortunately she had a top class pilot aboard, her regular rider Anthony Delpech, who didn’t waste any energy pursuing plan ‘A’. Instead he eased her back, meaning she would have to come from further off them than she was used to. However, half way down the straight her winning chances looked gone. At a stage she was normally pulling clear, she appeared to be under pressure and still had two lengths to make up on Bravura. However, from somewhere deep in her reserves, she found another gear and surged past Bravura two strides from the line to win by 0,4 lengths.

De Kock said that the five-year-old mare was in great shape in his Dubai yard, despite a few hiccups during her arduous five month journey to get there. “The flight from Mauritius to England took 26 hours to complete because of a few delays,” he said. “Then she had a splint (pain in the splint bone usually after exercise) after a sprint up in England.” He continued, “But she has done very well since arriving in Dubai and we’ve had a free ride with her since then.”

The Summerhill Ready To Run graduate will make her Dubai debut in the Grade 2 Balanchine for fillies and mares over 1800m on turf on February 21, a race De Kock has won for the last two years running with River Jetez and Mahbooba respectively. One certainty is that the South African racing fraternity will be rooting for her every step of the way.

Extracts from Mike de Kock Racing

J&B MET 2013 : IT IS TRUE, GREAT PLEASURE IS RARE

Igugu as a foal with dam, Zarinia
(Photo : Summerhill Archives)

J&B MET (Grade 1)
Kenilworth, Turf, 2000m
2 February 2013

While most scribes have been concentrating on matters of horses and fashion in their coverage of Saturday’s J&B Met, we’re going to talk a little bit about history. The sponsors founder, Giacomo Justerini arrived in London from Bologna in 1749 in pursuit, not of his fortune, but of a beautiful opera singer, Margherita Bellino, with whom he had fallen in love.

Though his pursuit of love was unrequited, he must have been comforted by his fortunes which prospered greatly; so that by 1760 he was able to sell the firm to George Johnson and retire to Italy. Throughout the difficult days of the London riots of 1780 and the Napoleonic Wars, George Johnson and later his son and grandson managed the firm with considerable skill, until in 1830 it was sold to Alfred Brooks, a young man doubly blessed by wealth and good connections. He added his name to that of Justerini and built up a discerning and knowledgeable clientele, amongst them Charles Dickens whose bills, still in their possession today, reflect his growing success as an author and his increasing enthusiasm for their products.

As for the Met itself, it’s come a long way since it was inaugurated in 1883 as the Metropolitan Mile, and its association with J&B dates to 1978, entitling it to lay claim to the oldest sponsorship of a current horse race in South Africa. Since then, it’s been graced by some of the greatest names in South Africa’s racing folklore. Politician, Foveros, Wolf Power, Model Man, London News, Horse Chestnut, Yard Arm, Pocket Power, Igugu. 4:30 pm Saturday is the next chance for someone to make new history.

While on the subject of history, in the modern era, no farm can match Summerhill’s three Met winners, La Fabulous (1996), Angus (2003) and Igugu (2012), while we came oh-so-close in 1995 when Imperial Dispatch and Rusty Pelican charged up the outer rail and to all normal beholders, crossed the line ahead of the rest. Champion Three-Year-Old Filly Icy Air was another denied the victory laurels when Alastor “half-lengthed” her in 2005. The weights for the J&B Met are framed to provide the best horses with the best chances, and in that respect, it’s unique among the big three of South African racing. There is only a 2kg penalty separating Group One winners from the rest of the candidates, though in merit rating terms, they might be as much as a stone apart. In effect that means that the Group One winners generally comprise the highest rated horses in the field, and are where the winner is most likely to spring from; on the basis, of this year’s entries, Jackson and Pomodoro are the penalty kicks. Yet racing is a funny old game, and none of us know what the horses themselves are feeling like on race day.

Last year, there were all sorts of misgivings about the welfare of Igugu, and the naysayers just couldn’t have hers among the numbers in the frame. They obviously didn’t know Igugu and had forgotten where she came from. She laid her adversities aside, soaring through in the dying strides, to nail Bravura and the young upstart, Gimmethegreenlight, in the shadow of the post.

The crowd gave Igugu a standing ovation as she passed the post, with the yellow lights of the infield timing board showing she’d equalled the long-standing record, which meant Bravura must’ve come close too. But it was Igugu’s day, she owned Kenilworth as no filly had since Empress Club. Briefly, the sport had returned to its most glorious days. For a moment, the punt doesn’t matter. For a moment, a horse is queen. Legless, but standing. Wave after wave of cheering rushed over sunny Kenilworth, the horses and jockeys were exhausted. It had all been too much.

Just this past week, we dug up a photograph of the “miracle” filly as a foal. Those that know foals can see the makings of a champion in these images.

Besides Jackson and Pomodoro, the Group One winners for the 2013 renewal include Slumdogmillionaire, Bravura, Master Plan, In Writing and Beach Beauty.

Gavin Van Zyl is not the only man bandying about the name of his charge, “Slumdog”, as there is more than one racing journo who shares his optimism. Let’s not forget too, that the enigmatic Bravura comes well at this time of the year, having won the Investec Cape Derby over the same course and distance on the same day two years ago, and then as we’ve said, pressing Igugu all the way in last year’s event. We guess though, that it depends on which “Bravura” turns up on the day. Don’t write off Beach Beauty either; she’s at the top of her game, and in Dennis Drier, she couldn’t be in more capable hands.

Greg Ennion is high on the hopes of Master Plan, who earned his Group One brackets in a nail-biting finale at Greyville on the closing day of the season in the Champions Cup, while Vaughan Marshall is known to rate the vastly improved Hill Fifty Four, a Group winner in both of his most recent starts.

We don’t want to appear parochial about this, but hope springs eternal in this game, and while his price of 75-1 suggests he is a forlorn prospect in this field, if Master Plan or Hill Fifty Four are in with any kind of a chance, then a fully fit Black Wing must enter the equation, if only for place money. Master Plan is 2kgs worse off for a short head beating of Black Wing in that Group One at Greyville, while there is a 3kg turnabout in the weights against Hill Fifty Four for a three length win in the Penisula Handicap (Gr.2) a few weeks back. That run suggests that there is nothing in it between Black Wing and Hill Fifty Four, while the turnaround with Master Plan, in theory at least, tells us that Black Wing has his beating.

This looks like a high class renewal, and most times in these circumstances, class prevails. What focuses the mind here is the fact that the highest rated entries are also in the best of form right now, and so it looks like a match between three, Jackson, Pomodoro and Slumdogmillionaire. Beach Beauty could be the “party pooper”.

Editor’s Note: Black Wing was a R50,000 purchase by Paul Gadsby off the farm. That was before we introduced the Emperors Palace Summer Ready To Run Sale. Who knows, it gave us Imbongi, Bold Ellinore and Emperor Napoleon. So there’s no reason it can’t produce another of their ilk. (Wednesday 20^th February at the farm).

Enquiries :
Tarryn Liebenberg +27 (0) 83 787 1982
or email tarryn@summerhill.co.za
www.summerhill.co.za

J&B MET 2013 : FINAL FIELD

J&B MET (Grade 1) Kenilworth, Turf, 2000m 2 February 2013 FINAL FIELD
#	Horse	kg	MR	Draw	Jockey	Trainer
1	JACKSON	60.0	114	5	K Teetan	Brett Crawford
2	POMODORO	60.0	113	8	P Strydom	Sean Tarry
3	SLUMDOGMILLIONAIRE	60.0	112	1	B Lerena	Gavin van Zyl
4	MASTER PLAN	60.0	111	4	R Fradd	Greg Ennion
5	IN WRITING (ARG)	60.0	110	3	G Behr	Dean Kannemeyer
6	MARTIAL EAGLE	58.0	112	15	A Domeyer	Yogas Govender
7	BRAVURA	58.0	111	6	A Marcus	Joey Ramsden
8	RUN FOR IT	58.0	109	16	B Fayd’Herbe	Justin Snaith
9	HILL FIFTY FOUR	58.0	107	14	M Byleveld	Vaughan Marshall
10	TRIBAL DANCE	58.0	107	12	R Khathi	Vaughan Marshall
11	BLACK WING	58.0	106	9	F Coetzee	Brett Crawford
12	FABIANI	58.0	106	2	G van Niekerk	Glen Kotzen
13	ICE MACHINE	58.0	106	10	tba	Garth Puller
14	BULSARA	58.0	102	7	M Odendaal	Gavin van Zyl
15	BEACH BEAUTY	57.5	112	11	S Cormack	Dennis Drier
16	KING OF PAIN	53.0	107	13	G Hatt	Joey Ramsden
Barrier Draw : Thursday 24 January 2013 Official Gallops : Thursday 24 January 2013 www.jbmet.co.za

J&B MET 2013 : FINAL ENTRIES

J&B MET (Grade 1) Kenilworth, Turf, 2000m 2 February 2013 ENTRIES
Horse	Age	Sex	MR	Weight	Trainer
VARIETY CLUB	4	Colt	118	60.0	Joey Ramsden
JACKSON	4	Colt	114	60.0	Brett Crawford
POMODORO	4	Colt	113	60.0	Sean Tarry
SLUMDOGMILLIONAIRE	4	Colt	112	60.0	Gavin van Zyl
MASTER PLAN	4	Gelding	111	60.0	Greg Ennion
IN WRITING (ARG)	7	Gelding	110	60.0	Dean Kannemeyer
MARTIAL EAGLE	7	Gelding	112	58.0	Yogas Govender
BRAVURA	6	Gelding	111	58.0	Joey Ramsden
CASTLETHORPE (AUS)	5	Gelding	110	58.0	Mike Bass
RUN FOR IT	5	Horse	109	58.0	Justin Snaith
CHANGINGOFTHEGUARD	4	Colt	107	58.0	Justin Snaith
ENGLISH GARDEN	5	Gelding	107	58.0	Mike Bass
HILL FIFTY FOUR	4	Gelding	107	58.0	Vaughan Marshall
TAIPAN	4	Gelding	107	58.0	Dean Kannemeyer
TRIBAL DANCE	4	Colt	107	58.0	Vaughan Marshall
BLACK WING	5	Gelding	106	58.0	Brett Crawford
FABIANI	7	Gelding	106	58.0	Glen Kotzen
ICE MACHINE	4	Gelding	106	58.0	Garth Puller
ASTRO NEWS	4	Gelding	102	58.0	Brian Wiid
BULSARA	6	Gelding	102	58.0	Gavin van Zyl
CASK	6	Gelding	99	58.0	Stephen Page
MUJAARIB (AUS)	4	Colt	98	58.0	Mike de Kock
PUTNEY FLYER	4	Gelding	96	58.0	Darryl Hodgson
JET EXPLORER	4	Gelding	95	58.0	Justin Snaith
HAMMIE’S DYNASTY	4	Gelding	93	58.0	Mike Bass
BEACH BEAUTY	5	Mare	112	57.5	Dennis Drier
THUNDER DANCE	4	Filly	105	57.5	Brett Crawford
BAMBINA STRIPES (ARG)	4	Filly	95	57.5	Dennis Drier
DUBAI GINA (AUS)	4	Filly	104	55.5	Vaughan Marshall
KING OF PAIN	3	Colt	107	53.0	Joey Ramsden
LOVE STRUCK	3	Gelding	99	53.0	Paul Lafferty
RUMYA (NZ)	3	Filly	104	51.5	Mike de Kock
Final Declarations : 11h00 Monday 21 January 2013 Final Field and Barrier Draw : To be advised Official Gallops : Thursday 24 January 2013 www.jbmet.co.za