THE J&B MET
KENILWORTH RACECOURSE
30 JANUARY 2010
Cape Town is rife with talk that Pocket Power’s shot at a fourth consecutive J&B Met will witness his come-uppance. Mike Bass, genius horseman that he is, won’t hear of it. He says the 7-year-old has never been better, and expects him to whistle past the R10 million earnings mark.
We purposely postponed this posting so we could get the very latest thoughts from the innermost minds of the best of the opposition. Looking at the betting, there’s no better man to talk to than Champion trainer, Charles Laird, who’s been second to Pocket Power in two of his three victories to date. Laird’s view is typically simple.
In Dan De Lago and Oracy, he has a brace of horses he rates better than both his previous runners-up, if Pocket Power’s colours are to be lowered, he believes it is most likely to come from his charges.
Stan Elley’s Kapil, a contemporary of the favourite, has never been better, though 2000 metres at the weights could find him out, despite a 2kg “pull” in his L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate second. Pace will, as always, play a big role, so if “dark” horse, Red Rake (also quietly fancied at 12-1), doesn’t cut it, Bass will have the contingency of Blue Tiger to provide it. For sure, the “Pocket” will need a pace to be at his best.
And then, of course, you can never discount a “July” hero in a race like this. Big City Life hasn’t quite shown his sophomore form of late, but he’s now supposedly back at his peak, and if his wide draw costs him, Glen Kotzen will still have Fabiani in reserve.
The last J&B Met winner from the rank outside draw, as far as we can remember, was Summerhill-raised, Angus, but without a contender in 2010, we’ve left the event to the gods!
FINAL FIELD
| # | Horse | Kg | MR | Dr | Jockey | Trainer |
| 1 |
POCKET POWER |
58.0 |
119 |
2 |
B Fayd’Herbe |
Mike Bass |
| 2 |
SMART BANKER |
58.8 |
110 |
16 |
F Coetzee |
Charles Laird |
| 3 |
STRATEGIC NEWS |
58.0 |
107 |
11 |
P Cosgrave |
Dylan Cunha |
| 4 |
BIG CITY LIFE |
57.5 |
111 |
14 |
*K Teetan |
Glen Kotzen |
| 5 |
FOREST PATH |
57.5 |
107 |
13 |
G Schlechter |
Stephen Page |
| 6 |
KAPIL |
56.0 |
115 |
3 |
M Byleveld |
Stan Elley |
| 7 |
SURFIN’ USA |
56.0 |
111 |
12 |
W Kennedy |
Jacques Strydom |
| 8 |
BLUE TIGER |
56.0 |
108 |
10 |
S Randolph |
Mike Bass |
| 9 |
RED RAKE |
56.0 |
105 |
1 |
S Cormack |
Basil Marcus |
| 10 |
THUNDERING JET |
56.0 |
101 |
15 |
M Yeni |
Paul Lafferty |
| 11 |
DIAMOND QUEST |
56.0 |
98 |
7 |
K Jupp |
Mike Bass |
| 12 |
LION’S BLOOD |
56.0 |
98 |
6 |
R Danielson |
Herman Brown |
| 13 |
ORACY (NZ) |
55.5 |
110 |
17 |
P Strydom |
Charles Laird |
| 14 |
DAN DE LAGO (AUS) |
55.5 |
108 |
8 |
A Marcus |
Charles Laird |
| 15 |
FABIANI |
55.5 |
108 |
5 |
R Fourie |
Glen Kotzen |
| 16 |
FORT VOGUE |
55.5 |
101 |
4 |
K Neisius |
Mike Bass |
| 17 |
MOTHER RUSSIA |
55.0 |
106 |
18 |
A Delpech |
Mike de Kock |
| 18 |
RIVER JETEZ |
53.5 |
104 |
9 |
G Hatt |
Mike Bass |
BETTING
| # | Horse | Current | Opening |
| 1 |
POCKET POWER |
16/10 |
18/10 |
| 14 |
DAN DE LAGO |
4/1 |
4/1 |
| 13 |
ORACY |
7/1 |
11/2 |
| 4 |
BIG CITY LIFE |
12/1 |
7/1 |
| 6 |
KAPIL |
12/1 |
16/1 |
| 9 |
RED RAKE |
12/1 |
16/1 |
| 18 |
RIVER JETEZ |
12/1 |
16/1 |
| 15 |
FABIANI |
16/1 |
20/1 |
| 17 |
MOTHER RUSSIA |
20/1 |
12/1 |
| 2 |
SMART BANKER |
33/1 |
33/1 |
| 16 |
FORT VOGUE |
50/1 |
33/1 |
| 5 |
FOREST PATH |
66/1 |
50/1 |
| 3 |
STRATEGIC NEWS |
66/1 |
50/1 |
| 7 |
SURFIN’ USA |
66/1 |
50/1 |
| 8 |
BLUE TIGER |
100/1 |
100/1 |
| 11 |
DIAMOND QUEST |
125/1 |
50/1 |
| 10 |
THUNDERING JET |
125/1 |
100/1 |
| 12 |
LION’S BLOOD |
150/1 |
66/1 |
BETTING COURTESY OF BETTING WORLD AS AT 5AM 30 JANUARY 2010
Saturday, January 30, 2010 
