SA champion trainer Justin Snaith knows the way to the winner’s enclosure at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth and has every chance of making a grand entry again on Saturday, by the time the 16 horses have crossed the 2025 WSB Cape Town Met finish line.
Snaith has already bagged three Cape Town Met winners since 2018 but he has a chance to enter the Cape Town Met history books by bagging a hat-trick of wins.
Snaith's first Met winner was Oh Susanna in 2018. He won in 2023 with Jet Dark and last year made it back-to-back wins when Double Superlative produced a brilliantly timed effort under UK-based British jockey, the Zimbabwe-born Daniel Muscutt, to score a 33/1 upset win.
Snaith may not need his runners to produce an upset this time because the race favourite Eight On Eighteen is one of his five runners in the 2025 Cape Met field.
The three-year-old Eight On Eighteen looks to have peaked at the right time and will enjoy the services of class act jockey Richard Fourie, who piloted the 2023 Met winner Jet Dark.
Eight On Eighteen's status rose considerably following his eye-catching second place last December in the 2024 Hollywoodbets Cape Guineas at Kenilworth.
Since then, he has only raced between 1200 and 1600 metres and some question marks remain about his ability to last the extra 400 metres.
"He's the only three-year-old in the race. It opens the race up. He'll give the older horses something to think about. He's a young and up-and-coming youngster," said Snaith, who heads the South African trainers log with 94 winners since the start of the season in August 2024.
"When you're going over 2,000 metres it changes things a bit. This will be a race where stamina comes into play, and I don't think he's lacking in it. He deserves to be the favourite for the race because he hasn't put a foot wrong yet."
Eight On Eighteen has a terrific record at Kenilworth where he has run his six career races. He has two wins there as well two second and third places. South Africa’s record-breaking champion jockey Fourie was on board for both of his wins.
“In the Guineas he came from a long way back and made up a lot of ground on the favourite, and he’s a horse that I hope still has more to come. He’s not quite there but I’m hoping, come this race, he’ll be at his best,” said Snaith.
“The distance is what he’s been waiting for, although I think he’ll be as good over a mile. It’s just that I brought him on very carefully as he’s a little immature.”
Snaith has four other horses to boost his chances of a rare hat-trick of Cape Met wins. They are Royal Aussie, Future Swing, Pacaya, and Magic Verse.
The four-year-old gelding Magic Verse brings good form to the event with a win and two-second places in his last three races at Kenilworth. He teams up with Cape-based jockey Aldo Domeyer, who Snaith rates highly.
This year's event marks the 163rd running of the showpiece race, hosted by Cape Racing, and the 2025 theme is ‘Couture Unleashed'. It will celebrate South Africa’s rich talent and diverse design perspectives. | Independent Media Sport