Head Honcho, winner of last season’s WSB Premier Trophy and beaten less than a length when third in the Sun Met the following month, has been retired.

The six-year-old finished last in this year’s Met, the final one of his 23 starts and Andre Nel said: “I think the writing was on the wall when he disappointed in his previous race (the Green Point) but he had run the race of his life in the 2019 Met and it is hard to run like that two years in succession.

“He won nine races, four of them stakes races, so he earned his keep. He is still on our West Coast farm but we are looking for a home for him. I would like him to go somewhere he can compete because that is what he likes.”

Stable companion Capoeira, third in last season’s Daily News and more recently second to Crown Towers in the Selangor Jet Master, will renew rivalry with that winner in the Kings Cup at Hollywoodbets Greyville on Sunday when he will be ridden for the first time by Anton Marcus.

Nel said: “Hopefully Anton can give us an opinion on the horse because we have had conflicting views from the jockeys who have been riding him recently.”

By Michael Clower