He said, “All seven of my rides will be competitive and five of them have a good chance of making the first four.”

He emphasised, “I really like the ride for Mr Tarry in race 2, Aleut.” This three-year-old colt by Sail From Seattle out of an Al Mufti mare made his debut in a weak maiden over 1200m on the Vaal sand and, although finishing 5,5 lengths back in second to the progressive sand type Forest View, he was 5,25 lengths clear of the rest of the field and should have benefitted from the outing.

He faces another weak field and comes out well on formlines. The only danger of those to have run appears to be Mississippi Rising, who made a fair debut over today’s course and distance in a weak race.

All six of his other rides are for Mike Azzie.

Hewitson began, “Love Without End in race three is a big runner.” This Dynasty filly is a half-sister to the useful five-time winner Himilayan Hill. She found consistent betting support in four outings on the sand and might appreciate the switch to turf in this weak field over1400m, although the Johan Janse Van Vuuren-trained C’Est Chique looks the one to beat.

Hewitson rates Apple Crumble in race four, a maiden over 1400m, another big runner, “provided he brings his work to the course.” This four-year-old gelding is bred in the purple, being by Trippi out of the Azzie-trained Gr 1 Empress Club Stakes-winning Jet Master mare Stratos.

Hewitson said, “I was supposed to have ridden him earlier, but there was a change of ownership, and we think the 1400m will be the best introduction for him. I have already worked him three times on the grass and he gives a good feel. He is a straight forward horse and won’t be green.”

Next up in race five, a maiden over 1700m, he rides the favourite Netherby Hall and said, “After his pleasing debut he will be a big runner.” This three-year-old Judpot gelding showed pace throughout on debut over 1600m and finished a close up third. He looks to be a resolute galloper and will not only appreciate the step up in trip, but will likely strip fitter.

In race eight, a maiden over 2000m, he rides the three-year-old Awesome Adam. This Australian-bred colt returns to the turf after a way below par outing on sand and is the 18/10 favourite. Hewitson said, “He is crying out for this trip and is also a big runner.”

Hewitson is the son of former jockey Carl, who is these days the assistant trainer in the top Port Elizabeth yard of Yvette Bremner. Lyle has always regarded his father as his biggest mentor and is thrilled that he will be at the meeting today. He said, “My Dad has watched me ride one winner before but it will be great to have him at the meeting to provide extra advice. I just hope it works out well and that I can make him proud.”

He said about his plans to become a professional jockey, “As soon I have completed my matric I will consider my best options but I definitely want to make it my career path.”

The South African Jockeys Academy know about his ambitions and, due to his obvious skill in the saddle and fantastic attitude, they are unlikely to turn him down if that would indeed be his best option. Hewitson revealed, “I barely get to ride work during the school term, which is quite hard and is a limitation, but in the holidays I pretty much ride 24/7. I am grateful to Kearsney for allowing me the time off to ride in races.”

He has a following among his fellow pupils as well his school teachers. His biggest fan is the Engineering and Graphic Design teacher Dean Moodley, who is also a prominent sports coach. He said, “I think he knows about the noms before I do!”

He feels he has a good relationship with the likes of Azzie and Tarry and said, “I wish I could pay them back by riding work more often, but I am grateful for the support and hope it will pay off tomorrow.”

Hewitson rode his first winner on 19 November 2013 aboard the Yogas Govender-trained Argo’s Jet in just his second career race ride. To date he has had 40 rides for 8 winners at a superb strike rate of 20% and is very much a rider to follow.

“I am now giving the two-year-olds one less gallop than I used to. It’s one less than they should have and I then let the races bring them on,” said the champion trainer. “I know it’s not ideal for punters but that’s the way it has to be with the handicap system in South Africa the way it is.

“I used to bring them out ready to win first time but in some cases they were only winning because I had given them more work than the other trainers.”

This is not the first time that Snaith has vowed to go easy with his two-year-olds to avoid the risk of them being over-rated and in the past it has soon fallen victim to his relentless desire to win. But seemingly he means business on this occasion.

He is also looking forward to new opportunities in the second half of the season, particularly with the 26-box Johannesburg satellite yard to be opened in May.

He said: “That is going to be exciting and, after taking a week off, I’m going to make some decisions because I might send some horses up there now including Buckinghampshire.

“In the meantime I’ve got to work through this virus which is making the yard a ghost of what it normally is.”

The decisions will involve Legislate – “He is just resting at the moment. We don’t know what he will do although there is talk of Durban.”

The big races apart, Sean Cormack was dominant and landed a four-timer starting with the Dennis Drier-trained Balkan when hot favourite Night Of Stars returned with a wound on her upper jaw after bursting through the pens.

But what would have happened had Act Of War not fallen victim – almost certainly to the bug that is sweeping as mercilessly and as randomly through the Cape Town stables as the devil’s scythe – is a matter of expensive conjecture for those who backed him at 1-3.

“I was happy to track the leader but 500m out I knew I was in trouble,” reported Piere Strydom whose triumphant record-breaking roll went into sharp, albeit temporary, reverse on three beaten Grade 1 favourites.

The course vet reported that Act Of War was “mildly fatigued” but Joey Ramsden found him far worse when he inspected him in the racecourse stables, saying: “He is a very tired horse and he is blowing hard. This wasn’t his run – he emptied out too quickly for that – and he finished in a heap with horses rated far below him.”

Gavin Lerena boldly made all the running and then set out to really stretch the field as he turned for home. Asked when he realised he had the favourite in trouble, he replied straight-faced: “When I worked my horse last Monday!”

Matthew de Kock, assistant to his father, added: “We made the running because we knew he could get the distance and we wanted to make sure that it was a true run race. This is a special horse and I was screaming for him the whole way up the straight. He is now looking at the SA Classic and Derby.”

Angus Gold, racing manager for owner-breeder Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum, said: “Ertijaal had colic as a young horse. We had to open him up and it was touch and go whether he would survive. To win a Derby 18 months later is quite something.”

Lerena and De Kock jnr repeated the tactics with Kingston Mines in the J & B Urban Honey Stayers and the Archipenko four-year-old will go for the Gold Bowl at Turffontein in April.

Mike Bass, 70 today, celebrated early when Inara gave him his fourth Klawervlei Majorca in ten years.  Grant van Nierkek took full advantage when Cold As Ice’s suspect stamina began to tell in the final furlong.

Strydom, confirming this was the reason why the 18-10 favourite drifted towards the middle of the course, added: “I saved her and saved her as long as I could.”

Kevin Sommerville, racing manager for the Trippi filly’s owner-breeder Gaynor Rupert, said: “She is qualified for the Breeders’ Cup after winning the Paddock Stakes. At the moment that is only an option but Mrs Rupert will sit down with Mike and discuss it.”

But before that lies a still-to-be-decided campaign with another crack at the Vodacom Durban July among a high class list of possible options.

“I’m not sure what we are going to do – we will have to sit down and discuss it,” said Brett Crawford. “The way they have changed the conditions of the July means that the race is never easy but I would have been disappointed if he hadn’t won the Met as well as he did. I was super confident because he has improved so much since winning the Queen’s Plate and on Saturday he really showed his class. This was his third Group 1 and he has only run in four of them.”

The Guy Murdoch-bred Dynasty colt was only the fourth in 20 years to complete the Queen’s Plate-Met double while this was the second Met success for Crawford who said feelingly: “It has taken 12 long years to get back to this podium” – and the third for Bernard Fayd’Herbe who shot his mount through a narrow gap just under a furlong from home.

Fayd’Herbe said: “I could see the gap coming and I was going so well that I was confident of getting through it. I had a very easy race.”

The four-year-old was bought by John Freeman for R500 000 as a yearling for Jack Mitchell (whose father and uncle owned the 1968 winner William Penn) after outbidding Irish agent Peter Doyle who was acting for Ian Longmore. The latter then asked Mitchell if he could come in while Freeman held on to “a very small leg.”

Gold Onyx, who ran on like a train under Grant Behr to snatch second, is to be prepared specifically for Durban’s greatest race.

Sean Tarry said: “This was a fantastic effort. He was drawn badly yet he ran above his rating. He doesn’t seem to enjoy Jo’burg so he will have a holiday and then I will prep him for the July.”

Grant van Niekerk reckoned he might have held on to second had long-time leader Helderberg Blue been better drawn – “But I think I made the correct decision to let him use himself.”

The 2 min 5.38 sec time was the slowest for ten years and nowhere near fast enough for 18-10 favourite Louis The King who raced handy but weakened into sixth with most uncharacteristic tameness when push came to shove.

Geoff Woodruff said: “Louis needs to be sat further back and off a hot pace. I am certainly not blaming Piere Strydom but, no disrespect to Futura who is a very good horse, if you were to run the race again at a different pace you might get a different story.

“I am very disappointed at the pace we’ve seen in Cape Town this season – it has been ordinary to say the least – and both Louis and Tellina (fourth) will now go back to Jo’burg for the big races there.”

Crawford will be there too even if it is decided not to send Futura because Captain America, who made most under Fayd’Herbe to defy top weight in the Carol Bouwer South African Luxury Emporium Handicap, is to be aimed at the HF Oppenheimer Horse Chestnut Stakes on 28 March.

THE Brett Crawford-trained Dynasty colt Futura was touted as a Gr 1 R2,5 million J&B Met winner as long as a year ago and showed world class ability at Kenilworth today when storming clear to win the big race with ease under Bernard Fayd’Herbe.

The magnificent looking bay won the Gr 1 L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate just three weeks ago, despite having had an interrupted preparation due to coughing, and has now clearly come into his own. This was his third Gr 1 win and he is likely to add to that record.

The form of the Queen’s Plate was franked as the seven-year-old Sean Tarry-trained Gold Onyx, a close up third in the latter race, finished runner up.

One of the biggest question marks before today’s race was the pace and Punta Arenas, as he did last year, easily overcame a wide draw to find a handy position. Helderberg Blue then came around him to take it up. The favourite Louis The King was handy as was Tellina.

Futura was in midfield and Fayd’Herbe was so confident that he was able to afford a cheeky remark at about the 1400m mark to Karl Neisius, who was on his inside on Power King, that he thought he was going to win the race easily.

The pace was not quick and there was a cavalry charge in the straight. Helderberg Blue and Punta Arenas were holding on grimly in front, but Fayd’Herbe still had plenty of horse and when he asked the question the response was instantaneous. Futura burst through and it was race over at the 200m mark as his chief market rival Louis The King was making no impression.

Futura went on to win by 2,25 lengths from Gold Onyx, who ran on strongly to pip a brave Helderberg Blue for second. Tellina stayed on well for fourth ahead of last year’s third-placed Punta Arenas.

It was third time lucky for owners Ian Longmore and Jack Mitchell, who owned the luckless Crawford-trained Jackson, who was strongly fancied in the last two runnings of the Met but failed. Longmore and Mitchell own the Guy Murdoch-trained Futura in partnership with John Freeman. Mitchell became the first since Marsh Shirtliff and Arthur and Rina Webber, owners of the great Pocket Power, to hold the Vodacom Durban July, Queen’s Plate and Met titles simultaneously, as he also won the former race with Legislate. Fayd’Herbe rode Pocket Power to three Met wins, while Crawford won the Net in 2003 with Angus.

Futura appears to be a natural and is easy to work with, according to Fayd’Herbe, while Crawford said he hadn’t been nervous in the build up as the horse had done everything right.

Earlier, Mike de Kock landed his second Gr 1 in successive weekends at Kenilworth when the magnificent specimen Ertijaal, an unbeaten Australian-bred colt by Hard Spun, left the odds-on favourite Act Of War toiling in his wake to win the Investec Cape Derby by 4,75 lengths.

Gavin Lerena took Ertijaal to the front and Piere Strydom had Act Of War perfectly positioned on the rail behind him. Ertijaal used his big stride to stretch away in the straight and Act Of War was under pressure to stay in touch. Ertijaal became more and more impressive the further he went and it was soon clear that Act Of War was not going to catch him. Lerena saluted as he crossed the line, while Act Of War’s fans began sweating that he wouldn’t make a PA place as his Joey Ramsden-trained stablemate Liquid Mercury and the Yogas Govender-trained Krambambuli had begun closing on him. In the end he just scraped in for second.

Mathew de Kock was emotional in the winner’s enclosure revealing that this horse almost lost his life through colic as a youngster. Angus Gold, the racing manager of owner and breeder Sheik Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, was on course to accept the trophy.

The Gr 1 Klawervlei Majorca Stakes was an equally fascinating contest and centred around the brilliant Ramsden-trained three-year-old Cold As Ice’s ability to stay the trip. Her cause was not helped when she found herself in front with Strydom looking over his shoulder hoping that somebody would take it up.

Eventually the long striding Jet Supreme went around her giving Cold As Ice cover for most of the turn. Cold As Ice went for home early and stayed on gallantly. However, the Mike Bass-trained Gr 1 Maine Chance Paddock Stakes winner Inara began eating up the ground with a strong run down the inside. The latter just got her nose down in time to pip a gallant Cold As Ice.

The Glen Kotzen-trained four-year-old Jet Belle repeated her Paddock Stakes third-place finish and two more four-year-olds Red Flame and Lanner Falcon were next best.

Inara, a three-year-old Trippi filly owned and bred by Drakenstein Stud, had finished a 2,5 length second to Majmu in the Gr 1 Avontuur Estate Cape Fillies Guineas before her two successive Gr 1 wins and left many wondering how good the latter is. There is now no question that the three-year-old fillies crop is exceptionally strong this season.

The Listed Sun International Summer Juvenile Stakes was expectedly fought out by the smart colts Buckinghampshire and Seventh Plain. The latter started favourite but the former, a Justin Snaith-trained Australian-bred by Lohnro, took full advantage of his 3kg pull to slowly wear the latter down in an exciting tussle.

Dennis Drier will go home to KZN without a Cape Gr 1 win for the first time since the 2011/2012 season after Captain Of All’s hair’s breadth loss in the Betting World Cape Flying Championship last weekend, but today Balkan and Triptique gave him two wins, both ridden by Sean Cormack, and he had a Listed second with Seventh Plain.

Cormack had a memorable four-timer, having also ridden the Ramsden-trained Swannee Rose and the Snaith-trained Ultimate Dollar to victory.

Crawford and Fayd’Herbe also had a double together as Captain America won the tenth race in fine style despite carrying a welter burden.

De Kock and Lerena secured a Graded double on the day when they won the last race, the Gr 2 J&B Urban Honey Stayers over 2800m, with the four-year-old British-bred Archipenko gelding Kingston Mines.

David Thiselton for http://www.goldcircle.co.za

Pictures: Liesl King