The Dennis Drier-trained Seventh Plain will be considered by many in the fourth race, the Listed Sun International Juvenile Stakes over 1000m, while both Drier’s Triptique and Darry Hodgson’s Mister Matchett will be a factor in another highly competitive event, the fifth, a MR 80 Handicap over 1200m.

Drier said about the striking Seventh Rock colt Seventh Plain, “I rate him and he hasn’t put a foot wrong. He should run very well, although you are never quite sure how strong these fields are.”

Seventh Plain certainly made a big impression on his debut over 800m. The long striding sort showed high cruising speed and, after having to be pushed to repel a challenge from Buckinghampshire, he took a while to wind up before lengthening beautifully and was pulling away at the line to win by 1,5 lengths.  He will certainly appreciate the extra 1000m and Anton Marcus in the irons is a further plus.

The Justin Snaith-trained Buckinghampshire is a speedy type and had to be rushed to join Seventh Plain after losing ground at the start. He couldn’t match it with the latter in the closing stages, but the slow start would have taken its toll and he will also be 3kg better off on Saturday. Jonathon Snaith suggested Buckinghampshire as one of his best bets on the card in a Met panel discussion on Tellytrack on Sunday.

The draw will also play a part in this race and Seventh Plain is drawn one, while Buckinghampshire is in three.

Last Saturday they tended to go down the inside, possibly due to a tail wind on the day.  However, Wind Guru predicts a south westerly wind on Saturday, which will be a head crosswind blowing over the stands. It is difficult to predict where the jockeys will want to go, although the inside horses should have some cover from a wind coming in at that angle.

The fillies always have to be considered in this Listed two-tear-old race as they receive 2,5kg from colts that have had the same amount of winners. Hodgson has entered two well bred first-timer fillies, Emblem Ahoy by Captain Al and Wafiqah, who is by Toreador out of the useful Listed winner Kiribati.

However, he was not particularly bullish and said, “They won’t be disgraced as they are two very nice fillies, but first time out in a Listed race is a big ask. It’s hard to assess as I don’t know how good the others are, but they will have better chances next time out in the maidens.”

Drier’s Triptique is drawn 14 in the fifth while Hodgson’s Mister Matchett is drawn one. Drier said, “Triptique is going very well. It’s not easy to win three in a row, but we are hoping.”

Mister Matchett is bred for further and Hodgson said, “He has won over 1400m but is flat to the boards at the finish over that trip so I brought him back to the 1200m. He was a bit unlucky last time (narrow second over course and distance) as he was all on his own and only rallied when he saw the other horse on the outside.

Drier said that his other two runners on the day, Balkan (1^st race, handicap over 1000m) and Beckedorf (2^nd race handicap over 1200m) were both now in more suitable races where they would have better chances than in their previous races and the latter would also appreciate the step up in trip.

Hodgson runs Putney Flyer in the Gr 2 J&B Urban Honey Stayers over 2800m and said, “On his day he is competitive and finished fifth two years ago, but he lacks that real Gr 1 or Gr 2 class. He won the Listed Kenilworth Cup in November (which had a muddling pace) and that’s the sort of race he can pick up. But he is fit and well and I will be happy if he runs into the money.”

Meanwhile Tarry is bullish about the chances of his Gr 1 R2,5 million  J&B Met runner Gold Onyx and added that at this stage Carry On Alice, who finished a fine third in the Cape Flying, will be running in the Gr 1 Klawervlei Majorca Stakes, although he will make a final decision on Friday.

Rodrigues explained that the Cape Flying Field was one of the most difficult fields of the season to load as all of Trip Tease, Normanz and Captain Of All are horses that don’t stand after loading, while Happy Forever, Castlethorpe, Tevez and Alboran Sea also have their issues with the starting stalls and Copper Parade has to be loaded as late as possible.

Rodrigues said that there had been a meeting with the chief handler at Kenilworth, Malan Du Toit, to discuss the loading procedure beforehand.

He added, “The two most difficult horses Trip Tease and Normanz were drawn next to each other. If they are drawn apart in this circumstance they can be loaded together, but this couldn’t be done and Trip Tease was loaded first and the hood was kept on while Normanz loaded last. Normanz then burst through the stall, so they were about a second away from getting the start right.

“The problem then was that Normanz’s breastplate broke. It had to be fixed, so the starter then unloaded the difficult horses. A number of other horses were standing quietly and he felt that if he had unloaded the entire field he might not have been able to get them all in again.”

However, Tarry had a different viewpoint and said, “I think it is an absolute disgrace that some were allowed to unload but others weren’t. I would understand if it was a staying race, but this was a Gr 1 sprint for a million rand. The first and second horses got away with it.”

Both the winner Alboran Sea and second placed Captain Of All were unloaded, but Carry On Alice was left in the stalls, so she had been standing for a considerable length of time before the field finally jumped.

Tarry said Carry On Alice, who won the Gr 1 SA Nursery over 1160m as a two-year-old and later went close in the Gr 1 Thekwini over 1600m, had come out of Saturday’s race fine and was on track for the Majorca where she is drawn two with Grant Behr up. She faces a strong field but her class is unquestionable.

Tarry was happy with the seven-year-old gelding Gold Onyx’s preparation and his wide draw of 14. He said, “He is a small horse and quite nervous and I think there is going to be a lot of scrimmaging, so I’m happy with that draw.”

Gold Onyx has always been known for his short run in and is capable of a devastating late burst if he is able to get a tow down the straight, which was exactly how it panned out in the L’Ormarin’s Queen’s Plate. Unfortunately, he was baulked for a run while still under a double handful, before flying through to finish fastest of all for a 1,75 length third.

Tarry was asked whether he would like the race to pan out with same slow pace as the Queen’s Plate and replied, “People could be saying it was a fluke run due to the pace, but I don’t think a fast pace will make any difference and I believe he will probably even prefer it.”

Tarry is also happy with the booking of Grant Behr and said, “He works him everyday and has ridden two perfect races on him. I would rather have somebody jumping on believing in him, rather than doubting, as a lot of the top jockeys seem to frown upon older horses.”

He continued, “Gold Onyx didn’t travel well to Cape Town and when he first arrived at the beginning of December he was shocking and was only eating about half of his food. I thought I was wasting my time, but he still ran on very nicely in his first start (in the Gr 2 Vasco Premier Trophy for a 2,45 length sixth). He was a little better before the Queen’s Plate and was eating about 75% of his food. I have been happy with every workout since and he has come on. He is sound, bright and eating up. He is spot on and was just off the two Met favourites (Futura and Louis The King) in the Queen’s Plate, so I give him a chance.”

Tarry runs Serissa in the Gr 2 J&B Urban Honey Stayers over 2800m and said, “He hasn’t thrived as well as he should have in Cape Town, but on form he has an outside chance.”

Tarry believes Silence Descends, who runs in the fifth race, a handicap over 1200m, could be an outsider to consider for the day. “In the CTS Stakes he was only seven lengths back, but is an 84 merit rating and was running against 101s.”

Crawford said: “The nice thing about Futura is that he is a versatile horse. If they go slow it won’t worry us with the way he turns it on. Equally if they go quickly, that won’t worry us either.

“Bernard Fayd’Herbe can make the decisions but we are drawn nine, basically in the middle of the field, so we’ve got options depending on how quick they run.

“Futura came out of his Queen’s Plate win very, very well and there is no doubt that the extra distance will be in his favour. He won the Champions Cup over 1 800m and he is crying out for this trip.”

The Philippi trainer was dismissive of suggestions that the ten furlongs might blunt Futura’s devastating turn of foot, saying: “No way. That’s what good horses do.”

Like the bookmakers Crawford reckons it will boil down to a three-way fight between his horse, Louis The King and Legislate.

He said: “I thought all three put up good gallops last Thursday and Louis The King had a very good first Kenilworth run in the Queen’s Plate.”

Crawford was successful with Angus 12 years ago while Fayd’Herbe is looking for a third Met victory after winning on Pocket Power in 2008 and 2009.

Woodruff’s experience extends further than just conditioning horses and he has also spoken to the stipendiary stewards ahead of the race about the notoriously slow pace of races at Kenilworth.

The “Cape Crawl” is usually a result of the jockeys’ reluctance to be leading turning for home as that means bearing the brunt of the prevailing South Easterly wind. However, this opens up the opportunity to gain an easy lead by slowing it up in front, which can have a severe effect on the horses in behind, who can become the victims of jostling.

The most well know recent case was when Jet Explorer was brought down in the Gr 1 Rising Sun Gold Challenge at Clairwood.

Woodruff said, “The stipes have ensured me that they would speak to the jockeys before the race and anybody leading and pulling his mount back on to the field will be getting a holiday. They should really be going a decent pace in these races.”

Woodruff was happy with his trio’s gentle spin around Kenilworth together at last week’s Met gallops. He said, “It was not an overly stressful workout as the Met Gallops don’t factor in as part of their preparation but they were all bright and we were very pleased.”

Woodruff gives a clue to his perfectionist outlook with his opinion on fitness. “There are only two types of fitness, fit and unfit.”

He said that the training tracks were the only real difference between preparing a horse on the Highveld and at the coast as the end goal was always the same.

He won’t be giving his horses any “days off” this week and will still be expecting “a good couple of workouts” from them. He said, “The idea is to maintain their fitness, ensure their muscles are good and their lungs are clear. But it is once you see their final blood counts that you know your fate.”

However, he added that if the horses were “flattening their food, drinking their water, have shiny coats and muzzle and a bright eye” it was a good indication and he was currently happy with all three of his charges in this regard.

The Triple Crown and Sansui Summer Cup hero Louis The King is the most fancied of his runners and is being tipped by many pundits to win the big race. He finished a flying second in the Gr 1 L’Ormarin’s Queen’s Plate on January 10 and was possibly a tad unlucky as he was held up at a crucial stage. Woodruff said before that race that it was a “bring on” outing for the Met for both Louis The King and Tellina, who finished fifth.

Woodruff is stabling his horse’s in Harold Crawford’s yard at Milnerton, which is where he always campaigns from in Cape Town these days, and trainer Adam Marcus and his famous father Basil have also been helping him out.

Basil Marcus rode Louis The King in the Met Gallops and Woodruff said, “He said he had come on at least two lengths from the horse he had felt before the Queen’s Plate and if you can’t take it from Basil Marcus then I don’t know who you can take it from.”

Tellina was gelded after his disappointing run in the Peermont Emperor’s Palace Charity Mile and Woodruff said that he was “much improved” since the operation. He stayed on very well from a handy position in the slow run Queen’s Plate and was only just pipped for third by both Gold Onyx and Jet Explorer who flew up late.

He will have benefitted a lot from that outing and has gained three close up places in Gr 1s from 2000-2200m so will probably relish the easy Kenilworth 2000m.

Killua Castle travelled down to Cape Town three days after his emphatic victory in the Gr 3 London News Stakes over 1800m, where he carried joint topweight and didn’t mind running wide. Woodruff said, “He has taken to the place (Milnerton) nicely. I think that last run underlines his quality.”

Indeed, that run proved that his short-head second to Louis The King in the Gr 1 Sansui Summer Cup over 2000m at Kenilworth was no fluke. He will only be 1kg worse off with his popular stablemate on Saturday, yet there is a massive 22,8 point difference in their respective prices of 25/1 and 22/10.

Killua Castle will be going around a left hand turn for the first time but that has never phased Woodruff, who pointed out that he was a versatile horse and added, “It is not as if they have never been taken around a left hand turn in training.”

He is happy with all three of the horses’ draws, and said, “Killua Castle likes to be on the outside (drawn ten), Louis The King will be comfortable coming down the middle (drawn eight) and Tellina has a nice inside draw (three).”

Piere Strydom, Gavin Lerena and Aukash Auchuruz all retain their rides on Louis The King, Tellina and Killua Castle respectively.

Woodruff also runs the classy Arcetri Pink in the Gr 1 Klawervlei Majorca Stakes over 1600m,where she is drawn three with regular pilot Gavin Lerena up and he said, “She has been working terribly well, but it is a tough race and a hard ask. She has been a bit erratic but I was pleased with her prep run as 1400m is now patently too short and a mile is her best trip, but only if she can come from off a good pace, so we are also hoping there won’t be the Cape Crawl scenario in that race.”

He said: “The tactics will be very important and a slow pace would suit me beautifully. The only reason it didn’t work for us in the L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate was because Legislate was sick. I’ve got six in the race and the other runners are welcome to chase round mine!”

The champion trainer hopes that his Durban July winner Legislate can give him his first Met win but he believes any of the other five are capable of running into a place even though some of them are at huge odds.

He said: “They have their little niggles so they are the type than run on their best days, and any of them could run into the money on Saturday. Jet Explorer (33-1) is doing well and he is cruising into the race. He has less problems this time whereas last year he injured himself in the public gallop.

“We will know on Saturday whether Dynamic (16-1) is up to this class but I already know that when you put him in a Group 1 like the Cape Derby he can up his game. Arion (20-1) ran third to Legislate in the Cape Derby and was actually finishing just as fast. Obviously both he and Dynamic are carrying severe injuries but they have hardened up.

“Johnny Rockets (150-1) is a horse with a lot of problems but he can run and the one thing I will say for Astro News (100-1) is that, while he has also had a lot of problems, he has had a hassle-free entry. There have been two upsets in the last two years so why not a third?”

Legislate has drifted further – he was out to 33-10 with Betting World yesterday morning although only 5-2 with Hollywood – but Joey Ramsden is in the enviable position of having the hot favourite in both the Investec Cape Derby and the Klawervlei Majorca.

Betting World yesterday opened Cape Guineas winner Act Of War at 33-100 in the Derby and Cold As Ice at 14-10 for the Majorca. Mike de Kock’s Ertijaal is 4-1 second favourite for the Derby with Ramsden’s The Conglomerate next best at 7-1. You can get 20-1 and more about the rest. Mike Bass’s has the main dangers in the Majorca – at least according to the betting – with Paddock Stakes disappointment Hammie’s Hooker (6-1) surprisingly shorter that stablemate Inara (7-1) who won the race.