Last year the now five-year-old Ashaawes mare came into the race off a fourth in the Gr 3 Victress Stakes and a fifth in the Gr 1 Maine Chance Farms Paddock Stakes, both over 1800m, and the yard have taken a completely different approach this year.

Marcus said, “I just thought that with her form having been so good over sprints in the winter I would put her in the 1000 and the two 1200s so that she would go into the Majorca good and fresh and stepping up in trip. She has had a good prep and her last two fourth places were good performances although with age she is probably finding 1200 a bit sharp now. We were hoping she would be going into Saturday’s race on the up and feeling good and happy and she is doing just that, she is extremely well, we have her at the best she can possibly be and we are confident she will run to the best of her ability. If Beach Beauty was in the field I think she would be very hard to beat and she only beat us by two lengths last year, so we are going to be competitive. Obviously Cold As Ice is up and coming and a potential superstar, but the distance will be a question mark.”

Priceless Jewel jumps from a very nice draw of five and Adam’s Uncle Anton Marcus rides, which is always a plus.

The yard have two other runners on the day, Crystal Cavern, who runs in the third race, a MR 79 fillies and mares handicap over 1400m, and Souk, who runs in the first, a MR 86 fillies and mares handicap over 1000m.

Marcus said, “Crystal Cavern is a very smart filly and showed her true ability in her last win (over course and distance), I was very impressed with that run. However, her wide draw is a concern, I think if she were better drawn she would be one of the fillies to beat. We are hoping she can get in without being used up too much and with luck she will run a decent race.”

“Souk is one of the better horses in the yard, but we gave her a break because of a virus that went through the yard, and this will be a prep run for the Prix du Cap. She is probably the class act in the field and going in fresh we would like to see her running on strongly and going into the Prix du Cap well.”

He was taken to hospital for x-rays as a precautionary measure.

Marcus is engaged to ride the hotpot Gr 1 Investec Cape Derby favourite Act Of War, as well as Priceless Jewel in the Gr 1 Klawervlei Majorca Stakes, at the J&B Met meeting on Saturday. We will keep readers posted on his well-being.

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.

Balkan (Nkosi Hlophe)

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.

Gold Onyx (Liesl King)

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.