The handicappers have raised J&B Met winner Smart Call’s merit rating nine points to 121 after she put in officially the best performance by a filly in South Africa since the merit rating system was introduced here just before the turn of the century.

Smart Call is a member of one of the strongest female crops in South African history, if not the strongest in terms of depth, and she didn’t just beat the best males in the land on Saturday, she annihilated them and appeared to do it effortlessly.

If Legal Eagle had been used as the line horse she would have been accorded a 122, but the handicappers observed a number of horses had run exactly to their ratings, including the like of Punta Arenas and Gold Onyx, when compared to the performances of Captain America and Paterfamilias, so the latter pair were used as the measure.

Legal Eagle was said by the handicappers to have run to his 120 merit rating in the L’Ormarin’s Queen’s Plate and in the Met he confirmed form with all of the horses he had beaten in the former race, including Captain America, the disappointing pair Legislate and Futura, Gold Onyx, King Of Pain and Master Sabina.

Smart Call (Liesl King)

The only horse who could possibly detract from Smart Call’s win on Saturday would be the 4,8 length fourth-placed Light The Lights, who ran way above his 101 merit rating. However, he has always been talented and gelding has seen him realising his potential. The handicappers have duly raised him 10 points to 111.

Futura has been dropped two points to 117 after two disappointing runs in succession and the stallion paddock might be calling for him as he has little left to prove.

Smart Call was receiving a 2,5kg female allowance and 0,5kg four-year-old allowance on Saturday but also had to carry the 2kg Gr 1 penalty which all of Legal Eagle, Captain America, Legislate, Futura and Master Sabina had to carry, and she won by 3,5 lengths.

The filly Igugu’s J&B Met (2012) and Vodacom Durban July (2011)-winning performances were not as good as Smart Call’s on paper and neither was River Jetez’s 2010 Met win.

Ipi Tombe, like Igugu, won the July as a three-year-old but it was in a blanket finish, so she would not have been accorded a very high performance rating, although she did then go on to prove herself on the world stage.

The filly sprinters Val De Ra and Alboran Sea both had weight for age Gr 1 victories over horses who went on to be rated 121 and 120 respectively i.e. What A Winter and Captain Of All, but those victories came before the latter pair had reached those heights.

The great Empress Club destroyed the boys on a number of occasions in Gr 1 races, including beating July winner Flaming Rock in both the Queen’s Plate and the Met, and Smart Call likely has some way to go to be put alongside her, but the former ran in the days before merit ratings existed.

Smart Call is now on her way to the Breeders Cup and that stage will be the ultimate test of whether the handicappers have rated the cream of South African racing correctly.

By David Thiselton

Eric Sands’ Cape Town yard has played host to Met winner Smart Call, Queen’s Plate hero Legal Eagle and several other stars including Same Jurisdiction in recent weeks, with their trainers repeatedly singing the Milnerton trainer’s praises.

Eric Sands (hamishNIVENPhotography)

But Sands is concerned that the credit is not going to the right people and said yesterday: “I help where I can but I no more deserve credit for this than I deserve the blame when things go wrong. It is the visiting assistant trainers and their staff who do the work and the successes are due to them.”

Sands is no stranger to big race victories in his own name having won three Cape Flying Championships and Mercury Sprints, two Cape Derbies,  the Cape Fillies Guineas, Paddock and Champion Stakes.

Paul Lafferty reports that last season’s Cape Guineas runner-up Harry’s Son will have his next Dubai race at Meydan on February 25. Lafferty was thrilled with the four-year-old’s second to Safety Check in the Group 2 Al Fahidi Fort, the colt’s first race for nearly ten months.

Lohnromance, forced to miss the Klawervlei Majorca by an over-reach, is back in light work and has the Prix du Cap at Kenilworth on February 20 as a possible target.

Andre Nel said: “That is if she gets in and she might struggle to do that. She is only rated 73 and the race is normally quite full.”

The AUS$550 000 purchase has not been easy to train but she has won both her starts with consummate ease.

Last season’s Cape Nursery winner Captain Chaos has been gelded. It was not a straightforward operation because he is a rig but he is progressing well.

Ronnie Sheehan said: “He is now back in full work. There is no race for him at the moment so I will have to run him in an ordinary merit-rated handicap.”

By Michael Clower

Alec Laird said: “We plan to get her to England in June when she will stay at Mary Slack’s Abington Place stables in Newmarket with me as the trainer.

“We haven’t yet decided whether she should have her prep races in England. France would also be a possibility although America might offer a softer option.

“On the other hand it might make more sense to travel to America with the other UK horses going for the Breeders’ Cup. But we now know that we have the best horse in South Africa to send there.”

True. The daughter of Ideal World didn’t just beat her male opponents, she absolutely slaughtered them, coming right away in the final furlong to put three and a half lengths between herself and Queen’s Plate winner Legal Eagle. The 8-1 chance’s time of 2 min 3.17 sec has been bettered only three times in the last 15 Mets – by Pocket Power in 2007, River Jetez three years later and Martial Eagle in 2013.

Even Laird (also successful with London News 19 years earlier) admitted: “This was beyond my expectations. I was hoping to win but not at as well as that.”

Owner-breeder Jessica Slack added: “I’m blown away. It’s like a fairytale. Grandma (Bridget Oppenheimer) would be really happy.”

JP van der Merwe,25, repeatedly saluting as he began to pull up, did not finally know the ride was his until he landed at Cape Town airport just after 9.00am. Weichong Marwing’s bad back had also cost the sidelined jockey a bonanza pay day in the CTS Million Dollar.

Captain America, who ran on well to take third, is to be aimed at the HF Oppenheimer Horse Chestnut Stakes (April 2) that he won last year. Brett Crawford said: “He won’t go to Durban because the tracks there don’t suit him.”

Fourth-placed Light The Lights will go there, though, with Glen Kotzen saying: “This horse is progressively getting better and our main mission will probably be the Durban July.”

Crawford will, however, send Delma Sherrell’s Gulf Storm who benefitted from first time blinkers to get the best of a blanket finish for the Betting World Cape Flying Championship and give Corne Orffer, 35, his first Grade 1 success.

The Philippi trainer, who also won this with Laisserfaire in 2002, said: “I didn’t put them on before because he used to over-race but, coming back to 1 000m, I felt I had to. I tried them last week and he put up a superb gallop. He will run again at Scottsville where he was second in the Tsogo Sun Horse Sprint last season.”

Brutal Force was beaten only a head and Donovan Dillon reported: “I thought I was going to do it. He ran a hell of a race.” Joey Ramsden added that the four-year-old is likely to stick to sprints.

Carry On Alice (third) led until about 30m out and S’Manga Khumalo said: “She just got tired.” Tevez made up a fair bit of ground to take a close-up fourth – the first four were covered by less than half a length – and Aldo Domeyer reported: “He was comfy most of the way and for a while I thought I might get there but at the end he just stayed on.”

Anton Marcus, last but one on the heavily-backed and disappointing Guiness, was fined R 1 000 for failing to keep straight for the first 200m. The vet could find nothing wrong with Trip Tease (last) but Piere Strydom said his mount coughed.

> Phumelela boss Clyde Basel reported the crowd 15% up on last year.

By Michael Clower
Picture (Liesl King): Smart Call (Anton Marcus up) at the J&B Met gallops

What the Met jockeys said:

JP van Der Merwe (Smart Call): “I got over quite nicely and sat behind Anton Marcus on Legal Eagle. I pulled her out 300m from home and she showed them what she is made of. It was the biggest thrill of my career.”

Anton Marcus, second on Legal Eagle after appearing to lead briefly 300m out: “Not really – I knew there was something coming – but otherwise everything went right and he ran his heart out.”

Corne Orffer, third on Captain America: “He is a superb miler and everyone knows he is not really a 2 000m horse but he kept on well the whole way to the line.”

Stuart Randolph, fourth on Light The Lights: “Mentally he is still a bit immature but physically he has progressed by leaps and bounds since his gelding and he ran very well.”

Grant van Niekerk, fifth on Paterfamilias: “He ran a cracker and I would have been in the money if I’d had a better draw.”

Piere Strydom, sixth on Legislate: “I had no option but to go on because he takes you and I could have done with a pacemaker. They go faster in the July so you can switch them off easier.”

Ian Sturgeon, seventh on Punta Arenas: “He got a bit tight at the top of the lane and he didn’t enjoy that.”

Bernard Fayd’Herbe, 11^th on Futura: “I was a bit far back but I thought I would get past them, and certainly get past Captain America, but he didn’t quicken. He is much better than that.”

By Michael Clower
Picture (Liesl King): JP van der Merve 

The Duncan Howells-trained Australian-bred Henrythenavigator three-year-old colt Ten Gun Salute opened up several opportunities for his connections when storming to victory in yesterday’s Listed Michael Roberts Handicap over 1800m at Greyville under Muzi Yeni, who had recovered quickly from a nasty fall at the Vaal last week and notched up a treble.
Ten Gun Salute cut down the brave Gavin Van Zyl-trained warrior Silver Spring to record his third win in succession.
Howells had bad luck raiding Johannesburg with the top class filly Same Jurisdiction last season, although she still earned some good stakes money, but Ten Gun Salute could make up for it as he looks ready made for a race like the lucrative Gr 1 SA Classic over 1800m at Turffontein. Otherwise the Gr 2 KRA Guineas and the Gr 1 Daily News 2000 beckon. Howells’ recommendation of patience with this ever developing horse has paid dividends.
Earlier, the brilliant miler Ice Machine trained by Charles Laird denied the Dennis Drier-trained sprinter Barbosa a five-timer when winning the Non-Black Type Marula Sprint over 1200m under Anton Marcus, having skipped the L’Ormarin’s Queen’s Plate due to too wide a draw.
There was also a good victory for the classy Paul Gadsby-trained Miss Varlicious in a MR handicap for fillies and mares over 1200m as she produced a late charge under 4kg claimer Calvin Ngcobo.
The Doug Campbell-trained Lala and the Paul Lafferty-trained Ole Gunnar stamped themselves as possible three-year-old feature candidates when winning the Graduation Plate races on the card in eyecatching style under Ian Sturgeon and Keagan de Melo respectively.
– David Thiselton
– Picture: Micheal Roberts congratulates Muzi Yeni after the win on Ten Gun Salute (Nkosi Hlophe)