The first clash between unbeaten Charles Dickens and last season’s champion two-year-old Cousin Casey in the R2-million Hollywoodbets Gr1 Cape Guineas promises to be one of the highlights of the Cape summer season at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth on Saturday.
The racemeeting promises to resolve many debates!
The 11 races carded include the Grade 2 Ridgemont Highlands Peninsula Handicap and the Grade 3 Victress Stakes for four-year-old fillies and mares, both over 1800m.
Candice Bass-Robinson-trained Charles Dickens is being hailed as a champion and has done nothing to suggest that view is incorrect, reeling off five wins from five starts.
Charles Dickens – looks star material in the making (Pic – Chase Liebenberg)
And he could not have been more impressive last time when ambling to a 3,25-length victory against a strong field of older horses.
But Glen Kotzen-trained Cousin Casey dominated the top two-year-old races during the KwaZulu-Natal Winter season and made his comeback at Kenilworth in the Gr2 Cape Punters Cup over 1600m, running out an imposing victor.
Accomplished champion juvenile and Gr1 winner Cousin Casey – no pushover! (Pic – Chase Liebenberg)
And then there’s the Joburg challenge, which is spearheaded by trainer Mike de Kock’s charges Union Square and Shoemaker, first and second respectively in the Grade 2 Dingaans at Turffontein, as well as trainer Grant Maroun’s Anfields Rocket, who had both De Kock runners behind him in the Grade 3 Graham Beck Stakes at Turffontein.
It is difficult making a case for more than an outside chance to the balance, with Brett Crawford’s Cape Punters Cup runner-up At My Command enjoying a pole position draw, after running a cracker at his first try at the mile from a 15/16 draw last time.
He looks a likely pacemaker, along with Charles Dickens’ stablemate Canford Lights, who off his 80 rating looks to be a likely hare at best.
Watch the Cape Racing preview of the day:
The TAB betting line-up for the meeting, which starts at 11h30, includes two BiPots, three Jackpots, a R1-million Pick 6 carryover (likely pool R6 million) and a Quartet carryover of R250 000 on the Hollywoodbets Cape Guineas (likely pool R1 million).
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