Jan Van Goyen ready to step up to King’s Plate

CAPE TOWN – The first South African Grade 1 race of 2026 – the King’s Plate (1,600m) – takes place at Kenilworth on Jan 10.

Won by some of the top milers in South Africa, the 3 million rand (S$235,000) feature has seen superstar horses dominate the race this century.

Champion gelding Pocket Power is synonymous with the race first run in April 1861 in honour of Queen Victoria, having won a remarkable four in a row from 2006-2010, following on from his sire Jet Master, who won the race in 1999.

Fast forward just six years and the King’s Plate has seen another outstanding racehorse, Legal Eagle, win the race three years running (2016 to 2018).

This year will crown a new champion with last year’s star colt One Stripe having since continued his career in America after the King’s Plate success earned the Vaughan Marshall-trained galloper an automatic “Win and You’re In” berth into the US$2 million (S$2.56 million) Breeders’ Cup Mile (1,600m) in the United States.

Unfortunately, he ran last, but undeterred, connections are pressing on with the American dream having since transferred One Stripe to Graham Motion.

The King’s Plate’s American connection is back again, bigger and stronger. Formerly known as the Queen’s Plate but renamed with the accession of King Charles III in 2022, the feature is part of three Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series featured on a spectacular card of racing at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth.

The winner of the King’s Plate earns an automatic ticket to the US$2 million Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Mile (1,600m). Joining the King’s Plate on the programme is the 1 million rand Grade 1 Paddock Stakes (1,800m), which gives the winner a free berth in the US$2 million Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf (2,200m), and a new Challenge Series race – the 1.5 million rand Grade 1 Cape Flying Championship (1,000m), which will serve as an automatic qualifier for the US$1 million Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (1,000m).

Three-year-olds do fairly well here without overachieving but the good ones certainly measure up with their 5kg allowance, and only dual-Grade 1 winning colt Jan Van Goyen will take on the older horses this year.

He is a last-start winner of the Grade 1 Cape Guineas (1,600m), having also won the Grade 1 Premiers Champion Stakes (1,600m) dominantly as a two-year-old.

Compared to One Stripe, there is virtually nothing between how good they were leading into the King’s Plate, and that is a step ahead of Gimmethegreenlight, who won the race as a three-year-old in 2012.

That said, the older horses have plenty of depth to them. Dave The King is already a three-time Grade 1 winner coming off a tough win in the Grade 2 Green Point Stakes (1,600m) at Kenilworth last time.

Conveniently, the Green Point Stakes is run just one race prior to the Cape Guineas, and it is worth noting that Jan Van Goyen (carrying the same weight that Dave The King did), ran a slightly faster overall time than the older horses.

The chances do not end there, however. Eight On Eighteen resumes here having risen to the top last year, winning three Group 1 races over 2,000m before a narrow second in South Africa’s greatest race – the Group 1 Durban July (2,200m).

Having tested One Stripe in the Cape Guineas as a three-year-old, the 2024-25 South African Horse of the Year clearly has the sort of ability to be winning a race like this and perhaps being fresh off a spell will assist given his best form is over 2,000m.

The Real Prince was a surprise winner of that 2025 Durban July but struggled behind Dave The King in the Green Point Stakes first-up and will need to find his best, as will Champions Cup winner Gladatorian, who is good enough but could manage only 11th in the Green Point Stakes.

All that said, Jan Van Goyen profiles perfectly for this, bringing near-identical ratings to last year’s winner One Stripe.

Having run a faster time than the older horses leading in only adds to that confidence. Jockey Callan Murray choosing him over more accomplished stablemate Dave The King is another pointer.

With his 5kg allowance and a soft draw in barrier two, the Master Of My Fate colt can announce himself as the next big thing in South Africa. RACING AND SPORTS