Snaith out for royal blood in search of 5th Cape Town Met

CAPE TOWN – Justin Snaith can make a case for all three of his big guns in the 5 million rands (S$397,000) Grade 1 Cape Town Met (2,000m) at Kenilworth on Jan 31, but he is leaning towards defending champion Eight On Eighteen as his top seed in the bumper contest.

Snaith saddles up six of the 11 runners in the Cape Town Met, which used to be known as the J&B Met, as he bids for a fifth gong (won last three renewals) and it is Eight On Eighteen, See It Again and Sail The Seas who are most likely to deliver another victory to South Africa’s reigning champion trainer.

“We work hard to get to this point and let’s hope with the firepower we have that we can pull it off,” said Snaith.

“Eight On Eighteen is improving every day and he looks incredible. He hasn’t had the best prep but the way it’s going, he will be in it for sure.”

After an exceptional 2025, which featured three Grade 1 victories and an agonising Grade 1 Durban July (2,200m) second, Eight On Eighteen returned in the Grade 1 King’s Plate (1,600m) at Kenilworth on Jan 10, finishing eighth, four and a quarter lengths behind winner The Real Prince.

“He needed his last run. I would say he was probably only 80 per cent fit but come Saturday he’ll be 100 per cent,” added Snaith.

“He has come on from the run, he’s doing well and I expect a good run from him.”

While Snaith admits the reigning South African Horse of the Year’s preparation for this weekend could have gone better, he cannot fault the condition of See It Again and Sail The Seas.

They finished third and fourth, respectively, behind The Real Prince in the King’s Plate and are ready to give the race a red-hot shake.

See It Again finished fourth in this race last year, 1.1L off Eight On Eighteen, while Sail The Seas returns to the course and distance at which he went within a length and a half of Eight On Eighteen in last year’s Grade 1 Cape Derby (2,000m).

“They could fight it out – it’s just whether Eight On Eighteen is at his best. If he is, he could beat them both but there is a little bit of a cloud over his preparation,” said Snaith.

“Sail The Seas and See It Again have had the perfect preps. They have had uninterrupted preps to dream of, so there’s no excuses.”

Snaith also saddles up Legal Counsel, Native Ruler and Okavango but concedes they are a level below his lead trio.

“I think it will be hard for them. Eight On Eighteen, See It Again and Sail The Seas, at weight for age, are very good,” he said.

“On any year in this race they would stand their ground, yet I have three in the same year, which is very rare.”

The Real Prince is the clear danger to more Snaith success in the Cape Town Met and the trainer cannot wait to do battle with the Dean Kannemeyer-prepared five-year-old.

“Over this distance it certainly is game on,” he said.

The Cape Town Met is carded as Race 8 on Singapore Pools’ South Africa race card on Jan 31 and will be run at 10.05pm (Singapore time). HKJC