TODAY’s J & B Met is dominated by three horses - Triple Crown winner Louis The King, Queen’s Plate scorer Futura and Durban July hero Legislate - and much will depend on whether the last-named has made a complete recovery from the bug that caused his flop in the Queen’s Plate three weeks ago. Had he won that as expected, Richard Fourie’s mount would be odds-on today but instead he is the outsider of the big three.

“He seems fine and I’m doing my best to make sure I have him spot on but the proof of whether I’ve got it right or not will be in the result,” says trainer Justin Snaith. “I can say that I think I’ve done a good job but that means absolutely nothing until the race is over.”

The champion trainer is responsible for six of the 15 runners and he is intent on slowing the gallop: “The tactics will be very important. We again want a slow pace and the only reason that didn’t work in the Queen’s Plate was because Legislate was sick. The others are welcome to try and chase round my six if they want!”

Mike de Kock is keen to add Alboran Sea to his overseas string after the Rock Of Gibraltar three-year-old beat the older horses in the Betting World Cape Flying Championship at Kenilworth last Saturday.

“The Computaform Sprint will be next followed by one or two races in Durban and then I will have to talk nicely to Mary Slack and see if we can get her on a plane out of here,” said De Kock who had never previously won this Grade 1.

Mary Slack owns De Kock’s Newmarket base Abington Place but she also has a big stud in South Africa and she seemed noticeably less keen on the overseas suggestion but De Kock, grinning broadly, said almost as an aside: “At least I have sown the seed.”

He was most unhappy with the tactics adopted by the now-injured Anthony Delpech when she was beaten here last month and this time Weichong Marwing had the mount. “She has very good acceleration and in the Southern Cross, she led which was exactly the opposite to the way I wanted her ridden,” said the trainer.

This was De Kock’s 102nd Group 1 win and the veteran Marwing has ridden almost a third of them.

COOLMORE INPUT

Paul Shanahan was among the buyers at last week’s Cape Premier Yearling Sale and wife Linda joined forces with Diane Nagle to pay R2.2 million (€172,000) for a Captain Al filly out of a listed-winning Fusaichi Pegasus mare. The Coolmore man also bid on the sale-topping Dynasty colt who smashed the South African record for a horse sold at public auction when knocked down for R5.2 million (€407,000). He is out of a full-sister to the Arlington Million winner Silvano, long one of the country’s top sires.

The buyer was Piet du Toit, a newcomer to racing but a top game breeder. He intends naming the colt Tsunami, not after the disaster of a decade ago that drowned so many, but after his West Zambian Sable antelope bull whose progeny apparently sell for more than most racehorses! John O’Kelly was the auctioneer who brought the hammer down and he also sold the second-highest priced lot. The colt is to go to Mike Bass who was introduced to Du Toit shortly before the sale. Asked what he would like to buy, Bass informed the big game man that this was the pick of the 200 lots.

The average was up 12.5% to R644,118 (€50,400), a record for this sale which has become the country’s number one.

Kenyan racing celebrations

BUSTER Parnell and Johnny Corr were among the big name jockeys of yesteryear at Kenya racing’s 110th anniversary celebrations. Parnell, champion in Ireland in 1969 after dominating Kenya racing earlier in the 1960s, is now 80 and as irrepressible as ever. He married a local woman a few years ago and has two small children while Corr, who won the 1976 National Stakes on Pampapaul before moving to Kenya, will be 63 on Tuesday and spends much of his time playing golf. He recalled being best man at Neville Ring’s wedding!

Death of Fort Wood

FORMER champion sire Fort Wood has died at the age of 25. The son of Sadler’s Wells, trained by André Fabre, won the Grand Prix de Paris and is out of the remarkable broodmare Fall Aspen (dam of Hamas, Timber Country, Bianconi etc). Fort Wood sired a string of top performers including sire-of-the-moment Dynasty and Horse Chestnut, widely regarded as one of the best South African horses of all time.