SplashOut Cape Derby (Grade 1)

NO winner of the Cape Derby has gone on to take the Durban July in the same season since Legislate got South Africa’s supreme prize in the stewards’ room 10 years ago.

But Green With Envy was slashed from 16/1 to 7/1 fourth favourite after his impressive performance at Kenilworth last Saturday.

And the bookies might well have taken even more drastic action had they paid attention to Craig Zackey’s comments afterwards.

“We galloped Green With Envy on the course about three weeks ago,” recalled Zackey who also won the 2020 Cape Derby on Golden Ducat. “My first thought was that I was a bad judge if we didn’t win by three lengths or more because it was one of the best feelings that I have ever had on a horse – and I knew he was going to love the 10 furlongs.”

Unusually, the SplashOut-sponsored classic was run in the rain and Zackey was so confident that he sat second last for much of the race. He went to the front over a furlong out and three light taps with the whip was all it needed for the 14/10 favourite to stride clear and beat Beach Bomb (the only filly in the race) by nearly three lengths.

So easily

“I think what makes him good is that he does everything so easily – and at the end he can do a three-furlong sprint,” added the impressed Zackey.

Interestingly, Lady Laidlaw’s homebred Gimmethegreenlight colt is out of the Galileo mare Miss Coco who was trained by David Wachman and won on her only start in a Wexford maiden in May 2010 over a distance just short of a mile and a half.

Green With Envy was the fourth Cape Derby winner for Dean Kannemeyer who has few equals when it comes to placing and preparing a high-class horse.

He first won the Durban July with Dynasty 21 years ago and has since been successful with Eyeofthetiger (2006) and Power King (2015).

“I never had any doubts about this horse’s breeding, and he is getting better and better,” said the Milnerton trainer.

Aldo Domeyer had no excuses for Beach Bomb. Indeed, he was effusive about her future prospects, saying: “She really turned it on today and she impressed me. There are exciting times ahead.”

Danny Muscutt again flew out from Britain for the meeting but, unlike in the Met, he had to go home empty-handed. But he did manage a thrilling close-up fifth on Rio Querari in the Khaya Stables Diadem Stakes sponsored by Lady Laidlaw.

The seven-year-old is part-owned by Richard Edmondson. The former UK Independent racing journalist gave up his career to enable his wife – the fearless Sky News reporter Alex Crawford - to further hers from one war zone to the next.

The Diadem was won by Mary Slack’s Thunderstruck who started odds-on and beat 8/1 shot Future Variety by a neck. “He was unlucky in the Cape Flying and he was travelling a little bit too well early on here,” commented Sean Tarry.

Cape sale

Last Sunday’s Cape Yearling Sale – a much more low-key affair than the previous month’s Convention Centre glamour - produced a 20% increase in average to R206,756 (€9,908).

Top price was R900,000 (€43,130) paid by the Hollywood Syndicate for a One World colt and by Sandy Arundel for a colt by the same sire.