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Belgarion
Belgarion, victor last year of the famous Vodacom Durban July, is the bookies favourite at 22-10 to win the race that is so deeply lodged in the South African public s consciousness, the iconic “Met.” This 1 ¼ mile event with a proud history will be staged at Kenilworth on Saturday morning at 10:10 a.m. EST, together with other prestigious Group 1 contests. The five furlong Cape Flying Championships (WFA) for specialist speed merchants, and the Majorca Stakes (WFA) which has attracted a cast of fine fillies and mares over one mile.
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Ace trainer Justin Snaith talks about his Met day chances Mike Moon
Trainer Justin Snaith feeds hay to Vodacom Durban July winner
Legislate at their Clairwood stable in 2014. Picture: Supplied Justin Snaith says he expects ‘a good day’, having 12 of his own horses running in the upcoming Met Day, and he also gives some tips on who he thinks are the biggest challenges to his own charges.
Saddling 27 horses for the 12 races on Cape Town Met day might seem a daunting task for some trainers – but not Justin Snaith.
“In fact, it’s the fewest number of runners I’ve had at the Met for quite a while,” he says, explaining that a lockdown ban on owners attending Saturday’s meeting had quietened demand for big-day representation.
PREMIUM! Belgarion, ridden by Richard Fourie, won the 2020 Vodacom Durban July and is the favourite for the Met. Picture: Candiese Lenferna
The five-year-old gelding Belgarion is going for his sixth win in a row and his eighth overall – from just 10 runs. The big question is: will he be fit enough after a four-month rest to beat scarily good opposition in the 1600m Grade 2 WSB Green Point Stakes – one of the principal pointers to the Cape Town season’s climax, the Met, at the end of January? Trainer Justin Snaith said this week Belgarion was working well at home and his gallops were “encouraging”. Those are less confident words than the Cape ace was uttering in Durban in July,.