Future beckons with Guineas entries

Leading trainers are vying for a seventh trophy. The racing calendar moves at breathtaking pace, as if taking a cue from the speeding horses it regulates. The Highveld spring/summer season is still in full swing, yet Western Cape is already gearing up for its approaching time in the sun. The unveiling of early entries for the Cape Guineas and Cape Fillies Guineas this week signaled another change of focus for the horse-crazy crowd. The lists of names also indicated an imminent changing of the guard with a precocious set of stars about to elbow its way onto the national stage. Premier Classic The R2.5-million Grade 1 Hollywoodbets Cape Guineas is often referred to as South Africa’s premier Classic, as a maker of legends – even though it is the first national three-year-old showdown on the calendar and doesn’t automatically establish a generational champion. The same goes for the fillies’ version. These races are major landmarks and are as eagerly awaited as any on the roster. They spark animated annual debate over whether the current youth crop is as strong or as weak as the one before – or a vintage one of yore. Sporting Post notes that the 2026 renewal has been hyped “in certain quarters” as a boat race between Dean Kannemeyer’s undefeated Continue The Dream and Justin Snaith’s eye-catching recent Cape Classic winner Kalahari King. Many trainers gauge their career reputations on three-year-old success in Cape Town in December. Kannemeyer, Vaughan Marshall and Mike de Kock are bidding for seventh Cape Guineas trophies while Snaith has won it three times. Marshall’s five entries, including classy Rich Man’s World and Golden Horseshoe winner Vibe Check, suggest that claims of a two-horse race are premature. De Kock and his stable partner and son Mathew won last year’s Guineas with Jan van Goyen – who incidentally is an entry in this month’s Betway Summer Cup in Joburg. This time the team travels from upcountry with three horses: Umkhomazi Stakes winner Fish Tales, Graham Beck Stakes winner Fierceness and lightly raced Rising Eagle. The De Kocks’ Randjesfontein neighbour Sean Tarry has not won a Cape Guineas but is adept at raiding Cape Town. He has entered Sales Slipper hero Turn It Up and Wild And Free. Marchland in contention A name that jumps out from the Fillies Guineas 16 nominations is Marchland from unfashionable Eastern Cape who is unbeaten in five starts. Her biggest win to date was as a juvenile in the Thekwini Stakes at Greyville and the daughter of Malmoos will be closely watched to see if she can catapult rising star trainer Kelly Mitchley to the next level on the national stage. Kannemeyer and Snaith are in the fillies mix, too – the latter with nicely bred Over My Shoulder and Verse For Suzanne and the former with Princess Of Arvernia, the reigning Equus Champion Juvenile Filly. Tarry plans to field potent Alice B Toklas, winner of the recent Starling Stakes, while the De Kocks have hopes pinned on Joburg Spring Challenge victor Flower Island. Hollywoodbets Cape Guineas, R2.5m, 1600m, Grade 1 (draw, name, trainer, MR) 13 Aquae Calidae Eric Sands 107 11 Bachata Vaughan Marshall 102 3 Bello Gallico Glen Kotzen 85 9 Big City Roller Dean Kannemeyer 98 20 Coast Of The Sun Tienie Prinsloo 101 24 Continue The Dream Dean Kannemeyer 95 14 Fierceness Mike / Mathew de Kock 105 7 Fish Tales Mike / Mathew de Kock 108 5 Hero’s Journey Vaughan Marshall 99 2 Ile Moris Piet / Elbert Steyn 86 1 Impose Dean Kannemeyer 87 12 Kalahari King Justin Snaith 109 10 Le Soleil Justin Snaith 87 25 Rain In France Justin Snaith 96 23 Red Spice Piet / Elbert Steyn 107 17 Rich Man’s World Vaughan Marshall 115 8 Rising Eagle Mike / Mathew de Kock 91 22 Roskilde Glen Kotzen 96 21 Running Shoes Dean Kannemeyer 0 19 Steamy Windows Glen Kotzen 95 15 Turn It Up Sean Tarry 109 16 Uncle Sam Vaughan Marshall 93 6 Vibe Check Vaughan Marshall 107 4 Viva Asterix Candice Bass 95 18 Wild And Free Sean Tarry 96 WSB Cape Fillies Guineas, R1.5m, 1600m, Grade 1 12 Alice B Toklas Sean Tarry 106 8 Chinwag Michelle Rix 86 9 Dream Trip Candice Bass 90 16 Flower Island Mike / Mathew de Kock 109 14 Future Engagement James Crawford 81 3 Georgie Girl Robert Barrett 101 6 Grapes Of Wrath Candice Bass 90 4 Marchland Kelly Mitchley 108 5 Over My Shoulder Justin Snaith 98 15 Palace Of Arvernia Dean Kannemeyer 106 2 Royal Tiara James Crawford 98 11 Sabre Wing Greg Ennion 85 10 Shezaripper James Crawford 89 7 Sing Forevermore Candice Bass 90 13 Verse For Suzanne Justin Snaith 91 1 Virginia Bluebell James Crawford 81