Profiles of all runners in The Sun Met with their best speed figures to date
1. LEGAL EAGLE (Sean Tarry) – 114, 112, 116, 113. Champion for powerful connections. Paired two tremendous figures in Cape. Uses high % stalk and pounce tactics. Favoured by the compressed weight scale for this race.
2. MAC DE LAGO (Weiho Marwing) – 107, 107. Game placing in the July. Faces tough task to win, but might sneak into the frame.
3. THE CONGLOMERATE (Joey Ramsden) – 108, 109 (July), 106 (Summer Cup). Difficult ride and an erratic customer. Very best runs have been in up- country handicaps. Harder job here.
4. MARINARESCO (Candice Bass Robinson) – 105, 109, 110*, 115*, 107. The Met sets up ideally – 2000m, good draw and long straight to unleash closing rally. Chance to show his worth at highest level. Best attribute is a brilliant turn of foot.
5. IT’S MY TURN (Justin Snaith) – 105, 107, 104 +, 108. Won Cape Derby this course and distance. His prep has gone perfectly. Versatile running style. Rates an each way chance at best.
6. CAPTAIN AMERICA (Brett Crawford) – 108, 109. Game and honest Grade 1 stalwart. Ran 2nd to Legislate here in the Derby. Just one length off Legal Eagle in last years’ Met won by Smart Call and now couple of kg’s better off at the weights. Super-fit and a plausible contender.
7. FRENCH NAVY (Sean Tarry) – 105, 105, 109 (Premiers Champion Challenge). He is proven at this class level (won Daily News) and ready at his third run after a rest. Interesting wildcard if reverting to previous best.
8. WHISKY BARON – 112*, 112. Crawford. Finished upsides of Marinaresco during Winter Series. Four on a roll since gelding. Composed temperament and can quicken up. Working exceptionally well, so is a principal candidate.
9. BRAZUCA (Johan Janse van Vuuren) – 103,103, 103, 109. Game second to Noah from Goa in the Guineas and It’s My Turn in the Derby. Two runs since an injury enforced break. Difficult assignment.
10. BARITONE (Justin Snaith) – 103, 105, 102*. Few points shy of what it takes to win, but does have a smart turn of foot. Seems unlikely though, at the weights.
11. CAPE SPEED (Dean Kannemeyer) – 99, 101+ Intriguing long-shot with a clean, winning resume. Could be sitting on a peak run. Look for big improvement with blinkers on again. Asking too much for him to win, but could conceivably place if an unusually fast pace causes the front-runners to cave in.
12. MAMBO MIME (Dean Kannemeyer) – 103, 101, 103, 104+ in KZN. Finished right on top of the best of his year last term. Battled with physical issues since. Getting steadily fitter yet needs to step up significantly
13. MACDUFF (Joey Ramsden) – 106 Has trailed Whisky Baron a few times, looks hard pressed to trouble the scorer.
14. BELA BELA (Justin Snaith) – 102, 106 (July), 103. Most recently, a narrow winner of the Paddock Stakes. Before that, only 2.65 lengths off them in July. Can quicken up swiftly. Faces sternest test.
15. GOLD STANDARD (Glen Kotzen) – 110 * (Selangor) Quality colt keeps on improving and the further the better for him too, based on the female side of his pedigree. Great win in Selangor then top class second in Guineas when highly vaunted William Longsword got first run.