PRESS RELEASE
SEE IT AGAIN LEADS KING’S PLATE IN SOUTH AFRICA
Photo courtesy of Candiese Lenferna
King’s Plate Winner Will Earn Automatic Berth into FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Mile; Red Palace and Double Grand Slam Headline Cartier Paddock Stakes for Automatic Starting Position into Maker’s Mark Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (Jan. 2. 2025) ─ Breeders' Cup berths are on the line in a pair of top-tier races on Saturday, Jan. 4, at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth in South Africa when the Cape Town track stages the L'Ormarins King's Plate (G1) and the Cartier Paddock Stakes (G1). See It Again (SAF), One Stripe (SAF), Gimme A Prince (SAF), and Royal Aussie (SAF) head the King's Plate, while Red Palace (SAF), Double Grand Slam (SAF) and Silver Sanctuary (SAF) top the Paddock Stakes.
The winner of the 1,600-meter (about 1-mile) King's Plate will gain an automatic berth into the $2 million FanDuel Breeders' Cup Mile (G1) and the winner of the 1,800-meter (about 1 1/8 miles) Paddock Stakes (G1) will receive complimentary entry into the $2 million Maker's Mark Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1) via the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series.
Now in its 19th season, the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series is an international series of stakes races, the winners of which receive automatic starting positions and fees paid into a corresponding race in the Breeders' Cup World Championships, scheduled to be held Oct. 31-Nov. 1 at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, California.
See It Again, a Twice Over (GB) gelding owned by Nick Jonsson and trained by Mike Roberts, will seek to bounce back from a 2024 campaign that fell short of his 2023 accomplishments, when he won 3 stakes, including the Splashout Cape Derby (G1) and Daily News 2000 (G1). In 2024 he won just one race and settled for minor awards at the highest stakes level. He did run competitively, however, including when second in the 2024 King's Plate to Charles Dickens (SAF), who has been retired to stud.
Most recently See It Again was fifth in the Nov. 30 Betway Summer Cup over a longer 1 1/4-mile trip. Rachel Venniker replaces jockey Piere Strydom after the latter had a fall. She will pilot See It Again from post 8 in the 13-horse field.
One Stripe brings sharp form into the King's Plate, having won two straight and five of his last six starts. Among these victories was his first in elite company when he scored in the Dec. 14 Hollywoodbets Cape Guineas (G1) for 3-year-olds. That race also came at the King's Plate's mile distance.
Gavin Lerena rides the son of One World (SAF) for trainer Vaughan Marshall and owner Rikesh Sewgoolam.
Khaya Stables Ltd.'s Gimma A Prince and Mr. D. A. Squance, Mrs. S. Viljoen & Dr. J. A. Warner's Royal Aussie both hit the board in their latest start. Gimme A Prince ran third in Nov. 16 Cape Mile Stakes (G3), while Royal Aussie was second in the Dec. 7 World Sports Betting Green Point Stakes (G2).
Craig Zackey rides the Dean Kannemeyer-trained and Khaya Stables Ltd.-owned Gimma A Prince, while international riding star Oisin Murphy has been given the mount by Justin Snaith on Royal Aussie, who races for partners Mr. D. A. Squance, Mrs. S. Viljoen & Dr. J. A. Warner.
See It Again is among three entries for Snaith, the others being Great Plains and Snow Pilot
Besides See It Again, Royal Aussie and longshot Al Muthana (AUS) have cracked the top 3 positions in previous King's Plates. Royal Aussie showed in the 2024 King's Plate, and Al Muthana (AUS) upset the 2023 race 80-1 odds.
Saturday's race features record purse money of R3 million (approximately $158,736), increased from R2 million a year ago. Post time for the King's Plate, the seventh race on the card, is 16:10 local time (9:10 a.m. ET).
Murphy, a Breeders' Cup-winning jockey and 4-time champion in the United Kingdom, also rides in the R1 million (approximately $53,078) Paddock Stakes aboard the Mike de Kock-trained Silver Sanctuary. They break from the outside post in the field of 12 fillies and mares.
Drakenstein Stud's daughter of Silvano (GER) captured the Tabgold Woolavington 2000 Stakes (G1) in 2024 and was a last-out second in the Dec. 16 Ipi Tombe Challenge (G2) at Turffontein.
Drakenstein is also represented in the Paddock Stakes by the Snaith-trained Double Grand Slam, who stretches out in distance after competing primarily in races at 7 furlongs or a mile. The Vercingetorix (SAF) filly is owned in partnership with Dave MacLean and retired golfing legend Gary Player.
Double Grand Slam finished in front of several of her leading rivals when winning a Nov. 23 tune-up. Among those trailing her were Rainbow Lorikeet (SAF), Saartjie (SAF), Rascova (SAF), Gold Poker Game (SAF), Knockout (SAF), and Red Palace. That race was contested at a mile.
Richard Fourie rides Double Grand Slam for Snaith, who also runs Little Suzie (SAF) in the Paddock Stakes, the sixth race on the card, scheduled to go off at 15:35 local time (8:35 a.m. ET).
Red Palace defeated Double Grand Slam in a minor race 2 starts ago on Oct. 19 but disappointed in her latest when seventh as the favorite Nov. 23. In July, the daughter of Potala Palace (SAF) won the Riding High Together Gold Bracelet (G2).
Her new trainer, Dean Kannemeyer, gives the ride on the Terry and Annabel Andrews-owned filly to Craig Zackey. The Andrews bought out their racing partners in December and secured her in full for approximately $201,698.
As a part of the benefits of the Challenge series, the Breeders’ Cup will pay the pre-entry and entry fees for the winners of Saturday’s races to start in the World Championships. Breeders’ Cup will also provide a travel allowance for all starters based outside of North America to compete in the Championships. The Challenge winner must be nominated to the Breeders’ Cup program by the pre-entry deadline of Oct. 20 to receive the rewards.
ABOUT BREEDERS’ CUP
Breeders’ Cup Limited administers the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, Thoroughbred racing’s year-end Championships, as well as the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series: Win and You’re In, which provides automatic starting positions into the Championships races through partnerships with host countries around the globe, and the U.S.-based Dirt Dozen Bonus Series. The Breeders’ Cup operates under the national, uniform rules and regulations of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) and its Horseracing Integrity & Welfare Unit (HIWU).
The 2025 Breeders’ Cup World Championships, featuring 14 Grade 1 Championship races run during a two-day festival worth more than $34 million in purses and awards, will be held Oct. 31-Nov. 1 at Del Mar in Del Mar, California. The Championships will be televised live by NBC Sports. Press releases appear on the Breeders’ Cup website, BreedersCup.com. You can also follow the Breeders’ Cup on social media.