Best of the best clash in race of the season
· Citizen
Only eight go to post, but Saturday’s HKJC Champions Cup at Greyville is justifiably dubbed “the race of the season”.
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Twenty runners started Africa’s most important race, the recent Hollywoodbets Durban July, but the quality of this Grade 1 contest is indisputably higher.
Compelling such a comparison is the fact that the top three horses in the July ante-post betting market, who were later withdrawn, are all present here.
One thing’s for sure, there won’t be any downgrading of the Champions Cup in the near future – a fate befalling too many of our big races, such as the Gold Cup, the grand old staying event that headlines Saturday’s action despite being a humble Grade 3 these days.
Six of the top 12 merit-rated horses are in the Champions Cup field, and seven of the top 15.
Topping the pile is 130-rated See It Again, the 2026 Cape Town Met winner who vies for betting favouritism with Justin Snaith yard stablemate Eight On Eighteen (MR 127). This pair could easily see Snaith emulate his Durban July feat of first and second past the post.
Former July champ The Real King (128) is an obvious danger to the duo, but the story doesn’t end there. July seventh Gladatorian (127) always tries his big heart out, while classy Legal Counsel (128) will surely adjust tactics after his July pace-making blow-out.
Other races
Two other Grade 1 contests are carded on the day: the R1.75m World Pool Moment of the Day Champion Stakes, a 1600m test of strength for the country’s leading juveniles, and the Mercury Sprint, a 1200m weight-for age showdown for elite speed merchants.
The former is always a challenge for punters given the unpredictable form of young horses, but much interest will focus on the trio of precocious fillies who take on the boys: Secretary Bird, Moana and Tudor Rose.
All three have been backed in early betting, but so have promising colts Vibe Check, Red Spice and Prayersandpromises.
All six need to go into Pick 6 perms, with the possible addition of improvers Viking Leader and Green Energy.
The sprint sees SA’s top racehorse Buffalo Storm Cody (MR 132) trying to defend his Mercury crown against impressive recent winners Questioning, Jet Force, Asiye Phambili and Taxi To The Moon.
Again, a wide selection is prudent.
Greyville, on the last big meeting of the 2025/26 season, guarantees high-class action for connoisseurs and – with an R8-million Pick 6 pool forecast – big money for serious punters.