2025 Cape Town Met Betting Preview & Tips - 25/1 each-way chance a value bet in Kenilworth Grade One
- Oriental Charm is a key contender after a recent dip in form
- Royal Aussie offers strong each-way value and aims to overcome past challenges
- Eight On Eighteen and Rascallion face positional disadvantages
Cape Town Met (Getty)
The Cape Town Met is the second leg of South Africa's triple crown and a 25/1 outside offers value to win the Grade One feature at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth.
- 2025 Cape Town Met Runners
- 2025 Cape Town Met Tips
2025 Cape Town Met Runners
The early favourite for Saturday's feature was 2024 Durban July winner, Oriental Charm. Brett Crawford's star made a winning return in the Green Point Stakes in December, but will have to bounce back after a seventh-place finish behind One Stripe in the recent L'Ormarins King's Plate.
Eight On Eighteen has placed in both the Punters Cup and the Cape Guineas behind One Stripe, who boosted that form considerably by landing the King's Plate. Multiple Grade One winner, See It Again is also on the recovery mission, having finished last of the 13 runners in the King's Plate.
Red Palace has also been backed for the Cape Met in recent weeks, having finished a close second to Double Grand Slam in the Grade One Cartier Paddock Stakes. Seven-year-old Rascallion has been resurgent in recent weeks, winning Graded races on his last two starts.
Other runners in this lucrative contest include regular Grade One performers Future Swing and Royal Aussie, Justin Snaith's progressive four-year-old Magic Verse, and surprise King's Plate runner-up, Montien.
2025 Cape Town Met Tips
Support has arrived for Eight On Eighteen after the scratching of Green With Envy, and Justin Snaith's three-year-old will go off as the market leader. Richie Fourie's mount has twice placed behind South Africa's leading three-year-old One Stripe this season and Eight On Eighteen has a handy weight-for-age allowance on his side.
I was tempted with an each-way punt on Rascallion, who finished sixth and second in the last two runnings of the Met. However, the draw has placed Vaughan Marshall's stalwart out in stall 16, with only Zapatillas drawn wider. Given the size of the field on Saturday, a wide draw could turn out to be a big disadvantage.
The King's Plate is a natural stepping stone to the Met. The last six winners of this Grade One all secured top-six finishes in the Plate on their most recent outing. ROYAL AUSSIE (25/1) kept on well to finish fourth in the King's Plate and connections should fancy another crack at the Met based on that performance.
Royal Aussie was sent off as the second-favourite for this race 12 months ago, following a third-place finish in the King's Plate. Kabelo Matsunyane's mount was slowly away and caught a horrible wide trip throughout, which took the sting out of his finishing effort and Justin Snaith's star could only cross the line in eighth-place.
Royal Aussie roared back to form with victories in the Jet Master and Drill Hall Stakes last year and has shaped well in defeat three times this season. Snaith's five-year-old was beaten a length by Oriental Charm in the Green Point Stakes and gave Oisin Murphy a fantastic spin along the rail when fourth at Kenilworth earlier this month.
Given how he finished out last year's Met, many have called Royal Aussie's stamina into question. There's certainly some uncertainty about his effectiveness over ten furlongs, but I'm hoping - with a cleaner passage through the race from stall seven - that Matsunyane's mount will silence any doubters with a strong performance.
Verdict
Royal Aussie is overpriced and a solid each-way selection in the Cape Town Met.
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