World Sports Betting Cape Town Met 2025: Favourites, Forecasts and Odds

Top Contenders for the WSB Cape Town Met Crown

There has been plenty of market movement in the week leading up to the 2025 WSB Cape Town Met, which features 17 of the country's best racehorses, including the likes of Michael Roberts’ champion See It Again, Justin Snaith’s Future Swing and the ultra-consistent Rascallion from the Vaughan Marshall stable. Here are the ones to watch in this year’s Cape Met. 

10. Eight On Eighteen - Richard Fourie

While this year’s lineup for the WSB Cape Town Met oozes class with experienced campaigners in See It Again and Future Swing among others, the sole three-year-old runner Eight on Eighteen is the horse that currently tops the betting boards leading up to the big race. Following the scratching of Green with Envy, Justin Snaith’s top charge has shortened from 12/1 to 4/1, now set to go off as the market leader. Eight on Eighteen ticks all the right boxes - he has run second on two occasions to South Africa's leading three-year-old One Stripe this season, gets the services of champ jockey Richard Fourie, and a handy weight-for-age allowance (54kg). This is expected to be a big runner on the day, but the short price could suggest that the value in the race may lie elsewhere. 

3. Oriental Charm - J P V'D Merwe

The older male runners are very closely matched in terms of rating and have seemed to take turns beating each other in recent big races. Nevertheless, one of the most proven class acts in this star-studded lineup is Brett Crawford’s Oriental Charm, who rose to prominence by winning the Grade 1 Hollywoodbets Durban July over 2200m last year. Indeed, J P V'D Merwe’s ride was well below par in the King's Plate over 1600m, but the extra 400m in this race could be telling, as we saw down in Greyville when his front-running tactics worked like a charm. Given his good draw in this race (3), Oriental Charm looks poised to dictate terms again, potentially making him the horse to beat. 

12. See It Again - Pierre Strydom

The highest-rated horse heading in the 2025 running of the WSB Cape Town Met is none other than See It Again. Michael Roberts’ champion runner would likely have been closer to the top of the betting boards had he not produced a lacklustre performance at the L’Ormarins King’s Plate where he tottered home stone last. While the stipes reported that nothing obviously wrong was detected, there have to be concerns about his physical condition. The Durban-based star seems to be struggling to deal with travelling across the country regularly of late as seen in the Summer Cup where he battled to find his best at high altitude. At his best, See It Again would be the horse to beat in this race, but should he underperform again, expect a wide-open affair. 

1. Red Palace - Gavin Lerena

The sole filly in the 2025 WSB Cape Met is Red Palace who has cracked a favourable draw at number one but will have to navigate the intricacies of running along the inside rail. She ran a very impressive second place in the Grade 1 Paddock Stakes behind Double Grand Slam and Dean Kannemeyer is confident that she’s had the ideal prep coming to Cape Town. Owing to the sex allowance, Red Palace will carry 57kg, and she gets the services of Gavin Lerena, who will undoubtedly have a game plan to make the most of the inside line. If Red Palace can find a handy position leading to the straight, we fancy her to be in the shake-up at the line. 

Best Bookmakers for the WSB Cape Town Met

Outsiders and Ante-post Odds 

7. Royal Aussie - Kabelo Matsunyane

In terms of potential long shots, there are two horses that grab our attention, but our top choice is Royal Aussie - one of five horses hailing from the Justin Snaith in this race. Notably, the last six winners of the Cape Met have finished inside the top six in the King’s Plate, and Royal Aussie finished fourth in the most recent running of that race. Kabelo Matsunyane’s mount set off as the second-favourite in this grand spectacle last year but was forced wide which took most of the sting out of his final effort and called his ability over the distance into question. However, now drawn at seven, Royal Aussie could be a big runner if he keeps a clearer passage and could be a massive returner to his backers at 25/1.

16. Rascallion - Sean Veale

Rounding out this year’s WSB Cape Town Met ones-to-watch selections is Vaughan Marshall’s Rascallion, who comes into the race with a merit rating of 122. Sean Veale’s mount finished second in this race last year and has won three of his last four feature races, suggesting he is in some of the best form of his life. The glaring issue though is that Rascallion will run out of gate 16 so will need plenty to go his way to be in the frame, especially given that he tends to lengthen his stride rather than quicken. Still, one thing is for sure, this horse runs his heart out every time he steps out and we make this our top each-way selection at R15 to win and R2.82 to place.