International Campaign For J & B Met Winner

The Alex Laird-trained mare Smart Call is set to take on the world after smashed her male opponents in Cape Town's biggest G1 race, the J & B Met, at Kenilworth on Saturday.

Races in the UK and America including the Breeders Cup are on the agenda for Smart Call.

Laird took his 1997 Met winner London News to the UK and has a similar plan for his current 5YO star after she extended her current wining sequence to four and her overall career record to seven wins in 16 starts.

Smart Call has now won three G1 races and prizemoney of almost R3.5 million.

"She will go into quarantine next month and arrive in England in June where she will be stabled at Abington Place in Newmarket,” he said.

“She could have prep runs there and France would also be a possibility although America might provide softer options.

"We are going to stick to our plan to go for the Breeders' Cup. We've got the best horse in South Africa to send there.”

Wining jockey JP van der Merwe picked up the ride on race morning after Smart Call’s regular partner Weichong Marwing withdrew from the meeting with a back injury.

An 8-1 chance, Smart Call beat recent G1 Queen’s Plate winner Legal Eagle by three and a half lengths with Captain America third.

“I have never ridden her in a race before but knew her well as I ride her at home a lot,” Van der Merwe said.

“I pulled out with 300 meters left to run and she quickened up beautifully."

Justin Snaith’s top pair Legislate and Futura failed but the champion trainer still enjoyed an amazing day as he won eight of the 12 races on the card to better his own South African record.

However he also missed out in the other G1 feature with the Cape Flying Championship won by the Brett Crawford-trained Gulf Storm in a a thrilling finish with less than a half length separating the first four.

Jockey Corne Orffer celebrated the first G1 success of his career when Gulf Storm denied Brutal Force by a head with favorite Carry On Alice third a short head in front of Tevez.

Gulf Storm, second to champion sprinter Captain Of All in the Cape Championship last season, has won eight of 24 starts.

Crawford, who won the Sprint Championship with Laisserfaire in 2002, said: "We had this race planned for a long time and putting blinkers on made all the difference.

“He will go to Durban and run in the Golden Horse Sprint at Scottsville in May. He was second in it last year."