Lester makes the difference as Van Niekerk lands Sun Met on Oh Susanna

Report: South Africa Saturday
Kenilworth: Sun Met (Grade 1), 1m2f, turf, 3yo+

Jockey of the moment Grant van Niekerk, given a few words of encouragement by Lester Piggott in the parade ring, won the biggest race of his career when delivering the Justin Snaith-trained 6-1 shot Oh Susanna well inside the final furlong of the Sun Met.

Van Niekerk, 26, said: “Lester asked me how difficult I found it getting down to 51.5kg and then he wished me luck. He gave me confidence. It was a bit of a rough race early but I thought I had it when I had Legal Eagle in my sights.”

Legal Eagle, who started 57-20 favourite to step up on his second in the two previous years when he was owned by Markus Jooste, looked sure to win when he took it up over a furlong out but he weakened in the closing stages and finished fourth.

The badly drawn Last Winter finished second, making up ground hand over fist in the final furlong to be beaten only half a length, but Van Niekerk was already waving his arm in triumph by this stage.

Oh Susanna, an Australian-bred daughter of Street Cry and owner-bred by Gaynor Rupert, is believed to be the first three-year-old filly to win this race for over 100 years and was the first Met success for Snaith and his father Chris in more than 30 years of trying.

It was a big payday for Van Niekerk, who also won the Klawervlei Majorca on the Snaith-trained hotpot Snowdance and one of the two US$500,000 races on Dutch Philip.

The unions abandoned their threatened Jooste protests and also their planned solidarity march.