Igugu’s half-sister Ngaga is to be nominated for the R1m, Group 1 Investec Cape Derby (2000m) at Kenilworth on Janaury 28th after comfortably extending her unbeaten run to three under Aldo Domeyer in the 1600m fillies handicap at Kenilworth on Saturday.

“The boss (Sabine Plattner) pays us to win the big ones,” reasons Andre Nel. “There is a lot to come from this filly so we will have to go higher and jump in at the deep end.”

Snaith has won the Met Day two-year-old Listed race in each of the last five years but he could struggle to find one to beat Dutch Philip who came home alone under hands and heels on debut to get What A Winter off the mark as a sire.

Van Niekerk, initiating a second successive Kenilworth treble, said: “He showed a lot of class, he has a lovely cruising speed and he quickens up well.”

Kwando and Sihle Cele, coming home at 66-1 in the 1 200m fillies handicap, served up one of the shocks of the month. Indeed Ronnie Sheehan’s assistant Peter Wrench put it higher than that, declaring: “This was 2016 – Leicester City, Brexit, Trump and now Kwando!”