February 2 - On Saturday at Kenilworth Racecourse in Cape Town, punters were out in force to watch the day's feature, the J&B Metropolitan Handicap (Gr 1), to see if top SA runner Pocket Power could win it for the fourth straight time. And while he only managed third, his full sister River Jetez romped home first.

Throughout her career, River Jetez has been in the shadow of her exemplary brother. But on Saturday she galloped firmly out from under it when, under talented jockey Glen Hatt, she proved that she could keep up with the boys every step of the way, and then some, as she summoned every ounce of speed she had.

Already nervous betting fans had to endure a false start before the 2000m turf race finally got underway. With less than half the horses loaded, the gate suddenly sprang open and many of the horses were half way down the track before they were brought back, including one of the big favorites, Dan De Lago.

But second time around there were no glitches as the race got off to a smooth start. And when it did, the crowd went absolutely wild as another big favorite, Mother Russia, broke superbly by converting an unlucky outside draw to the early lead, before slipping down the field into a comfortable fourth place.

Diamond Back, meanwhile, had grabbed the lead closely followed by Red Rake and Surfin' USA. Next came Fabiani and Blue Tiger and there looking cool as a cucumber came Pocket Power about seven lengths off the pace, with sis River Jetez following in his slipstream, also looking very much in control.

Because of the false start, Dan De Lago was way down the pack after burning himself out, and stayed there. His trainer, Charles Laird, who's had a runner-up in this race for the last two years, and had high hopes that Aussie Dan De Lago could shut out Pocket Power, left the course fuming after the race.

But with the finish line fast approaching, things heated up at the front. Fatigued, Diamond Quest dropped completely out of contention while Mother Russia moved up, Fort Vogue on her inside, with Fabiani bearing down. Pocket Power, as usual, had manoeuvred into his outside-centre launching position.

River Jetez was further back, but in the last furlongs, Hatt kicked it up a notch and the mare responded by forcing her way into the frontal fray and just as it looked like Mother Russia had the race sewn up, River Jetez squeezed past to win the 2009 J&B Metropolitan Handicap, with Pocket Power in third.

Here is the order of finish in the R2.5 million J&B Metropolitan Handicap (Gr 1):

- 18 River Jetez - Glen Hatt
- 17 Mother Russia - Anthony Delpech
- 1 Pocket Power - Bernard Fayd'herbe
- 16 Fort Vogue - Karl Neisius
- 15 Fabiani - Richard Fourie
- 6 Kapil - M J Byleveld
- 2 Smart Banker - Felix Coetzee
- 13 Oracy (NZ) - Piere Strydom
- 4 Big City Life - Karis Teetan
- 5 Forest Path - Gerrit Schlechter
- 12 Lion's Blood - Raymond Danielson
- 7 Surfin' Usa - Warren Kennedy
- 9 Red Rake - Sean Cormack
- 8 Blue Tiger - Stuart Randolph
- 3 Strategic News (AUS) - Pat Cosgrave
- 14 Dan De Lago (AUS) - Anton Marcus
- 10 Thundering Jet - Muzi Yeni
- 11 Diamond Quest - Kelvin Jupp