Last season’s Cape Guineas and Investec Cape Derby winner is the top-rated horse in the race and the dual Grade 1 winner is one of three entries from the yard of trainer Dean Kannemeyer., who won this with Roman Charger 12 years ago. 
The 1400m test is traditionally the first race of the Western Cape campaign when the three-year-old crop is tested against the four-year-olds, but the latter age group dominates the entries this time and accounts for two-thirds of the 21-strong entry. 
Justin Snaith, who won the Matchem for the first time with Changingoftheguard last season, has the biggest entry and his quintet include 109-rated Villa Del Largo and improving Terminator, who has won two of his last three. 
Mike Bass has won two of the last five runnings and his four entries are headed by the 101-rated Zambezi Torrent, who won the Listed Gatecrasher Stakes at Clairwood in June. 
Joey Ramsden, who notably won this in 2011 with subsequent dual Equus Horse of the Year Variety Club, has entered King Of Pain, winner of last season’s Grade 2 Selangor Cup and runner-up in both the Grade 3 Winter Guineas and the Grade 3 Winter Derby.
Ramsden is undecided about whether to run the horse who has been gelded and whose work has significantly improved since the operation. 
There is a supplementary entry stage this Wednesday for this race which was switched from Kenilworth to Durbanville in 2010. 
Entries for the Kuda Insurance Matchem Stakes (Grade 3) over 1 400m at Durbanville: 
ACE ANTONIUS                 Vaughan Marshal 
 ASHTON PARK                 Mike Bass 
 CAPETOWN NOIR                 Dean Kannemeyer 
 CAPTAIN’S RESERVE                Vaughan Marshal 
 CAPTAINCY                 Joey Ramsden 
 COUNTS ROCKET                Glen Kotzen 
 GLOBAL EXPRESS                 Mike Bass 
 HALF MOON HOTEL         Vaughan Marshal 
 HOT TICKET                 Dean Kannemeyer 
 KING OF PAIN                 Joey Ramsden 
 OTTIMO (AUS)                 Justin Snaith 
 POWER KING                 Dean Kannemeyer 
 RECALL TO LIFE          Shane Humby 
 TERMINATOR                 Justin Snaith 
 TRADE EMBLEM         Shane Humby 
 TRUE MASTER                 Justin Snaith 
 UNENCUMBERED         Justin Snaith
 VILLA DEL LARGO                 Justin Snaith 
 WIND GLIDER                 Carl J Burger 
 ZAMBEZI TORRENT         Mike Bass 
 ZE KAISER                  Mike Bass

Mike Bass, who last won the Grade 3 Diana Stakes with subsequent Cape Fillies Guineas and Klawervelei Majorca winner Sun Classique in 2006, is responsible for six of the 14 entries for this R150 000 race over 1400m at Durbanville on Saturday 5 October. 
Highest-rated (at 109) of the six is Hammie’s Hooker, who returned from over six months off to run stable companion Intimateconnection to a neck in a 1 200m Kenilworth Allowance Plate this month. She injured herself behind at the end of February and, amazingly, this was the first time she had even had a gallop since then. 
Her finest hour, so far at any rate, came in last season’s Avontuur Cape Fillies Guineas, in which she was beaten less than half a length by Rumya. She was also third in the Klawervlei Majorca and Bass has already said that she is a probable runner in the Diana. 
Intimateconnection, who has won again since, also has this race on her agenda while Bass has Cape Fillies Guineas hopes for Pure Power. 
Justin Snaith, who has won three of the last four runnings, has entered three of which the highest-rated is the four-year-old Jet Supreme. 
Entries for the Diana Stakes (Grade 3) over 1 400m at Durbanville: 
 CAPTAINOFMYSOUL         Justin Snaith 
 EARTH’S ORBIT                 Justin Snaith 
 FLY BY NIGHT                 Mike Bass 
 HAMMIE’S HOOKER         Mike Bass 
 INTIMATECONNECTION         Mike Bass 
 JET SUPREME                 Justin Snaith 
 LANNER FALCON         Mike Bass 
 LUNA DE VICTORIA         Brett Crawford 
 MAXIMUM JET                 Patrick Kruyer 
 OMATICAYA                 Glen Kotzen 
 PRINCESS OFTHE SKY         Mike Bass 
 PURE POWER                 Mike Bass 
 RUSHINTOTHEWIND         Glen Puller