Experience Counts. Gerrit Schlechter rode a top double today.

The Western Cape makes Kimberley and Arlington look like Royal Ascot or even a hint of Las Vegas on some days. The light drizzle of rain that fell intermittently at Kenilworth today was hardly an excuse either for a plethora of strange results.

They say that it takes only a millimeter of rain to cause endless traffic logjams in Cape Town and maybe the Cape jockeys are just as nervous as their drivers. The tentative displays by some of the local riding crew led to the braver jocks grabbing the initiative to boot home some unlikely winners.

Gerrit Schlechter has largely fallen out of favour with a few of his past employers and has had a torrid time of it since the highs of his J&B Met win in January 2011. But he is still worth every ounce of his experience and strength and grabbed the riding honours with a long-priced double on what was a very difficult afternoon at the office for punters.  Not a solitary favourite arrived on a miserable day on course and in the form book.

Not Shy! Blushing Grey streaks clear to cause another upset.

Word has it that Schlechter is looking for riding opportunities up North and the lightweight veteran would have done his prospects no harm with his determined display. His first win was in the MR 69 Handicap over 1600m when he got first run on his opponents on the moderate Piet Steyn-trained Dupont filly Blushing Grey. Frankly, ‘moderate’ is probably a little kind for the Bernard Kantor bred grey who has managed one win and no places from her first 16 racecourse starts. Maybe she needed the mile? Who knows.

Schlechter then steered Count Dumani up to grab the pacemaking Phalaborwa Express in the MR 72 Handicap over 1200m. The latter looked a winner, but the very fit Spies gelding fought on well. In fact Corne Spies is to be given all the credit as he is not scared to raid ‘stronger’ centres with his charges. Count Dumani ran just a week ago at Fairview.

Craig Du Plooy trains the Western Cape grooms at the local school and doesn’t ride a lot these days. He does however put his leg over the Marshall horses from time to time and it was for his longtime boss that he set the tone for the rest of the day when riding a balanced finish to drive the Alado first-timer Half Moon Hotel up to nab the free striding Stormy Ridge on the line in the opener, a Maiden Plate over 1200m. The winner started an unfancied 66-1 and according to the Allan Bloodlines website, ‘he is bigger than his full sister Moon Over Mobay(in training with Yvette Bremner in the Eastern Cape) and coming along nicely in his work.’ That sounds like a stock comment from most trainers but maybe some lucky punters found it prior to the race!

The colt races in  the silks of breeder Kirsten Rausing, who has had great success with her Alado offspring. Vaughan Marshall also sent out the third placed Sheriff Marshall, who ran a cracker.  Carl Burger’s Stormy Ridge ran a great race after setting the pace, and the grey Tiger Ridge colt should go in soon if he repeats this effort.

The Bald & The Beautiful? Carl Burger and Braam Van Huysteen lead Transcendent in.

Burger had better luck in the next race, a Maiden Plate over 1000m when Aldo Domeyer kept Transcendent rolling to foil the Corne Spies betting coup on Sacred Chayim – who did everything but win. Braam Van Huysteen has over sixty horses in training all over the country and he owns this gelding in partnership with Brian Katzen. Transcendent was having his eighteenth start and had only clocked up four places previously. The Stipes will no doubt be asking for an explanation.

The second race also started the rot for what developed into a terrible day for the powerful trio of Karl Neisius , trainer Darryl Hodgson and owner Hassen Adams. Trizas had been knocking hard to shed his maiden but ran unplaced in a moderate field.  Putney Flyer then started favourite in the third but had too much ground to make and nowhere to go when running a weak third.  Then Danavano jumped from pole in the fourth race over 1400m but could only plod into fourth place.  Once termed ‘our Igugu’ by her passionate owner, Rain Gal looked a fair bet to restore some respectability to the beleaguered partnership in the fifth race – but she ran a weak fourth in a rather ordinary nine horse field, behind the revitalized Margaret Court.   Punters will be entitled to be asking questions about the poor performances of these fancied runners and the forums will be alive with the usual post-mortems.

Felix Coetzee and Justin Snaith closed the day with the vastly improved President Of Pop, who recorded a hat-trick of wins when streaking clear to beat the unfancied Offertory in the MR 84 Handicap over 1200m. The son of Captain Al has now won four of his thirteen starts and must rank as one of the most improved horses in training. Difficult to believe that this is the same horse who could not win a Novice Plate in PE three months ago!

But after today, we’d believe anything is possible!

Dingaan's winner Silver Flyer

Together the Gr2 Gauteng Guineas, the Gr1 SA Classic and the Gr1 SA Derby form South Africa’s Triple Crown and with all three legs taking place within a nine week period, it takes an exceptional horse to win it. Indeed, since it’s inception in 1999 only the legendary Horse Chestnut has been able to achieve the fete. Sixteen take the stage for the Guineas on Saturday and the winner will earn a R2M bonus if also successful in the other two legs, writes Steve Furnish.

Globetrotter Mike De Kock won this race with Link Man last season and with a minimum of four runners this time around he once again holds a very strong hand.

Silver Flyer

Heading Mike’s charge on paper is the highest rated runner in the field Silver Flyer. Not the easiest of characters to work with, this son of Silvano has shown flashes of real ability, most notably when winning the Gr2 Dingaans over today’s course and distance in his penultimate start. Silver Flyer ran on best of all in that event and as well as having the next four highest rated horses here behind him, he had another five of today’s opponents in arrears. The same tactics were adopted when he finished runner up in his only subsequent outing to Variety Club in the much debated Gr1 Cape Guineas in December. Silver Flyer finished at least as well as the winner that day, but was unable to cut into his three lengths advantage over the final 400m. Silver Flyer was clearly suited by the long galloping straight at Turffontein when winning the Dingaans and he gave the impression that day that there was more to come. The one to beat.

Red Barrel

Red Barrel - unbeaten, could be anything

The next highest rated of Mike’s big five is the unbeaten Red Barrel. This lightly raced son of Right Approach has won both starts going away and having landed the prestigious Ready To Run Cup he has already amassed stake earnings of over R1M. He is undoubtedly taking on stronger here, but he does retain the services of champion jockey Anton Marcus and is sure to appreciate the extra. Red Barrel has drawn very wide here, but he could yet prove to be anything. Watch the betting.

Golden Chateau

This son of Chateau Istana impressed when running on stoutly to finish second on debut and duly followed up over 1400m here next time out. He’s found the going a bit tough since being stepped up in class though, and he was beaten fair and square by four of today’s runners in the Dingaans in his penultimate outing. He was reported as making a respiratory noise when well beaten by the highly regarded Glorious Jet last time out and although he could still improve plenty, he is perhaps best just watched here.

Governor General

The Strike Smartly colt Governor General showed real guts and determination to shed his maiden tag over 1400m in soft after his rider had dropped the whip in December, but even so, one would not have thought that this race was on his schedule. He’s shown considerable improvement since then though and was running on stoutly when only beaten two and a quarter lengths by the Dingaan’s fourth placed runner Pomodoro in the Gr3 Tony Ruffel Stakes over 1450m at the inner track last time out. He cruised in by six in his only previous try over today’s distance in soft going in his penultimate start and with there being a fair chance that the going could turn up soft here, he could make the frame.

Frontino Gold

The second reserve runner Frontino Gold has always been well thought of by the stable and that would suggest that we haven’t seen the best of him yet. He had been drawn very wide when running on stoutly to take fourth behind his stable companion Red Barrel in the Ready To Run Cup in his penultimate start and he did have excuses when unsighted in the Dingaans, as he was reported as coughing. If getting a run this will be his first outing since the Dingaans, it will be interesting to see how he goes.

Potala Palace

Michael Azzie has always had a very high regard for his 3yo son of Singspiel Potala Palace and having trained some top class horses in his time one has to take note. He cruised in by six when shedding his maiden tag at just the second attempt and when winning the Gr1 Premiers Champion Stakes over a mile at Greyville in his next outing, it did indeed look as if he might go on to be a champion. What is interesting here is that the fifth placed runner in the Premiers was the subsequent Dingaans winner and probable favourite here Silver Flyer, and the third horse home in that event was the recent Queen’s Plate winner Gimmethegreenlight. On his return from a four month break in November, Potala Palace could be forgiven for only scraping home when thrown in at the weights in a graduation event, but he has since been beaten fair and square in all three starts (including the Dingaans) and he is drawn widest of all here.

Whiteline Fever

The highest rated of Sean Tarry’s four definite runners in the race is Whiteline Fever. This son of Right Approach progressed rapidly after shedding his maiden tag over today’s distance in soft in October and showed his class when running on stoutly from towards the rear to take second in the Dingaans. As expected he won well when thrown in at the weights in a novice event on his return from a short break at the end of last month and having only been beaten 2,5 lengths in the Dingaans, any amount of further improvement has to make him a very serious runner here.

Pomodoro

A winner of four of his six outings to date, trainer Sean Tarry has always had a high regard for Pomodoro and was surprised when Robbie Fradd elected to ride his Whiteline Fever in the Dingaans.  On the day Robbie chose right, but Pomodoro was only two lengths behind his stable companion and he has since won well in both starts. Pomodoro has shown good improvement with each outing in our book. Expect a bold effort.

E-Jet

Prior to finishing eighth of twelve in the Gr3 Tony Ruffel Stakes, the Jet Master colt E-Jet had also been showing good improvement with each outing. No excuses were tendered for that latest run, but E-Jet was returning from a near three month break in that event. He had previously won well after finishing a 2,6 lengths fifth to his stable companion Pomodoro in the Guineas Trial at Clairwood in October and it could well be that further improvement will be forthcoming.

Heavy Metal

The 3yo Silvano colt won well when shedding his maiden tag over 1400m here in November, but it was still a surprise to see him contest the Gr1 Cape Guineas in his next outing. Heavy Metal was unsighted in that event, but he did have excuses as he was hampered when running on 200m out. He again had excuses last time out when 3,75 lengths off his stable companion Pomodoro in the Gr3 Tony Ruffel Stakes as he took a bump and was later reported lame on the off fore. Sean wouldn’t have taken Heavy Metal to Cape Town for a breath of sea air! Expect improvement.

Baracah

Other than when making all to shed his maiden tag over 1200m back in July, the first reserve runner Baracah has failed to win in eight starts. He trailed in a distance behind the remainder after setting the early pace in the Sea Cottage Stakes last time out and is clearly best just watched for now.

Straw Market

After running on stoutly to finish third on debut, the Windrush colt Straw Market won all three starts last season. He placed in both the Gr3 Graham Beck Stakes and Gr2 Dingaans in his first two outings this season and was clearly having a warm up for this event when down field behind his stable companion Snowdon over 1400m after a three month break last time out.  Ormond Ferraris’ charge was beaten fair and square by Silver Flyer in the Dingaans, but he has drawn well here and should be thereabouts again if at his best.

Slumdogmillionaire

Unbeaten Slumdogmillionaire won the Sea Cottage Stakes by almost six lengths last time out.

The highest rated of three runners from the stable of Gavin Van Zyl, Slumdogmillionaire has done absolutely nothing wrong. Indeed, he’s won both starts in eye catching fashion and is clearly the dark horse of the race. He cruised in by almost six when winning the listed Sea Cottage Stakes over 1800m on the inner track last time out and although the opposition there was considerably weaker than he faces here, he could do no more than win as impressively as he did.

Brooks-Club

The Strike Smartly gelding Brooks-Club has also always been well thought of by the Gavin Van Zyl stable and he too has shown flashes of real ability. He was a little disappointing when slow into stride in the Tony Ruffel Stakes last time out, but he was fairly flying in his penultimate outing and he did also finish well when third in the Graham Beck Stakes three runs back. Usually one to run on stoutly from off the pace, Brooks-Club will appreciate being back on the stand side track here and having only finished a length and a quarter behind Whiteline Fever in the Graham Beck, he must hold some kind of a chance.

Tandragee

Along with Beacon Flare, the busiest of today’s runners has been Tandragee. He’s only missed the frame twice in eleven starts and is as consistent as they come. He was well beaten in the Dingaans though and having also been comfortably beaten after holding every chance behind Pomodoro last time out, he does look well held.

Beacon Flare

After shedding his maiden tag at the fifth attempt last season, Beacon Flare then ran the race of his life in the Gr1 Premier’s Champion Stakes over today’s distance at Greyville in July. As with the winner Potala Palace though, he has battled to make his presence felt other than when winning a graduation plate where he was very well weighted.

Zambucca

As with Tandragee, the Lundy’s Liability colt Zambucca has proven to be very consistent. Indeed, he’s only failed to fill a place in the quartet once in eight starts. He couldn’t go with Slumdogmillionaire when that one cruised in last time out though and having previously been beaten by Straw Market, he clearly faces a very stiff task here.

Wagner

At first glance, Joey Soma’s charge was a little disappointing last time out, but then he was cut into and reported as making a respiratory noise. He had previously won two of his last three starts and in the middle of those had been finishing best of all when two lengths behind Potala Palace in a graduation event. Wagner is now considerably up in class, but he could still improve plenty if all is now well.

About The Pace

Although there are no out and out frontrunners in the field, there is enough speed amongst the three very powerful couplings to ensure at least a decent pace. Whiteline Fever is undoubtedly a very serious runner here and the two unbeaten runners Red Barrel and Slumdogmillionaire could yet prove to be anything. Silver Flyer has already proven his ability though when beating most of these in the Dingaans and on that it is he who gets the vote.

Blue Route - well drawn and ultra consistent

Zimbabwe’s unbeaten ace Control Freak gets her chance to prove she is in anything remotely like the same league as her world class predecessor Ipi Tombe when she has her first start on this side of the Limpopo in Saturday’s Betting World Gauteng Fillies Guineas at Turffontein (standside).  Given that many of her most likely looking rivals are either drawn wide, returning from a rest, unsure to stay 1600m or a combination thereof, and seeing as the field is bereft of any obvious stars, Control Freak may be the way to go even if in truth we don’t really know what to expect, writes MATTHEW LIPS.

Control Freak

Control Freak - quickens effortlessly

What is known is that Control Freak (who has cracked an excellent 4 draw) is undefeated from eight starts in Zimbabwe and that she has been even more impressive in her last two attempts over 1600m than she was when racing down the Borrowdale Park straight course earlier.  She has in all likelihood been beating very little since she’s been stretched out to a mile, but the daughter of Tamburlaine has simply toyed with what opposition her adopted country (for she is South African bred, after all) has thrown at her.  Whether Lisa Harris’ filly deserves to be the joint highest merit rated runner in the Fillies Guineas only the race itself will show, but she has twice beaten  Wishful Eye and a few other formerly SA-trained horses in sprints and that at least must have given the handicappers some inkling of where Control Freak stands in the scheme of things.  She may just be a cut above this lot, and we’ll take out chances with her,

Bluroute

Mike de Kock has saddled the winner of this race in the past three years and sends out a trio of fillies in his bid to land the honours for a fourth successive time.  The best of them may be ultra consistent Bluroute, who has not finished worse than second from five starts.  The form of her last effort behind Wagner in a Listed handicap for 3yos over 1400m has not worked out particularly well, but the imported daughter of Dubai Destination got to within half-a-length of Katy’s Lane in a Gr3 over 1400m in November.  She is 2kgs worse off with that rival here, but Bluroute has fared a whole lot better than Katy’s Lane in the draw department and that could allow her to turn the form around.

Ilha Bela and Salsabeel

Also representing the De Kock team are Ilha Bela and Salsabeel.  The former has been in good form in recent fillies’ and mares’ handicaps and is capable of a strong late run, but she has plenty to prove at this level and was beaten more than six lengths behind Katy’s Lane on identical weight terms in a Gr3 over this course-and-distance last November.  She will need to improve considerably on that, even with Marcus up and the 2 draw.  Salsabeel was drawn wide when she finished strongly from a mile behind and was beaten a long head by Queen’s Command in the Gr3 Flamboyant Stakes over 1600m at Greyville in January.  They did all finish in a heap, though, and the form may not be good enough for these.

Katy’s Lane

Katy’s Lane would have an obvious chance if Piere Strydom can navigate her across from a very wide draw.  Tyrone Zackey’s filly has not been beaten from four starts since she finished third on debut last April and finished strongly when winning successive Gr 3 events on this course at her last two starts.  She returns from a three month absence, but she has won when racing first time back from an even longer lay-off and goes well fresh.  She will be doing her best work late, and if not caught too far out of her ground from her rotten barrier she may well prove too smart for a field like this.

Zeroalso

Uptothemoon has  Zeroalso been rested three months since she was outpaced late and was beaten 1.25 lengths by Katy’s Lane on identical weight terms over this course-and-distance.  She twice reached the frame in Gr1 races during the last KZN winter season and certainly looks a possible threat, but she is another who has been cursed with a poor draw.

Hidden Beauty

Rated equal to Control Freak by the handicappers is Hidden Beauty, who has been the very easy winner of two conditions races over 1000m on sand from as many starts since joining the Sean Tarry yard.  She won the Gr2 Fillies Nursery over 1160m last April and is highly effective on grass, but she has achieved her 101 mark in sprints and is far from certain to run to such a rating at a mile.  She met with some interference but nevertheless weakened after racing handy when well beaten in a Gr1 at Greyville the only time she went this distance, where she finished some five lengths further behind Uptothemoon.  The Victory Moon filly has plenty of speed in the dam’s side of her pedigree and the feeling persists that she is best suited to sprinting, but it could be argued that she is the proven class horse of the field and she could very well win if she does cope with the distance.

Go Indigo

Go Indigo is yet another who can be given a respectable chance on form but who has drawn wide.  Leon Erasmus’ filly is on the upgrade and ran on well when she gave Extra Zero 2kgs and a 1.5 lengths beating in a recent Gr3 over 1450m on the Turffontein inner course.  The way she runs on over shorter makes it quite possible that she will be even better at 1600m, a distance which she tries for the first time, and she needs to be considered despite the draw.

Extra Zero

Extra Zero is probably at her best over less than 1600m and seemed to lack extra late when beaten 3.25 lengths behind Katy’s Lane the last time she went this distance.  Riding plans suggest that stable companion Hidden Beauty is preferred, and Extra Zero has (you guessed it) an unfavourable draw to overcome.

Shadows In The Sun

Shadows In The Sun looks held safe on form having twice finished unplaced behind Katy’s Lane and having been beaten 2.25 lengths behind Go Indigo on 2 kgs better terms than these last time out.  Her mother won the equivalent of this race eleven years ago when it was run at long since defunct Gosforth Park, but Shadows In The Sun has to find lengths on exposed form to have any chance of following suit.

Mary’s Pride

Control Freak is not the only unbeaten filly in the race and will be joined at the gates by Mary’s Pride, who has won twice from as many tries over sprint distances.  She drew clear easily after leading throughout when she easily won a very ordinary handicap over 1160m second time out and could be almost anything, but she has not raced for 16 weeks.  The daughter of Jet Master is out of a sprinting mare and the speed she has shown in her two outings makes it far from certain that this step up to 1600m will suit her, but if she has inherited the necessary stamina from her sire she could prove a match for the more exposed runners in this line-up.

Awesome Beauty

Awesome Beauty has consistent recent form, but looked to have every chance when beaten two lengths into third behind Go Indigo over 1450m last time and now meets that opponent on 2kgs worse terms.  Mount Carmel has twice finished unplaced in Gr 3 races won by Katy’s Lane and seems comfortably held.  Solarium has not started since she set the pace before finishing 2.75 lengths third behind Katy’s Lane over 1450m on the inner course back in May.   She will need to step up on that first time out after a 39 week lay-off and the daughter of Var is by no means sure to appreciate going this far for the first time.

Rose Garden

Rose Garden should have been penalised several pounds more than the maximum allowable six pounds when she ran on well and beat Kalami by almost one length over 1600m on the inner course first time out of the maidens, but even a “true” mark of around 86 rather than the official 81 leaves her with a lot to find to win in this league.  Kalami is consistent, but she was earlier beaten one length behind Ilha Bela on the same terms as these and both she and Rose Garden look well short of what will be needed here.  In any case, Kalami is drawn the widest of them all.

Tresco and Schooner

That leaves the reserve runners and stable companions, Tresco and Schooner.  Both need to improve plenty on exposed form, with Tresco having been beaten two lengths on identical terms behind Rose Garden last time out.  They would make little appeal here, irrespective of which horses came out to allow them into the final line-up.

About The Pace

It’s hard to know just who will set the pace.  Mary’s Pride has usually front-run in sprints and it’s possible that she will do so again, especially as there is a risk that she will race keenly in her first try at a mile.  Hidden Beauty may also not be easy to kept bottled up over this distance, Solarium raced from the front last time, and Extra Zero’s wide draw might see her revert to the frontrunning style which has previously attempted but discarded in more recent starts.  The size of the field will hopefully lead to a decent pace, though.  Control Freak has shown that she can quicken effortlessly over this distance, and while she almost certainly faces a much sterner test this time she is selected to win ahead of Bluroute, the poorly drawn pair of Katy’s Lane and Go Indigo, and the somewhat dubious stayer Hidden Beauty.  Who ever said that even level weights races should be easy to unravel?

July Runner up Pierre Jourdan is very well weighted

The first of three Gr2 events to take place on what is a tremendous afternoon’s racing at Turffontein on Saturday is the Hawaii Stakes over 1400m. Best in at the weights are the July runner up Pierre Jourdan, and the multiple Gr1 winning mare Dancewiththedevil.  In what is a truly mouthwatering contest though, neither are home and hosed, writes Steve Furnish.

Shouldering topweight of 60kg is one of four representatives from the stable of Mike De Kock, Solo Traveller. Formerly with Cape based trainer Justin Snaith, this son of Western Winter won both the Cape and KZN Guineas last season. He was given a break after finishing down field in Champions Cup in July, but he did then show his well being when flying up late from the rear to finish third behind his new stable companion Kavanagh in a pinnacle event over 1450m at the inner track on his return to action last month. He’s sure to strip fitter here, but he is now 4kg worse off with Kavanagh and out at the weights with most, he clearly has a very stiff task.

Kavanagh

As well as finishing third in the Dingaans last season, Kavanagh was also placed in both the Cape and Gauteng Guineas. Interestingly though, he has gained most of his career wins around 1400m and is in fact unbeaten in three starts over today’s course and distance. He’s in good form at the moment having won two of his last four outings and stable jockey Anthony Delpech takes the ride. Effective in both good and soft ground, Kavanagh is well treated at the weights with most here and although he doesn’t have the best of the draw, he should be involved in the finish.

Gibraltar Blue

Gibraltar Blue best in at weights

The best in at the weights of Mike’s runners is the 4yo daughter of Rock Of Gibraltar, Gibraltar Blue. Effective over all distances up to a mile, Gibraltar Blue has exceptional gate speed and very favourably drawn here, she could be in command of a very useful advantage as the thirteen runners turn for home. She was once rated three points higher by the official handicapper than she is today and if at her very best here she would certainly be in with a shout. She was a little disappointing in her two most recent outings over 1600m in the Cape, but Anton Marcus does stay with her and the shorter trip here could now suit.

Galileo’s Destiny

Making up the champion trainer’s quartet is the 4yo Galileo’s Destiny. Formerly with Charles Laird, this Australian bred son of Galileo placed in numerous top class features last season and is clearly close to the best of his generation. Prior to finishing down field in the July last time out, Galileo’s Destiny had never missed the frame. He’s usually seen out over further and returning from a seven month break here, there has to be concerns. He was only beaten 1,2 lengths by Kavanagh in the 2010 running of the Gr3 Graham Beck Stakes at this circuit in his only previous outing over today’s distance though, and fairly drawn here he would hold some kind of a chance if fully tuned up.

Dancewiththedevil

Dancewiththedevil commands avery powerful turn of foot

2011 was a year never to be forgotten for the champion mare Dancewiththedevil. At her best down the long galloping straight of this circuit, St John Gray’s charge won four Gr1 events last season, amongst them the prestigious Summer Cup. Equally effective in soft going, Dancewiththedevil commands a very powerful turn of foot and is sure to be flying at the death. She is having her first start since winning the Summer Cup here and as most of her eight career victories attest, she would ideally prefer further. Bigger targets are no doubt in mind for Dancewiththedevil and connections will be happy just to see her running on stoutly at the finish. She is very well weighted here though and if not caught for early toe could pop up.

Pierre Jourdan

Had it not been for the subsequent July runner up Irish Flame, this son of Parade Leader would have followed in the footsteps of the legendary Horse Chestnut in 2010 and become only the second horse in history to win all three legs of South Africa’s Triple Crown. Gary Alexander’s charge has also since finished a runner up in the July and interestingly, he does now have a merit rating superior to that awarded to Irish Flame when beating him in the Gauteng Derby. He’s in great form at the moment having recently won the Gr2 Charity Mile and although he is more often than not seen out over further these days, he has gained six of his nine career victories around today’s distance.

Rebel Knight

As well as Pierre Jourdan, trainer Gary Alexander is also represented by both Rebel Knight and Arabian Mist. Despite being sparingly raced over the past twelve months, Rebel Knight’s merit rating has risen seventeen points. He’s without a win since March, but he does go well around today’s distance and at the weights should be thereabouts.

Arabian Mist

Other than winning the last two runnings of the Gauteng Merchants, Arabian Mist has only filled a place in the Trifecta on three occasions in 22 starts. One of those placings surprisingly though, was when finishing a runner up in this race last season. He’s not made the frame at all since then though and pitched in against what looks to be a much stronger field than last season, he is not easy to fancy.

Snowdon

The Western Winter colt Snowdon finished close up in both the Dingaans and Gauteng Guineas last season and as with most of the 4yo’s here is close to the best of his generation. He showed real guts and determination when rallying back to beat Kavanagh after being headed over today’s distance at the Vaal last time out and he is now 1kg better off at the weights with Mike De Kock’s charge. He has a pull at the weights with all except Pierre Jourdan and Dancewiththedevil here and Piere Strydom, who rode him for the first time last time out, stays with him.

Moroccan

An interesting runner here is the 6yo son of Kitalpha Moroccan. Usually seen out sprinting, Weiho Marwing’s charge finished third in the Gr1 Golden Horse Casino Sprint over 1200m at Scottsville two seasons ago. He’s been sparingly raced since then, but he has come to hand nicely since returning from his latest break in October. He did well around today’s distance many moons ago and might just make the back end of the quartet.

Two Tone

The best weighted of Michael Azzie’s two runners is the 5yo Two Tone. This son of Strike Smartly is yet to score beyond 1200m, but he has done well around today’s distance and he was running on in his latest outing following a three month break, when 2,2 lengths behind Kavanagh in January.

Lochlorien

At his best from the front, Lochlorien goes particularly well around today’s distance. He is more often than not campaigned on sand though where he has gained three of his four career victories. Indeed, he’s not won on turf since shedding his maiden tag in Mar ’09 and worst in at the weights here, he cannot be fancied.

About The Pace

With Gibraltar Blue and Lochlorien having proven to be at their best from the front, a good pace should be forthcoming. Pierre Jourdan is at the top of his game at the moment and with the weights in his favour, over a distance that he has proven to be particularly effective, he should at least fight out the finish.

Local Is Lekker! Zanzamar does his winning thing on Thursday at Meydan.

Zanzamar’s smart win in Thursday’s Range Rover Cup  at Meydan reminded the world of the capabilities of South African bred horses. And of the extraordinary talents of Mike De Kock as the Dubai World Cup Carnival heads to a peak with Super Saturday on 10 March and then a grand climax with the Dubai World Cup on 31 March.

The son of Fort Wood was not De Kock’s only winner of the meeting, but with the export protocol obstacles experienced in 2011, any SA bred win this year is a significant one.

Zanzamar had left South Africa as a two time winner, having shed his maiden at Turffontein over 1400m way back in April 2010 and then winning the non-black type Gatecrasher Stakes. He ran 4^th in the Gr1 Golden Horseshoe, infamously lost by his enigmatic stablemate Kavanagh in the Stipes boardroom to Joey Ramsden’s Copper Parade – and then followed up with another good Gr1 effort when running third in the Premier’s Champion Juvenile Stakes – to yet another strangely up and down character in the talented Gold Onyx.

He opened his Dubai campaign when winning the UAE 2000 Guineas Prep in January 2011 beating the Mahmood Al Zarooni trained Street Cry gelding Splash Point by a length.   Things were reversed however in the UAE 2000 Guineas run three weeks later when jockey Mickael Barzalona avenged the defeat. The heavily backed Zanzamar went down a length as 4-6 favourite under jockey Richard Hills to Splash Point.

In his final start of 2011 in the UAE Derby, he finished a gallant fourth withing four lengths of the winner Khawlah – who happened to be ridden by that man Barzalona, again!

Zanzamar’s return three weeks ago was not a great one, but he showed the benefit of the run when winning last Thursday.

Master Mike. De Kock's genius knows no bounds.

De Kock had a mixed evening though with the former Coolmore horse (now leased from them) Viscount Nelson winning the Gr2 Al Tayer Motors Al Fahidi Fort  run over a mile.  The five-year-old by Giant’s Causeway overhauled Albaasil within the final 100 meters under jockey Kevin Shea to win by a half-length, scoring his first Group win in just his second start for De Kock.

De Kock also saddled another former Coolmore runner in the pre-race favorite and eventual third-place finisher, Master of Hounds. Master of Hounds, was sold to Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa al Maktoum by members of the Coolmore partnership following his fifth-place in the Kentucky Derby.

“Both horses have run great races and it is a great result for the whole team as Viscount Nelson has not been the easiest to train,” De Kock said. “We will have to think where to go next but Super Saturday is likely with a view to getting him in the Gr1 Dubai Duty Free on [World Cup night. That was a big effort from Master of Hounds as well, and we may keep him on grass now."

Showpiece. Meydan Racecourse is the venue for the big Dubai racing.

2012 marks the ninth season of the newly renamed Dubai World Cup Carnival, held for the third year at the magnificent Meydan Racecourse.  The Dubai World Cup Carnival comprises a total of 10 meetings and will include the Super Thursday moved over to the weekend, which will now be called Super Saturday. The event, to be held on 10th March will conclude the Dubai World Cup Carnival Season.

The Super Saturday event is intended as a major preparation for the 31st March Dubai World Cup. This season will feature the 17th running of the richest horserace on earth – the $26.25m Dubai World Cup.

The end of March show has got to be a preferred destination for any self respecting South African racing enthusiast – with a bit of spare cash and a valid passport.

Croc Valley - first Graded win.

Croc Valley seemingly appreciated the drop back to 1400m and came right back to her best form when she sprung a 22/1 upset in the Prix du Cap (summer course) at Kenilworth on Sunday.  The mare had not won a race since capturing a Listed handicap over 1700m in January of last year, but she hit all the right buttons this time around to recorded the first Graded race win of her career, writes MATTHEW LIPS.

Trinity House looked to have plenty going for her in this conditions event for fillies and mares, and she was supported from an ante-post call of 18/10 to start as the 8/10 favourite over a distance which seemed absolutely perfect for her.  Money Surger found plenty if action at bigger prices and went off as the 11/2 second favourite from an opening 12/1, with Dance With Al the 17/1 third choice of punters.  None of these would figure in the finish, though, and the result would fall fairly within the ambit of what is known in racing’s vernacular as a “Place Accumulator knockout.”

Fragrant Al soon found her way to the front and set a reasonable pace ahead of Flaming Alice, Ocean’s Swift and Trinity House, with Croc Valley and Dance With Al further behind.  Ocean’s Swift quickly came forward to dispute the once into the straight as Trinity House began to move up on the inside rail, with Fragrant Al and Flaming Alice beginning to feel the pressure inside the last 300m.  Trinity House didn’t appear to go through with her effort, though, and was clearly in a load of trouble approaching the final 200m.

In fact, all the action was developing wider out and the stands’ side of the track very much looked like the place to be.  Silver Apples and Street Runner were both launching their challenges as Ocean’s Swift tried gamely to stick it out with them, but nothing could match the late turn of foot unleashed by Croc Valley.  Finding a clear run against the outside fence, the five-year-old stormed to the front under Aldo Domeyer in the closing stages and went on to beat Street Runner by three-parts of a length.  Silver Apples, in the same ownership as the winner but representing a different stable, finished about a neck further away in third.  The gallant Ocean’s Swift eventually finished fourth, a further length adrift.

Super Elegant was staying on to be beaten little more than a total of three lengths into fifth spot and probably is at her best beyond this distance, but Trinity House might have felt the effects of a fairly busy Cape season and finished a disappointing eighth, 4.30 lengths behind the winner.  Money Surger made no show and finished sixth, while Dance With Al finished with only one behind her.

Croc Valley seems to be a pretty versatile type, but half of her six career wins have now come over 1400m and Mike Bass’ mare is obviously extremely effective at this trip.  She was better treated than most of her rivals by the Prix du Cap weights if judged on merit ratings and her success was achieved in pretty eye-catching fashion.  She will be a worthy addition to her owner/breeder’s Drakenstein Stud broodmare band when the time comes for Croc Valley to retire, and in the much shorter term the Drakenstein team can revel in the fact that they offer a half sister by Right Approach to Croc Valley at the Cape Premier Yearling Sale Book II on Friday March 2^nd.

Croc Valley is by three times champion sire Western Winter.  She is out of the Irish-bred Nahswan mare Niyabah, who won one race from only three starts and who is the dam also of Listed winner Galileo’s Night and Gr 3 runner-up Komatipoort.  Croc Valley’s third dam Water Lily was a leading two-year-old in France and produced multiple Gr 1 winner Talinum.  Somewhat distantly, this is the family of Melbourne Cup winner Jeune.  Croc Valley has won six times from 26 starts in the Drakenstein colours, earning stakes of R478 020.
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Deliver The Power - impressive turn of foot

Three-year-olds have been in great form against more seasoned campaigners in a variety of Stakes races during the last couple of months and the only two sophomores in a field of 11 occupied the first two places when Deliver The Power handed Midnight Serenade a 2.5 lengths drubbing in the Tommy Hotspur Handicap over the straight 1000m at Turffontein on Tuesday 14^th February, writes MATTHEW LIPS.

Midnight Serenade had been amongst the leading juveniles of last term and was strongly supported from an ante-post call of 7/1 to start as the marginal 33/10 favourite here.  A tight betting market saw Deliver The Power (bidding for his fourth win from as many starts since being gelded last July) go off as the 7/2 second choice ahead of 75/20 chance Magico.  The latter was bidding to win the Tommy Hotspur for a second year in succession and was racing for the first time as a gelding.  Ante-post favourite Storm Vanidoso drifted from an opening price of 5/2 to start as a 4/1 chance in a race which plainly had punters deeply divided over the likely outcome.

Storm Vanidoso was quickly away and led early, with Kayhaladin, Midnight Goddess and Mannequin all prominent as Deliver The Power raced a couple of lengths off the action.  Magico was also a few lengths adrift of the leader, with Midnight Serenade outpaced initially and racing amongst the backmarkers in a fairly close knit field.  Storm Vanidoso began to weaken inside the last 400m, and coming past the 300m it almost looked as if Deliver The Power had been dropped into the race by helicopter.

Quickening impressively, Deliver The Power put the race to bed in a handful of strides and eventually bolted in by 2.5 lengths under jockey Gavin Lerena.  Midnight Serenade was running on wider out, but had no chance of troubling his fellow three-year-old.  Furious Dancer is probably best known for his exploits on sand, but he has been Stakes placed on turf before now and did so again here, staying on to finish only a neck behind Midnight Serenade in third place.  Second World did his best work late despite being 4 kgs out at the weights and got to within a head of Furious Dancer.  Magico never got going before he was beaten 4.75 lengths into eighth place and it was subsequently reported by the veterinary surgeon that the 2011 Tommy Hotspur winner was not striding out freely.  Storm Vanidoso may have been found out by this considerable rise in class and faded to finish ninth, seven lengths behind the winner.

Deliver The Power is trained by Dominic Zaki, who admitted afterwards to having been a bit concerned that his gelding’s 109 merit rating may have been a bit steep, but it proved to be nothing of the sort and Deliver The Power ran to something like a 114 on a line through his contemporary Midnight Serenade.  That is before six pounds is deducted for WFA and a new net mark of 108 may still not do Deliver The Power justice.  He has only been beaten twice, once on debut and once when plainly failing to stay 1400m as a two-year-old, and the fears which his trained expressed before this race that 1000m may be on the sharp side for the gelding proved to be equally unfounded.

Deliver The Power looks to be a seriously good sprinter in the making and is likely to be aimed at the Gr 1 Computaform Sprint over the same course-and-distance in April.  There are several other options for him before then, but Zaki remarked that “we’ll see how he takes each race” as he builds up for his first tilt at Gr 1 level.  If it comes to pass, the possibility that Val De Ra will be kept in training for one more start in the Computaform Sprint would present Deliver The Power with a much sterner test of his mettle, but it’s unlikely that he would disgrace himself in any way.

A son of the emerging Danehill stallion Toreador, Deliver The Power is the first foal of unraced Tara’s Halls mare Tara’s Destiny and was bred by David Hepburn-Brown at his Hemel ‘n Aarde Stud.  Bought for R55 000 at the 2010 National Two Year Old Sale, Deliver The Power is proving to be a real bargain for a group of owners which include his trainer.  He has won six of his eight starts, earning R396 450, with the promise of considerably more to come.  This first Feature race success came at a good time for his breeder, for Deliver The Power has a half sister by sire newcomer Meteor Shower (like Toreador, a son of Danehill) on the Cape Premier Yearling Sale Book II on Sunday 4^th March.
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As I am one of the horses whose ears got continuously flicked, and eventually got tired of it, I thought I’d share some of my experiences from the perspective of 1. internal work team,  2. outside work team and 3. visitor in the hope that it might add answers to some of the questions posed.

Along with your columnist, I also wondered for many years why the absence of such seemingly obvious and simple customer centric treatment such as a happy greet as you enter and leave – common courtesy one would think but not trained or enforced anymore and yes, this small gesture can make a lasting impression for sure. This I regret is down to management and what culture they foster and enforce – ugly is as ugly does?

1. Internal workers
Making workers on the day feel part of the team by at least acknowledging that they are doing a job that is part of making the day a success – not making life difficult for them – common sense one would think?  Those betting clerks with indifferent manners – ouch, why? Every single worker on course represents the sport and the service – its a bit like school many years ago – every learner from a certain school represents that school’s creed and should be honed and trained on how to project it, and doing this by example is a good way of getting it across.

2. External workers
As part of ‘press’ sometimes I think they did get it right in the past (and yes one could quote here about rose tinted glasses but then equally one could say that a frog will cook to death in water with temperature slowly raised, things are definitely off worse now when there should have been progress by now) whereby we were furnished with transport to the track, badges and a tent with sandwiches etc. But mostly, you were treated as ‘in the way’, ‘irritation’, ‘get out of the way’, and ‘get off the track’ when trying to photograph the heroes and connections so that the world out there can get a glimpse. Yes, being down there in the pack getting bumped whilst trying to get a record of a historic event isn’t easy, so why make it more stressful by treating them like vermin – no wonder no photographers arrive on semi-important days or less important meetings – couldn’t be bothered and the treatment is [bad word]. I wouldn’t be surprised if the lack of press coverage is a spin-off contribution of this over many years.

3. Visitors
Unless you are dining on the top floor and/or own a string or stud farm, you may as well get used to being invisible. In fact, so many visitors get the invisible treatment that they have truly disappeared! Last year I was surprised to experience the UK’s proverbial save our bacon Endeavour ‘Racing For Change’ (you may want to Google it) at Ascot – I do hope it is working as the treatment of the common punter has picked up somewhat and you do feel like you are being wooed, informed and entertained – this is especially good for those punters like me, who pretend to know nothing (more than the nothing that I normally know, I mean lol!). Point is, they are trying and at least now you know you’re at a racetrack with race horses, not at Hyde Park in London with some hacks going for an outride.

Disney is not Cloud Cuckoo Land
Ever been to Disney Paris or Orlando? The minute you walk through the gates, you know where you are. There is informative interaction from all kinds of platforms to tell and remind you that you are at Disney – human, machine, static. Even the most cynic of adults cannot help but to succumb. Each park is ergonomically worked out based on how much excitement, exercise and exposure humans can bear for maximum experience pleasure and retention. So, they are not overloaded, overtired, hungry or fed-up with seeing Snow White once again.

Now if they can get the recipe right, why can’t racing? The UK is trying but long not there yet. I pretend to be a freshman every time I go to a course to see if I can learn the sport or game or excitement without friend’s input or my own slog at research. So, last year was the first positive experience at some effort from their side via ‘Racing for Change’ – they still missed the bus though in that it was a bit contrived, perhaps its because they haven’t thought of physically being in the shoes of that idiot on the track as a first time visitor and just how boring it is to visit a place where you have to beg or hack for information about their product/service. Sometimes ‘dumming down’ works, especially with something as complicated as racing. But first, you have to understand who the customer is. South Africa of course has no clue. And this is not due to nobody ever suggesting all of the above countless times before, sadly.

After all of these years I continue to struggle understanding how something so simple and obvious is so hard to understand and implement.
I have a friend on the ‘lunatic fringe’ and every day I pray that he may be wrong when he says there is no visionary leader.

Thank you for your publication.  Every little bit helps on our way to changing the mind set and culture.
With best wishes from London, Don

This week we have Summerhill’s Summer Ready To Run sale on Wednesday, 22 February, followed by Michael Holmes’ Horses In Training Sale at Shongweni on Thursday, 23 February.  Then our Cape Thoroughbred Sales group kicks off March with their Book 2 sale at Kenilworth.

More Ready To Run

This is the first year that Summerhill are adding a Summer fixture to their tried and tested Ready to Run formula.  It is a well-advertised fact that one overlooks a Summerhill horse at your peril with previous ‘regrets’ including names such as Imbongi, Paris Perfect, Bold Ellinore, Emperor Napolean, Vangelis and Hear The Drums.  And if any additional excuse was needed to visit the lush green Summerhill nursery, any horses enjoying a second tour of the ring after going unsold at the Spring edition (and there are 9 on offer), will be eligible for that tantalising entry in the Ready To Run Cup.

As always, the electronic marketing is a joy – there are photographs and videos and all the information you could possibly want on each lot.  There is a wonderful Afrikaans expression about being given a gift with warm hands and with all the Summerhill horses being raised and produced under saddle on the farm, they don’t get handed over any more carefully or warmly than this.

The ever friendly Tarryn Liebenberg offered her top picks starting with lot no 22 – a Stronghold filly called Gypsey Myth.  Stronghold’s freshman crop have stormed out of the gates in emphatic fashion and if the sire isn’t enough to tempt you, Gypsey Myth can also boast being a half-sister to Fisani.  Lot no 26 is a Kahal filly named Khanya who is doing a second tour of the sales ring and thus carries one of those golden Ready To Run tickets on her hip number.  I was lucky enough to pop in at Summerhill to watch the Spring draft have their final gallop.  I did a blind viewing (in other words genius here had left her catalogue at home….) so had to ask after any individual that caught my eye.  It was interesting that most of those turned out to be Mullins Bays, who are garnering glowing reports from the training yards.  They seem to have a particularly good, free shoulder action and I am looking forward to following his progeny on the track.

Chapter and Verse

If you don’t fancy a trek to the Zulu Kingdom, then why not allow yourself to be tempted by the Thoroughbred Sales Group?  They are rolling out the red carpet and their Book 2 sale being hosted at Kenilworth Racecourse comes with a whole lot of warm Cape hospitality.

Competition is an interesting thing in that it forces people to think out of the box.  We are all aware of the state of the economy and the fact that times are hard, but as the expression goes – when the going gets tough, the tough get going and the newly established Cape Thoroughbred Sales are proving that they’re no slouches !

As Robin Bruss mentioned at the CTICC, the team is small, but it is incredible how much ground you can cover with some focussed energy, determination and a bit of chutzpah.  The team have been travelling all across the country on their recent road show and have personally dropped in on over 100 trainers – not bad going when you consider the latest racing fact book stat that there are 179 registered trainers in the country in total.

Book 2 is being marketed as a thoroughly South African sale and with an emphasis on ‘By South Africans, For South Africans’ the team are going all out to make it accessible to everyone.  Catalogues have already been delivered to every registered owner in the country and their website sets new standards in user-friendliness.  The interactive catalogue puts sire, dam or dam sire searches at your fingertips.

There are free return flights on offer from all corners of the country and discounted car rental deals through Hertz.  Vendors are being guaranteed payment on 30 days and purchasers have the choice of 3 payment options.  Payment terms have been extended from 30 days to a generous 60.  There is also the facility to apply for 90 and even 120 days credit through Compass Finance.  And for any early birds, payment within 21 days qualifies for a 1% rebate.

If that’s still not enough to sway you, there is a cocktail evening next Thursday and a Biltong and Braai get together after the races next Saturday, all to be held at the Kenilworth sales grounds.

A Picture is worth 1,000 Words

It seems more and more studs are realising the value of pictorial aids to their catalogue pages and a lot of the lots are accompanied by photographs to make it even easier to draw up a short list.  The University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands conducted a recent study attempting to determine the areas people focussed on when viewing photographs of horses for sale.  The results seemed to suggest that ‘regardless of intent to buy, the most important areas of visual attention in an equine photograph are eyes, mouth and ears’.  So it seems a pretty face does still go a long way !

You Are What You Eat

A few weeks ago I mentioned the Horses in Training evening presented by the Baker McVeigh veterinary practice.  Dr John McVeigh opened proceedings with an address on feeding and nutrition.  It was interesting to listen to the long-term effects that imbalanced feeding or even simply too much food can have on our young stock.  It was particularly enlightening given the current thinking that modern horses are ‘softer’ than their counter parts of 20 and 30 years ago.  With technological advances in food production, modern feeds are far more concentrated and advanced than ever before.  While this has advantages, like all things it needs to be utilised intelligently.

A horse is quite a feat of engineering.  Apart from its size and speed, it is designed to thrive on large volumes of low quality roughage and horses in the wild are said to cover distances of up to 20 miles a day in search of forage.  Of course, modern ‘hot house’ methods of keeping horses works in almost diametric opposition to the original design function – we keep our horses in small enclosures, give them controlled amounts of exercise and feed them small volumes of high quality rations (hence the term ‘concentrates’).

While this is a good thing for industries like meat production where you want achieve the maximum genetic potential in terms of size and bulk in the shortest possible time, it comes at a price.  An individual is born with a finite genetic potential in terms of size.  Good nutrition may help you reach that potential faster, but will not enable you to exceed the prescribed genetic limits.  Unfortunately speed compromises quality.  Dr McVeigh put illustrated it beautifully with his analogy of pine trees vs oaks.  A pine tree might grow very tall very fast, but the wood is soft and weak.  An oak tree grows slowly, but the wood is hard, tough and durable.

The same applies to our horses.  By pushing for size and bulk to produce impressive looking yearlings for the sales ring, one risks compromising the quality and integrity of the bone structure.

Whilst a lot of buyers seem to be aware of this and are pretty vocal about the fact that sales horses are too fat, a well-covered, good looking horse seems difficult to resist.  Despite protestations to the contrary, people vote with their wallets and when the chips are down, it seems we still like to buy ém by the pound.

Slowly Does It

Someone who has given the matter a lot of consideration is Vaughan Koster at Cheveley Stud.  He says that while the practice of wrapping youngsters in cotton wool proved popular in the sales ring, he was not satisfied with the results in terms of soundness and track success.  With reputations built on results rather than sale prices, he has been working closely with Dr McVeigh to revise the stud’s feeding and management practices and trying to adopt an oak vs pine tree approach.

The first graduates of the new regime went on offer during January’s Cape Premier Sale and Vaughan admits that it was a tough sale and that there were several comments that their draft was backwards and needed more time.  However, he has taken it on the chin.  ‘The Premier Sale definitely has its place and it creates a tremendous vibe and interest in our industry, but it comes very early in the year, so one has to be very selective about the individuals you nominate.  It is a specific sale for a specific audience and it takes a very specific individual to meet the market requirements’.  However, he is philosophical.  ‘Attitudes will not change overnight, and we are prepared for some negative impact in the short-term, but we are confident that we are producing a sounder, more robust individual.  We are committed to taking a long-term view and will stick to it until the horses reach the track.  The proof will be in the pudding.  If our new graduates suffer less from the costly, commonly encountered juvenile issues such as shin splints, knee chips, etc, hopefully people will learn that Cheveley breeds for soundness and reliability.  Obviously one has to find a balance between what looks good, what sells and what will run, but we are in the business of breeding a race horse, not a sales result’.

Vaughan proves that he is as bold in private as he is in business and is getting married this weekend.  We wish him every success in both endeavors.

Confucius Says

No matter how many clever-sounding TLA’s like ROI, B2B and LOB we bandy around, the fact is that these magnificent beasts seldom, if ever show the dizzying returns we hope for (much less the wild promises we make our accountants !!).  Therefore the true value of a horse will always lie less in its monetary value and more in the pleasure one derives from owning it and the status and lifestyle that ownership implies. And of course, the fact that it allows one to dream.

I searched long and hard for interesting shopping quotes, but they are surprisingly few and far between.  However, a Japanese one I particularly liked goes like this:  If you have only two pennies left in the world, with the first penny, you should buy rice to feed your family. With the second penny, say the wise Japanese, you should buy a lily.  It seems the Japanese understand the importance of dreaming…

Aircraft running out of fuel just prior to takeoff, jets being repossessed and the collapse of a national airline. Sounds like another humdrum day in sunny South Africa, doesn’t it? Air Australia’s unceremonious crash this past week with losses running into tens of millions of dollars actually makes a mockery of our own self deprecating ‘Only In Africa’ mentality.

Because Australia really should be OK – they can play rugby and cricket and have a land mass some 32 times bigger than the United Kingdom! But we South Africans love to feign national pride with the crutch of a Castle or six around the braai-fire, while secretly believing that everything off-shore must just be bigger, that much better – and of course a few seconds faster.

A match between our own speed sensation Val De Ra and the Aussie equivalent is unlikely to happen in this lifetime for a variety of reasons that are just too meaningless and pointless to labour on in this forum. History, science, influence and red-tape have conspired to ensure that the speculation of who would have done what and worn the World Champion crown will be spoken about for years to come – and maybe it will only be answered in part and for sentimentality’s sake by these two great mares’ daughters whose paths may clash one fine day in the years to come -if fate so permits.

Fair enough, we are a few years behind the Aussies when it comes to horseracing as a spectacle – we hear that 40 000 attended Flemington on Saturday to watch their star make history and equal a century old record, while the clash was front page news and live on many of their tv stations. Val De Ra’s scintillating win at Kenilworth in January was seen by maybe 1000 people if we are lucky, and no it didn’t make the newspaper pages beyond the industry owned Racegoer insert – which like the stock market pages are not read by anybody not interested in bulls or bears – or horses, for that matter.

The proposed match race between JJ whatsisname, the Bass horse and Val De Ra didn’t happen because of budgetary constraints and a lack of competitiveness with the Bookies’ prices on the closely contested contest. But let’s get President Zuma to throw a few million into the pot for a bash at Black Caviar. Our first citizen did travel to Dubai to throw his plentiful weight behind the Export Protocol fight and this would only add credence to the cause and confirm his good intentions. It is such a pity that we don’t seem able to harness and grow what is staring us in the face but maybe Dennis Drier and Pippa Mickleburgh may yet have something up their sleeves for the racing world?

There were two other positive snippets this week that I thought worth touching on.

Gauteng feature season

The Gauteng feature season gets under way this Saturday with the running of the R1 million Gauteng Guineas and the R500 000 Gauteng Fillies Guineas and it is heartening to hear that Tellytrack have made serious moves to bolster our viewing pleasure with the introduction of a mounted interviewer to take viewers from their couches into the heart beat of the race.

Bon – the ideal man for the job

Bon mounted for a canter down along side the jockeys, for the Gauteng feature races.

The instantly recognisable freelance media man Andrew Bon will be donning his jodhpurs and velvet jacket and utilising the ‘dead time’ between the departure from the parade ring and the load into the stalls to bring punters up to speed on the very latest – how the horse cantered down, and to capture the mood and confidence of the jockey with the race only minutes away.

The trial run of this added extra went smoothly at the Vaal last Thursday and it was positively received by the jockeys – with Piere Strydom his cynically reserved self, his assessments always seemingly bordering on why he is riding the wrong horse!

Bon says he is excited and looking forward to being able to contribute materially to the excitement of the big days and he says much groundwork has gone into making it all happen: “It has been a long time in the making and plenty of effort in putting it all together. The logistics, the logic and the permission from the various stakeholders involved in the process all finally came together. We obviously had to get the buy-in from the Stipendiary Stewards, the NHRA and the racing operator.”

Bon is certainly the ideal man for the job. An accomplished television producer, cameraman and capable horseman are not qualifications found readily on any one individual CV, and he says he was also fortunate to source the right horse with the necessary temperament: ‘’ The horse I will be riding is BA, a retired thoroughbred from George Scotts’ yard now enjoying his days with Mike Allen, a former instructor at the Police Mounted Unit. He is a lovely natured animal and will make my job easier. I am sure it will work well and I hope to instill confidence in both the jocks and the racing public alike.”

R6,5 million for the Triple Crown features

So it is all said and done for the big three meetings – the Guineas, the Classic and the Derby- of the Phumelela Summer-Autumn Feature Race Season running from February to April. Offering a not to be sneezed at R6,5 million in prize money, it features the Triple Crown for the boys and the Triple Tiara for the girls, carrying R2 million and R1 million bonuses respectively.

The final legs of the Crown and Tiara will be run on the last Saturday of April and includes the R2 million Champions Challenge. This is effectively the richest raceday on the African continent.

Customer Survey – but no branding?

Another pleasing positive to emerge this week was the Customer Survey form being dished out at Kenilworth on Sunday. While this would be no big deal in any other industry, it is an historic small step in the right direction for a regime that has seldom shown any interest in what the average Joe feels or thinks. It is early days yet, but the take it-or leave it approach of yore may well have been cast into the dark past if the intentions behind the questionnaire are honourable. And why should they not be?

While the form lacks a return address or completion date and is not branded with any corporate logo, it is a positive that bears a mention. It is rather odd that the RA or Phumelela did not jump on the credibility and free positive publicity bandwagon and emblazon it with their logo. And the real test will come in time when the information will be analysed and acted upon. It would be interesting to make the results public too. Or is that expecting too much? But it remains a first in South African horseracing, and for that somebody deserves real credit.