This season’s Sun Met gallops have been scrapped – much to the relief of several of the trainers, writes Michael Clower on www.goldcircle.co.za
Futura goes through his Met gallop paces in 2016 (Pic – Chase Liebenberg Photography)
The R5 million race closes on 10 January and the published conditions contain the usual stipulation that “all runners participate in public gallops scheduled for Thursday, 18 January, failing which the horse may be declared ineligible to run.”
But Kenilworth duty manager Teresa Esplin said yesterday: “The trainers don’t want these gallops which are a bit close to the race but also we are doing this in the best interests of the horses. Every time you travel them to the racecourse you are putting them at risk and some of them can get stirred up.”
More and more trainers have been working horses on their own so that they do not over-exert themselves. And, although these gallops have become increasingly popular with the public, the performances have been more and more difficult to assess with no second horse with which to make comparisons.
Justin Snaith, one of the biggest critics of the gallops, said: “This is the best news I’ve heard all year. Apart from anything else nine days beforehand was too close to the race. Indeed if people want to see the horses gallop they can see them in the L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate as many of them also take part in that.
“Making the gallops mandatory was a bit like saying to everyone in the Comrades Marathon ‘we also want to see you run nine days beforehand.’”
The draws, normally done straight after the gallops, will now be done at a function later on 18 January during the Kenilworth racemeeting which has been transferred from the previous day.
