Sporting Post columnists share their opinions and insights into horse racing from South Africa and around the world. They are experts who have a deep understanding of the sport of kings, enjoy their thoughtful and fresh articles.
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” It is a habit Ryk Neethling has clearly acquired. The only difference is that the energy is no longer directed at excellence in the swimming pool, but at the management and development of Val de Vie.
Twitter has made the world smaller in many ways, but the global racing community in particular seems to have found a spot on the platform – and not just for rumour and innuendo. It’s a place of opinion, news, analysis and arguments.
The only let-down on Met day, I think, was the excessive security. I kept looking above me to see when Air Force One might be arriving and Barrack Obama stepping out. Security really was way over the top and caused unnecessary frustration
Clearly, as in much else relating to horses, there is no hard and fast rule about a son of a failed sire being unable to make it at stud
For racing to be a genuine game of skill and a more prestigious challenge we need to take the disparities of unequal spending power out of the equation and make it a true test of ability alone
Is it loyalty? Is it friendship? Is it love for a special horse? Or are some heroes just simply ‘made different’?
Met Day is a challenge between the 88 place accumulator runners carded and myself – and, bar a few mishaps, I am feeling quite invincible
in order for anybody to want to get involved in the challenge of becoming a racehorse owner, the sport must be worthy enough of the owners’ support. Few prospects for racehorse ownership want to be involved in a sport that is perceived by the public to have cooties.
In 2005 Alastor won for Sean Tarry – to quote a household name in Jockey Garth Puller: “When the bookies saw the age of the horse, they priced him 25-1.When they saw the age of the jockey,they doubled it to 50-1!”
We are now dealing with proper breeding stock, sired by proper sires, which makes it that much more difficult to choose and also that much more expensive, says Joey Ramsden
A champion sire, leading sire of sires and champion broodmare sire, Fort Wood’s influence should be felt in the South African stud book for generations to come.
Snaith star runs in a a capacity nationally representative field for the 129th renewal of the R5 million Hollywoodbets Gr1 Durban July!
Patience rewarded for the blue and white powerhouse while Team Valor’s Quid Pro Quo is on her way to Jerome Reynier in France
In perfect weather conditions, an enthusiastic record crowd – probably larger than that seen at many local racemeetings – turned out to enjoy coffee and pastries and watch their big race fancies going through their paces
