Rumya (NZ) won the
2012 Gr1 Avontur Estate Cape Fillies Guineas in the end
Racing in the Cape will revert to draws on entry, with effect from the racemeeting at Kenilworth on 3 November.
Entries for this meeting closed today. Barrier draws in the Western Cape will thus be done at entry stage and the weights issued on the day of entries going forward.
The process of publishing the barrier draws in the Cape was originally changed as a means of encouraging field sizes, particularly at Durbanville, where the draw tends to be of vital importance.
While local trainers were apparently party to the policy change to only publish draws after acceptance, it has always been difficult to find a local trainer to go on record. The reversion back to the more standard process certainly appears to have more support than the ‘shotgun’ approach, and the evolution and the introduction of the concept is plagued by more questions than answers.
There is also a perception that certain trainers have, at times, manipulated the system and acted contrary to the spirit of it all, by creating medical reasons to withdraw poorly drawn horses.
While various feature races have different arrangements regarding allocation of barrier draws, Mike De Kock was very vocal about last year’s Fillies Guineas draw timing.
The barrier draws in the Cape were in fact under fire from various leading trainers before last year’s Gr 1 Cape Fillies Guineas, when the draws were held after acceptance on the Thursday ten days prior to the race.
Trainer Mike de Kock had both Rumya and Festival Of Fire in the Ipi Tombe Stakes but the timing of the draw meant that he had not declared jockeys upfront for his two runners. “I will only name the jockeys once I know they are going to run,” said De Kock at the time. “I have entered them in the Fillies Guineas at Kenilworth but I want to see where they are drawn before deciding where to run them.
“If they draw wide there is no way I’m going to spend R40 000 to take them down to Cape Town. In that case I will run them at Turffontein. If one or both draw well, then I will pull them out of the Ipi Tombe and take my chances in Cape Town.”
His colleague Sean Tarry had the identical problem with Amber Orchid in the Fillies Mile. “I am also waiting to see where she is drawn before making a decision. If she takes her place at Turffontein she will obviously be a massive runner but I first have to decide where she will run.”
De Kock hit out at the decision to do the draw for barrier positions so late. “Quite honestly they are doing racing a disservice but this time they may learn from their mistakes. No one has been favoured by this decision. It is not good for the trainers, owners or the punters.
“I am not sure how to prepare my horses because I don’t know whether they’ll be running this Saturday or next Saturday. It is impossible for me to plan.”
In previous years the Sansui Summer Cup meeting had taken place on the final Saturday in November, with two weeks separating the Fillies Mile at Turffontein and the Fillies Guineas at Kenilworth.
De Kock pointed out, if they knew the draws beforehand, the decision would be easy.
“Why wait until the last minute with the draws. I know they do it with the Dubai World Cup but that is a $10-million race and you’ll take your chances from any draw.”
Trainers will be pleased to hear that the 2013 Cape Fillies Guineas entries are on 18 November, with supplementary entries closing on 25 November, when draws will be allocated.
Declarations are on 28 November.
