Bryan Claassen drives Bez-Art through to win
The Ashburton training complex is surely one of the most underrated centres in the country and despite lacking the horse-power and numbers to compete with the big boys, it is worth noting that Vodacom Durban July ‘winner’ Wylie Hall was prepped there.
Gauteng conditioner Weiho Marwing was based at Ashburton, just outside of Pietermaritzburg, for the duration of his Champions Season campaign.
“If we just get the horses, we can hold our own with any training community in the country. When the big trainers with the expensive horses give Ashburton’s facilities the thumbs up, it must say something,” said trainer Des Egdes after he had saddled the winner of the Greyville tenth race on Sunday – and a pall of silence had descended on the city venue.
Shock winner Bez-Art turned the Greyville ‘lucky last’ on Sunday on its head, but despite his charge paying R91 on the tote for a win, Egdes was very happy to report that he had given his owners the green light and said that ‘if he jumps, he wins.’
With all the stable confidence, the gelding still ended up paying R13-10 for a tote place and the victory led to a healthy Quartet maxipool payout of R14 229.
The vastly experienced Egdes trained his first winner with the problematic second-hand horse Racer in 1988 at Clairwood. He has had his share of good horses over the years and gets his fair share of winners from a relatively modest string of horses.
“We aren’t punters and that is why Bez-Art paid what he did for a win. But we fancied him two runs back, and things just haven’t gone his way like it did on Sunday,” he said enthusiastically.
The 4yo Bezrin gelding had run 8 races without earning a cent up to Sunday.
“He is a big long-striding one-paced horse with a seriously cheeky attitude. If he doesn’t have to do something, he won’t and we have had to bluff him a little. I realised that the full blinkers were making him tardy at the jump and the fitment of the quarter cup or visors, has done the trick as he now sees horses around him in the pens and in the finish,” he explained.
The comments next to all of Bez-Art’s runs indicate that he has dwelt at the start,
“The jumping was the issue. I knew that if we could overcome that problem and get him into his race early, he would stay on. He was either being tucked in at the back – from which position a one-paced horse would always find it difficult, or he was rushed, and that in itself was costing him. Bryan Claassen had worked him and I was happy to get him on Sunday. When he jumped and he had him in the fray, I knew they would battle to beat him.”
Claassen showed the joy and satisfaction of a good day at the office as he saluted when beating D’Vash and Nottingham Forest.
It was the young apprentice’s second winner after he had piloted Robbie Hill’s Bluebaygirl to win the third race.
Egdes paid tribute to Bez –Art’s part-owner Margot Graham, whom he said had been with him ‘for years’.
Her daughter Jean worked for the yard for 14 years.
“If there were more owners like Margot around, racing would be a lot more fun and enjoyable. She is a loyal committed supporter who understands horses and the game. I am thrilled for her and she has owned some top horses over the years, like Gleaming Sky, who won the Oaks.”
“The win was also a well-timed gift for Margot, who celebrated her birthday on Saturday,” said Egdes.
