Dennis Drier’s Cape Summer Of Champions string arrived safely in Cape Town a week ago after the long journey from Summerveld, which included a stopover in Colesburg.
The 25-strong team will as usual be based at the Philippi training centre.
Unbeaten Hack Green
Among them is the unbeaten three-year-old Gimmethegreenlight colt Hack Green, whose likely chief target is the Gr 1 Cape Guineas on December 17.
The others in the string are Anime, Chestnut ‘N Pearls, Desert Fighter, Ferrie, Horseguards, Joy To Joy, La Revere, Lee’s Star, Mogostar, Nauticus, Premier Dance, Rock On Baby, Rocky Valley, Sail, Seventh Plain, Sommerlied, Shogun, The High Life, Triptique, Wealthy, Generalissimo (who returns from a long layoff), Field Of Light (an unraced three-year-old full-sister to Jackson), Miss Frankel (an unraced two-year-old filly by Frankel out of the champion sprinter Val De Ra) and one other unraced youngster.
Drier and his wife Gill have recently returned from England where they attended a couple of prestigious Sales’ together with Mary and Jessica Slack.
Drier was thrilled to have picked up three horses at Ireland’s leading yearling auction, the Goffs Orby Sale. They comprise a Cape Cross colt, a Cape Cross filly and a Dawn Approach filly, who were all bid for by Jehan Malherbe of Form Bloodstock.
Gill said, “We loved the Goffs Sale and being at the Tattersalls Sales (Newmarket) and visiting Abington Place (Mary Slack’s training stable at Newmarket) were amazing experiences.”
The Cape Cross colt is out of an unraced Clodovil (Danehill) mare, who is a half-sister to a Listed placed mare. The latter has in turn produced four stakes placed horses.
The ill-fated Bankable (Photo: Horsephotos.com)
The family includes the ill-fated Summerhill-based sire Bankable, whose only crop have had reasonable success in South Africa to date and include the Listed Derby Trial winner Bankable Teddy.
The Cape Cross filly is out of a five-time winning Mujadil (Storm Bird) mare, who is a half-sister to a Gr 1 winner in France and who won a Listed race in Italy herself. The filly is a half-sister to a Listed placed horse in England.
The Dawn Approach filly is out of a placed Notnowcato mare, who is a half-sister to Rizeena. The latter was a two-time Gr 1-winner and was the champion two-year-old filly in Ireland in 2013.
Drier has been sending a string down to Cape Town since the 2011/2012 season and has been more than just a thorn in the flesh of the powerful Cape yards. His first Cape runner in this period was fittingly sent out on Guy Fawkes day, when the gelding Kalinago cruised to a comfortable victory. This ignited fireworks which have not ceased since.
The superstar Val De Ra
The great sprinter Val De Ra and the darling of the South African turf Beach Beauty were both part of that first string. The former got Drier’s Cape feature race ball rolling by winning the Gr 2 Southern Cross Stakes over 1000m by two lengths.
She followed up by winning one of the most eagerly awaited sprints this century, downing What A Winter by 0,4 lengths in the Gr 1 Cape Flying Championship over 1000m. It was a thriller and Drier could not contain the tears of emotion.
It went some way to healing the wounds of the luckless first Cape campaign which Beach Beauty had suffered. However, the latter more than made up for it in the following two seasons. Her three Cape campaigns ultimately netted her three Gr 1s and a Gr 2, as well as a 1,85 length fifth and a 1,8 length third in two attempts at the J&B Met.
Drier’s five Cape campaigns this decade have yielded 17 feature race victories made up of four Gr 1s, six Gr 2s, two Gr 3s, four Listed races and one Non-Black Type event.
Master Of My Fate (Jet Master – Promisefrommyheart)
It could have been even more impressive had the brilliant colt Master Of My Fate not suffered rotten luck in the J&B Met of 2014 as well as a career ending injury later on.
The Drier yard failed to win a Gr 1 last season for the first time since the 2008/2009 term.
A backlash can be expected and they should be followed.
www.goldcircle.co.za
