KZN Champion Trainer Garth Puller won the Cape Merchants a good few times as a jockey over his forty plus years in the saddle. On Saturday at Kenilworth, he will bid to lift the silverware for the first time in his second phase career.
The 70 year old has made a seamless transition from the saddle to the stable in the past decade, and while he has endured a slower start to the season than the previous two years, when he won the regional championship in the holiday province, he tells us that he has a few nice horses that he will be stepping out in the next few months.
And this weekend he is on a mission in his former hometown, with his eye on the L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate in early January.
Captain Fontaine – takes a step up in class on Saturday (Pic- Candiese Lenferna)
Garth spoke to the Sporting Post on Friday from Milnerton, where his unbeaten stable star Captain Fontane has been stabled since his arrival in the Cape on 29 September.
The Cheveley Stud product is owned by Hong Kong-based David Ferraris and David Hui, and the intention has always been to race him abroad.
“The owners have had no luck in that regard and even the plan to travel via America didn’t pan out as planned. So until the export restrictions are lifted, it makes sense to let him do what he is bred to do – and the Cape Summer Season is the logical arena for him at this stage of the game. The Merchants on Saturday is part of his programme into the L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate,” added the veteran.
The 4yo will be ridden for the first time by former SA Champion Smanga ‘Bling’ Khumalo on Saturday. The top jockey put Captain Fontane through his paces at Milnerton on Tuesday and was apparently pleased with what he felt.
Captain Fontane has not seen action since winning his season debut at Hollywoodbets Greyville on 1 September – that’s 11 weeks off and he may just need it on Saturday.
Watch his last win here:
“He came back from almost a year break after the quarantine debacle to win, so he runs well fresh. Naturally this is a step up in class, but our target as I said is the L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate via the Green Point Stakes as a likely next stop,” said Garth, who added that his charge ‘was naturally not peaking at the moment’.
So can we banker him in the exotics?
“It’s a handicap and there are some decent horses in the race including a younger Gr1 winner. But he has a handy weight of 54kgs, Smanga knows how to win feature races and Captain Fontane enjoys running at them late. He is a smart horse – we would’t be targetting a Gr1 if we believed otherwise – and he shouldn’t disgrace himself.”
The R175 000 Gr2 Merchants field:
| 1 | 1 | Russian Rock | 61.5 | 119 | A | Keagan de Melo | Dean Kannemeyer | |
| 2 | 4 | Russet Air | 60.5 | 117 | BA | Aldo Domeyer | Candice Bass-Robinson | |
| 3 | 6 | She’s A Keeper | 60 | 116 | A | Bernard Fayd’Herbe | Gareth van Zyl | |
| 4 | 10 | Speed Machine | 57.5 | 111 | A | Luyolo Mxothwa | Justin Snaith | |
| 5 | 8 | Captain Tatters | 56.5 | 109 | TBA | Craig Zackey | Justin Snaith | |
| 6 | 3 | Worlds Your Oyster | 56 | 108 | A | Greg Cheyne | Lucinda Woodruff | |
| 7 | 9 | Pleasedtomeetyou | 54.5 | 105 | A | Grant van Niekerk | Andre Nel | |
| 8 | 13 | Vikram | 54.5 | 105 | BA | Sandile Mbhele | Andre Nel | |
| 9 | 7 | Captain Fontane | 54 | 104 | A | S’manga Khumalo | Garth Puller | |
| 10 | 12 | Ambiorix | 52 | 110 | A | …………… +0.5 | Vaughan Marshall | |
| 11 | 11 | His Choice | 52 | 100 | BA | Gareth Wright | Andre Nel | |
| 12 | 5 | Major Attraction | 52 | 100 | A | Craig Bantam | Justin Snaith | |
| 13 | 2 | Bereave | 52 | 98 | A | Anthony Andrews | Adam Marcus | |
| Same Trainer – Not Coupled on Tote | ||||||||
| (4,5,12) (7,8,11) | ||||||||
Garth flies back to Durban early on Sunday morning and has four runners at Hollywoodbets Greyville on the day.
The Gr2 Merchants is off at 16h50.
