Madness! Domino Man beats Dynasty eleven years ago
The outstanding Act Of War will be a natural hot order Cape Guineas banker in a Pick 6 expected to swell to in excess of R3,2 million at Kenilworth on Saturday. For the more seasoned punter the defeat in the same race in 2003 of his terrific sire by an upstart Johannesburg raider may well be lurking in the back of the mind.
The nauseating feeling of the racing certainty going up and down is still with many of us. Not that it hasn’t happened a good few times since.
The 2003 R400 000 Cape Argus Guineas field did not appear to be of the strongest vintage. Dynasty came in having already won 4 races. Included in his impressive tally was superb wins over the older horses, including champion Free My Heart in the Green Point Stakes and a win in the Selangor. The structure of the programme in those days meant a 3yo could contest both of those races.
Dynasty had been beaten just once – by Bianconi in the Gr1 Golden Horseshoe at his second start. On that glorious sunny Guineas Saturday on 11 January 2003, Dynasty had scared off most of the opposition and only 8 horses turned up to take him on.
Mike De Kock
A trimmer and younger Mike De Kock was one of the brave men. He saddled the MAD Syndicate’s Dominion Royale gelding Domino Man.
Sent off a 1 to 6 favourite and travelling hard on the bridle throughout, Dynasty cruised up in a slow run race to join the pacesetting Domino Man, ridden by Kevin Shea, 200 metres from the line – and nothing happened.
Dynasty ‘emptied’ in a matter of strides, and Domino Man held on to his half-length advantage.
The immediate reaction of Karl Neisius, who rode Dynasty, was that something must be wrong.
He later added: “But I rode him again on Tuesday morning and he strode out fine. The only thing was that he bumped his head going into the stalls and he was tightened in the last furlong. A stronger pace would also have helped.”
It was the first time that the colt had been in a battle, and inexperience may have found him out.
Dynasty was to go on and win the Cape Derby, the SA Guineas, the Daily News 2000, the Durban July and the Green Point Stakes – again.
And as a stallion he has given us all so much pleasure with so many champion offspring over the years.
So it is not as if we havent’t forgiven him.
What about his star son?
The Dynasty colt Act Of War – to banker or not?
The Arc En Ciel bred Act Of War won’t suffer inexperience.
But the only time he has really been pressed since winning his second start was in the Cape Classic by Mljet. And even then Anton Marcus may have been bluffing.
Unlike Dynasty, who had only one start at 2, Act Of War had four starts as a juvenile and won the Langerman – the Cape’s traditional supreme test of a promising baby.
The pace shouldn’t be an issue in the fifteen horse field tomorrow. His only real serious challenge appears to come from the corner of visitors, Harry’s Son and the unbeaten Zambezi River.
Their respective trainers Paul Lafferty and Sean Tarry obviously believe Act Of War is beatable.
But visitors don’t have a great record in the race in recent times – Joshua Dancer’s son Pointing North being the last one to achieve that back in 2007. It may be an omen that Piere Strydom was aboard then and he partners Harry’s Son on Saturday.
But omens and history aside, do we banker Act Of War or don’t we?
