While Mother Nature rules the roost, seemingly frivolous decisions by the racing gods can throw a curved ball into carefully plotted strategies by trainers of top horses with bigger fish to fry.
The move by Gold Circle to run the Listed Sledgehammer on the polytrack at Greyville last Sunday, after it was washed out off the Scottsville turf a week earlier, was not well received across the board, according to certain trainers.
Greyville – scene of the SA Champions Season opener on Friday evening (Pic – Candiese Marnewick)
One Summerveld trainer told the Sporting Post that it was disturbing that the KZN racing operator could not schedule a race on the Greyville turf six days prior to the start of their biggest festival of racing. “That’s cutting it finer than I think they owe the public and us as stakeholders,” he said.
Our SA Champion team Snaith were also not in favour of the switch of surface.
“Our plans are always fluid but running that race on the all-weather meant that ours – and other yards – runners will now go straight into the Betting World 1900 without a run under the belt. That’s not good for the owners or the punting public. It creates uncertainty and potential holes in the form line. And with many of our black-type race rankings under pressure, it also does us no favours in terms of the assessment of the Sledgehammer when an 88 MR horse wins it. Even though Orpheus looks a decent sort who could go on and win more this season. It’s the stats that count in isolation when the race is assessed,” said Jonathan Snaith when chatting to the Sporting Post on Thursday after Snowdance had galloped at Scottsville.
Snowdance goes through her paces at Scottsville today (Pic – Candiese Marnewick)
Jonathan said that the 4yo Snowdance had come off a poor Cape Summer Season by her own high standards. She was on the fringes of the places in both the Gr1 L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate and the Gr1 Majorca Stakes.
“She thrives here in KZN and is looking magnificent. Richard Fourie rode her over 800m down the Scottsville straight this morning and she strode out beautifully. She will go straight into her chief target, the Gr1 SA Fillies Sprint here at Scottsville on xx May – and then, depending how she performs, we may have another tilt at the Garden Province.”
Backers may recall that Snowdance went down a nose to Redberry Lane in the Garden Province last season to complete a hat-trick of frustrating Gr1 seconds in the SA Fillies Guineas and the Gold Challenge.
Jonathan was asked to clarify the plans for 2018 Vodacom Durban July and subsequent L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate winner, Do It Again. We asked him why they were utilising a grass gallop at 4pm at Greyville on Friday in lieu of a run in the Drill Hall the same day.
Do It Again beats Soqrat to win the Queen’s Plate (Pic – Chase Liebenberg Photography)
“He is not a horse that takes a lot of work or racing. He is in fact quite a light horse. So we have to pick our races carefully. We and his owners considered our options with his three race capacity over four months – that is, do we forego a Gr1 in lieu of a prep race, or take our chances? The Drill Hall is on the short side and he drew wide. So we opted to go straight into the Gold Challenge on xxx, where he will be underdone. And then into the July and Champions Cup. I must stress that these markers are not cast in stone. Each run will be assessed race-by-race on its merits as we go – and the owners will make the final decisions,” added Jonathan.
While on the subject of contentious decisions, Gold Circle’s re-opening of certain of the rescheduled features from last Sunday at Scottsville to Friday at Greyville – but not the barrier draws allocated previously, puzzled another trainer.
“Why would they do the right thing like re-open a race, but then switch it from a straight track to around the turn at Greyville and leave the draws intact? It would be fair and just for all to scrap the draws and start from scratch – it’s a whole new race, surely?” he asked.
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