Joey Ramsden’s assistant Ricardo Sobotker and Andrew Fortune
The inclement Cape weather put paid to our racing on Saturday, which was kindly moved to the Sunday, only to be moved yet again to the Monday!
Having spoken to Dean Diedericks over the weekend, I know he was pretty confident that Durbanville would be in good shape come Monday afternoon – obviously provided we didn’t get any more of this ridiculous weather.
It was set fair on Sunday and whilst it wasn’t the warmest, it was nice to feel the sun on our backs. However, having seen the forecast, it is not looking that good for Wednesday racing either. Apart from really annoying all of us trainers with the haphazard conditions of trying to train a horse, it has not been easy for the jockeys either, especially those trying to maintain a steady weight.
It is also frustrating for the operators as well as anyone who gambles on Cape Racing. After all the boards I have been on, the one thing I/we have learnt is that people like a staple day on which they know racing is taking place and where. Racing in PE continues to thrive and everyone knows that Friday in PE is racing day, along with the fact that everyone knows Kimberley is on Mondays.
We have tried to make Wednesdays our own in the Western Cape but at the moment those dates are interfered with and messed with. People lose track of time (and I suppose interest) as to when and what they are gambling on. Like most things in life gamblers, although many of us might find them strange, are creatures of habit. They know what they want, when they want it and how they want it served and it has not been easy producing that dish for them.
I am off to Mauritius on Tuesday and it will be fantastic catching up with Variety Club. He is in quarantine over there and it will be great to see him again as I have not seen him for a couple of months now. I am sure he is very much enjoying island life and all that goes with it. I know I will enjoy seeing him and feeding him some carrots. Variety Club is a complete lover and victim of carrots. My only hope is that carrots are not as expensive as alcohol and other such necessities on the beautiful island.
Variety Club is a voracious eater of the orange vegetable. I really cannot wait to see him. Talking of life, I have heard strong rumours that my good friend, Andrew Fortune, is on his way over there to ride for Ricky Maingard, a combination that worked so well in the past having many big winners together.
I have missed Andrew while he has been in Johannesburg. Apart from the fact that it is extremely difficult to get the weather forecast correct without him, we also have a lot of fun laughing at the stupidity and foolishness of both our lives.
Whether Andrew can keep that smile on his face after riding for Ricky for a couple of weeks/meetings is another story entirely. While I mentioned earlier that Variety Club has a voracious appetite for carrots, Ricky Maingard has shown that he has a voracious appetite for jockeys on the sun-kissed island and can devour them like my man does his orange fodder.
I fear during my time on the island I will have to find myself a highly skilled baker to bake me a cake with a hidden file in it to help my good friend out of a possible tight spot. I have a strong feeling that Andrew could be catching the same flight out with me if success is not imminent. I get on extremely well with Ricky and I have an extremely high regard for him as a trainer. For a man who is most patient with his horses, he is most impatient with his pilots. I suppose that is the gambling mentality of Mauritian owners and punters. The jockey is the first man to fall. Ricky has had some fabulous fellows riding for him on the island including my old mate, Cédric Ségéon, who last year could do no wrong. If you listened to them all, he could turn one loaf into one hundred and water into wine.
I was most surprised to see him get the push so early on in the Mauritian campaign. I shall have to try and talk some sense into that Mauritian Anglo-Frenchman that is Mr Maingard. One thing is for certain; he won’t be getting any sense out of my mate, Andrew Fortune.
I know Andrew is a huge Manchester United supporter and while I enjoy watching them play well and out of the big clubs is probably the one I follow the most, they were absolutely awful against Manchester City over the weekend. Apart from looking clueless as a team, they had no passion.
I sadly did send a few very rude texts to my Manchester United friends when I saw Danny Welbeck up front, claiming I would rather go and play leggo with my kids than watch that buffoon try and score a goal at club level. He is as much of a striker and prolific goal scorer as I am a builder of castles using the multi-coloured brick. Sadly RVP was missed but even with RVP up alongside that man, goals are not going to come for Manchester United. But having said that, scoring goals looked the least of their worries with the way they were managing to leak them.
We have some smashing runners at Durbanville on Wednesday; some with decent draws, some not so good and some runners we really like. One needs a horse with tremendous gate speed to get over from a poor draw.
The last couple of meetings we have had strong tail winds so coming from the back of the field from a poor draw and winning is just that much more difficult. Whilst many think Durbanville is the most unfair of tracks, if the wind is playing ball and they go a good pace and if you have the right horse, you do have a chance of running at them. Let’s just hope that wind swings, like Andrew’s riding plans.
– JOEY RAMSDEN
www.joeyramsden.com
