3 minute read
A legend of the TURF
from The Crest 97
AFTER A LIFETIME TRAINING HORSES, ENDEARING GENTLEMAN HERMAN BROWN STILL HAS THE THRILL OF THE RACE IN HIS BLOOD, WRITES DAVID KNOWLES
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He is a legend of horseracing in South Africa, a survivor from the days when trainers wore jackets, ties and a hat, and he recently celebrated his 90th birthday. Even people not associated with the sport will know the name Herman Brown, a man who was involved in the game for decades.
Herman now lives with his daughter Louise and his wife of nearly 70 years, Thelma. Walking into his lounge, it’s cl
ear to see he has fond memories of his racing days. Pictures of some of the horses he trained hang on the wall and there is a cabinet of trophies. One photograph is his favourite, a picture of the great Gatecrasher, with Michael “Muis” Roberts in the irons.
“I had some incredible horses in my string – Foveros, Turnocat, Rock Star, Glenever, Forty Winks, Bold Monarch, Sun Monarch, Wave Crest, Jet Pilot and others, but Gatecrasher remains the best horse I ever trained,” says Herman. “He had big, loping strides but had trouble with his legs. I had to bandage his legs and treat them with ice every day.”
Although Gatecrasher was his favourite, like a child, it provided Herman with the most heartbreaking moment of his career. Every South African racehorse trainer wants a Durban July win on his CV, but it was the one race to elude Herman. “Gatecrasher had the 1975 July sewn up. He was ahead, roaring to the post and I had instructed his jockey, Garth Puller, not to use the whip in his right hand, as the horse would drift and change his running line,” says Herman. “In his excitement, Puller did just that, sending Gatecrasher sideways to interfere with Distinctly on the inside rail. Our moment of joy was cut short when an objection was upheld and we were relegated to third.”
Herman bears no grudges, acknowledging that rules are rules, you win and lose – and he lost then. He had seconds in the July with Bold Monarch (1977) and Versailles (1984). “It was a race I wasn’t destined to win, but Gatecrasher and Foveros gave me two Metropolitans, plus I won the Queen’s Plate three times and the Cape Guineas twice.” Herman was also on the beach when Sea Cottage was shot ahead of the 1966 July. “I was further up from Blue Lagoon when I heard what sounded like a car backfiring. A fisherman told me what had happened and the hitman was a Durban gangster, Johnny Nel,” he says. “He was the only bloke in Durban with a yellow convertible car and he was soon caught. He got three years, I think.” Snooker was another sport Herman could play. “In 1970 I hit the double, winning the Natal Trainer’s Championship and Natal Snooker Champs. I played world number one Joe Davis when he came to South Africa and afterwards he told me I could go far in the game.”
ABOVE: Early morning training for Herman with Michael Roberts and Sun Monarch.
Growing up in Johannesburg’s southern suburbs, Herman had a tough childhood. His father, also Herman, had a small string of horses and he advised his son to move on when he was 18. After a few years in Port Elizabeth, Herman moved to the Newmarket stables in Durban and then Summerveld, his “Ups and Downs” yard next to Fred Rickaby.
“Michael Roberts was my apprentice jockey for five years and with Basil Marcus, were the best that rode for me. Michael, an Afrikaans boy from Oudshoorn, was taken to elocution lessons by my wife so he could learn English when he was at the Jockey Academy in Mariannhill,” explains Herman.
ABOVE: Herman Brown at home with the memories of his long and distinguished racing career.
ABOVE: Herman with Forty Winks, after winning the Champion Stakes at Turffontein.
Although retired, Herman still wears a hat, something he has done since he was 14. “I have hats from Australia which I wear and I never leave the house or went to a course without a hat. It’s part of me,” he smiles.
RIGHT: The best horse Herman ever trained, the great Gatecrasher, with Michael ‘Muis’ Roberts in the irons.
