Parade Magazine October 2017

starting stalls

John Lewis cover – sean veale.

arade is a Gold Circle publication and showcases thoroughbred horseracing, breeding and tote (pari-mutuel) betting in South Africa. Views expressed in Parade are solely those of the writers and the organisations they represent.

EDITORIAL Andrew Harrison (Editor) T: 031 314 1917 E: andrewh@goldcircle.co.za

ADVERTISING Warren Lenferna T: 031 314 1922 F: 031 314 1779 E: warrenl@goldcircle.co.za

DESIGN Denzil Govender T: 031 314 1920 E: denzilg@goldcircle.co.za

2

arade MAGAZINE | October 2017

06 Enable - Arc heroine 10 Barrier Trials 14 PE Racing 18 Goodwood Racing Festival 23 Hong Kong Jockey Club - Making racing fun 26 Small trainers feed the pond 29 Dr Andreas Jacobs Factor 33 Silvano Super Sire 34 ‘Big Race’ Joe Byrnes 38 Racing legends Ralph and Val Rixon 46 A gift horse 49 Legal Eagle - What makes him tick?

52 KZN Stallions 57 Cape Stud news 64 Bartie Leisher - The people’s jockey 68 Jockey’s Diet 70 KZN Racing Awards 74 Pink Drive 76 Thoroughbreds jumping out of the park 78 Racing Association 80 Graded Race Results 96 Horsing with Hennessey

arade MAGAZINE | October 2017

3

Editor’s Note Paul Lafferty is on a mission. Trainer representative in KwaZulu-Natal and on the board of racing operator Gold Circle, Lafferty has taken it upon himself to do something to improve the image of horse racing and making it as transparent as possible.

It was Lafferty’s initiative to disseminate information on first time runners, something of a thankless job even though most, but not all, trainers warmed to the idea, some refusing to comment at all.

But as Lafferty points out, this is tantamount to insider trading on the Stock Exchange.

All this may be a thing of the past if Lafferty’s latest initiative, that of Barrier Trials for first time

Contributors

runners and horses that have been off the track for a certain period, comes to fruition.

Details of how these trials will be conducted are still sketchy at time of writing and have been met with a deal of scepticism in some quarters.

From the outset the whole exercise does looks to be a logistical challenge but the message is clear for trainers in KZN, and indeed those outside of the province wanting to race in KZN, barrier trials will become compulsory.

The idea is that the trials will be run under normal race conditions on racedays with all information disseminated as with any race. The proviso is that all horses be ridden out at WFA terms but no sticks required.

Andrew Harrison Editor

Many have questioned the value of these trials and what they offer a punter but some years back when Scottsville introduced a false rail, the Pietermarizburg Turf Club ran three test races, much the same as barrier trials; A week later astute observers cashed in.

On another positive note, as horse racing becomes increasingly under the financial cosh with declining tote turnovers and fluctuating exchange rates it is good news that exporting our horses could become a whole lot easier and faster than the current eight-month sojourn that racehorses

Ada van der Bent

Henk Steenkamp

with international competition in mind have to endure.

Adrian Todd, has been tasked with paving the way for these exports and he seems up-beat that current export protocols will be reviewed and restrictions eased by the end of next year.

It helps that Australia, the main source of horses racing in Hong Kong, has introduced stricter measures on entry of horses from Hong Kong where part of the contract between the owner and the Hong Kong Jockey Club is a payment up front to repatriate the horse when it is retired. A

Liesl King

Robyn Louw

compulsory quarantine period would mean added expense to ownership in Hong Kong.

The all-powerful Hong Kong Jockey Club has contributed to South African research into overcoming the barriers regarding African Horse Sickness and export protocols and if direct export to Hong Kong becomes a reality we will be in the pound seats given the quality of our horses and favourable exchange rates.

As Alan Aitken of the Hong Kong-based daily newspaper, the South China Morning Post, observed,

Sarah Whitelaw

Candiese Marnewick

“if it all drags out too long, the South Africans will be waiting in the wings with an alternative”.

Here’s hoping.

I trust that you enjoy this edition of PARADE and it can also be viewed electronically on facebook https://www.facebook.com/Parade.Equine and issue.com/parade.mag

Michael Clower

SOUTH AFRICAN RACECOURSE GPS CO-ORDINATES KENILWORTH S 33 59.808 E 18 28.723 8km from centre of Cape Town and 12 km from Cape Town International airport

DURBANVILLE S 33 50.446 E 18 38.308 20 km from centre of Cape Town and 14 km from Cape Town International airport

TURFFONTEIN S 26 14.386 E 28 03.185 4km from centre of Johannesburg and 25 km from OR Tambo International airport

GREYVILLE S 29 50.833 E 31 00.965 35 km from from King Shaka International Airport

FAIRVIEW S 33 56.008 E 25 22.865 26km from centre of Port Elizabeth and 22km from Port Elizabeth airport

SCOTTSVILLE S 29 36.618 E 30 24.047 arade MAGAZINE | October 2017 4 2km from centre of Pietermaritzburg and 75 km from centre of Durban

KIMBERLEY S 28 43.677 E 24 50.346 7km from centre of Kimberley and 10 km from Kimberley airport

VAAL S 26 44.601 E 27 54.283 8 km from Vereeniging, 60km from Johannesburg and 75km from OR Tambo international airport

MAKE EVERY DAY THE MOST BEAUTIFUL DAY OF YOUR LIFE.

FREE YOURSELF FROM THE STRESS OF THE CITY AND REVIVE YOUR SENSES. Find excitement with an array of outstanding sporting facilities and cultural activities. With the finest accommodation, delectable fare and every possible creature comfort, it’s more than just a hotel in the mountains, it’s a unique experience.

www.champagnesportsresort.com reservations@champagnesportsresort.com +27 (0)36 468 8000

Where friends and family meet

enable arc heroine

by Liesl King

6

arade MAGAZINE | October 2017

Liesl King

Enable – to make someone able do something, or to make something possible. Enable is a strange name for a filly, especially one as beautiful as her and yet by a stroke of fate or luck if you like, it fits her perfectly.

For that is pretty much what this bay filly with the long ears does – she makes the impossible possible.

arade MAGAZINE | October 2017

7

Liesl King

B

y first season sire Nathaniel out of the Sadler’s Wells mare Concentric, Enable was born on February 12, 2014 at Prince Khalid Abdullah’s Juddmonte Farms in Newmarket. Prince Khalid races most of his own stock and Enable was given plenty of time to mature before making the short journey to John Gosden’s Clarehaven Stables.

Having trained over 3000 winners and over 100 Group 1 winners in England, America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australia, Gosden has had a multitude of champions pass through his hands. His most recent star being Investec Derby winner Golden Horn, who went on the capture the most famous race of all the G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp. Yet Gosden also has the patience to bring a youngster on slowly and to wait until he finds just the right race.

Enable was no different, her first outing being only on November 28, 2016, just one month shy of her third birthday.

8

arade MAGAZINE | October 2017

frankie dettori and enable celebrate a comfortable victory in the g1 prix de l’arc de triomphe.

A small Maiden Fillies Stakes over a mile on the Newcastle all weather track. In a nine-horse field Robert Havlin kept Enable at the back and out of trouble. With three furlongs to go he moved her out and asked her to catch up with the leaders.

The result wasn’t instantaneous, the green filly unsure of just what she was meant to do.

Havlin quietly asked again and this time Enable lengthened her stride, joining the leaders with a furlong left. Now Havlin got to work, urging the filly on with hands and heels and at that moment the Newcastle spectators, if they were paying attention, would have seen the first inkling of a brilliant filly in the making. Enable kicked and in a matter of strides, despite running green, she had put almost four lengths between herself and the chasing pack, crossing the line lonely.

After third at Newbury, another victory followed, this time in a Listed race at Chester with one minor change, Frankie Dettori was in the saddle and an extraordinary partnership had been born. Gosden knew it was time to find out how good Enable really was and for that there was only one race, the G1 Investec Oaks run at the most tricky of courses, Epsom. The Aidan O’Brien trained Rhododendron was a clear favourite and understandably so. Rhododendron had a G2

Enable has a wonderful laidback temperament, usually only found in the very special of fillies. notice. It was time to tackle the boys. Stepping out in the G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot, with regular rider Frankie Dettori in the saddle, Enable came home lonely, winning by four.

Three Group One victories in two months is a big ask of any three-year-old, colt or filly, but Gosden had something in his favour. Enable has a wonderful laidback temperament, usually only found in the very special of fillies. Gosden remarks that she was incredibly easy to handle right from day one, “a kind, gentle, inquisitive filly”, but once the tack came on she was all business. A month later Enable recorded her fourth G1 victory winning the Yorkshire Oaks by five. She was now the firm favourite for the G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. There was just one small problem, she hadn’t been entered!

Filly of a lifetime

win as well as the G1 Fillies Mile behind her name and the services of world champion jockey Ryan Moore in the saddle.

Dettori and Enable cruising Oaks day dawned grey and it wasn’t long before a massive storm hit Epsom. As the Oaks field cantered down to the start, a thunderstorm moved over the course, causing Daddys Lil Darling to bolt blindly down the hill, leaving her jockey no option but to bail. Enable however cantered down as if arcs of lightning hitting the ground around her was nothing out of the ordinary. As the field jumped the heavens open, delivering a monsoon of a rainstorm and drastically reducing visibility. Hence it was only as the field entered the final stages that the racegoers saw a bay filly coming down the Epsom home straight lonely. Dettori and Enable cruising home by a staggering five lengths.

From a Listed win to a Group 1 by five is a rather big jump and there were many who thought the performance was a fluke, aided by the dire weather conditions. One man however knew better and he sent Enable out a month later to contest the Group 1 Irish Oaks. This time the bay filly won by five and a half lengths. The racing world sat up and took

Four days before the Arc, on the 27th of September, at a cost of €120,000 Enable was finally supplemented for the race. In hindsight, one wonders why Gosden waited so long.

He already knew what the rest of us only suspected, that he had the filly of a lifetime residing in his stables.

And on Sunday, the 1st of October 2017, Enable came round the home bend at Chantilly tucked in behind the O’Brien pair of Order Of St George and Idaho. In the familiar green, pink and white colours of Prince Khalid Abdullah, Dettori was sitting quietly in the saddle, with the filly on a tight hold, moving easily.

Affair of fives At the 400m mark Dettori decided that he had been patient long enough. He pulled the filly out and gave her three taps on the rump, indicating that it was time to fly. In scenes reminiscent of the mighty Frankel, Enable, flew effortlessly over the soft track, extending away from the field under a hands-and-heels ride. She crossed the line two and a half lengths clear while easing down and with her ears pricked. It was an affair of fives. Enable winning her fifth Group 1, a fifth Arc victory for Prince Khalid and also for Dettori, giving him the title of the jockey with the most Arc victories.

The good news is that owner Prince Khalid Abdullah has mooted a four-year-old racing career for his star filly. The Prince sportingly raced star mare Midday until she was five and even the mighty Frankel was allowed to share his brilliance with the world for an extra year. So now make sure you are at Longchamp for next year’s running of the 97th Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe!

arade MAGAZINE | October 2017

9

jump in the right direction

by Robyn Louw

Discussing Barrier Trials With Charles Faull, Rupert Langerman wrote in the Cape Times of Monday, 28 August 1989 that Charles Faull “has endeavoured to drag South African racing, kicking and screaming, from 19th into 20th century thinking.’’

K

ick and scream it has, but last month racing finally took a first tentative step when Gold Circle announced that it will implement barrier trials from November. As we discuss the implications, his phone goes off like a pinball machine with all the messages of ‘Congratulations’, ‘well done’ and ‘finally’ that are streaming in not only from across the country, but across the world.

Champion jockeys, champion trainers, friends, family and racing enthusiasts. “It’s astounding,” marvels Charles. “And it just shows you how many people out there feel the same way. But it took someone to take the lead and huge credit has to go to Paul Lafferty. What he did is huge. In the 1950’s, Tommy Smith (father of Gai Waterhouse) was the first to pioneer barrier trials in Australia. Paul has just become our Tommy Smith.”

Charles was recently awarded a lifetime achievement award for his services to racing. The irony is that Charles does not feel he has achieved his lifetime’s goal which is to improve local racing’s status quo and safeguard its future.

Harbinger for more than 40 years, Charles has been campaigning for South African racing to act with more integrity and transparency and put the customer at the centre of our business. Failure to do so, he warned, would result in long term damage to the sport. History has proved him to be correct - not because he has a crystal ball, but because he is a student of human behaviour, a student of markets and a student of marketing.

Charles graduated from University with a Cum Laude in marketing. “To my father’s horror, I chose racing,” he shrugs. Charles’ father was the legendary racing vet George

10

arade MAGAZINE | October 2017

Liesl King

Faull and despite George’s best efforts, Charles became interested in racing as a student, thanks to a romantic interest who took the Jackpot.

Perception change “In those days, there was opacity both before and after the race. The race card came out on a Tuesday or Wednesday and along with the Duff Guide, you would spend the week studying and pick your horses for the Jackpot. You went on the form you had and would succeed or fail based on your calculations.

In those days it was unthinkable to have unraced horses in the Jackpot, because they didn’t have any maiden races in the Jackpot. There was no access to the results other than what was put up on the scoreboard. If you weren’t there, you had to wait for the newspaper the following day.”

“In the early 90’s, with the advent of televised post-race interviews, we started seeing trainers and owners boasting to the public about having access to inside information. If the public had been suspicious before, conspiracy theories now skyrocketed. The opacity after the race was gone.

Now, of course, we have the internet and social media as well.” “You simply cannot market something before the product is functioning correctly. As David Ogilvy said, “It is flagrantly dishonest for an advertising agent to urge consumers to buy a product which he would not allow his own wife to buy.”

The message being if it is not something you trust and would

be comfortable buying into, then you have no right trying to sell it to someone else. It is not only unethical, it is bad business practice as selling someone a flawed product is the best way to ensure they never use your business again.”

Rage against the machine at the age of 25 Charles became a member of the Jockey Club. “There was a time when I was the youngest member of the Jockey Club in the world. At that time, the Jockey Club was considered the most elite club on earth.

I was proposed by Des Scott and seconded by Abe Bloomberg. I was so proud. I went to that first meeting and stood up, knees shaking, with the wealth of the nation in that room. I said I’d like to raise a point that the Jockey Club was the body entrusted with upholding the ethics and integrity of the sport, that withholding pertinent information from our customers was exploitative and tantamount to insider trading.

Moreover, it was happening on an on-going basis and often involving horses belonging members of the Jockey Club itself.”

“This way of thinking has become so entrenched that people think it is normal!” he exclaims. “There are a lot of people with vested interests and campaigning for change is exhausting, but with each round, you get better and you get better informed, but I don’t know how many more rounds I will be around for – or even if there will be still be a sport to fight for,” he adds darkly.

arade MAGAZINE | October 2017 11

Managing Information “Racing is built on the dreams of the super-rich. For the punter, it’s a chance to be skillful and pit your knowledge - of handicapping, studying form and the WFA scale - against the Tote and your fellow punters and the prospect of betting a little money to win a lot.”

“Racing is a speculative business like the stock market, so you’ve got to be so careful with trust and how you manage information. When you invite people to bet into a pool – and advertising racing in high circulation daily newspapers is an invitation – it is imperative that you provide every shred of relevant information to your customer to ensure there are no information blind spots. When we take money from people to fund racing and use that money to pay dividends to shareholders while failing to provide relevant price sensitive information, it is criminal behaviour. It makes us complicit before and an accessory after the fact.”

“Every single time someone loses a bet due to a lack of information and we see connections going on TV and publicising the fact that they had access to information that the punter did not (‘the dogs were barking’, ‘the word was out’, etc), it’s a slap in the face of our customer and compounds the perception in the minds of the public that racing is dishonest. No wonder people are leaving in their droves.”

“Punters, with their thousands of little bets, provide our stakes, pay for the upkeep of our tracks and for the salaries of all our staff.

Being able to run a horse in order to compete for a share of a stake is a privilege, not a right and no-one should be allowed to run a horse for a stake they have not helped earn,” he says earnestly.

“For many years, racing was the only bet in town and somehow it managed to continue in spite of itself. What we are seeing now is the combination of the effects of the economy with the cumulative effect of years of what I can only describe as customer abuse.” So last week’s decision is a huge victory, and the result of many hours, days, months and years of tireless campaigning. It has fired a light in Charles’ eyes and added some much needed motivation and energy.

He chats animatedly about the huge task ahead to make sure everything is done correctly to achieve the positive effects that properly run trials can bring. “Trials help everyone.

A champion trainer told me that he takes exception to being asked how a first timer will run. Without the horse ever having had a trial under race conditions, he simply has no idea what the horse is going to do first time out – because of the stage fright factor that you cannot get from work at home.”

“In the Cape, the situation has been exacerbated by having Durbanville out of commission and grass gallops severely limited. At Kenilworth, Saturday, 9 September 2017, one of our top yards sent out four first timers. When I discussed it with the trainer beforehand, he said these horses had never seen the grass, so he had no way of gauging what the horses might or might not do. But, due to the lack of facilities and opportunities, he was having to run the horses as complete unknown entities in order to get them going. Everybody loses.”

“Trials would remove a lot of the secrecy and guess work for the trainer, the owner as well as the punter. However, it is not a silver bullet and is only one tiny step in the right direction.

Only when we can look our coalface customer in the eye and assure him he can put his money down, safe in the knowledge that he has no information blind spots and has access to the same information as everybody else, then we have a working business. charles faull Then, and only then, can we start to think about advertising our product.

Otherwise we merely continue shooting ourselves in the foot.” Herculean Years of apathy and slow and inexorable back sliding mean the effort required to arrest the slide, never mind turn things around, is herculean now compared to what it would have been had we started when Charles first sounded the warning, but as the old expression goes, the best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second best time is now.

Will it work? Only time will tell, but it is clear the status quo is not working and that a different strategy is needed. With racing under enormous pressure, it seems crazy not to try a different approach. To quote from Mr Langerman again, ‘Racing in this country can be divided into two eras: preCharles Faull and post-Charles Faull. Noone acquainted with his contribution to the industry can doubt this.’

Trials would remove a lot of “ the secrecy and guess work for

the trainer, the owner as well as the punter. However, it is not a silver bullet and is only one tiny step in the right direction.

12

arade MAGAZINE | October 2017

”

TEL: +27 (31) 769 1204 EMAIL: reception@mcveigh.co.za WEBSITE: www.bakermcveigh.com

TEL: +27 (21) 552 3450 EMAIL: cape@mcveigh.co.za WEBSITE: www.bakermcveigh.com

Kleintjie Badenhorst received his special award for life time service to the racing industry from the CEO of the RA, Larry Wainstein, with Janet Badenhorst at her husband’s side.

Racing Association Awards

East Cape PAULINE HERMAN

by Henk Steenkamp

It is a strange feeling to pitch up at the Fairview race track on a Friday afternoon in Port Elizabeth without running into Kleintjie Badenhorst or his wife Janet.

14

arade MAGAZINE | October 2017

F

or many years Kleintjie and Janet were key figures in making sure everything kept ticking over smoothly at the home of racing in the Eastern Cape.

The couple decided to call it a day at the end of October after a life time in the industry. Things won’t quite be the same without them and one can be forgiving for looking for Kleintjie to get rails secured at the turns of the track on a windy Friday, or asking Janet to assist with yet another small crisis in the Racing Association (RA) Room.

We got used to Kleintjie, with a cigarette not far away, explaining what is happening with the track, and Janet calmly sorting out problems, both always with a smile.

The Fairview promotions manager, Karin le Roux, has been working alongside Kleintjie and Janet for 22 years.

“If it wasn’t for Kleintjie I would not have taken this job.

Things felt foreign to me at Fairview but when I arrived at Arlington on the Saturday morning Kleintjie was there living with his family and it felt so cosy and welcoming.

“Janet has always been involved with racing in some capacity. They are wonderful people, proper horse racing people that worked hard.

“The PE racing family is small and when someone leaves it is sad. We will miss them and they will leave a gap,” said Le Roux. Kleintjie started on 1 September 1993 with the (then) East Cape Racing as stables manager after he stop riding in August 1993. He was a jockey for 24 years.

He became the course manager at Arlington in 1995 and after this track closed down in 2013, Kleintjie took over the reins at Fairview until now - 48 years in the industry.

Mike Jones was the recipient of a special award for service to the RA Judging panel. He received his award from Larry Wainstein.

Constant pressure It is not every course manager that can survive in an often thankless job that comes with enormous and constant pressure. It takes a special person for that; someone like Kleintjie. “The pressure, especially from the trainers, is ongoing.

You can’t keep everyone happy. They all want something different out of the track that works best for their horses.

“One says do like this and the other says no, do it like this.

Then the track is too dry and when it rains it is too wet. You never get a happy medium along the line,” Kleintjie explained when asked to point out the biggest challenge of his job.

As if the task of a course manager isn’t challenging enough, the Eastern Cape has been experiencing some extreme weather in recent times.

The windy conditions in the Friendly City are legendary but currently the province is also caught up in a drought.

“The weather plays a big role. On a day of gale-force PE wind it is a challenge to make sure everything goes smoothly.

“Luckily the drainage got better at Fairview over the years. Arlington was built on sand. It drained very quickly but Fairview is built on clay.

“It battles to drain away. I preferred Arlington. It was a much easier track to maintain when we had heavy rains.

Carl Hewitson accepts the trophy of behalf of his son, Lyle Hewitson, for the champion apprentice jockey.

Jockey Teaque Gould received a special award from Larry Wainstein for riding the Jackpot (4 winners in a row) on 16th June. arade MAGAZINE | October 2017 15

Alan Greeff invited his team on stage to receive the champion trainers trophy from Clyde Basel.

“It was very sad when Arlington closed down. I spent most of my life there as we lived on course.”

That venue is now gone and when Kleintjie and Janet went for a last goodbye they were shocked to see that the track is now in terrible state.

“It was a lovely little course. It is a crying shame to see Arlington like that,” Janet said, with Kleintjie adding, “it’s a terrible sight.”

Although Kleintjie had some huge challenges he did a fine job and there were many times when the top jockeys in the country, and visiting international riders, made no bones about the fact that they thought Fairview was the best turf track in South Africa. Kleintjie also did a remarkable job with the Polytrack, the first course manager in the country that had to cope with this enormous and then unknown challenge.

“The job can be very rewarding at times, more often than not. It is a nice feeling when people come and say well done to you after a big meeting,” he said.

Significant change Kleintjie has seen many changes in Port Elizabeth racing over the years but is quick to point out that the installing of the Polytrack and the upgrading of the Fairview buildings were the most significant.

“That changed the face of East Cape racing. Since the Polytrack was installed we never lost a meeting. No one had experience of the Poly. At first one jockey will say it’s perfect and the other one said we are doing things wrong. That is all gone quiet now, there are no more complains,” Kleintjie said, adding that the Poly is almost perfect when there is a bit of rain. “It firms the track up, the more rain the better.”

16

arade MAGAZINE | October 2017

Come race day Kleintjie has a lot on his mind but his biggest fear is seeing a horse break down.

While most of us will be chatting about which horse stood out on the day or where we went out of the Place Accumulator, Kleintjie’s first words will be about all the horses that got home safely.

“You don’t want to see that (a horse breaking down), but is happens all over the world.”

Kleintjie has seen some great horses doing their stuff in what one can call his back yard, but he wasn’t prepared to name any of his favourites.

“I look at the races from a different perspective. I have my job to do and stick to it. Every horse is my favourite.”

Janet’s involvement in PE racing is just as legendary. “I started in 1996, selling tickets upstairs at Arlington, then became the bar lady, later on the hostess in the RA room at Fairview and then working in the RA office after Carol van Rensburg passed away in 2014.”

Kleintjie and Janet might now find time for a bit of a holiday together, something that just wasn’t possible over the years.

And yes, you probably guessed it - these two will still be very close to horses in the future.

They have moved to Durban where Kleintjie will be doing “general maintenance” at the stables where their son, Wayne, is a trainer.

At the annual RA Awards evening Kleintjie received a special award for his services to PE racing and most of us heard for the first time that his actual name is Hendrik.

‘Kleintjie’ is an Afrikaans nickname for ‘small’ because, being an ex-jockey, he is not a big man in stature but in PE racing he and Janet will be remembered as giants for their contribution.

Al Jazi wins the L’ormarins queens plate Stakes.

Liesl King

ladies save the day

by Liesl King 18

arade MAGAZINE | October 2017

T

he initial “Duel on the Downs” in 2011 was between a young unbeaten Frankel and the leading older miler Canford Cliffs. Frankel prevailed with ease and his dominance was such that the 2012 Sussex Stakes heralded no duel, just an exhibition gallop by the mighty colt.

The Duel on the Downs as the G1 Sussex Stakes is colloquially known, is highlight of the Qatar Goodwood Racing Festival. It is a race that always seems to throw up two star colts, ready to fight it out.

Since then Dawn Approach and Toronado in 2013 and Toronado and Kingman in 2014 treated eager spectators to fascinating duels down the Goodwood home straight.

Solow, arguably the world’s best miler emulated Frankel in 2015, coming home lonely, while 2016 saw another epic fight to the bitter end in which The Gurkha defeated 2000 Guineas winner Galileo Gold.

The 2017 Duel promised even more as not only was it a clash between two stars, but it was also a clash between racing’s two powerhouses, Coolmore and Godolphin. In the Coolmore camp, Churchill, the duel 2000 Guineas winner was ready to take on his year older rival, the Godolphin owned Ribchester. Sadly the weather gods intervened, delivering a hurricane in the hours before and during the Sussex Stakes.

Aidan O’Brien sensibly withdrew Churchill just before the race, while Richard Fahey could only watch as Ribchester

arade MAGAZINE | October 2017 19

Winter is not the biggest of fillies and she is only a threeyear-old, but in the short space of two months the daughter of Galileo had conquered the G1 QIPCO 1000 Guineas, the G1 Irish 1000 Guineas and the G1 Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot. floundered in the heavy going, losing by neck to 20/1 mudlark Here Comes When.

Ladies steal the show Yet the Goodwood Festival is about more than just the Sussex Stakes and when the boys failed to shine, the ladies took centre stage. The main fillies feature being the G1 Qatar Nassau Stakes over 2000m. Run a day after the Sussex disaster, the Nassau field of six faced soft instead of heavy going. It may not have been a big field, but the carded fillies packed a mighty punch. Leading the stellar bunch were three Group 1 winners Winter, Sobetsu and Breeders Cup winner Queen’s Trust, while Blond Me, Hydrangea and So Mi Dar were all Group 1 placed. This was no Duel On The Downs, this was just one mighty clash, yet there was one standout, Winter Winter is not the biggest of fillies and she is only a threeyear-old, but in the short space of two months the daughter of Galileo had conquered the G1 QIPCO 1000 Guineas, the G1 Irish 1000 Guineas and the G1 Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot. The filly was on a roll, but the conditions were still far from ideal. O’Brien walked the course as rain started to fall again. Would Winter be withdrawn as had her stablemate 24 hours earlier?

O’Brien decided Winter would cope, but it was a tough decision. “It was a risk running her and I was holding my breath the whole way, But she’s a big powerful mare with big feet, a big strong filly, and she had won three Group 1s.

We walked the track yesterday in the middle of the hurricane and it wasn’t any worse today. The worries were the soft ground and the mile and a quarter. It was like winter National Hunt ground. When you go past that two-furlong marker in that ground you don’t know what’s going to happen.”

What happened was that Ryan Moore tucked a keen Winter safely in behind the leader Sobetsu, relaxing the impatient filly. With two furlongs to go, he popped the question. The result was no flash of speed, understandable on that ground, but rather a relentless galloping pursuit of the leader. Once captured, Winter eased into the lead eventually crossing the

20

arade MAGAZINE | October 2017

line one and a half lengths clear of Blond Me. Four Group 1 victories in less than 3 months is rather impressive for any three-year-old!

Glorious Goodwood may have been hit by the worst weather in its history, but by Friday order was restored. The sun came out; the gale force winds died down, allowing the ladies to dress in their blue and white outfits, instead of their wellies and macs, for it was L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate Stakes day. Featuring the running of the G3 L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate Stakes over 1400m. And it was here that another filly, the Al Shaqab owned Al Jazi, sparkled.

1400m is a specialist distance at which only a few excel.

A tad too far for the top sprinters and a tad too short for the best milers. Hence races at 1400m are few and far between.

So what do you do when you have a filly who thrives over the 1400m? You keep coming back to Goodwood of course.

Trained by Frenchman Francois Rohaut, Al Jazi was the 2016 winner of the L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate Stakes. Rohaut seems to have a stable full of 1400m specialists as he also won the 2015 race with Amy Eria. On a hat-trick, Rohaut brought Al Jazi back to defend her crown, this time adding the star power of Frankie Dettori into the mix. Dettori however, was uncharacteristically winless at the Festival, with many a close finish, but no winning skywards leap towards the waiting crowd.

Despite a dash for the line by Eternally (GB), Tomyris (GB) and even former South African runner Same Jurisdiction (SAF), the result was never in any doubt. With just over 400m left to

Dettori did not disappoint flying skywards in style, followed by a happy dance once safely back on the ground. Even the world’s best do not like to be winless. go Dettori sent Al Jazi into the lead and the mare extended away from her rivals to win by 1.25 lengths with Eternally in second and Tomyris in third, a further head back. Dettori is a crowd favourite and a showman of note. A race meeting without a Dettori winner is simply unimaginable, hence the roar from the crowd was deafening as Al Jazi entered the winner’s circle. Dettori did not disappoint flying skywards in style, followed by a happy dance once safely back on the ground. Even the world’s best do not like to be winless.

Ladies of another kind rounded off the day, as a bevy of beauties in blue and white lined up to contest the L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate Best Dressed Lady competition. After a lengthy deliberation by the ‘stewards’ the fabulous prize of a trip to South Africa to attend the 2018 L’Ormarins Queens Plate Festival was awarded to Elena Rowland. The weather may not have played ball, but when the going gets tough, it’s the ladies you can count on!

Winter wins the g1 qatar Nassau stakes.

arade MAGAZINE | October 2017 21

Saving racing by

Making Liesl King

22

arade MAGAZINE | October 2017

it Fun

by Liesl King

Racing’s biggest problem in the modern era seems to be attracting new fans, a problem that is interestingly not unique to racing.

Most sporting codes seem to be battling to fill seats with an aging fan base. So what can be done?

T

he powerhouse that is the Hong Kong Jockey Club conducted intensive customer studies before setting in motion a five-year plan to encourage new fans to go racing. In 2012 Asian Racing Conference, the CEO of the Hong Kong Jockey Club, Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges pointed out that the future of racing lies in the ability to be able offer an experience that is fun and easy to understand, while embracing technology.

The Hong Kong Jockey Club came up with the “Happy Wednesday” concept, as a way to offer racing as trendy entertainment, vibrant, and interactive. Dedicated racing apps such as ‘iRace’ and ‘Race Simulator’ were developed for iPhones and iPads and in Adrenaline, a trendy and stylish club, customers could play on the world’s largest multi-touch interface tables. Named the IBU System, the tables allowed up to eight players to look up information on any horse, jockey or trainer in a race, watch a video of its track work, watch it in the parade ring or place one of five types of bets. Five years on and the Hong Kong fan based has increase in leaps and bounds while the average customer age is rapidly declining.

arade MAGAZINE | October 2017 23

Guignol winning the Grosser Preis von Baden.

Germany faced a similar problem. In a country better known for its sports horse culture, racing faced an uphill battle. In addition to a very small breeding industry and racehorse ownership base, gambling was not prolific with on course betting in a steady decline. Some of the country’s racetracks were forced to close, while others such as Berlin’s Hoppegarten are now privately owned. Even Baden-Baden, Germany’s most famous racetrack, had to be rescued from bankruptcy in 2010. So how does one turn around an industry in such decline?

Fortunately in Germany, unlike Hong Kong, children are allowed to go racing and it is upon this simple concept that German racing and its rescuers based its survival. Racing became a family outing, something that is fun to do, providing entertainment for the youngest of children, the horse mad teenager, her parents and even the family dog! Nowhere was this more clearly demonstrated than at Baden-Baden’s Grand Festival Week of Racing held in annually in September.

Racing at the Baden-Baden track is rather like going on a family outing to the Carnival. Dogs of all shapes and sizes are an absolute necessity and can often be seen sporting either a hat or a bejewelled collar or both, in matching colours of course. Guests dress as they please, with some arriving in casual clothing, while others sport the season’s latest fashion or even 17th century’s fashion, with velvet riding habits, quaint little veils or top hats and tails. The grounds are dotted with a magnitude of food vendors of every description, while rivers of Veuve Clicquot and beer are consumed in equal quantities.

For the children there are a variety of activities. A beautiful Longines carousel proving to be the highlight of the day, with face painting and free cuddly toys a close second.

For the older kids, a mechanical horse, complete with an experienced jockey on hand to coach the wannabe future

24

arade MAGAZINE | October 2017

jockeys in the art of race riding. Then there is the unique experience of being up close and personal to the majestic racehorses. Racegoers are allowed to stand right next to the running rail, close enough to almost pat the horses and certainly close enough to be pelted with flying clods as the field thunders by. Race over and the field returns through the crowds. No stuffy officials, rope or plastic barriers here, here the fan whether big or small is part of the experience, part of the racing, part of the horses.

Hence a crowd of over 12000 attended the week’s finale, the Grosser Preis von Baden day in glorious sunshine. While the highlight on the final day was the Group 1 Longines Grosser Preis von Baden, the card also featured a Listed race and a Group 3 sponsored by Steinhoff International N.V. The €55,000 Group 3 Steinhoff Zukunftsrennen (1400m) for twoyear-olds drew a field of nine, including the British raider Starlight Mystery trained by Mark Johnston. Gestüt Röttgen however, had been on a roll since their homebred Windstoss won the 2017 Group 1 German Derby and hence it came as no surprise to see their colours carried to victory by the Martin Klug-trained Narella, a homebred filly by Reliable Man, who stormed to an emphatic victory under Adrie de Vries.

The feature race, the €250,000 G1 Longines Grosser Preis von Baden over 2400m also went the way of a homebred, when Stall Ullman’s five year old entire Guignol, trained

by Jean-Pierre Carvalho, led from start to finish under Filip Minarik. Last year’s winner Iquitos chased hard, but could make no inroads into Guignol’s commanding lead and the newly crowned Horse of the Year had to settle for second with Colomano (GB) a short head back in third.

Each race on the day whether a handicap or a Group 1 saw the crowd packed around the parade ring, ten deep, everyone eager for a glimpse of the athletes, whether it be their favourite horse or favourite jockey. Baden-Baden may not yet be attracting the staggering attendance figures of Royal Ascot and the Breeders Cup, but German racing has hit on a solution that is not only attracting more people to the racecourse, but is also introducing racing as a sport with heroes to young fans. From digital to carnival, it is up to each racing jurisdiction to find that perfect fit, that magic key that will unlock and deliver an unrivalled experience to a new generation of racegoers and potential lovers of the sport.

Perhaps it is time for South Africa to find its own perfect fit.

It’s never too soon to prepare for your future.

Developed by property giants Collins Residential, and partnered by Investec Bank, combined with leading health experts TotalCare, Mount Edgecombe Retirement Village is a robust investment with a clear vision of the future, a functional need with safe capital returns.

WORLD-CLASS HEALTHCARE

COFFEE SHOP AND RESTAURANT

COMMUNITY CENTRE

Contact us on 087 195 0201

14 HECTARES OF OPEN, SECURE SPACES

Mount Edgecombe Retirement Village offers an unsurpassed lifestyle with beautifully-designed spacious single-level homes, round-the-clock security and comprehensive healthcare facilities.

Mount Edgecombe Retirement Village is the answer to exceptional market demand for quality retirement living.

Luxury retirement units from R2.5 million

TRANSPORT SERVICES TO NEARBY AMENITIES

WALKING AND JOGGING TRAILS

Set to open September 2018 (including the Care Centre)

TENNIS COURTS AND SWIMMING POOLS

PET FRIENDLY

SINGLE-LEVEL UNIT

Book your onsite visit with our sales team

Rainmaker Marketing 10/10

Situated within KwaZulu-Natal’s well-established Kindlewood Estate, Mount Edgecombe Retirement Village has been named among the top 5 retirement estates in South Africa.

Small fish feed the

big pond

by Andrew Harrison

Is the environment for small trainers in South Africa becoming increasingly inhospitable? “It always has been tough,” said one, speaking on condition of anonymity, “But of late, it’s been a real struggle.”

Liesl King

S

mall trainers barely making a living; ‘Battlers’ in racing parlance, are nothing new but many believe that of late, the disparity between the big, powerful stables has grown to a point where the economic stability of the industry as a whole is being affected. Dwindling attendances, fewer horses, shrinking revenues, stakes not keeping up with costs and the same collection of owners and trainers winning everything from Maidens to Grade 1.

So what role does the small trainer play in the greater health of the industry? Is it healthy for the big yards and the

26

arade MAGAZINE | October 2017

same owners to go against each other race after race? Is it about the sport or turnover in a small pond?

Running costs The costs of running a yard are pretty much the same for a big yard as a small yard, but as in most businesses, it’s a case of economy of scale. Running a training operation is expensive.

Feed and employment are the two major contributors to costs but there are a myriad of hidden expenses that the average owner is unaware of.

As Ashburton-based Gary Rich put it; “Running a yard is very expensive but doable if managed correctly,” quickly adding, “but owners need to pay on time.”

“There are no short cuts if you expect results. It costs a certain amount to train and maintain a horse properly not matter if you are a big yard or a small yard,” he said.

The difference here is that the bigger yards tend to attract the more well-heeled clients and consequently have access to a better class of horse so obviously they will get better results on the racetrack.

In KwaZulu-Natal, the bigger yards are restricted to barns of 100 given the limited space at the two training centres, Summerveld and Ashburton, and with out-of-province trainers clambering for satellite yards, the less successful and smaller yards are struggling to hold onto what they already have.

Restricting barn sizes, reasoning goes, will lead to horses being distributed more evenly among trainers, including smaller ones, leading to bolstered field sizes and a more appealing product for gamblers.

In the distant past in KZN, boxes were restricted to around 60 and was a kind of filter where the big yards would get the best clients and horses and other owners would have to seek out the smaller, and often lower-profile, trainers.

The flip side of this coin are concerns about the free market.

How much involvement should the industry have in artificially shaping the size of a trainer’s business?

Stakes A sore point for trainers, big and small, is that stakes have not kept up with industry costs. But as one pointed out, trainers should not have to rely on stakes to keep them going. Training fees alone should be enough to keep a yard financially viable and any money earned from stakes a bonus.

Yes, stakes are important as they are the incentive and reward that keep owners interested and a bonus for the yard but owners should be well aware that they are not a silver bullet in racehorse ownership given that most horses seldom recoup training fees or purchase costs.

Also damaging are the ‘deals’ being done with owners by struggling and often desperate trainers to stay in the game.

A standard ploy is reduced training fees but a bigger split of the stakes cheque. The trap here is that if the horse does not earn, the trainer is hard-pressed to provide the necessary care to produce a healthy and fit racehorse so the chances of it earning any stakes are much reduced.

However, new owners could also be better educated on the more nuanced benefits that small trainers can afford their horses, like the individual care and attention that larger operations aren’t always able to provide.

There seems to be something alluring about ‘super’ trainers.

Yes, they have worked hard to get to where they are so one should not begrudge them, but there are many smaller yards with the same expertise, just a lower profile.

Egos appear to be the over-riding factor here because the bigger, more successful yards generally charge above the norm for their services. But if it is results and best returns a small prospective owner is looking for rather than an ego boost, they should do their homework on the smaller yards.

Staff Each small trainer, and big, I spoke to put a different

“Things are changing,” said Rich. “You’ve got to change your business model and create value for the client.” emphasis on what they considered their greatest obstacle to running a successful stable but all agreed on one particular bane of their working existence: finding and maintaining quality help.

“It’s so hard to find good grooms and staff nowadays,” said one.

As fewer people grow up around animals and around livestock in particular standards of horsemanship have fallen among the new recruits headed into the industry.

“They used to be kind of ready-made, that’s not the case now. Today’s younger generation are not interested in working as grooms and the older generation work as grooms as a financial necessity rather than for any job satisfaction.”

“It’s a constant, constant struggle.”

Hope Despite dwindling numbers, new trainers are still entering the sport even though the toughest aspect of building up a new stable is the month-to-month expenses that leave them counting out expenditures down to the very last rand. There’s an onslaught of bills from every direction, from feed bills, stable rent, salaries, equipment, vet’s bills - the list is endless.

But in spite of all the trials and tribulations it is a way of life ingrained in most trainers.

“I never thought about doing anything else in life,” said one.

“I started out with my father who was a trainer and have been in the industry the whole time,” he said. “I guess when I started out, I never thought about doing anything else in life.”

And, not surprisingly, there’s a tangible sense of grit and determination among those scraping together a living near the bottom of the sport’s food chain.

The “corporatization” of the industry, with greater emphasis placed on things like return on investment, and public branding, means that smaller trainers must look to the larger outfits to identify and mirror as best they can what they do that works.

“Things are changing,” said Rich. “You’ve got to change your business model and create value for the client.”

All of which is geared around that one thing that unites all trainers, large and small: the horse and discovering that twinkling diamond in the rough.

“We’re just waiting for the big horse to come along,” he said. “At the end of the day, I wouldn’t have chosen to do anything different with my life.”

Without the ‘battlers’ the sport would be so much the poorer. arade MAGAZINE | October 2017 27

Liesl King

Fans of racing and “ breeding in South Africa

will be eternally grateful for the contribution of Dr Andreas Jacobs to our studbook.

”

28

arade MAGAZINE | October 2017

The

Jacobs Factor

“There were two standout achievements from the running of this year’s July,” says historian and form analyst extraordinaire, Charles Faull, “and they are firstly that it is the sixth July winner to be produced by Mauritzfontein Stud and secondly ‘The Jacobs Factor’ as evidenced by the photo finish of this year’s race.”

by Robyn Louw

S

ilvano has produced four July winners to date (Bold Silvano, Heavy Metal, Power King and Marinaresco) and just look at the result of this year’s July.

It was won by a Silvano, from a Silvano.

Dead-heating for 4th was a Silvano and a Black Minnaloushe and behind them was a Dynasty out of a full sister to Silvano. As we know, Silvano finished 1-2-3 in the 2015 Vodacom Durban July and now he’s produced this result. What an achievement by Andreas Jacobs and I’ve not seen it mentioned anywhere!”

“The contribution made to the local industry by Dr Andreas Jacobs and international industrialists of his kind cannot be overestimated or overstated. The South African Thoroughbred breeding industry evolved as an adjunct to farming. Godfrey Gird once said you could take a third of your wool crop and buy a decent stallion prospect. Then American involvement

and Arab petro-dollars sent bloodstock prices soaring (leaving SA Breeders and the weak Rand struggling to compete for worthwhile breeding stock). When international industrialists weighed in, they invested in bloodstock in a whole new way and raised the bar to a new level.”

“We are seeing this in Maine Chance with Dr Jacobs, Highlands Farms Stud, first via Graham Beck and now the Kieswetter family, La Plaisance Stud via Sabine Plattner, Varsfontein Stud via the Kalmansons, Mauritzfontein and Wilgerbosdrift via the Oppenheimer family, Lammerskraal via Mike Rattray and now Pieter Graaff, Summerhill via Mick Goss, Klawervlei via the Kosters and now Mayfair Speculators, Khaya Stables via Lady Laidlaw, Arc-En-Ciel via Shirley Pfeiffer, Drakenstein via the Ruperts, the Scott Bros, Avontuur via the Taberer family and Moutonshoek via Chris Gerber.”

“We owe a great debt of thanks to these people who have added enormous value to our stud book by investing in top quality stallions and mares through their love of racing. With regard to Dr Jacobs in particular, it is incredible that this great equestrian and racing family has chosen to invest in South African racing and I would like to say thank you, sir. Well done, and please continue.”

“Perhaps the greatest compliment and testament to

arade MAGAZINE | October 2017 29

Silvano is that he manages to dominate the sires list the way he does given our racing programme.”

“The fact that South African racing regards the Durban July as a staying race is a misnomer. In terms of the global breed this perception is totally incorrect. Students of breeding that have taken the time to study Franco Varola, whose work upgraded the dosage principle of Lt Col. J J Vullier, adviser to the Aga Khan, will know that Varola defines the aptitudes of the Thoroughbred into four main categories: Brilliant (10001400m), Intermediate (1200-2200m), Classic (2000-2600m) and Stout (2400-4200m).

The great mistake made by SA racing is to treat the Intermediate range as being the all-important type for testing success in the breed. This is simply not true, because as Tesio taught us, the Thoroughbred exists because of a piece of wood at the end of a mile and a half race at Epsom.”

Why our Classics are not Classics “A mile and a half is the most important classic distance,” continues Charles. “Consider such great stallions as Sadler’s Wells (King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes), Galileo (Epsom Derby), Hyperion (Epsom Derby, St Leger), Nearco (Italian Derby), Buckpasser (Lawrence Realisation Stakes, Jockey Club Gold Cup) and A.P. Indy (Belmont Stakes) – the list is endless. Varola rightly teaches us that an overconcentration of speed on speed results in cheap speed. He also teaches us that Classic ability is no less than speed extended in time and we know the Classic racehorse only reaches full power towards the end of their 4yo season.”

“Now,” he says, warming to his story, “consider Silvano, Dr Jacobs’ greatest contribution to our stud book so far. This is a stallion created and developed by the Jacobs family at Fahrhof Stud and what strikes one when studying Silvano’s pedigree is it is pure German Classicity. They bred Silvano (winner of the Grosser Preis Der Wirtschaft, the Singapore Cup, the Audemars Piguet QEII Cup and the Arlington Million). They bred his sire Lomitas who was a 2400m specialist (winner of Grosser Preis von Baden (2400m), Preis von Europa (2400m), Preis der Berliner Bank (2400m), German Champion 2yo and 3yo, 1991 Horse of the Year and Champion Freshman sire). They bred Lomitas’ dam, La Colorada (a German Champion race filly) and the family all the way back to the mighty Serum (winner of the German Derby, Union Rennen, and six times Champion Sire and Champion Broodmare Sire).” They say a stallion’s Pedigree tells you what they could be, their performance tells you what they should be and their progeny tells you what they are, so let’s take a look at Silvano’s record at stud. “A perusal of his detailed foal report as published by ARO leaves absolutely no doubt that Silvano is a predominantly Classic / Stout stallion. In his very first SA crop, he produced SA Oaks winner, Happy Spirit as well as SA Derby winner, Kings Gambit,” continues Charles.

30

arade MAGAZINE | October 2017

“What does that tell us about Marinaresco? He’s by Silvano out of a Fort Wood mare (also a predominantly Classic influence) so was surely bred to be typical of the Classic (2000-2600m) type.”

“Prior to this year’s July, he had had 1 start beyond 2000m which was last year’s July when he was the equivalent of a teenager. He came back as a 4yo with one or two eye catching speed performances in the Green Point and Drill Hall Stakes, however, it must be apparent to all form analysts that his ‘disappointing’ runs in the Queen’s Plate, Met and Gold Challenge can be ascribed to the fact here is a pure Classic horse being kept to Intermediate distances because of our totally deficient provision for true Classic and stout racehorses. Marinaresco’s run in this year’s July was his first test as a fully muscularly mature racehorse and as a Classic type, 2200m would have been at the very bottom of his ideal range.”

Rating “In my opinion, his performance level in this year’s race reflected an improvement of 14lbs over his performance when 2nd to The Conglomerate last year. How often haven’t we seen top 3yo’s improve by 14lbs or more from three to four years of age, e.g. Sea Cottage, Yataghan, Politician, London News, Futura, etc. Just where the official WFA scale gets its figure of 4lbs WFA progression for 3yo’s in the July, is a mystery. We will see just how much Al Sahem, Edict of Nantes and Horizon improve vis a vis Marinaresco in the future.”

“There is little doubt in my mind this horse will go 2 miles with the best and in the future it would be great to see him race at WFA over the true classic distance of 2400m. Unfortunately, unlike every other turf country in the world, there isn’t a single major WFA race over a mile and a half in SA. It simply doesn’t exist!”

“In drawing attention here to the lack of top class properly endowed one and a half mile races in the country, like Maine Chance Farms, we find another great breeding establishment in Drakenstein Stud facing a future in which their Ascot Gold Cup producer, Duke of Marmalade, also faces seeing his progeny shoe-horned into an intermediate mould.”

“This absence of races in respect of Classic distances in our programme is a major problem. Who wants to watch 1400m – 1600m races time and again? All we are seeing is extended sprints. It’s boring! Races like the Epsom Derby, the Irish Derby, the King George, the Arc – these are races which not only produce great horses, but great tactical riding, which you only see at a mile and a half – not dashes. What happened to scheduling a proportion of longer races on every card?”

“The Bloodhorse published an article titled, ‘Real Men Don’t Eat Quiche and Real Horses Stay A Mile and A Half.’ Don’t we need a R5 million mile and a half WFA race to establish just who is the best horse in the country? Rest assured Legal Eagle (SA Derby winner) will turn up for that one!”

S O U T H A F R I C A’ S

S I LVA N O Equus Stallion Of The Year 2017 THANK YOU to all the breeders, trainers and owners for their support in making Silvano

A T RUE CHAMPIO N 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

1.

2= 4.

5.

SA GENERAL SIRES LIST BY STAKES 2016/17 (NHRA) SILVANO (GER) 1996 R 27 867 675 CAPTAIN AL 1996 R 19 092 638 DYNASTY 1999 R 15 354 612 TRIPPI (USA) 1997 R 14 619 800 VAR (USA) 1999 R 12 234 506 SA SIRES LIST BY BLACK TYPE WINS 2016/17 (NHRA) SILVANO (GER) 1996 20 CAPTAIN AL 1996 18 DYNASTY 1999 18 GIMMETHEGREENLIGHT (AUS) 2008 12 IDEAL WORLD (USA) 2005 8

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

SA GENERAL SIRES LIST BY AEPR 2016/17 (NHRA 100+ RUNNERS) SILVANO (GER) 1996 R 126 098 CAPTAIN AL 1996 R 102 100 DYNASTY 1999 R 99 062 TRIPPI (USA) 1997 R 80 772 GIMMETHEGREENLIGHT (AUS) 2008 R 73 560

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

SA GENERAL SIRES LIST BY WINNERS 2016/17 (NHRA) SILVANO (GER) 1996 120 CAPTAIN AL 1996 102 VAR (USA) 1999 93 TRIPPI (USA) 1997 84 DYNASTY 1999 76

G1 VODACOM DURBAN JULY 2017 1.

MARINARESCO (SILVANO)

2.

AL SAHEM (SILVANO)

3.

EDICT OF NANTES

4= NIGHTINGALE (SILVANO) KRAMBAMBULI 6.

HORIZON (OUT OF A FULL-SISTER TO SILVANO)

MARINARESCO - G1 DURBAN JULY 2017

Silvano is the property of a syndicate

Tim Bootsma | PO Box 259 Robertson 6705 | Tel: 023 626 2342 | Fax: 023 626 2585 | Mobile: +27 (0)72 446 6269 Farm Mobile: +27 (0)73 140 1921 | E-mail: info@mainechance.co.za | Web: www.mainechance.co.za

ilvano

DOMINATION

by Ada van der Bent

Liesl King

Marinaresco’s resolute Durban July victory over paternal half-brother Al Sahem set the seal on a stellar season for their sire Silvano.

32

arade MAGAZINE | October 2017

M

aine Chance’s chief flag bearer repeated as the country’s leading sire four years after notching up his first title in 2012-13. In the interim, he finished fourth in 2013, third in 2014 and was pipped at the post in 2015. His second sires title came at the end of a dominant season which saw him obliterate the existing earnings record, whilst finishing R8.7 million clear of his rivals.

Bred on classic lines, Silvano is a son of German Horse of the Year and 2400m specialist Lomitas, whose sire, the English St Leger hero Niniski, is by English Triple Crown winner Nijinsky.

His dam, Spirit Of Eagles, who has the unique distinction of being voted Broodmare of the Year in both Germany and the United States, possesses a truly Californian pedigree, being

by San Antonio and California Derby winner Beau’s Eagle, from the immediate family of prominent Californian stallion Avenue Of Flags.

In contrast to the American penchant for speed, German racing has always put a premium on stamina, thus Silvano’s genetic make-up is a blend of both, resulting in a 2000m specialist who traversed the globe and scored an international trio of Gr.1 successes over the distance.

A grand stamp of a horse, he is well-balanced, medium sized with a strong head and a wonderful neck and shoulder. Full of personality and presence, he has a kind and intelligent temperament, qualities that he imparts to his progeny.

Initially sent to South Africa as a potential shuttle stallion, fate decreed that an outbreak of African Horse Sickness prevented Silvano from returning to his birth country.

Germany’s loss proved to be South Africa’s gain, as he has exceeded all expectations, his progeny have accounted for prime classic events such as the SA Derby (Kings Gambit, Seal, Al Sahem); Cape Derby (Bravura), SA Oaks (Happy Spirit, Wind Chill), Cape Fillies Guineas (Field Flower, Silver Mountain), Daily News 2000 (Vercingetorix), Woolavington 2000 (Do You Remember), SA Classic (Kings Gambit) and SA Fillies Classic (Orchid Island).

no stallion can hold a candle to Silvano. Sire of 2013 winner Heavy Metal, he created history two years later when pulling off a unique Maine Chance-bred trifecta with sons Power King, Punta Arenas and Tellina filling the first three places. Last year, Marinaresco came charging from the rear to fail by a diminishing neck and twelve months later, laid that ghost to rest to become his sire’s third July winner.

Silvano reached the pinnacle of his racing powers at four and five, as do the majority of his best runners. At age four, Heavy Metal, Power King and Marinaresco landed the Vodacom Durban July, Aslan and Flirtation won the Summer Cup, Nightingale the Majorca and Wavin’ Flag the Gold Cup. Aslan took the Gr.1 Gold Cup at age five, Wild One did so at age six, whilst Martial Eagle captured the Met at age seven!

It is common knowledge that Silvano’s progeny improve with maturity, yet his success is not limited to late developers only and his progeny do excel as juveniles. Happy Valentine claimed the Gr.1 Allan Robertson, whilst champion Bold Silvano, Janoobi and Sedge were all stakes winners at two.

Versatility Versatility is another feature of Silvano’s progeny. Gr.2 winning sprinter Mochachino carried her speed up to a mile, while champion Marinaresco and Ice Machine both won the Gr.2 Drill Hall Stakes over the extended sprint distance of 1400m.

Diametrically opposed on the distance spectrum are Gold Cup winners Aslan and Wavin’ Flag, as well as tough and durable stayers like Seal, Hot Ticket and Gothic.

As far as nicking patterns go, Silvano is like a grey suit, fitting perfectly with every tie. Nevertheless, he does appear to have an affinity with certain broodmare sires.

His eight stakes winners from Al Mufti mares are headed by champions Bold Silvano and Kings Gambit, as well as last season’s top sophomore Al Sahem. A shorthead behind on seven stakes winners is Fort Wood, whose daughters have produced champion Marinaresco and Gr.1 winner Nightingale. The Silvano x Elliodor cross has already yielded six stakes winners, prime amongst which Aslan and Singapore Gr.1 winner Flax.

Given a racing programme which caters to instant success and often has no patience for the late bloomers, it is truly remarkable that a classic stallion like Silvano stands out as a genuine source of class across the full spectrum.

In contrast to the American penchant for speed, German racing has always put a premium on stamina, thus Silvano’s genetic make-up is a blend of both, resulting in a 2000m specialist who traversed the globe and scored an international trio of Gr.1 successes over the distance.

Durban July However, when it comes to dominating the Durban July,

arade MAGAZINE | October 2017 33

Knight Pigskin Grand old

of the

by Robbyn Ramsay

The winning den Cup in Mauritius – King Sweep with trainer M. Ythier, champion jockey Joe Byrnes and his groom Kistna.

Part of the fun of being interested in sport, and especially horseracing, is reminiscing about the past. Scanning the results of feature races run in the 1950s, 60s and 70s one sees the name J. Byrnes pop up time and again – so many times in fact that the diminutive lightweight jockey earned himself the moniker “Big Race” Joe. 34

arade MAGAZINE | October 2017

D

espite standing just 4 foot 10 inches (1,47m) in his socks Joe Byrnes, who was born on 30 November 1930, endured a frustrating time trying to become a jockey and he once even had somebody suggest he become a policeman!

“There were few cars around when I was a child growing up in Newcastle and then Harrismith so horses were a necessity both for transport and for pleasure,” recalls Joe. Winning races on a Basuto pony in gymkhana meetings at Harrismith as a teenager nurtured a lasting love and interest in horses and shortly after passing JC (Std. 8) Joe, much to the consternation of his parents, set off for Durban with his heart set on becoming a jockey.

“I really battled to get a foot in the door in racing and in sheer desperation and out of the necessity to earn some money; I ended up working in the accounts office of the Railways. It was just a couple of years after the war and times were tough for everybody. As fate would have it, there was a man working in the machine room who was friends with trainer Sonny Whiteford. He took me along to meet him and Sonny agreed to give me a try. I had to report to his stables at Newmarket in Durban at 4am the next day and I rode my first ever racehorses along the beach between Blue Lagoon and the Sunkist.”

With there being no formal Academy system for jockeys in those days, would-be jockeys were indentured to trainers as apprentices to learn their trade from the bottom up. Having proved that he could ride, Joe was indentured to trainer Jack Smith and when Smith died his indentures were transferred to Bobby Forsyth and he also did stints with a couple of other trainers such as Captain George Birne and Ted Lowe.

In April 1949 Joe, who was then 18 years-old and tipping the scales at 6 stone 9 lbs (42kgs), finally got to ride his first ever winner at Greyville.

“Apprentices weren’t put on fancied horses much in those days which was a good thing in a way as it taught us a lot, especially about pace. Sonny Whiteford had a filly called Discontent who had been beaten about seven or eight times and she was to be my first winning ride.”

A day’s work of good horses followed and over the years Joe’s almost uncanny knack of landing feature race winners was to earn him the “Big Race Joe” handle and his list of accomplishments saw him being rated as one of the best and most successful jockeys South Africa had ever seen.

Old timers with just a passing interest of the history of racing will probably best remember Joe for riding the rank outsider C’est Si Bon to victory in the July Handicap at Greyville way back in 1954. C’est Si Bon was trained by Dennis Labistour who had also saddled the 1951 July winner Gay Jane. “C’est Si Bon could have been my second July winner as I was actually offered the ride on Gay Jane but I already had a stable commitment,” recalls Joe somewhat wistfully.

Thoroughbred South Africa News Independent South African horse racing and breeding news with an international flavour.

Up to date local and international news  World-wide contributors  Stallion statistics and data  Website design  Content management  Advertising and campaign development  Social media management

Website Coming Soon www.tsanews.co.za thoroughbredsanews@gmail.com

“C’est Si Bon had been quite badly injured in a race showed Jelal Shah and Hyacinth a clean pair of heels to win preceding the July and the word obviously got out which was the Cape’s premier event. probably why he started as such long odds (25-1),” says Joe. Joe Byrnes won the Summer Handicap back at Turffontien “Though it was a battle to get him patched up in time for for the second time in 1963 aboard the incredibly versatile the big race, I was however always confident that he had a horse Cuff Link who was trained then by the colourful Bertie very good winning chance as he was Sage who’d never had the actually a top horse. In fact when good fortune to win the Summer Dennis Labistour gave me a leg up Handicap when he was a jockey. in the parade ring I said: “I’ll see you Sage was known for being a back in the number one box!” great horseman, a quality he Blessed with a remarkably good shared with Joe Byrnes. He was memory for one who has ridden so also known for his great sense of many good horses in his lifetime Joe, humour and nothing was more whose contemporaries included amusing or more astonishing greats such as Tiger Wright, Cocky than to listen to Sage having Feldman and Charlie Barends, happily a conversation with his fellow chats away about the numerous trainer and great friend Jackie other good horses he partnered over Butler ... in Latin! the years.

Joe’s third Summer Handicap His list of major feature race winners win came the very next year in spanning the 1950s, 60s and the early 1964 when he brought home the 70s is almost endless and reads like John Breval-trained Will-To-Win and equine “Who’s Who” of that by a length carrying the famous era. Smash and Grab, Nagaina Hall, yellow and black Oppenheimer Trainer John Breval celebrates Will-To-Win’s Summer Will-To-Win, Cuff Link, Hero, C’est Si silks. This was in fact also to be Handicap win with jockey Joe Byrnes.

Bon, Casbah, Merciless Sun, Frantic, the third time Harry and Bridget Fitzgerald, Gideon and Speed Fiend Oppenheimer had led in the are just a handful of top horses winner of the Summer Handicap guided into the number one box by which was known as the Summer Joe. Tankard in those days.

Trained and co-owned by Les Just four years later Joe Byrnes Rathbone (father-in-law of the was to win the Summer Handicap late Jimmy Lithgow), Casbah was for an unprecedented fourth time described as a “Galloway” which riding the handsome bay colt nowadays is the term used to identify Merciless Sun who had travelled a show class of pony which is greater down south from Rhodesia than 14 hands high but not more than for the big race. Merciless Sun 14.2 hands. He may have been small was owned and trained by Sir but Casbah could catch proverbial Raymond Stockil who, aside from pigeons. History relates that the training horses, was a pioneer of little grey put up an astonishing many sugar and citrus projects in pre-Summer Hanidicap gallop at his home country and a staunch Turffontein in 1955 which sent the early Ian Smith ally after UDI. morning touts and clock-watchers Byrnes completed his “Big 4” flying to their bookmakers. Casbah (July, Met, Summer Handicap duly started 9-4 favourite and though several downpours put and Gold Cup) when he won the Gold Cup run in horrible, the big race in jeopardy, he skated home under Joe Byrnes wet and windy conditions at Greyville in 1973. His mount was to win by five lengths in a most impressive time despite the the relatively unfancied horse Jacobite who was conditioned wet conditions. This was to be the first of Byrnes’ four Summer by small time trainer Max Courtney. This was the first time the Handicap (now Sansui Summer Cup) winners.

Gold Cup field jumped from the new starting stalls.

Being a natural and experienced lightweight, Joe’s services While there were plenty of good times with the punters were in demand in feature races countrywide. In 1961 he knowing that they could always count on Joe Byrnes to give travelled to Cape Town to ride a horse called Frantic in the them a run for their money, there were a few hairy moments Met for little known trainer Eben du Toit – the son of a wealthy as well. “I caused a near riot on a George Azzie-trained horse sheep farmer from Hopetown. Carrying just 46,5kgs Frantic called Glengyle at Turffontein one day,” recalls Joe. “The

“I really battled to get a foot in the door in racing and in sheer desperation and out of the necessity to earn some money; I ended up working in the accounts office of the Railways.”

36

arade MAGAZINE | October 2017

horse had been backed to odds-on favourite but he hated that particular course for some reason and he refused to jump when the tapes went up. The punters went absolutely berserk and wanted to hang me, it was actually quite frightening!”

Most times however Joe earned the racing public’s respect rather than their displeasure and news of his prowess in the saddle led to an invitation to ride in Mauritius where, to this very day, the older racing-mad islanders still talk about him in revered tones.

Retained by Henry Ythier, Byrnes clinched the Mauritius jockey’s championship in 1975 and twice had the distinction of winning the island’s coveted premier race, the Maiden Cup. He won it for the first time aboard King Sweep in 1975 and for the second time in 1979 riding Beacon Top with his son Dave finishing a distant second on his stable companion Blacksmith.

This was however not the first time the Byrnes father and son had ridden against each other in a feature race. The first time was back home in the July at Greyville in 1974 when Joe rode Chief Scout in his 19th July and his 16-year-old apprentice son Dave made his July debut aboard Sea Patrol. History relates that Riboville won the race from Sea Patrol who had led the field from the Drill Hall to the subway. Joe was for once to finish unplaced. To date Joe and Dave Byrnes remain the only father/son combination ever to have ridden in South Africa’s premier race.

The father/son combination riding in races together was however for some unknown reason seen as a ‘problem’ in the one-eyed view of the Chief Stipe in Natal at the time. This was the main reason why Joe readily accepted the invitation to ride in Mauritius and it was also why he enthusiastically encouraged his up-and-coming son Dave to seek greener pastures in America when the opportunity knocked.

Joe began to wind down his career in the early 1980s and with a degree of regret he finally called it a day in 1984. He then served as a private trainer in the Natal Midlands for a short while before moving to Maryland in the United States to be reunited with his son who had by then established himself as a successful jockey. Dave’s career however ended abruptly when he suffered a horrific fall in a race in 1987.

“Though things didn’t quite work out as we’d planned, one thing I found in America was that they respect knowledge, you are never too old to impart what you know,” says the grand old knight of the pigskin.

When pressed to reveal which horses he rates as the best he ever rode, Joe hardly hesitates before naming two of his four Johannesburg Summer Handicap winners; the diminutive eye-catching grey Casbah and the very handsome Rhodesian horse Merciless Sun. “Big Race” Joe Byrnes turns 87 this year and though he has sadly lost his sight he still enjoys listening to racing commentaries. He happily shares the stories of his glory days in the saddle and generously imparts his wealth of knowledge about horses to anybody who is actually wise enough to listen.

Thoroughbred South Africa News Independent South African horse racing and breeding news with an international flavour.

Up to date local and international news  World-wide contributors  Stallion statistics and data  Website design  Content management  Advertising and campaign development  Social media management

Website Coming Soon www.tsanews.co.za thoroughbredsanews@gmail.com

Taking a trip down memory lane Ralph and Val Rixon take Michael Clower down memory lane.

W

hen Ralph Rixon applied for his licence in Durban 50 years ago he was informed by the senior stipe: “We don’t want your sort here. You came from the bush and I suggest you go back to the bush.”

Rixon was astonished – he had already been in racing for over 20 years by this stage - but his wife wasn’t. “In those days the Jockey Club were like Gods - and that’s how powerful they were. If there was a drama you couldn’t take a lawyer to represent you. It was diabolical, archaic too, and if they didn’t like your face, or you rattled their cage in any way, they gave you a hard time. Ralph can be a stroppy bloke and that didn’t go down well either.”

The stroppy bloke, brought up only a couple of furlongs from Kenilworth, was hooked on racing even as a small boy and he was only 13 when he first rode in an amateur hurdle race at Durbanville – he has a vivid recollection of falling at the last when he was disputing the lead. Within a year he was regularly riding winners.“I intended becoming a jockey.”

38

arade MAGAZINE | October 2017

Seeing the interviewer’s unsaid but rather obvious doubt, Rixon who is 6’ 2” (1.88 metres) grins and explains: “I was very thin in those days.” Wife Val laughs: “They said he was bones with the meat scraped off.”

However Rixon’s father, who had come out from Salisbury in England with the RAF immediately after the Second World War and switched his mechanical skills from Spitfires to motor vehicles, had other ideas. The boy must learn a trade, he insisted, and so Ralph became an apprentice carpenter with his uncle who was a big Cape Town builder. He was still doing that when, at the age of 21, hemarried the 18-year-old daughter of a Constantia winemaker.

They met when he was asked to help break in Val’s unruly pony who kept bucking her off. “I’d heard that there was this boy called Ralph who was very good with horses.”

Their stories are being relived mid-morning around the dining room table of the Rixons’ house in the Helderburg Village security estate outside Somerset West. If opposites attract the pair are well matched. The white-haired Ralph is a big powerful-looking blunt-speaking man while his wife is a small bubbly personality with a highly-developed sense of humour. Even though their lives have been blighted by

tragedy both have made a good job of defying the years.

Ralph will be 86 on the 18th of this month.

Lured by the fortunes being made by builders in the Copper Belt, Rixon took his new wife off to Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia). Within 15 months he had set up in business on his own. He was also playing polo and serving on the committee that organised the gymkhanas on the polo field. He suggested starting racing and within three years there was a meeting every weekend on one of four different racecourses.

Rixon bought his horses in South Africa, used his carpentry skills to partition railway trucks into three stalls. He tied 44-gallon water tanks to the sides, put in 12” of bedding and three bales of lucerne that kept the horses going throughout the week-long journey.

Val rode many of the Rixon runners and in 1966 she was champion jockey. Not content with dominating the Zambian racing stage, Rixon was also raiding the big prizes in Southern Rhodesia much to the chagrin of the local trainers who made their feelings known to the stewards.

Such was his success that his runners regularly started favourite but one odds-on shot was beaten by a totally unfancied stable companion recently imported from Johannesburg. Unknown to Rixon, he carried 2lb less than he should have done as he was an entire horse. The senior stipe got one of the local trainers to lodge a complaint. Rixon was suspended for 12 months and, just to make sure there was no escape route, a rule was hastily introduced to stop wives taking over the stable in such circumstances.

Many years later the Rhodesian senior stipe approached Rixon at a Cape Town racemeeting. Rixon refused to speak to him. He spoke to Val instead and she persuaded her husband that the man wanted to apologise for what had happened.

“He told me it wasn’t him, it was the stewards,” Rixon shakes his head at the memory. “There were tears running down his face as he explained that he had been told they had to get rid of this fellow Rixon. He was an amateur from the bush, he was cleaning up and he was going to kill racing in Salisbury.”

Seemingly the stipe wanted a clear conscience before meeting his maker. A fortnight after his confession he was dead.

But the year’s suspension clearly made an impact on the Durban senior stipe, hence the comment about going back to the bush. That particular official also suggested, if not the bush, then Port Elizabeth. Interestingly Terrance Millard, married to Rixon’s elder sister Joyce, also suggested starting in PE as it would be easier to win races there. The great trainer appeared to underestimate his brother-in-law’s talent.

But the underlying reason for the move from Zambia was as sad as it was painful. Eldest son Guy was repeatedly ill. His mother flew him to see specialists in Cape Town and Johannesburg. Whatever they suggested, nothing seemed to work for long. Just imagine the heartache and mental torment if it was your child who the doctors were unable to cure. The Rixons decided they must be near the best medical help available.

Thoroughbred South Africa News Independent South African horse racing and breeding news with an international flavour.

Up to date local and international news  World-wide contributors  Stallion statistics and data  Website design  Content management  Advertising and campaign development  Social media management

Website Coming Soon www.tsanews.co.za thoroughbredsanews@gmail.com

There were tears running “ down his face as he explained

that he had been told they had to get rid of this fellow Rixon.

He was an amateur from the bush, he was cleaning up and he was going to kill racing in Salisbury.

”

The Cape Town stewards agreed to give Ralph a licence although they insisted he wait until the year’s suspension was over. He bought five hectares on the Weltevreden Road at Philippi not far from the present training centre, built a house and yardful of boxes. He also commandeered part of the adjoining bush to lay out a gallop. “It was a round track but one side had a rise at the end and I would work the horses into the rise to get them just that little bit fitter.”

It certainly worked. He started with six horses but within a year he had 40 and it wasn’t all that much longer before all 95 boxes were full. Then came the call from Dr Dolf Crohin. Val answered the phone and was so convinced the caller from Namibia was a crank that she didn’t even bother to pass the message on to her husband.

The second time he rang Ralph answered. Had he drawn up the list of six greys by Jamaica? Crohin was coming to collect it and at 6.00am the following day they were all leaving for Robertson. In the end Rixon managed to come up with a list of four possibles. Crohin picked Jamaican Music rather than Armistice who was to win the 1974 Gold Cup, and Rixon stood aside while the good doctor negotiated the deal with Granville Gorton. “Granville was friend of mine and I didn’t want anyone saying I’d got a bribe to buy the horse.”

He was amazed to see Crohin go back to the car, take out a suitcase full of money and pay Gorton in cash. Even more so, when he heard from Gorton that the purchaser wanted to know if Gorton would take the horse back as a stallion when he won the Guineas, the Derby and the July.

Jamaican Music duly won the first two but the July proved elusive. He passed the post in front as a three-year-old, starting second favourite, in 1974 but Tom Ratley had been unseated approaching the Drill Hall. The following year, with Karl Neisius in the irons, he finished fourth but 12 months later Bert Abercrombie got him up in the last stride.

Dr Crohin, still alive today and practicing as an anaesthetist in Los Angeles, was so thrilled he told the trainer to buy himself a car. Not wishing to appear greedy, Rixon chose a middlerange saloon only to be told to pick a Mercedes. When the horse won the Hawaii Stakes, he was given a gold watch.

40

arade MAGAZINE | October 2017

From then on big race winners flowed. Notable amongst them were Craftsman in the 1982 Mercury Sprint and Wild West who won the Met four years later. Other major triumphs included Tropicante in the 1989 Gold Cup and Heir To Riches in the same year’s Champion Stakes.

However in the early 1990s Rixon decided the time had come to retire. Val: “You get to the stage where younger owners are looking for younger trainers.” Guy had already proved he had inherited the genes by winning the 1989 Queen’s Plate with Wainui and he took over the stable.

But in September 1994, truly an annus horribilis for the Rixons, he finally succumbed to the illness that had plagued him for most of his life. He was 38. His parents now believe that the blood transfusion he was given when he was five was contaminated.

His father took over the reins but five months earlier second son Gordon, a chiropractor in America, had been involved in a plane crash. Although just about still alive when the rescuers reached the wreckage of the light aircraft, his skull was badly broken. A medical helicopter flew him to Pittsburgh General where they operated to remove bone fragments. Three times the hospital phoned to say he would not survive. His anguished mother, nursing a broken leg, was distraught when she was told she could not fly until the plaster cast had been removed. When she finally made it, she found her son did not know who he was. He made a 95% recovery but the other 5% still troubles him and his parents.

Glen Kotzen, Rixon’s assistant for seven years, was asked to take over the horses. Since then the Rixons have maintained a keen interest in racing with a couple of broodmares, frequently travelling round the country to watch the progeny race – Our Destiny, second in the 2015 Cape Fillies Guineas, is one of theirs - and around the world to see their six grandchildren. Third son Gary is also a chiropractor but in New Zealand.

They also keep an eye on the progress of the many who worked for them. Five times champion Geoff Woodruff, assistant for six years and married to Rixon’s niece Carol, is fondly remembered as “an absolute gentleman.”

Mind you, that wasn’t how they saw him to start with.

“Theo de Klerk’s wife phoned us from England to ask Ralph if he would take the boy under his wing,” Val recalls. “When this pale-faced young Englishman turned up for work in a smart blue blazer I thought ‘Dear God, this one won’t last five minutes.’ Her fears were confirmed later the same day when Woodruff came in to say that ‘The Africans’ wouldn’t take any notice of him.

He moved into the house where the three Rixon boys gave him a baptism of fire. “But,” says Ralph with evident relish, “within a month he was a South African.”

The list of apprentices include Karl Neisius. “A very nice boy and a good disposition,” remembers his boss. “He never gave me any problems. Some of them were very rough - the Jockey Club used to send me the delinquents. They knew I kicked arses.”

Klawervlei

Stud

From South Africa’s Champion Breeders comes an exciting draft of 2-y-o’s

CTS Ready To Run Sale 2017 16 - 17 November 2017 LOT

SEX

5 15 17 23 28 32 42 47 51 52 53 58 73 77 84 86 95 96 98 108 112 124 125 134 135 139

C C C F C C F F C F C C C F C F F C C C C C F F C F

SIRE

DAM

DYNASTY PATHFORK POMODORO CAPTAIN AL PATHFORK PHILANTHROPIST TWICE OVER SEVENTH ROCK SILVANO CAPTAIN AL WHAT A WINTER TWICE OVER POMODORO CAPTAIN AL POMODORO WHAT A WINTER ATO TWICE OVER TWICE OVER POMODORO WARM WHITE NIGHT ROCK OF GIBRALTAR CAPTAIN AL SEVENTH ROCK COUNT DUBOIS TWICE OVER

ALL IS SECRET BANSHEE GIRL (USA) BEYOND CAFE SUPREME CITY OF GOLD COSTILLA (AUS) DUNCTON QUEST ENTRENCHED EMBLEM FLIGHT ZONE FORT BELVEDERE FREE FALL GLENROWAN (USA) KARTANYA LAUGHING MATTER MISS WORDSWORTH MY PRETTY PRINCESS (AUS) PERSONALITY PIRATE QUEEN PURE PERFECTION (IRE) ROYAL POLLY (USA) SALUTATION SPIRITED (IRE) SPIRIT LEADER THE JET GIRL TIBETAN STONE VAL DE VIE

The Source

STABLE B39 B41 B35 B33 B42 B38 C15 C20 B37 B32 B36 C11 C12 B31 B40 B30 C14 C10 C9 C6 C8 C7 C18 C17 C5 C16

Klawervlei Stud | PO Box 266, Bonnievale 6730 | Tel: (023) 616 2980 | Fax: (023) 616 2548 John Köster | Cell: 082 880 7943 | E-mail: john@klawervlei.co.za or Grant Knowles | Cell: 082 882 9774 | E-mail: grant@klawervlei.co.za

future perfect!

A time-tested nursery to champion racehorses over many decades, Western Cape-based Highlands Stud has launched the new season like they ended the last and are geared to take on the world.

W

hile the glorious achievements of last season have been consigned to the history books and exciting new challenges face the Highlands, Part of Ridgemont team, we reflect back on the highlights of the past term that puts the outstanding performance and contribution to the South African horseracing and breeding industry by this iconic stud into perspective.

Off the racetrack, the news broke in January that the Kieswetter family of Ridgemont Stud, who proudly race the 2017 Sun Met star and Equus Champion Whisky Baron, had purchased the magnificent 250-hectare Robertson Valley property that has been home to Highlands and the Beck family for decades. Included in the transaction were the stallions and bloodstock.

The transition from the old guard to the new has been seamless - and the enormous success of the inaugural Highlands, Part of Ridgemont, Cape Winter Series was a sign of great things to come. The local Triple Crown was won for only the second time in its long history by a star 3yo, bred by Highlands and sired by their flagship producer, Dynasty. That’s a fairytale on any day!

The arrival in July of the Gr1 Champion son of Redoute’s Choice, Rafeef, to complement the existing star-studded Highlands stallion roster, was greeted with great anticipation by breeders. His full book bore testimony to the market’s clamour for the best international quality blood.

To further bolster the powerful arsenal in the stallion barn, triple Royal Ascot winner Canford Cliffs (IRE) joins the farm’s roster in 2018. A sire that has already produced Group winners internationally, Canford Cliffs also boasts all the credentials on the track where he was crowned Champion Older Miler in Europe in 2011 and was top-rated 3yo miler in England and Ireland in 2010.

The existing stallion team is headed by champion producer Dynasty, who is the only South African sire to be crowned Equus Outstanding Stallion four times!

His triple Gr.1 winning son Jackson - whose first crop race as 2yo’s this term - and speed sire Pathfork, do their talking on the Gr.1 racetrack, in the sales arena and on the racing awards honour rolls.

A sought after producer of champions, Dynasty continues to hold his own at the highest level.

His daughters Lady In Black and Just Sensual joined their illustrious sire on the Equus stage when they galloped off with the mantle of Champion 2yo filly and Champion 3yo filly respectively. The Gr.1 Thekwini Stakes winner Lady In Black was also acknowledged as best 2yo at the KZN Racing Awards, while the Gr.1 Cape Fillies Guineas victress Just Sensual scooped the dual category Champion 3yo award at the Cape Racing and Breeding Awards.

Another daughter of Dynasty to win at the highest level was Gr.1 Paddock Stakes and Gr.1 Garden Province stakes champion Bela-Bela, who was acknowledged in the Older Female category at the Cape Racing and Breeders Awards.

Highlands proudly bred Gr.1 Woolavington 2000 winner Lady Of The House and the Gr.1 Premiers Champion Stakes star Eyes Wide Open, the latter crowned Cape Champion 2yo colt. The extraordinary achievement of the Highlands bred Cape Winter Series Triple Crown winner African Night Sky was also acknowledged at the Cape regional awards.

42

arade MAGAZINE | October 2017

NEVER LOOK

A GIFT HORSE IN THE MOUTH

by Rob Haswell

W

ell I found one – owning a race horse or two. I bought one, who looked good but did not enjoy racing, and another, who was given to me, looked too small, but won his first race in convincing style -- hence the title of this tale.

cumulus.

Regular readers of my newspaper column will know that, from time to time, I dabble in horse racing, and, time and again, my July predictions go awry. However, two years ago I found myself retired and widowed, and needing a new hobby, a reason to get up fresh in the morning.

46

arade MAGAZINE | October 2017

My father had owned a few race horses, and each of my older siblings learnt to ride, and had their own horses.

But our somewhat idyllic life came to an abrupt end, when the government abolished my father’s source of income – greyhound racing – in 1948. So, I have always told myself that I missed out.

Fast forward to settling in Maritzburg in 1974, and seeing Lester Pigott have an armchair win on Sledgehammer, and an unforgettable win, after being left at the start, on The Malster, and the racing bug began to bite. About two years ago, Anton Procter, who breeds race horses in the hills above Cedara, invited me to look at some yearlings, but the black Toreador colt I liked was already bespoken for. Then leading racing scribe, Andrew Harrison, introduced me to Duncan Howells, who trains a large string in Ashburton, and is KZN’s champion trainer.

Duncan and his wife Cathy, who is a respected judge of horse flesh, suggested I look at an unnamed two year old colt. I told my family that I was going to look at a horse, and that inspired my 8 year old grand-daughter, Emma, who lives in the U.S.A., to draw a picture of a fiery chestnut and to name him Fire Bolt. Lo and behold, the colt was indeed a fiery chestnut, so I just had to buy him and name him Fire Bolt. However, there was already a horse of that name, but the fairy tale seemed to continue when that horse left the country. Another of my grand-daughters, Tia, who lives in Ashburton designed the colours which the jockeys who rode my horse were to wear. Duncan transformed the colt into a muscular specimen, and Des McDonald, the doyen of our city’s punters, and I, became regulars at the early morning gallops – rain or shine.

Fire Bolt showed promise but in seven races he showed little resolve, little desire to win. Duncan tried everything he knew, we raced him from off the pace, close to the front, with

When I told some other racing friends, I was being given a horse, they were less than encouraging. “Nobody gives away a good horse”, and, “does he have four legs?” was their response. blinkers and had him gelded, but to no avail. It was clearly a case of: you can take a horse to the track, but you can’t get him to race. So I gave him to a riding school, and he is very well looked after and happy. I was poorer but hopefully a little wiser. But wiser racing heads told me that racing is not about fairy tales, and that only a small percentage of horses ever win a race, let alone more than one. I began to reside myself that I was not destined to own a winner.

But Anton Proctor would not hear of me not being involved in racing, and offered me another of Toreador’s offspring, who was being prepared for racing by newly licensed trainer Nathan Kotzen. I had long thought that Kotzen, who managed Mike de Kock’s champions when they raced in our province, had not received the credit he deserved, when horses in his care won The July. So, Des and I drove down to Summerveld, to give Cumulus, a gelding by Toreador out of Celestial Cloud, the once over. Being a geographer I appreciated the horse’s name, but was a little wary of getting involved again based on a whim.

My first impression was that Cumulus was a small and calm horse, and when he was put through his paces he moved well, and showed no signs of not enjoying it. When I told some other racing friends, I was being given a horse, they were less than encouraging. “Nobody gives away a good horse”, and, “does he have four legs?” was their response. Yet, this small horse, “a pony” to some of these ‘fundis’, appealed to

fire bolt.

me, and I took over ownership with only the cost of monthly training fees. I was quietly confident that this little horse would at least run a place or two.

In mid-July I flew to the U.S.A. for a two month sojourn, telling Nathan Kotzen that I would prefer that Cumulus would only make his debut after I return in mid-September. However, Nathan contacted me after three weeks to tell him that the horse had come on in leaps and bounds, and that he wanted to nominate him for a race, and have him racing fit for my return. A flurry of paperwork followed, and Cumulus was set to have his first race at Scottsville, on 3 September over 1200 metres – a distance short of his best.

Clearly, this was a prep run and he was up against three horses which had already run creditably, and had been backed to win. Then, Kotzen secured the services of top jockey Anthony Delpech, and while that raised a few eyebrows, an outside place chance seemed to be the best to hope for.

Kotzen told me “the horse is working well, could place, but I would not be surprised if he won”. Being thousands of miles away, I could not watch the race live, but the horse eased out in the betting, and a small win and place wager seemed in order, if only to have a little more interest in the race.

Cumulus jumped into the lead almost from the start, galloped with the leading group, and pulled away from them to win comfortably, and in a good time. WOW ! I celebrated with Bobby, my oldest son, as social media began to buzz, about the little horse that could. Yes, I was sorry not to be lead him in – Anton and Des did that – but it was also Kotzen’s first win as a trainer, and, in addition 3 September was my late father’s birthday. It was exciting and emotional, and who said dreams don’t come true in racing?

On the contrary, and above all, never look a gift horse in the mouth.

arade MAGAZINE | October 2017 47

What makes

Legal eagle tick

by Ada van der Bent

Exactly fifty years and four generations after Ethane was crowned Broodmare of the Year, her descendant Legal Eagle scooped the coveted Equus Horse of the Year award for the second successive time.

48

arade MAGAZINE | October 2017

T

his remarkable mare was bred and raced by famed breeding authority Allan Robertson and was by Mehrali, a speedy Mahmoud half-brother to English 2000 Guineas winner Palestine, out of the excellent racemare Ethyl, whose 13 wins included a defeat of male rivals in the SA Nursery.

Ethane scored just once as an early juvenile and was sold to Archie Dell of Platberg Stud as a filly out of training. As Dell’s son Anthony recalls: “She was not very big but had plenty of quality and a mind of her own!”

Robertson no doubt came to regret selling Ethane, for as a broodmare she packed a rare punch, counting 11 winners amongst her 13 foals, five of which excelled at stakes level.

To Dante’s grandson Utrillo II, she bred one of the greats of the South African turf, the brilliant colt Hawaii. Trained by George Azzie for American tycoon Charles Engelhard, his dominance over his peers made him the country’s champion two and three-year-old. A dual classic winner of both Cape and SA Guineas, the handsome bay was exported to the States where he likewise set the American grass tracks alight.

Successful in the Man O’War and United Nations Handicap arade MAGAZINE | October 2017 49

and runner-up in the Washington International, he remains the sole South African-bred horse ever to earn championship honours when voted the leading American Grass Horse in 1969.

Retired to the famed Claiborne Farm, he became a successful stallion. Given his grass pedigree, he had the distinction of siring an Epsom Derby winner in Henbit, while Hawaiian Sound and Hunza Dancer also reached the frame in the Blue Riband of the English turf.

Ethane’s colt by Netherwood named William Penn was not far off Hawaii in ability, in fact, he defeated his illustrious sibling in the Champion Stakes at Greyville. A handsome, almost black horse with a magnificent head, he too captured the SA Guineas and completed the coveted Queen’s Plate/Met double.

Although a rig, he was retired to Odessa Stud as an eight-yearold but proved sub-fertile and returned to training as a ten-yearold. Amazingly, he more than held his own against the cream of the younger horses at the very top level. Fittingly, his final win as an 11-year-old was at Milnerton, where ten years before he had cracked his maiden.

Bred to Joy II, Ethane produced the minor stakes Enchanter, a big, high quality bay with a lovely head and rein, who stood at the Parkers’ Ascot Stud. Ironically, whereas his illustrious half-brother Hawaii has all but disappeared from modern day pedigree pages, he features as the sire of Saffron, the grandam of Ascot resident stallion Bold Silvano.

William Penn’s full sisters Ethylwood and Entrance, both landed the Natal Nursery Plate. The former bred stakes winning colt Top Brass and became ancestress of Gr.1 SA Classic hero Patchouli Dancer.

Entrance also added the Clairwood Nursery to her Natal Nursery win. A quality individual and bigger than her dam, she went on to produce stakes-placed duo Whirl A Way and Goddess and features as the third dam of Gr.1 Computaform Sprint hero Military Song. However, it is her daughter Winged Princess who defied all the odds to become a successful broodmare, and from her descends Legal Eagle. She was sired by the well-bred American import, Another Prince. By Prince John out of an own sister to American champion Tim Tam, he lacked nothing in pedigree, but proved a hugely disappointing stallion.

Winged Princess never raced and became a member of the Odessa broodmare band. Former owner Lionel Cohen remembers her well: “Winged Princess was a rather plain,

round-shaped mare. She was average size but what she lacked in scope and length she made up in substance. She was not very athletic at all and had that Another Prince plain head.”

Bred to Elliodor’s champion son Model Man, Winged Princess produced a filly in 1990 and as Lionel recalls: “Fair Model I remember selling in Durban at the Newmarket sales.

She was always very athletic, fair sized and had lots of quality.

She had a lovely quality head. Model Man’s scope obviously played a big role in this mating decision. We always liked her as a youngster. If I remember she had one foreleg which wasn’t correct and that put buyers off. She was from an early crop of Model Man and I am not sure he had got going by then. Model Man’s scope and length coupled with his racing ability was a perfect mating for Winged Princess and it worked out that way.”

Despite her less than perfect foreleg, Ethane’s grandaughter was to prove herself one of the best of her generation. Fittingly, she won Scottsville’s prestigious Gr.1 Allan Robertson named in honour of Ethane’s breeder, while her string of Graded stakes places included Gr 1 seconds in all of the Garden Province, Cape Guineas, Fillies Guineas and Paddock Stakes.

Like so many top racemares, she never produced anything resembling herself in ability, although her six winners from 10 foals included a pair of stakes-placed runners.

To Complete Warrior she bred Gr 2 Selangor Cup runnerup Young Warrior and at age 12, foaled a filly by National Emblem. Named Young Sensation, she too, had a touch of class about her, scoring six times and earning small black type when runner-up in The Scarlet Lady and third in the Gr 2 Gerald Rosenberg. She retired to the Avontuur Stud and after foaling to Var and Antonius Pius, stud manageress Pippa Mickleburgh decided on champion Greys Inn as Young Sensation’s third mate. Reflecting on the mating, Pippa recalls: “Young Sensation is a neat correct mare with a high-quality head, good hind quarters and strength across her loins and back.

I decided to send her to Greys Inn as the pedigree worked well to me and she had the elements that the son of Zabeel required. Besides, she was athletic but with some substance, which Greys Inn needed.”

The result was Legal Eagle, who has carried all before him these past two seasons and together with grandam Fair Model, is proof that the excellence of a female line may skip a generation or more, yet often returns with a bang.

The result was Legal Eagle, who has carried all before him these past two seasons and together with grandam Fair Model, is proof that the excellence of a female line may skip a generation or more, yet often returns with a bang.

50

arade MAGAZINE | October 2017

A season of Greats KwaZulu-Natal had an admirable past season in addition to plenty of international results enhancing the credentials of their resident well related young stallions.

by Candiese Marnewick

52

arade MAGAZINE | October 2017

P

roducing results and in particular Graded Stakes wins from smaller numbers than the other bigger breeding province, Summerhill Stud finished a close second to Klawervlei after dominating the title for South Africa’s Champion Breeder for 10 of the past 11 years.

Summerhill are associated with a few outstanding race fillies over the past year, including surprise Gr.1 Allan Robertson Championship winner Brave Mary, giving their son of Storm Cat - Brave Tin Soldier - his third career Gr.1 win as a sire.

Brave Mary, bred by Rupert Plersch, won the race with ease for trainer Paul Matchett, and saw her snapped up by Team Valor.

This was the second KZN-bred filly to be purchased by Team Valor this past season. They also acquired Gr.3 winner Anna Pavlova, a daughter of St Petersburg and one of the last sons of Nureyev currently at stud in South Africa.

arade MAGAZINE | October 2017 53

All three stallions are sons of outstanding sires of sires, and if their stamp, looks and quality of their foals are anything to go by, KZN is in for a bright future.

The combination of Sean Tarry and Chris Van Niekerk have added to the success this year for Summerhill, with their fillies winning Graded races including Intergalactic, Witchcraft, Wukkin’ Up and the Visionaire gelding Africa Rising.

Rathmor Stud have strongly represented KZN at the sales over the past season, with Mike and Tanya McHardy’s resident stallion Noble Tune a regular news feature. The farm have head hunted broodmare prospects and this has paid off at sales which saw Equus Champion 2YO Filly, the unbeaten Lady In Black’s full brother, sold to John Freeman for R1,7million. The colt, named Identity Thief, will have a Noble Tune half-sibling born this year. Rathmor achieved a brilliant sales average of R525 00 for eight yearlings sold.

The well related son of Unbridled’s Song followed up two months later as leading sire overall at the KZN Yearling Sale.

Continuing the momentum, Rathmor made news when they purchased a Henrythenavigator broodmare from the CTS Mare Sale, in foal to Dynasty, for R2,4million. Noble Tune will have his first progeny on the tracks in 2018 and has enjoyed significant outside support from leading Cape farms.

Breeder Nothemba Mlonzi of Mwetwood Stud situated in Birnam Wood near Howick, became the first black female to sell a horse at the National Yearling Sale. Nathan Kotzen purchased the Master Of My Fate filly for R100 000.

Other stallions to feature prominently this year were Crusade, Flying The Flag and Toreador. The latter two stand at Bush Hill Stud.

British Gr.1 winner Crusade got himself out of the starting blocks with seven juvenile winners, and earning black type in Zimbabwe with Butchie Boy. Crusade’s half-sister, described as a big rangy racehorse by her maestro trainer Aiden O’Brien, is a Galileo two-time Gr.1 Oaks winner and proved her mettle internationally by placing second in the Gr.1 Sheema Classic in Dubai, and fourth in the Gr.1 Breeders Cup for Fillies And Mares on turf.

Flying The Flag, an international Group winning son of Galileo out of a five-time Gr.1 Pivotal mare, has been boosted with the outstanding European achievements of his full sisters – Cartier Irish 2YO Champion filly Rhododendron and Magical. Rhododendron recently secured her second Gr.1 victory in France on Arc day, whilst Magical, a Gr.2 Debutante winner, has now placed in two prominent Gr.1’s including the Moyglare Stakes. Flying The Flag has his first crop arriving this year.

Toreador has enjoyed another wonderful year and

54

arade MAGAZINE | October 2017

produced his second Gr.1 winner during Champions Season with Bull Valley taking both the Gr1. Tsogo Sun and Gr.1 Mercury sprints. The Ambiance-bred was crowned Gold Circle’s Horse Of The Year. Another is Rikitikitana and Scott Bros’ Matador Man – the common denominator being Sean Tarry as trainer.

Tarry enjoyed a highly successful meeting at the KZN Breeders annual Race Day, held the week before the running of the Vodacom Durban July. Tarry made his mark by winning six of the nine races on the day, including the Million Mile with Gr.1 placed Matador Man. It was a hugely successful race day with over R2,7million in stakes on offer.

Sad losses to the KZN Breeding ranks were Kahal and Await The Dawn. The latter was the first stallion in South Africa to be syndicated that included staff shares at Summerhill Stud and was owned in partnership by the Scribante’s of Piemonte Stud.

Kahal, finished sixth on the National Sires Log and produced a Gr.2 winner as a broodmare sire for Paul Peter with Gold Bracelet winner Fort Ember and an Australian Gr.3 winner from his grey Gr.1 winning daughter Noble Heir. We should see his chestnut Frankel grand-daughter debut soon for Mike de Kock – the Australian import making the news down under when she sold to Shadwell for $625 000 as a yearling, out of Backworth Gr.1 winner Chocolicious. Kahal added a Gr.1 winner north of South Africa’s borders when Summerhillbred Commanche Brave secured the Castle Tankard at Borrowdale.

Des Scott, of Scott Bros, produced a Gr.1 winner in the UK with colt Rivet as breeder and part owner, a flying son of Fastnet Rock out of a Galileo mare. Jill Fox of The Fort Stud bred a handsome colt by the underestimated Just As Well, the juvenile As Paragon delighted his breeder after securing the award as Kenya’s Champion 2YO Colt.

Bruce Le Roux who stands Just As Well at his Spring Valley Stud, enjoyed a great year, producing an incredible ratio of 40 winners from 55 runners, for a winners to runners percentage of 49% and average earnings of almost R60 000. From those 55 runners for the season, a staggering 183 brought home cheques after placing and earned over R3,2million in stakes.

Le Roux, chairman of the KZN Breeders Club, has been investing in top class fillies over the past few years in partnership with Tinus Gericke.They are off to a positive start with Gr.2 winner A Woman’s Way and imposing Dynasty filly, Hashtagyolo, who toyed with her rivals on debut over 1700m.

The young and flourishing Piemonte Stud, owned in partnership by father and son duo Lee and Dino Scribante, featured this season with their smartly-bred Celestina and adding to their own future broodmare band, were rewarded at the Eastern Cape Awards with the juvenile Queen Forever and Beataboutthebush.

Foals to look forward to this season in addition to the first crop from Flying The Flag, include the Gr1 winning son of Dubawi at Summerhill, Willow Magic, and his Dynasty stablemate Act Of War.

KZN-BRED

Graded Stakes Winners For The Season Small On Numbers. Big On Results!

africa rising

anna Pavlova

bezanova

Grade 3 Winner

Grade 3 Winner

Grade 2 Winner

*By KZN Sire Toreador

brave mary

bull valley

Grade 1 Winner

Grade 1 Winner

Grade 2 Winner

intergalactic

matador man

Grade 2 Winner

romany Prince

Million Mile Winner

Grade 3 Winner

chamPagne haze

For any enquiries, please contact candiesemarnewick@gmail.com or 083 789 1631 www.kznbreeders.co.za Facebook: KZNBreeders â–Ş Twitter: @ KZNBreeders â–Ş Instagram: KZNBreeders

The star

STUDDED Cape

56

arade MAGAZINE | October 2017

by Sarah Whitelaw

Tracy Robertson Photography

Horse Of The Year to cover five time G1 winner Drakenstein Stud’s outstanding homebred racemare Inara visits Dynasty in 2017. The blue blooded daughter of Trippi (Inara’s dam is also granddam of triple G1 Canadian International winner and sire Joshua Tree and her second dam is Seattle Slew’s G1 Coronation Stakes winning daughter Magic Of Life) must rate as one of South Africa’s most exciting broodmare hopes, with a racing record as impressive as her pedigree. Inara was an extraordinary racemare who won G1 races in each of South Africa’s different racing provinces.

Trained by Mike Bass, the gallant Inara (who was from the same generation as fellow filly standouts Carry On Alice, Smart Call, Same Jurisdiction, Siren’s Call and Majmu) won or placed in 16 of her 20 races and won all of the G1 Maine Chance Farms Paddock Stakes, G1 Klawervlei Majorca Stakes (twice), G1 Empress Club Stakes and ended her career when landing the G1 Jonsson Workwear Garden Province Stakes. Her first foal is this lovely filly foal (pictured) sired by Drakenstein’s exciting resident sire Duke Of Orange, responsible for 2017 standout international performers Big Orange and Marmelo. Hopefully Inara and her filly can continue the great legacy of Inara’s dam Mountains Of Mist, who sadly died recently at Drakenstein.

Exciting plans for Wilgerbosdrift stars Wilgerbosdrift, home to exciting young sires Flower Alley and Soft Falling Rain –both of whom will be represented by their first South African yearlings this season, enjoyed tremendous success in 2016-2017, with their runners including the G1 winners Orchid Island, Nightingale and Nother Russia.

Unfortunately, the stakes winning Ilha Grande, dam of Fillies Classic winner Orchid Island, is deceased as is Nother Russia’s champion dam Mother Russia, but Fort Wood’s G3 winning daughter Quickwood, dam of G1 Majorca Stakes winner Nightingale, is due to return to Nightingale’s sire, Silvano, in 2017.

Another well performed mare residing at the farm is G3 Poinsettia Stakes winner Headstrong, whose sire Pivotal is also broodmare sire of 2017 G1 winning fillies Hydrangea and Precieuse, as well as Frankel’s talented son Cracksman. Headstrong is booked to four time G1 winner, and one of South Africa’s most exciting sires, Twice Over, whose first runners include brilliant G1 Tsogo Sun Gold Medallion winner Sand And Sea.

arade MAGAZINE | October 2017 57

Half sister to champion sprinter born at Riverton Stud Riverton Stud, whose runners have such a remarkable record in the G1 Tsogo Sun Gold Medallion and breeders’ of last season’s top-class runner Al Mariachi, were delighted by a recent arrival to their farm.

Their mare Serious Side, dam of champion sprinter and young sire Captain Of All, recently gave birth to a colt by young Tapit sire Coup De Grace. Triple G1 winner Captain Of All, South Africa’s Equus Champion Sprinter of 2014-2015 and one of the best sons of the late champion sire Captain Al, will be represented by his first yearlings in 2018.

He is one of three Gold Medallion winners bred and or raised by Riverton Stud, who were involved in three of the four winners from 2010-2013 with Link Man, Potent Power and Captain Of All (Al Mariachi went close to giving the farm another win when third to Sand And Sea in 2017).

Captain Of All himself is the sire of a really nice filly out of Ninefold, a Warm White Night mare whose dam is a half-sister to Australian five time G1 winner Boban (Bernardini), who earned more than AUS$2.8 million in stakes. Ninefold herself is booked to visit Tapit’s G2 winning son Coup De Grace this year.

The Barrys are also delighted by a lovely colt foal from the first crop of Horse Of The Year and Dynasty son Futura. The latter was produced by the three time winning Captain Al mare Capulette, a full-sister to Listed Syringa Handicap winner Secret Obsession (dam of promising filly Silver Thursday).

Antonoe’s dam to Champion Few farms in South Africa are home to a dam of a US G1 winner. Klawervlei Stud, South Africa’s Champion Breeders last season, are however home to the beautifully bred Dynaformer mare Ixora, whose daughter Antonoe (First Defence) captured the G1Longines Just A Game Stakes at Belmont Park. To date, the potential Breeders’ Cup contender Antonoe, one of the leading 2yos of her year when racing in France in 2015, has won four of just ten outings and has earned in excess of $500 000 in stakes. Her dam Ixora, due to foal to champion sire Silvano in November, could visit Twice Over to Northern Time, with Klawervlei pondering the possibility of sending the mare back to Europe. The mating of Ixora to European Champion and four time G1 winner Twice

R120 4 ISSUES

58

Over is an interesting one, with the resulting foal being closely inbred to the important mare Lost Virtue, third dam of both Twice Over and Ixora. Klawervlei are also delighted by the first foals on the ground for their resident sire Coup De Grace, the only son of Tapit at stud in South Africa. A dual graded winner himself, Coup De Grace’s half-sister Dancing Rags won the G1 Alciabiades Stakes in 2016.

Siblings bring joy to Lammerskraal Lammerskraal Stud’s blue blooded broodmare band have some produced some exceptional foals this season. Among the mares to have foaled down at that Ceres farm recently are the full-sisters Bichette and Blizzard Belle, with the pair both by Western Winter out of Bardot. Bichette, whose four wins included a six length romp in the 2015 G2 Camellia Stakes, recently had a filly by reigning champion sire Silvano, while her nine time winning sister Blizzard Belle (who set a new South African record over 1000m at Fairview) foaled a filly by another Maine Chance Farms sire, Querari.

Bichette is set to visit top speed sire Var this year, while Blizzard Belle goes to Visionaire. The pair are half-sisters to G1 Woolavington 2000 winner Viva Maria, whose Dynasty colt fetched R5.75 million at the 2016 Cape Premier Yearling Sale. The daughter of Jet Master has a lovely yearling filly by Silvano, and was covered by Dynasty this season.

The sisters were produced by Badger Land daughter Bardot, whose five wins included the G3 Jacaranda Handicap.

Bardot, dam of last season’s G1 performer Warrior’s Rest (by What A Winter), herself has a filly by Dynasty at foot and is back in foal to the farm’s exciting sire Visionaire.

The pair are half-sisters to G1 Woolavington 2000 winner Viva Maria, whose Dynasty colt fetched R5.75 million at the 2016 Cape Premier Yearling Sale.

Subscription Enquiries Contact Kaylene T: 031 314 1994 E: kaylenej@goldcircle.co.za

SOUTH AFRICA’S PREMIER HORSERACING MAGAZINE

arade MAGAZINE | October 2017

DELIVERED STRAIGHT TO YOUR DOOR

ALWAYS IN CHARGE FRENCH NAVY

READY TO RUN SALE SEVENTH PLAIN

p r e s e n t e d

b y

LANZERAC H O T E L & S PA

RED RAY

SEARCH PARTY

ZODIAC RULER

16 - 17 November 2017 Durbanville, Cape Town

OUTSTANDING RACETRACK PERFORMANCE

TEN GUN SALUTE

CAPTAIN AMERICA

RTR GRADUATES INCLUDE THE STAKES WINNERS:

ALWAYS IN CHARGE CAPTAIN AMERICA FRENCH NAVY RED RAY SEVENTH PLAIN ALEXIS ARION BRUTAL FORCE FORT EMBER SEARCH PARTY TEN GUN SALUTE

G1 G1 G1 G1 G1 G2 G2 G2 G2 G2 G2

CHAMPION CHAMPION CHAMPION CHAMPION CHAMPION

CHAMPION

ZODIAC RULER ANTONIUS DU BOIS BARRACK STREET BELONG TO ME CAPTAIN CHAOS CAT AND THE MOON CROWD PLEASER LIEGE NORDIC BREEZE REIM ROYAL BADGE

G2 G3 G3 G3 G3 G3 G3 G3 G3 G3 G3

CHAMPION

SERGEANT HARDY ANGLET EVERSOLUCKY FLANDERS HA LUCY HARVARD CRIMSON LADY OF KILDARE LORD BALMORAL MILADY MY EMBLEM SUNSET TRIPP

w w w. c a p e t h o r o u g h b r e d s a l e s . c o m

G3 L L L L L L L L L L

champion

by Leonard Strong

Lyle Hewitson - national champion apprentice & eastern cape champion apprentice.

The end of the 2016 racing season ushered in the annual series of awards evenings across the racing regions and amongst the elite equine athletes and stars, four Champion Apprentices have been crowned.

T

hese young men perfectly illustrate that the South African Jockey Academy (SAJA) is still producing quality apprentice jockeys that are not only a credit to themselves and the Academy, but also the South African Racing Industry!

60

arade MAGAZINE | October 2017

National Champion Apprentice & Eastern Cape Champion Apprentice Lyle Hewitson is the quintessential apprentice, ever since he joined SAJA, he has been ultra-competitive and professional with his riding, winning countless awards and prizes. His love for horses and horse racing is infectious and those involved in the horse racing industry simply marvel at his achievements.

Lyle was already an exciting apprentice prospect, with numerous winners in the Work Riders Series, when he joined the SAJA Summerveld campus and under the guidance of the Academy Riding Coaches rode out his claim in record time. A move to the Gauteng Jockey Academy, was a natural

www.saja.co.za

apprentices progression for Lyle, who relished the opportunity to ride in more races on the Highveld, while still travelling to the Eastern Cape and KZN to compete in their races. After a fantastic 2016 season, where he rode 124 winners, Lyle was deservedly crowned both the National Champion Apprentice at the Equus Awards and Eastern Cape Champion Apprentice at the Eastern Cape Racing Awards.

KZN Champion Apprentice Determination, discipline and an excellent work ethic has seen young apprentice jockey Eric Ngwane have an incredible season that saw him defend his KZN Champion Apprentice tile, fighting off some stiff competition from apprentices Diego De Gouveia and Ashton Arries! The highlight of Eric’s successful season was when he won the KWAZULU-NATAL BREEDERS MILLION MILE at Greyville in June aboard MATADOR MAN, trained by Sean Tarry, as it gave this young apprentice the biggest victory in his career so far!

eric ngwane - kzn champion apprentice

Northern Cape Champion Apprentice Mpumelelo Mjoka, or “Mpume” as he is known to many in the racing industry, is an apprentice with a lively personality, who is always smiling, hardworking and grabs any and every opportunity that comes his way! Mpume’s pragmatic approach to racing, saw him ride numerous winners at Flamingo Park that resulted in him winning the Northern Cape Champion Apprentice title. Mpume’s positive attitude and hard work resulted in him being selected to represent South Africa at the Prix Longines Future Racing Stars at the Chantilly Racecourse in France in June, which he won aboard BEAUPREAU, trained by Danny de Waele.

mpumelelo mjoka - northern Cape Champion Apprentice.

Western Cape Champion Apprentice A combination of hard work and talent under the guidance of Western Cape Riding Coach Terrance Welch saw apprentice Craig Bantam have a breakthrough year that netted him 23 winners, which resulted in Craig being crowned Western Cape Champion Apprentice. Craig is very humble about his achievement and acknowledged that he wouldn’t have been able to achieve this without the support of Western Cape Owners and Trainers who gave so many opportunities to ride their horses. Craig is also full of praise for Trainer Vaughan Marshall and Jockey M J Byleveld for their advice, guidance and support throughout the season.

craig bantam - western Cape Champion Apprentice.

www.saja.co.za

arade MAGAZINE | October 2017 61

BSA SALES OFFER SOMETHING FOR EVERY BUYER Bloodstock South Africa have confirmed their sales dates for 2018, with the first of their auctions set to take place at the Mistico Equestrian Centre.

The 2018 Cape Yearling Sale has been carded to take place on February 25th, and once again should provide buyers with great opportunities to buy high-class prospects at often bargain prices.

Graduates of this sale continue to shine in top class races around South Africa, with recent Cape Sale graduates including the likes of graded stakes winners Gold Standard, Green Pepper, Hack Green, and Doosra.

Last season’s East Cape Champion 2YO Filly Queen Forever was a bargain R100 000 at the 2016 Cape Yearling Sale, while last season’s Gr 3 The Debutante heroine Princess Peach cost a somewhat heftier R700 000 at the same sale.

The majestic Mistico Equestrian Centre has plenty to offer as a venue and attracted plenty of positive comments after the sale was held there for a first time last year.

South Africa’s oldest and most successful thoroughbred auction, the 2018 National Yearling Sale, will once again be held at the TBA complex in Germiston. The sale will again be held over three days, with buyers able to acquire some of the country’s best bred yearlings from April 24 to 26 next year.

Poster-boy for the National Sale in recent times has been dual Horse Of The Year Legal Eagle, with the Avontuur-bred star having picked up six Gr1 wins and an equal number of Equus Awards! The son of Greys Inn, a R425 000 buy from the 2013 National Sale, has earned nearly R10 000 000 in prize money and he could well surpass that mark this season. Other Gr1 winning recent graduates of the country’s flagship sale include last season’s Gr1 Vodacom Durban July winner Marinaresco, 2017 Gr1 Premier’s Champions Challenge hero Deo Juvente, and recently crowned Equus Champion, Lady In Black.

While prices remain high (reflecting the tremendous quality on offer) at the National Sale, the KZN Yearling Sale remains a hugely popular sale with trainers and buyers seeking value for money. Another sale with a tremendous record of producing high class athletes, the KZN Sale will again take place at the Sibaya Casino on July 5 and 6 – days before the running of South Africa’s most famous horse-race, the Gr1 Vodacom Durban July. Last season’s Gr1 Premiers Champion Stakes winner Eyes Wide Open and the promising Al Mariachi (winner of both the Gr3 Avontuur Umkhomazi Stakes and KZN Yearling Sale Million last season) were both sold off the 2016 KZN Yearling Sale, and both look likely to add further glory to this sale this season. Other top performers to have graduated from this sale include Triple Crown-winning sire Louis The King, Gr1 SA Derby hero Seal, and last season’s Equus Champion Stayer, Hermoso Mundo.

The National Two Year Old Sale is one of the country’s best sales, with a long and impressive roll of honour.

Notable graduates from this sale include the multiple Gr1 winning young sires, Jackson and The Apache, as well Equus Champion Bela-Bela, exported Cape Guineas hero Noah From Goa and legendary sprinter J J The Jet Plane.

A full list of sales’ dates for BSA auctions can be found online at www.tba.co.za

62

arade MAGAZINE | October 2017

arade MAGAZINE | October 2017 63

The people’s

jockey

by Robyn Louw

Page 832 of Volume 75 of the South African Racing Calendar lists the last two races of the Bloemfontein card for 1 January 1978. While the results lie buried in the mists of time, their significance to the South African industry – and the jockey ranks in particular – cannot be overestimated, because the name in the rider column is B.J. Leisher.

B

artie may not have had a very long racing career, but as they say ‘You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough’ and Bartie packed an incredible amount into his 23 years of race riding. In addition to his Springbok colours and his feature race triumphs, the accolade that belongs to him and to him alone is the fact that he is the first South African jockey to win a championship outside South Africa.

His achievement served to put South Africa on the map and wedge the door to the world stage firmly open.

Meeting Bartie

Trying to get hold of Bartie is something of a madcap adventure because one doesn’t simply get in touch with the Leishers, you join the family and brothers, nephews, girlfriends and more come part of the package. The story is told in overlapping shifts with contributions from all angles. However, it seems fitting for someone was larger than life in so many ways.

64

arade MAGAZINE | October 2017

Bartie was born on 25 January 1962, the youngest of the strict Catholic family’s nine children. His meticulously maintained journals reflect he joined the SA Jockey Academy on 29 December 1976. “For me it was a laugh. I was interested in going to work outside and learn about animals. When I got there, I thought I would see something like a big dog,” he giggles. “At 14, what do you know? When I saw it put its head out of the stable, it took me a while to go in!” he laughs. It took him two years to learn to ride, but he applied himself diligently. “If you want to get to the top, you’ve just got to work harder than everyone else. But the weight, that’s a different story,” he whistles.

After signing his papers in August 1978, Bartie’s first winner came in the 1700m Allanridge Handicap in Bloemfontein for owner-trainer J Agenbag. “The trainer gave me instructions in Afrikaans. I kept trying to say I didn’t understand, but he just kept speaking and I never understood a word he said.

In the race, I jumped out, went to the front and followed the rails and we won by 7.5 lengths. The next race I rode, I won by a neck. So I thought ‘this is quite easy. You’ve got fences all around you, you just ride hard, and you ride winners. From there, it was just a matter of hard work and plenty more hard work.”

Honest Jockey Bartie’s star was soon on the ascent, but along with success

1986 Gr1 Rothmans July - OCCULT.

came offers to cheat, but Bartie says firmly, “I never did. My dad told me ‘if you do it once, you’ll always have to do it’, so I never did.” This fierce determination to always give his best earned him a huge following and a reputation as a jockey who always rode to win.

Bartie’s 1982 July ride, Sweet Wonder, had the connections so confident the victory party arranged weeks in advance.

They did go down in the history books, but not the way they expected. Sweet Wonder came from the clouds and victory looked certain, but Jamaican Rumba made one last lunge in the shadow of the post and Sweet Wonder turned to savage his rival, losing the race by his out-turned head. “Each horse has got stories, the big horses have got big stories,” Bartie says sagely.

In 1984 and aged 23, Bartie became the youngest SA jockey to be awarded his Springbok Colours, an honour he felt profoundly. He earned them again in 1985, the same year he won the Transvaal Championship with 173 wins, beating Gerald Turner’s long-standing record. And then came 1986 and the Rothmans July, when Bartie got the call up for Occult.

July Upset “I got a phone call from Terrance Millard who said he had three horses entered for the July and if he ran all three, would I ride one? I said yes. He asked, ‘Can you ride the weight?’

For a month, Bartie lived on half a slice of toast a day, with a punishing exercise regime. “I’d slip and fall from sweating right through my socks and takkies,” he remembers.

I said yes. Meantime I didn’t even look at the weight,” he giggles. Occult was carded to carry 50,5kgs - “I had to weigh 47kgs stripped!” he exclaims For a month, Bartie lived on half a slice of toast a day, with a punishing exercise regime. “I’d slip and fall from sweating right through my socks and takkies,” he remembers. Then he would run up 23 flights of stairs to his room in the Maharani, and wrap himself up in bed under 3 blankets. “That was my day. The worst part was knowing tomorrow you’ve got to do it again.” While Bartie waged war with the scales, Occult was not showing the same resolve. “From what I was feeling at work, I couldn’t win the July. My horse never won a gallop and that’s a fact. But I pray a lot and I asked God to help me win the race.”

arade MAGAZINE | October 2017 65

There wasn’t a second one and Bartie flourished in Hong Kong. The 1988 Championship race went down to the wire, with Bartie securing it by one race from the legendary Tony Cruz. At 26, he became the first South African jockey to win an international championship.

An instant hit with the Hong Kong racing public, Bartie was, in the words of his cousin, ‘more famous than the Beatles’.

However, on March 25 1989, comfortably en route to a second Hong Kong title and with the world at his feet, Bartie’s life changed in an instant when head injuries from a serious race riding accident left him fighting for his life. “We left it to God and the doctors,” says his brother Jacob. “We’ve always been strong Roman Catholics and the Lord and lady Mother Mary has kept us alive and healthy and our family together all these years.”

Recovery

Bartie leisher and girlfriend Lynne Venter.

With Mark Sutherland on Enchanted Garden and Felix Coetzee on Fools Holme each riding to strict instructions from Millard, Bartie rode his own race, skating Occult to the front to dictate the pace and sprinting for the finish.

The horse that couldn’t catch his stablemates at home, won by the best part of a length, setting a new track record and cementing Millard’s legend as the first trainer to saddle the first three past the July post. “That’s history,” says Bartie proudly. “Winning a July is something jockeys and trainers work for all their life. Most of them never make it, so it’s a very special claim to fame. Once your name is up there, you’ve done it. And my name’s up there.”

Top of his game On September 6, 1986, Bartie rode 6 winners (from 7 rides) – including Jungle Rock in Champion stakes; four days later he rode 4 winners at the Vaal and on September 13 he rode another 4 winners at Turffontein – a staggering 14 wins in 8 days.

Bartie’s memory is pin sharp and he relives the events of 30 years ago like they are yesterday, painting a picture of a sparkling young talent having the time of his life.

World Stage In 1987, Bartie was offered a contract to ride in Hong Kong for Brian Kan. Kan came with a fierce reputation and Bartie relates, “You had to be at work at 4am every morning. Not 4:10, 4am. He told me straight, ‘You get one warning. Next time, you’ve got no job.’ One day it was raining badly. Here if it’s raining, you know nobody’s going to work, so I didn’t go to work. I found out the next day, that’s just a normal day there. That was my first warning. But I got away with that one,” he chuckles.

66

arade MAGAZINE | October 2017

Bartie made a remarkable recovery and returned to South Africa several months later. He bought a farm and horses and established a training facility outside Johannesburg. His brother Tanse took out a trainers’ license and Bartie returned to race racing.

He was side-lined again, this time by a car accident, but fought his way back to the saddle a second time. At a race meeting at Gosforth Park on January 17, 1999, Bartie lost his colleague and childhood friend, Craig Magua in a racing accident. It affected Bartie deeply and in 2001 he retired from racing for good.

The star that once arced so high on the horizon is now tracing a gentle trajectory back to earth, but Bartie is happy.

He attends church regularly and is surrounded by family and his girlfriend Lynne and focusses on his farm where he keeps cattle and grows organic vegetables.

Unsung Hero Racing is not very good at celebrating our heroes, but even so, it is staggering that the name Bartie Leisher is not honoured or commemorated in some way.

Jacob relates a chance encounter from Turffontein from many years ago. “Out of the blue, an old man on a bench stopped me, and said, “Hey, do you know the best jock South Africa has ever seen? I said who? He said, ‘Your brother, Bartie Leisher.’ At that stage, it didn’t seem important. I brushed it off, said thank you, sir and moved on. This was 35 years ago, maybe more. The man was in his 80’s and probably had an additional 40, 50 years more experience than I did in racing.

It’s amazing that someone who’d seen our greats of the past would give Bartie such a compliment and recognition. God blesses someone with the ability to be a great sportsman. It’s a beautiful feeling to be remembered and to know you are not forgotten.”

Basil Marcus, Robbie Fradd, Douglas Whyte and Michael Roberts have all been crowned Champions on the international stage. But before any of them, there was Bartie Leisher.

uppe marketing A16888

TOP OF THE RANGE

QUALITY FEED

He means the world to you and only the best will do Epol’s extensive range of horse rations is scientifically formulated and fortified with vitamins and minerals for a perfectly balanced diet.

Assisting with muscle metabolism, respiratory and immune systems, supportive structures and optimizing digestion. Covering the nutritional demands of your horse.

success is in the bag For any horse-related questions, contact Epol on info@epol.co.za or Debbie.Dick@rclfoods.com For more information about our specific feeds and services: RCL FOODS: www.rclfoods.com EPOL: +27(0)31 242-8600 | www.epol.co.za

Jockey’s Diet

by Kathy Krog

68

arade MAGAZINE | October 2017

SAJERI opened its door officially in May 2016! The South African Jockey and Equestrian Research Institute, is based at the South African Jockey Academy and is the research arm of the Academy.

I

t is thanks to a sponsorship from Gauteng Gambling Board, that the concept which had been on the drawing board for a good two years materialised!

An MOU with the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Sport Science Department, has linked the Institute with a credible research department, and work began in earnest.

The year of 2016 was exceptionally fruitful, where SAJERI had the opportunity to engage in postgraduate research, provide postgraduate internship programs, educate the apprentice jockeys as well as provide scientific evidence for the benefit of the riding support team. It was a baptism of fire but the two researchers at SAJERI, Kathy Krog and Taryn Snyed, worked around the clock determined to make the project of the ‘Research Institute’ work!

Two postgraduate research studies were conducted in 2016. The first study was a dietetic master’s study investigating an accurate tool for measuring body fat percentage in apprentice jockeys. This study is still currently under analyses and we await the final results. The research generated did provide us the opportunity to educate our apprentices on hydration status and body composition.

Main aim The main aim of this study was to establish which methods of measuring body fat was most accurate compared to the gold standard of double labelled water, in apprentice jockeys. This study was motivated on the basis that critical decisions are made based on the body fat percentage of apprentices.

The second study that was conducted during 2016 began in November and has continued in 2017. This study investigated the effects of weight-loss on cognitive function, reaction time, short-term memory, mood state and heart rate variability. This is an ongoing study which started as an honours project in 2013 and has now evolved into a Master’s research thesis. It will continue through to 2018 and will have collected valuable data on the apprentice jockey once the final data collection and analysis is complete.

As SAJERI moved into the second year of its existence the planning of larger research projects have taken place. The Institute is now looking toward the future with a minimum of three PhD projects getting underway and the possibility of two master’s thesis being sent for review to international journals.

Exciting projects Some of the exciting projects lined up are an examination of the bone health, 24hr dietary recall and calcium intake of the apprentice jockey. A descriptive epidemiological review of anthropometry over ten years in apprentice jockeys. The establishment of scientific guidelines for admission of new apprentice jockeys: recruitment requirements.

The International ties of SAJERI are strong and have been strengthen over these two years by visits from Florida State University and East Carolina University from Florida and North Carolina, USA respectively, and we are now firmly on their list of Research centres to visit here in South Africa. Our other links are with the University of Canberra, the Chinese University of Hong Kong as well as the Irish University of Limerick.

Strength to strength SAJERI is now transitioning into year three and is going from strength to strength. Our initial research findings even before the actual launch of SAJERI, were presented at the International Conference for the Health and Safety of the Jockey, ICHSJ, in Hong Kong in 2015. The two research papers were well received and this November we will be back at the next conference to be held in Dubai. This year we will present the research that has taken place over 2016 and 2017 and also share our plans for the next three years.

As the research findings come to the fore SAJERI will feed back to the multidisciplinary team at the Jockey Academy and gradually this information will be translated into day to day functions among the apprentices. However the short term gains of this research has been the educational element of research which has exposed our apprentices to more elite methods of training, recovery and general health and wellbeing.

We look forward to what the future holds and are excited by the endless opportunities that come with it.

We are grateful to Graham Bailey and the Jockey Academy Board for this opportunity and also thank the Gauteng Gambling Board for their sponsorship.

If you have any questions, queries or suggestions please do not hesitate to contact us on the following; Kathy Krog: kathleenkrogsajeri@gmail.com Tarryn Sneyd: tarrynsneydsajeri@gmail.com

arade MAGAZINE | October 2017 69

awards KZN Racing

Dual Grade 1 winner Bull Valley was crowned KZN Horse of the Season at the Gold Circle KZN Racing awards held at the Elangeni Hotel in Durban.

Candiese Marnewick

70

arade MAGAZINE | October 2017

arade MAGAZINE | October 2017 71

2017 KZN Racing Awards Best performance by a Two-Year Old Filly: Lady In Black Best performance by a Two-Year Old Colt/Gelding: Sand And Sea Best performance by a Three-Year Old Filly: Sail Best performance by a Three-Year Old Colt/Gelding: Secret Captain Best performance by an Older Horse: Ten Gun Salute Best performance by a Sprinter: Sand And Sea Best performance over Middle Distance: Ten Gun Salute Best performance by a Stayer: Mr Winsome Horse Of The Season: Bull Valley Groom of the Season: Mandilakhe Mtwesi KZN Champion owner by stakes: Mayfair Speculators KZNOTA Owner of the Year (KZN-based by stakes earned): Roy Moodley KZN Champion Jockey (Most wins in KZN): Anthony Delpech KZN Champion Apprentice (Most wins in KZN): Eric Ngwane KZN Campion Breeder of the Year (Most stake won in KZN): Klawervlei KZN Champion Trainer (Number of wins trained in KZN): Duncan Howells Anita Akal Special Award: Doug and Di Campbell KZN Racing Personality Of The Year: Deez Dayanand NHRA Long Service Award: Julie Wilson Ride of the Season: Bernard Fayd’Herbe – Marinaresco (Vodacom Durban July) anita akal special award - doug and di campbell.

KZN champion owner - roy moodley.

KZN champion jockey - anthony delpech.

KZN champion trainer - duncan howells.

KZN champion 2yo filly - lady in black.

72

arade MAGAZINE | October 2017

arade MAGAZINE | October 2017 73

PINKDRIVE g n i c a r t ‘s

O

ctober is breast cancer awareness month and Gold Circle is proud to have once again supported PinkDrive at its Charity Race Meeting on 27 October 2017.

But, without the support of our fantastic sponsors, this very special race meeting would be a non-starter and all the kudos must go to them. I have no doubt their sponsorships will be put to very good use - serving communities around the country through the PinkDrive mobile units.

In this regard we express a vote of thanks to Drakenstein Stud, Highlands Stud, Hollywoodbets, Investec, Jonsson Workwear, Varsfontein Stud and World Sports Betting.

While raising money for worthy causes is serious business, there is absolutely no reason not to have some fun at the same time.

Working hand in glove with PinkDrive, we are delighted that the race meeting showcased a feast of entertainment featuring The Durban Girls Drummies, The Natal Mounted Rifes Pipe Band and fantastic music with local singer Kate Vink, all designed to ensure a wonderful night out for the whole family.

Michel Nairac CEO Gold Circle

GOLD CIRCLE WOULD LIKE TO THANK THE FOLLOWING SUPPORTERS OF THE PINK DRIVE RACEMEETING

Varsfontein Stud

i

arade MAGAZINE | October 2017 75

Thoroughbreds Jumping out of the Park

Ashlee hausberger and Discovery Macarthur Park.

Their build is also more “ suitable to me, as I prefer to ride

a tall, slim horse. I also love their personalities; they all have their own quirks.

�

76

arade MAGAZINE | October 2017

Alex munn and Kensington.

Ashlee Hausberger is no stranger to the showjumping arena, and competing at the highest level on her string of horses, sponsored by Discovery.

T

wo of her current 1.30m and 1.40m horses are 10 year old Thoroughbreds, both by the ill-fated sire Camden Park.

Camden Park was bred in the USA by sire of sires A.P Indy, out of a Danzig mare. Having been champion sophomore sire, based on his first crop’s successes on the track, he sadly died in 2007.

Ashlee acquired Camden Blue in 2012 and MacArthur Park in 2013, from Anthony Kay of Ebb and Flow Stables in Port Elizabeth. Ebb and Flow is a source of carefully selected Thoroughbreds off the track, which they school on slowly to give them a very good grounding for their new careers.

Camden Blue (Blue) is competing in the 1.30 classes. He was in the 1.40’s but then suffered a hamstring injury which has set him back a bit. Macarthur Park (Mac) competes in the 1.30 classes.

Ashlee explains to us why she prefers riding Thoroughbreds: “I think that Thoroughbreds suit my style of riding. I don’t like to use a lot of leg and I like the horse to take me to the jump.

Thoroughbreds do this naturally, being usually forward-going and willing. Their build is also more suitable to me, as I prefer to ride a tall, slim horse. I also love their personalities; they all have their own quirks.

Another great thing about my boys is that I don’t feel pressured on them (to perform like an expensive imported warmblood.) They are inexpensive if you get them straight off the track and as long as you are willing to put in the time and the work they will increase in value.

Blue was recently gelded as he was getting a bit too cheeky as a stallion - he is very vain. He was a terrible race horse, running only a few times and finishing towards the back of the field. He is a very special horse to me as he is the first I ever produced on my own. When I got him he was jumping 80cm. He has taught me a lot and for that I will always be grateful to him.

Mac is the most fun horse in my string. He is very naughty!

He hates to work on the flat and stands in the corner and bucks when I put my leg on. He really only loves jumping and he is very good at it!! He recently won the 1.30 speed class and championship class at the Shongweni Show. He is very fast and loves his job. He was a good race horse apparently, raced for a few years, so I got him when he was a bit older.”

Both horses were trained by Gavin Smith in PE but had very different results: CAMDEN BLUE: Breeding: Camden Park (USA) - Allez La Bleu (AUS) by Dolphin Street (FR) Raced 6 times for no places.

MACARTHUR PARK: Camden Park (USA) - Inanda House

by Krusenstern (USA), bred by Avontuur Thoroughbred Farm.

Raced over three seasons for 3 wins and 8 places.

Another rider who has two Camden Park geldings, is Alex Munn who rides Admiral Camden and Kensington.

Admiral Camden had 5 wins and numerous places for trainers Eric Sands and then Alan Greeff over three seasons, while Kensington ran a number of places for trainer Charles Roberts and Diane Botes of FirstforHorses, another advocate of Thoroughbreds in the sporting arena.

Both horses are doing very well in the show-ring, they compete in Medium Dressage, jump 1.30m and event!

Basically they are excellent all-rounders!!

It’s very interesting to see that a lack of success on the race track has no bearing on the horse’s ability in a new career.

Horses for courses perhaps!

Sadly with no more Camden Park’s around, a similar cross may be found in the progeny of stallions A.P Answer, Just as Well and Judpot. Most seem to have very good temperaments too and have taken to their second careers in the show ring and on the polo field.

Keep sending us your Beyond Racing Thoroughbred stories to catherine@imagineracing.co.za. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BeyondRacingSA/ Imagine the possibilities – Beyond Racing #Proudly Thoroughbred

arade MAGAZINE | October 2017 77

WORLD SPORTS BETTING

GRAND

HERITAGE Raceday

by Merle Parker

The start of the 27 horse field of the WSB Grand Heritage.

The Gauteng feature season is getting underway and a great attraction at Vaal Racecourse on Saturday 30 September was the R750 000 WSB Grand Heritage. The day had all the ingredients for a super days racing and punters and casual racegoers were in for a real treat.

78

arade MAGAZINE | October 2017

T

he card started with three RA bonus races, the first two winners being awarded a full bonus of R20 000 as they were RA members. RA members won every race on the card but one and we congratulate our members on their achievements.

Congratulations to our RA winning Members:

Sponsor for the day, Ryno du Plessis, representing World Sports Betting presents the winning trophy to Paul Peter, winner of the WSB Grand Heritage. Paul Peter enjoyed three winners on the day.

Racing Association CEO, Larry Wainstein, presents the winning trophy to Bronson Nassif, representing the owners of Forest Fox.

Race 1:

Combat Muster

St John Gray

Race 2:

Blindfold

Messrs G L Blank, J Sarkis and PCS (Pty) Ltd (Nom: P Botha)

Race 4:

My Friend Lee

Bryn Ressel and K A Waterston

Race 5:

Captain Aldo

A Girolo, St John Gray

Race 6:

Pera Palace

JF and LMF Wernars

Race 7:

Forest Fox

B Kantor, H Adams, GT Peter (in partnership)

Race 8:

Dan the Lad

F Bronkhorst

Race 9:

Kirkconnel Lass

R Moffatt

Race 10:

Casciano

D I Johnson

Paul Peter, Keagan de Melo, Laurence Wernars, Gary NormAnd and the delightful RA ladies.

Gavin Lerena, trained by Paul Peter on Forest Fox beating Classify, trained by EC raider Dorrie Sham and ridden by Francois Heroldt.

Graded

race

Results

by Ada Van der Bent

DAILY NEWS 2000 (GRADE 1) - R2,000,000 - 2000m - Greyville 1st R1,250,000, 2nd R400,000, 3rd R200,000 - June 3

WOOLAVINGTON 2000 (GRADE 1) - R1,000,000 - 2000m - Greyville 1st R625,000, 2nd R200,000, 3rd R100,000 - June 3

1. EDICT OF NANTES 3yo b.c. by Count Dubois - Pagan Dance (Jet Master) 2nd dam: Welsh Pagan (Al Mufti) 3rd dam: Yuppie (Del Sarto) Owners: Mayfair Speculators (Pty) Ltd Bred by: Klawervlei Stud Trainer: B Crawford Jockey: A Marcus

1. LADY OF THE HOUSE 3yo b.f. by Dynasty - Overarching (Arch) 2nd dam: Lonely Fact (Known Fact) 3rd dam: Lonely Beach (Kennedy Road) Owners: Mayfair Speculators (Pty) Ltd Bred by: Highlands Farms Stud (Pty) Ltd Trainer: B Crawford Jockey: P Strydom

2. Al Sahem 3yo b.c. by Silvano - Alderry (Al Mufti) Owner: Al Adiyaat South Africa (Pty) Ltd Bred by: Al Adiyaat South Africa (Pty) Ltd

2. Gimme Six 3yo b.f. by Gimmethegreenlight - District Six (Mujadil) Owners: H Adams, K P Truter and Mrs J Truter Bred by: Hemel ‘N Aarde Stud, K P Truter and Nadeson Park

3. Horizon 3yo b.c. by Dynasty - Shina (Lomitas) Owners: Hunkydory Investments 15 (Pty) Ltd Bred by: Maine Chance Farms (Pty) Ltd

3. Safe Harbour 3yo b.f. by Elusive Fort - Saint Isidore (Rakeen) Owners: C J H van Niekerk and W Smith Bred by: Dr R J Antrobus

Then came: Glider Pilot, Copper Force, Pagoda, Zodiac Ruler (Aus), Captain Gambler, Dark Moon Rising, Gingerbread Man, Secret Captain, Africa Rising Won by: 0.50 - 3 - 1.50 Time: 2-01,30

Then came: Orchid Island, Wind Chill, Onesie, Bi Pot, Party Crasher, Al Danza, Oriental Oak, Final Judgement, Epona, Smiling Blue Eyes, Dress For Success, The High Life Won by: head - 1.50 - 0.75 Time: 2-02,91

The Daily News 2000 went down to the wire with Cape Derby hero EDICT OF NANTES shading SA Derby winner, Al Sahem in a bruising finish.

The classic duo hooked up at the top of the straight and in a fierce, no-holds-barred tussle, jockey Anton Marcus managed to extract that little extra from Edict Of Nantes, who drew clear to subdue his rival by a half length. The runner-up, coming off a facile victory in Turffontein’s Gr.1 SA Derby, was game in defeat in his first outing at the tight Greyville track.

Edict Of Nantes on the other hand, had the benefit of a prep run.

Rested following his Cape Derby win in late January, he returned to action a fortnight ago when second in his local debut over nine furlongs. The now five-time winner is also racing’s newest millionaire, this lucrative success more than doubling his earnings to within R2.2 million.

One of five top level winners sired by Zafonic’s Grand Criterium winner Count Dubois, Edict Of Nantes is the second foal of the Jet Master mare Pagan Dance, a four-time winning half-sister to multiple gradedplaced sprinter Lighting Lecture (Lecture) and last season’s Gr.3 East Cape Derby runner-up Welsh Emperor (Go Deputy). Pagan Dance has a yearling filly by Trippi.

Unheralded LADY OF THE HOUSE rose to the occasion when she opened her stakes account in the best possible way, at the very elite level. Under a masterful ride from Pierre Strydom, the Mayfair colour bearer took the lead fully five furlongs out and from that point, was never headed. Despite hanging markedly in the closing stages, she held the hard-charging Gimme Six by a head at the line. An objection lodged by the runner-up, on grounds of interference in the latter stages, was overruled. The newly-minted Gr.1 winner also turned the tables on her adversary, who had finished almost five lengths in front of her in the Gr.2 Daisy Fillies Guineas.

As a Gr.1 winner, one can argue that Lady Of The House has justified the R3.7 million she cost her owner at the Cape Premier Yearling Sale two years ago.

Bred at Highlands, Lady Of The House provided the stud’s standout stallion Dynasty with back to back wins here, following Bela-Bela’s victory twelve months ago. She is out of champion Overarching, who raced with such distinction for the late Graham Beck. Crowned the Champion Female sprinter in consecutive years, the American import proved effective up to a mile and counted both the Gr.1 Horse Chestnut Stakes and SA Fillies Sprint amongst her 11-win tally.

Overarching has a yearling filly by Dynasty’s outstanding son Jackson and foaled a full brother to the Woolavington winner in 2016.

80

arade MAGAZINE | July 2017

edict of nantes

LONSDALE STIRRUP CUP (GRADE 3) - R300,000 - 2400m - Greyville 1st R187,500, 2nd R60,000, 3rd R30,000 - June 3

Nkosi Hlophe

RISING SUN GOLD CHALLENGE (GRADE 1) - R1,000,000 - 1600m Greyville. 1st R625,000, 2nd R200,000, 3rd R100,000 - June 10

1. CAPTAIN SPLENDID 4yo b.g. by Captain Al - Justthewayyouare (Fort Wood) 2nd dam: Promisefrommyheart (Elliodor) 3rd dam: Secret Heart (Bush Telegraph) Owner: A L A Crabbia Bred by: Varsfontein Stud Trainer: S J Snaith Jockey: P Strydom

1. CAPTAIN AMERICA 6yo b.g. by Captain Al - Requista (Fort Wood) 2nd dam: Riding Light (Top Ville) 3rd dam: Flash On (Sea Hawk II) Owners: Mesdames Adam Gurney, Diane Nagle and D J Sherrell Bred by: Varsfontein Stud Trainer: B Crawford Jockey: C Orffer

2. My World 5yo b.g. by Ideal World - Magic In The Air (Sadler’s Wells) Owner: M I Fullard, J H Drew, J H Kinsley, D C Lyall, D H Reich

and T L V Whittaker Bred by: Maine Chance Farms (Pty) Ltd

2. Trip To Heaven 5yo b.g. by Trippi - Helleborus Blue (Cee’s Tizzy) Owners: C J H van Niekerk and M J Jooste Bred by: Highlands Farms Stud (Pty) Ltd

3. Serissa 7yo b.g. by Black Minnaloushe - Scented Royal (Royal Prerogative) Owner: C J H van Niekerk Bred by: Maine Chance Farms (Pty) Ltd Then came: Hyaku, Mr O’Neill, Rocketball, Banner Hill, Great Rumpus, Cape Speed, Double Clutch, Impact zone, Three Balloons Won by: 0.50 - neck - neck Time: 2-29,52 In a race where favourites fell by the wayside, last season’s East Cape Derby winner CAPTAIN SPLENDID bounced back to his very best to notch up a second graded stakes success.

The four-year-old moved into the lead approaching the final furlong and was pushed out to hold off the attentions of My World by a halflength.

A rare staying son of Captain Al, Fred Crabbia’s four-year-old had not reached the frame since running second in the Gr.3 Algoa Cup in October and with this, his fourth victory, he increased his bankroll to R667,625.

A third-generation Varsfontein-bred, Captain Splendid hails from a distinguished branch of the famed Soho Secret family. He is the first foal of his dam, who counted the Listed Spook Express Handicap, amongst her four wins.. She is a half-sister to Varsfontein’s exciting young stallion Master Of My Fate (Jet Master), who put together a sixwin streak in the space of eight months which included the Gr.2 Premier Trophy/Peninsula Handicap double. Grandam Promisefrommyheart, is a champion half-sister to Gr.1 Majorca winner Covenant (Western Winter) and to Secret Heart (Fort Wood), the stakes winning dam of Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf winner and young Australian-based stallion Pluck (More Than Ready).

3. Bela-Bela 4yo gr.f. by Dynasty - Mystic Spring (Royal Academy) Owners: Varsfontein Stud (Pty) Ltd Bred by: Cheveley Stud Then came: Sail South, Bulleting Home, The Conglomerate (Aus), New Predator (Aus), Saratoga Dancer, Brazuca (Aus), Master Sabina, Marinaresco, Victorious Jay, French Navy, Janoobi Non-runners: Deo Juvente, Table Bay (Aus) Won by: 1.50 - neck - 0.75 Time: 1-35,48 Barely a week after his magnificent Daily News/Woolavington double, trainer Brett Crawford notched up another Gr.1 win when CAPTAIN AMERICA defeated a star-studded line-up in this mile showpiece.

The six-year-old patiently tracked Guineas winner Janoobi into the straight and when jockey Corné Orffer let out the reins a notch, the big-striding bay flashed his customary turn of foot to quicken clear of his field. Last year’s demoted winner Trip To Heaven unleashed a storming run up the stand side but Crawford’s charge was not for the catching and he again had to settle for second, the winning margin being a length and a half.

“I was happy to cruise along and when I pulled him off Janoobi’s heels, I gave him his head and he gave me a really good kick,” remarked Orffer of the winner, who will return in three weeks’ time for a crack at the Vodacom Durban July. “He needs a bit of time to get that action of his going but when he quickens up, he get a couple of lengths on them and he’s a hard horse to get to. He’s such an honest horse and a big stable favourite!”

Added Crawford: “You won’t find a more genuine horse in training and this is his second Gr.1 win. It’s most satisfying, as he’s never quite got this track right but he put it all to bed today.”

Although Captain America last saw the inside of the winner’s enclosure

arade MAGAZINE | July 2017 81

just sensual

Nkosi Hlophe

exactly eight months ago when successful in the Gr.2 Matchem Stakes at Kenilworth, he has more than earned his keep since with a second in the Gr.1 L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate and a third in the Gr.1 Sun Met. Now a dual top level winner, Captain America earned his Gr.1 spurs in the one mile H F Oppenheimer Horse Chestnut Stakes.

A half-brother to Gr.3 Jacaranda Handicap victress Aquitaine (Al Mufti), he is one of five winners out of Spook Express Handicap second Requista (Fort Wood), whose siblings include Gr.2 Gold Bracelet queen Cruise Collection (Model Man), Listed (then) Prix Du Cap winner Dacha (Russian Fox), as well as Shiver My Timbers (Cordoba), the dam of Gr.3 King’s Cup hero Pirate’s Gold (Rich Man’s Gold).

Requista’s yearling colt by Judpot changed hands for R1.2 million at this year’s National Sales. Her 2016 foal, a filly, is also by Judpot and she is once again in foal to him.

TIBOUCHINA STAKES (GRADE 2) - R400,000 - 1400m - Greyville 1st R250,000, 2nd R80,000, 3rd R40,000 - June 10 1. JUST SENSUAL 3yo b.f. by Dynasty - Consensual (Camden Park 2nd dam: Isadora Duncan (Dancing Champ) 3rd dam: In Camera (Contraband) Owners: Mayfair Speculators (Pty) Ltd Bred by: Klawervlei Stud Trainer: J Ramsden Jockey: A Marcus 2. Nightingale 4yo b.f. by Silvano - Quickwood (Fort Wood) Owners: Mauritzfontein (Pty) Ltd and Wilgerbosdrift (Pty) Ltd Bred by: Wilgerbosdrift 3. Anna Pavlova 3yo b.f. by St Petersburg - Shatrang (Royal Applause) Owners: Team Valor International, Mrs V and Mr A Singh

and Mesdames C Soal and M Soal Bred by: Summerhill Stud (Pty) Ltd Then came: Star Express, Chevauchee, Frosty Friday, Crystal Glamour, Elusiveenchantment, Heaps Of Fun, Neala, Fort Ember, Tahini, Captain’s Flame, Silver Mountain Won by: 0.50 - shorthead - 0.75 Time: 1-24,03 Classic winner JUST SENSUAL proved there is no substitute for class when she added the Tibouchina to her growing stakes tally.

The three-year-old picked it up in the straight to move into contention at the 300m mark and looked set for an easy victory. However, she soon had to contend with the tenacious Gauteng visitor Anna Pavlova, who gave plenty of cheek up the inside. In a thrilling finish, Just Sensual

82

arade MAGAZINE | July 2017

elusive silva

Nkosi Hlophe

was hard-pressed to take the honours by a half length, with the fastgaining Nightingale just shading Anna Pavlova for second on the line.

“I really expected her to win a bit easier than that,” a relieved Marcus admitted afterwards. “She will have to up her game in the Garden Province but I’m sure she will improve again.”

Also successful in the Gr.1 Cape Fillies Guineas and Gr.3 Prix Du Cap, Just Sensual is as versatile as she is classy, for this victory, her fifth from eight starts, came just a fortnight after she had run an excellent second to sprint queen Carry On Alice in the Gr.1 SA Fillies Sprint over a distance far short of her best.

Trained by Joey Ramsden, Just Sensual is without a doubt living up to her pedigree. One of 10 Gr.1 winners her sire, the Klawervlei-bred is a half-sister to Gr.2-placed Ad Idem (Jet Master) and is out of champion juvenile Consensual (Camden Park), who landed the Gr.1 Golden Slipper here at the expense of subsequent Gr.1 standouts Zirconeum and Gypsy’s Warning. A descendant of the grand racemare and blue hen Sun Lass, Consensual foaled to Captain Al in 2016.

CUP TRIAL (GRADE 3) - R300,000 - 1800m - Greyville 1st R187,500, 2nd R60,000, 3rd R30,000 - June 10 1. ELUSIVE SILVA 4yo ch.g. by Silvano - Esprit (Fort Wood) 2nd dam: Ever Seeking (Secret Prospector) 3rd dam: Epoque (Oak Dancer) Owners: E G Bouwer, E A Braun, P S Loomes, J Snaith

and K P and Mrs J Truter Bred by: Nutfield Stud Trainer: S J Snaith Jockey: R Fourie 2. Crowd Pleaser 3yo b.c. by Captain Al - Happy Jean (Charismatic) Owners: J F and L M F Wernars and Mrs T J Wernars Bred by: Normandy Stud 3. Black Arthur 4yo b.g. by Silvano - Grace Me Guide (Western Winter) Owners: A N and The Hon Mrs G R Foster Bred by: A N Foster Then came: Royal Badge, Trophy Wife, Go Direct, Nebula, Master Switch Won by shorthead - 0.50 - 1.75 Time: 1-51,58 ELUSIVE SILVA bounced back from a disappointing effort in the Gr.2 Betting World 1900 to land a thrilling edition of the Cup Trial.

Elusive Silva came into the straight wide and was set alight to join issue with pacesetter Crowd Pleaser in mid-straight. Crowd Pleaser never

search party

flinched however and the pair matched strides over the final furlong to cross the line virtually as one, with Elusive Silva drifting in under pressure. The photo revealed the latter came out tops in this bruising encounter, albeit by the shortest of shortheads.

This was the third stakes success for the Silvano gelding and pushed his earnings to R580,500. Successful in the Gr.3 Winter Derby in June last year, he was not seen out again until April 23, when he accounted for the Listed Sledgehammer over the course and distance. He started favourite for last month’s Gr.3 Betting World 1900 but was caught flatfooted in the soft going and finished just out of the money.

Bred by Nutfield Stud, the chestnut is out of the Fort Wood mare Esprit, a winning own sister to champion racehorse and Gr.1 stallion Elusive Fort, from the prized Argentinian ‘E’ family of Horse of the Year Empress Club, her Gr.1 winning half-sisters Ecurie and Epoque (the third dam of Elusive Silva) and champion Eventuail.

JUBILEE HANDICAP (GRADE 3) - R250,000 - 1800m - Turffontein 1st R156,250, 2nd R50,000, 3rd R25,000 - June 11 1. CORAL FEVER 4yo ch.g. by Judpot - Coral Tree (Rich Man’s Gold) 2nd dam: Crimson Lily (Royal Prerogative) 3rd dam: Run For Lily (Jamaico) Owners: Ms S Vrska and Mr C Bird Bred by: Ascot Stud (Pty) Ltd Trainer: R R Sage Jockey: M Yeni 2. Bankable Teddy 4yo b.g. by Bankable - Harem’s Secret (Jet Master) Owners: Mr and Mrs J J van der Vyver, B H Martin and Ms V Queen Bred by: Anfield Sports (Pty) Ltd 3. Hidden Agenda 5yo b.g. by Brave Tin Soldier - Bansela (Malhub) Owners: Adv B W Maselle and Mr and Mrs S W Kenny Bred by: Summerhill Stud (Pty) Ltd Then came: Master ‘N Commander, The Elmo Effect, Fareeq (Aus), Kitty’s Destiny, Liege, Kings Archer, Moofeed (Aus), Kinaan (Aus), Flying Ice, Fortissima 13 ran. Time: 1-51,35 Won by 1 - 0.50 - 0.75 Robbie Sage-trained CORAL FEVER was rewarded for consistency with a barnstorming victory here, his first at stakes level.

Racing amongst the backmarkers as Master ‘N Commander and Moofeed paced it out up front, the chestnut cornered wide into the straight with just three behind him. Bankable Teddy gained the lead 300m out but that proved short-lived, as a rampant Coral Fever came

Nkosi Hlophe

charging up the centre, surged clear a furlong out and ran on stoutly to open his stakes account by a length.

The winner has certainly turned his form around since a gelding operation on 1 March, boasting three wins and a second in five starts since suffering the ‘unkindest cut’.

Co-owner Colin Bird paid R130,000 for Coral Fever at the 2014 National Yearling Sale, a fine investment considering the chestnut has now earned just over R460,000.

The latest stakes winners sired by Judpot, Coral Fever was bred at the Parkers’ Ascot Stud from the Rich Man’s Gold mare Coral Tree, a dual winning half-sister to Gr.1 SA Derby hero Ravishing (Jet Master), Gr.2 Betting World 1900 winner Dynastic Power (Dynasty) and the multiple graded stakes winner Red Badge (Badger Land), a tough customer who had the distinction of running third in the Gr.1 Durban July on two occasions. Coral Fever is the latest stakes winner to emerge from the famed ‘Lily’ family, through her Gr.1 winning daughter Run For Lily, who features as his third dam.

POST MERCHANTS (GRADE 2) - R400,000 - 1200m - Greyville 1st R250,000, 2nd R80,000, 3rd R40,000 - June 16 1. SEARCH PARTY 4yo b.g. by Captain Al - Princess Magdalena (Pennekamp) 2nd dam: Reason To Dance (Damister) 3rd dam: Lanureyeva (Nureyev) Owner: Mrs D J Sherrell Bred by: Ascot Stud (Pty) Ltd Trainer: B Crawford Jockey: C Orffer 2. Talktothestars 5yo b.g. by Overlord - Tellittothestars (Spaceship) Owner: F C de Beer Bred by: Scott Bros 3. Amazing Strike 5yo b.g. by Ideal World - Bayard Crown (Strike Smartly) Owner: Mauritzfontein (Pty) Ltd Bred by: Mauritzfontein (Pty) Ltd Then came: Captain’s Causeway, Captain Swarovski, Professor Brian, Mr Roy, Seventh Plain, Joan Ranger, Lord Balmoral, Gulf Storm, Redcarpet Captain, Barbosa, Donny G Non-runners: Pivotal Pursuit, Top Form, Just As I Said Won by: neck - 2 - 1.75 Time: 69,74 Consistently amongst the top sprinters, SEARCH PARTY ran out a deserving winner to provide the Brett Crawford stable with yet another graded stakes success.

arade MAGAZINE | July 2017 83

mr winsome

Nkosi Hlophe

zante

Nkosi Hlophe

On the lead from the jump, the four-year-old was never headed and after kicking away from his rivals at the top of the straight, he had enough in reserve to hold off fast-finishing top weight Talkofthestars by a diminishing neck.

This was the winner’s second Merchants success following his score in the Cape version run on December 3. Third in the subsequent Gr.2 Diadem Stakes, he most recently ran second in the Gr.1 Tsogo Sun Sprint behind Bull Valley.

The five-time winner is also on the threshold of joining the millionaire ranks, this win having pushed his earnings to R986,800.

Bred by Rose and Dr Ashley Parker at their Ascot Stud, Search Party is by Captain Al, sire also of Crawford-trained Captain America, who landed the previous week’s Gr.1 Gold Challenge.

The dam, English import Princess Magdalena, is a half-sister to the multiple champion and five-time Gr.1 winner Dancer’s Daughter (Act One), who proved the equal of racing legend Pocket Power in the 2008 Vodacom Durban July.

home to win by a half length.

Mr Winsome continued his love affair with Scottsville and has yet to taste defeat at the Pietermaritzburg track. Victorious in the Listed Michael Roberts here in January, he had romped home over the course and distance in his penultimate start and most recently finished joint-third behind Ten Gun Salute in the Gr.3 Betting World 1900 at Greyville.

Mr Winsome had cost his trainer R400,000 at the Cape Premier Yearling Sale and has repaid that with interest, this sixth career victory upping his stakes earnings to R699,450.

The son of powerhouse stallion Silvano is out of Gr.3 Gold Circle Oaks third Al Shama, whose own sister, stakes-placed Woodland Fairy, produced Gr.2 Southern Cross Stakes victress Fairyinthewoods (Count Dubois) and Listed stakes winner Comet Chaser (Jet Master). This is Milkwood Stud’s successful family of Gr.2 winner Tarn Fairy (Waterville Lake), her daughter Blushing Fairy (Jallad) and grand-daughter, Yoshie (Antonius Pius), both multiple stakes winners.

TRACK AND BALL DERBY (GRADE 3) - R300,000 - 2400m - Scottsville 1st R187,500, 2nd R60,000, 3rd R30,000 - June 18

TRACK AND BALL OAKS (GRADE 3) - R300,000 - 2400m - Scottsville 1st R187,500, 2nd R60,000, 3rd R30,000 - June 18

1. MR WINSOME 4yo b.g. by Silvano - Al Shama (Al Mufti) Owners: R Meaker, G Nichas, B Ressell, B Zeidel et al Bred by: Riverworld Stud Trainer: D Kannemeyer Jockey: A C Delpech 2. Sun On Africa 5yo b.g. by Seul Amour - Sounds Of Africa (Rambo Dancer) Owner: B D Burnard Bred by: Mr and Mrs J R Slade 3. Let It Rain 4yo b.g. by Dynasty - Gardener’s Delight (Giant’s Causeway) Owners: H Adams, D Chinsammy and Mrs T Chinsammy Bred by: Highlands Farms Stud (Pty) Ltd Then came: Captain Splendid, Helderberg Blue, Mr O’Neill, Ovidio (Aus) Won by: 0.50 - 4 - 0.50 Time: 2-29,59 Sold R400,000 2014 Cape Premier Yearling Sale MR WINSOME became a classic winner at age four with a gutsy career-best effort which simultaneously reinforced his chances of a Durban July berth.

Relaxed early on, the four-year-old was switched to the outside at the top of the straight and draw alongside Sun On Africa 300m from home. In a stirring duel, he gradually gained the upper hand close

84

arade MAGAZINE | July 2017

1. ZANTE 5yo b.m. by Ideal World - Temperate Lady (Western Winter) 2nd dam: Kahilis (Royal Prerogative) 3rd dam: Miss Forsyte (Preamble II) Owner: Lammerskraal Stud Bred by: N D Page Trainer: G V Woodruff Jockey: I Sturgeon 2. Girl On The Run 4yo ch.f. by Silvano - Girl From Grenada (Badger Land) Owners: Maine Chance Farms (Pty) Ltd Bred by: Maine Chance Farms (Pty) Ltd 3. Estimation 4yo ch.f. by Distorted Humor - Ebaraya (Sadler’s Wells) Owners: K Pillay, Mrs N Pillay and Mrs C C Naidoo Bred by: Klawervlei Stud Then came: Witchcraft, Royal Utopia, The Centenary (Nz), Francia, Epona, Forbidden Duel, Patchit Up Baby, Zafira, Adorada, Persian Rug, Balalaika, Silver Stripe, Silver Willow Won by: 1.75 - shorthead - longhead Time: 2-31,39 This was poetic justice for Lammerskraal-owned ZANTE, who took the honours here, twelve months after the Lammerskraal-bred fillies Flying Ice and Deputy Ryder had to settle for the minor placings in this classic.

Zante wrested the lead from Zafira on the back stretch and that is

marinaresco

where she stayed. Running on stoutly in the straight, she ran her rivals ragged to score by the best part of two lengths.

Zante will target the Gold Cup before she joins the Lammerskraal broodmare band.

Bred at Mauritzfontein Stud by manager Nigel Page, Zante is the latest stakes winner for resident stallion Ideal World, best known as the sire of champion Smart Call. Page bred Zante from Temperate Lady, a winning half-sister to Gr.3 Langerman third Flame Tree (Fort Wood) and is out of Kahilis, whose own brother is the Gr.2 winner and Cape Guineas second Man Of Property, while half-sister Serena (Jan Ekels) landed the Gr.1 SA Oaks and became the dam of American Gr.1 winner Broadway Flyer (Theatrical).

HIGHLANDS STUD WINTER DERBY (GRADE 3) - R250,000 - 2400m Kenilworth. 1st R156,250, 2nd R50,000, 3rd R25,000 - June 24 1. AFRICAN NIGHT SKY 3yo b.g. by Dynasty - Starzene (Cozzene) 2nd dam: Star Queen (Kingmambo) 3rd dam: Starboard Tack (Seattle Slew) Owner: A L A Crabbia Bred by: Highlands Farms Stud (Pty) Ltd Trainer: S J Snaith Jockey: B Fayd’Herbe 2. Paddington 3yo ch.g. by Elusive Fort - Catapult (Silvano) Owners: G Bortz, B P Finch, J Ramsden, A J van Huyssteen,

Mrs K Finch and Mr and Mrs D Naik Bred by: Wickensburg Stud 3. Ollivander 3yo b.g. by Silvano - Cast A Spell (Rambo Dancer) Owners: B Ressell and N M Shirtliff Bred by: Wilgerbosdrift and Mauritzfontein Then came: Our Mate Art (Aus), Mangrove, Newlands (Aus), Desert Wisdom, Loadshedder, Soaring Past Won by: 5.50 - 1 - neck Time: 2-29,37 AFRICAN NIGHT SKY wrapped up the Winter Series in style when he pulverised his field in the final leg, the Winter Derby.

Fred Crabbia’s three-year-old came from third last at the top of the lane to take the lead 300m from home and having skipped clear, turned the race into a procession, drawing further and further away to win by daylight.

African Night Sky goes into the history books as only the second Winter Series winner and finds himself in exalted company, the mighty Pocket Power having the achieved the feat exactly 10 years ago.

Nkosi Hlophe

Remarkably, both were partnered by Bernard Fayd’Herbe.

The Series winner had scored two equally emphatic victories in the Winter Guineas and Classic and was winning for the fifth time. On top of the winning stake, he also collected the handsome bonus of R250,000.

A product of the famed Highlands paddocks, the gelding is one of 42 stakes winners sired by resident standout Dynasty. His dam, the American import Starzene proved a stayer of note, winning the Java Handicap and finishing second in both the Gr.2 Gold Bowl and Listed Aquanaut Handicap.

VODACOM DURBAN JULY (GRADE 1) - R4,500,000 - 2200m - Greyville 1st R2,500,000, 2nd R800,000, 3rd R400,000 - July 1 1. MARINARESCO 4yo b.g. by Silvano - Gay Fortuna (Fort Wood) 2nd dam: Gay Regina (Fort Wood) 3rd dam: Welsh Damsel (Elliodor) Owners: M W Bass, F Green, B Ressell and N M Shirtliff Bred by: Mauritzfontein Stud Trainer: C L Bass-Robinson Jockey: B Fayd’Herbe 2. Al Sahem 3yo b.c. by Silvano - Alderry (Al Mufti) Owner: Al Adiyaat South Africa (Pty) Ltd Bred by: Al Adiyaat South Africa (Pty) Ltd 3. Edict Of Nantes 3yo b.c. by Count Dubois - Pagan Dance (Jet Master) Owners: Mayfair Speculators (Pty) Ltd Bred by: Klawervlei Stud Then came: Krambambuli, Nightingale, Horizon, Black Arthur, It’s My Turn, French Navy, Ten Gun Salute (Aus), Master Sabina, Brazuca (Aus), The Conglomerate (Aus), Tilbury Fort, Saratoga Dancer, Pagoda, Safe Harbour, Mr Winsome, Elusive Silva, Nebula Won by: head - neck - shorthead Time: 2-12,51 The country’s premier race served up a treat at Greyville when top weight MARINARESCO powered home to prevail in a humdinger finish.

In the process, he laid to rest the ghost of last year’s unlucky neck second.

The blinkered four-year-old came from mid-field at the top of the straight and finding a timely split, unleashed a whirlwind finish to head favourite and Gr.1 SA Derby winner Al Sahem on the line, thus providing super sire Silvano with the exacta.

One could have thrown a blanket over the first seven home, as Al Sahem finished a neck in front of fellow three-year-old Edict Of Nantes,

arade MAGAZINE | July 2017 85

bela-bela

Nkosi Hlophe

who in turn pipped confirmed stayer Krambambuli on the post.

Dismissed by many following his disappointing effort in the Gr.1 Gold Challenge on June 10 where he raced far too handy, jockey Bernard Fayd’Herbe made no mistake on the diminutive winner and said: “I had a lovely race. When we turned for home I had so much horse under me. I just waited for a gap to open. This win was for Mr Bass.”

It was a second July victory for both part-owner Marsh Shirtliff and Fayd’Herbe, who had worn the same Shirtliff silks when he was aboard Pocket Power in a thrilling deadheat with Dancer’s Daughter nine years ago. An emotional Shirtliff remarked: “I’ve won in Dubai, but this is something else. This is the race we all want to win.”

Trainer Candice Bass-Robinson, in her first season as a fully-fledged trainer, also stepped into the history books as the first woman to win the Durban July in its 120-year history.

Bass-Robinson explaining Marinaresco’s modest effort in the Gold Challenge said: “We tried a change of tactics and had him up handy to chase Captain America but his usual finish was just not there. It was a tactical error. You need to allow him to run his race and he will produce his finish like he did today.”

This was the winner’s second top level success, having closed out his sophomore season on a winning note in the nine-furlong Champions Cup, which earned him the Equus champion three-year-old award.

A R1.3-million yearling purchase from breeders Mauritzfontein Stud, Marinaresco is out of Listed Winter Oaks and Sun Classique Handicap runner-up Gay Fortuna, a daughter of Gr.2 winning juvenile and Gr.1 SA Fillies Guineas runner-up Gay Regina, who, to the cover of Silvano, produced the dual Gr.3 winner and multiple Gr.1-placed Bulsara.

This is the family of Horse of the Year Celtic Grove (Fort Wood), who incidentally, was runner-up in the 2001 renewal behind Trademark, one of a trio of July winners trained by Candice’s father Mike.

GARDEN PROVINCE STAKES (GRADE 1) - R1,000,000 - 1600m Greyville. 1st R625,000, 2nd R200,000, 3rd R100,000 - July 1 1. BELA-BELA 4yo gr.f. by Dynasty - Mystic Spring (Royal Acamey) 2nd dam: Secret Sunday (Secreto) 3rd dam: Caracciola (Zeddaan) Owner: Varsfontein Stud (Pty) Ltd Bred by: Cheveley Stud Trainer: S J Snaith Jockey: A Delpech 2. She’s A Giver 3yo gr.f. by Philanthropist - Valeta (Var) Owners: A Fouche, M Chetty, J F and L M F Wernars

and Vendel Civils (Pty) Ltd Bred by: Avontuur Thoroughbred Farm 3. Bella Sonata

86

arade MAGAZINE | July 2017

4yo ch.f. by Silvano - Bella Cantata (Singspiel) Owner: Maine Chance Farms (Pty) Ltd Bred by: Riyo Stud Then came: Gimme Six, Louisiana, Bi Pot, Fort Ember, Polyphonic, Kilauea, Just Sensual, Chevauchee (Aus), Frosty Friday,Star Express, Oriental Oak Non-runner: Captain Gambler Won by: 3.75 - 0.50 - shorthead Time: 1-34,89 Champion BELA-BELA demolished some high-class opponents with an imperious victory in this prestigious mile event, her third at Gr.1 level.

Settled in mid-field early on, Anthony Delpech sent her on her way at the top of the straight and it was race over. Her rivals were unable to lay a glove on her as she stretched away to score by the best part of four lengths. In fact, the winning margin could have been so much more had Delpech let the flashy grey off the leash.

Bela-Bela may have one more race at the end of July before she retires to her owners’ Varsfontein Stud. Also successful in the Gr.1 Paddock Stakes during the Cape summer, last season’s champion three-year-old filly landed both the Gr.1 Woolavington 2000 and Gr.2 Daisy Guineas at three, in addition to which she finished third behind subsequent Met victress Smart Call in the Gr.1 Paddock Stakes.

Bred by Vaughan Koster at his Cheveley Stud, Bela-Bela commanded a sizeable R1.4-million to top the 2014 National 2YO Sale, an amount she has now returned with interest, as this latest victory pushed her career earnings past the R2.5-million mark.

Few superlatives remain to describe her dam, broodmare extraordinaire Mystic Spring. In addition to Bela-Bela, she also counts ill-fated champion three-year-old Rabiya (Jallad) amongst her six stakes winners (four of which graded) and she is the grandam of champion juvenile All Is Secret and her Gr.1 winning own sister The Secret Is Out, both by Captain Al. Mystic Spring’s Captain Al threeyear-old Secret Captain finished third in this season’s Gr.2 Daisy Guineas, while her Captain Al filly commanded the third-highest price at the 2017 National Yearling Sale when selling for R3.6-million. Mystic Spring is currently carrying a full sibling to Bela-Bela.

GOLD CIRCLE GOLDEN SLIPPER (GRADE 2) - R600,000 - 1400m Greyville. 1st R375,000, 2nd R120,000, 3rd R60,000 - July 1 1. DESERT RHYTHM 2yo b.f. by Mambo In Seattle - Al Zahra (Al Mufti) 2nd dam: Blushing Dove (Comic Blush) 3rd dam: Have Faith (Spanish Air) Owner: C J H van Niekerk Bred by: Nutfield Stud Trainer: S G Tarry Jockey: S Khumalo

purple diamond

Nkosi Hlophe

2. Let It Flow 2yo b.f. by Judpot - Final Flo (Model Man) Owners: G Bortz and A J van Huyssteen Bred by: The Alchemy 3. Tsessebe 2yo b.f. by Philanthropist - Encora De Lago (Encosta De Lago) Owners: Mr W G Drier, Miss C S Drier, Mr T Keating and Mrs G M Drier Bred by: Klawervlei Stud Then came: Rockin Russian, Spring Breeze, Neptune’s Rain, London Secret, Mara, Star Profile, Outlander, Gee Whizz, Light On Her Toes, Bridal Veil, Green Top Won by: 1 - neck - 0.75 Time: 1-22,73 Trainer Sean Tarry narrowly missed out on the Daily News with Al Sahem, however he did not go away empty-handed, claiming both Gr.2 juvenile features with runners sporting the colours of major client Chris van Niekerk. DESERT RHYTHM set up the double when she justified favouritism with a thoroughly fetching victory in the Golden Slipper.

Tarry previously won this race when it still carried Gr.1 status with For The Lads (Trippi) in 2013, and she too, won in the Van Niekerk silks.

Patiently ridden, she made her challenge to quicken into the lead approaching the final furlong and ran on stoutly to cross the line a length clear. Desert Rhythm has danced every dance this season and was winning for the third time in seven starts. This first stakes success came on the back of a fourth behind Green Plains in the Gr.2 SA Fillies Nursery over 1200m, a distance which is now clearly on the sharp side.

A shrewd R200,000 purchase from breeders Nutfield Stud at the Cape Premier Yearling Sale, she has recouped that and more with current earnings of R567,000.

By Mambo In Seattle, Desert Rhythm is the first foal of Al Zahra, a winning half-sister to Gr.1 J&B Met runner-up Lion Tamer (Western Winter) and to Blushing Breeze (Comic Blush), the dam of Gr.2 winner La Deportista (Sportsworld). Al Zahra has a newly-turned juvenile colt

by Horse Chestnut.

DURBAN GOLDEN HORSESHOE (GRADE 2) - R600,000 - 1400m Greyville. 1st R375,000, 2nd R120,000, 3rd R60,000 - July 1 1. PURPLE DIAMOND 2yo b.c. by Var - Jalberry (Jallad) 2nd dam: Taineberry (Centaine) 3rd dam: Strawberry Fair (Whiskey Road) Owners: C J H van Niekerk, P Attieh and L M Michael Bred by: A C Peter Trainer: S G Tarry Jockey: N Juglall

crowd pleaser

Nkosi Hlophe

2. Ancestry 2yo b.c. by Oratorio - A Daughter’s Legacy (Windrush) Owners: K Doyle, D M Graham and Mesdames A M Doyle,

D Nagle and P Shanahan Bred by: Avontuur Thoroughbred Farm 3. Captain And Master 2yo b.c. by Captain Al - Scorched (Jet Master) Owner: C J H van Niekerk Bred by: Zandvliet Stud Then came: Flying Free, Varallo, Hakeem (Aus), Woljayrine, Naafer (Aus), Sir Frenchie (Aus), Trojan Harbour (Aus), Why Wouldn’t Yew, Varimax, Argo Magic, Down To Zero Won by: shorthead - 1.25 - shorthead Time: 1-21,90 Sean Tarry duly completed the juvenile feature double, albeit with the lesser fancied of his two runners, the 20-1 shot PURPLE DIAMOND. Valrello looked set for victory when he took the lead n the straight, but Purple Diamond and Ancestry took off simultaneously and in a driving finish, the former took the spoils by the bob of a head.

The juvenile made the leap to graded stakes winner off a maiden score over 1450m and is the latest stakes winner for Avontuur Stud’s champion sprinter Var, who is homing in on a first juvenile sires title. It proved a dream result for Avontuur, as the runner-up was bred at the farm and is by fellow resident stallion Oratorio.

Purple Diamond on the other hand, was foaled and raised at Varsfontein stud on behalf of breeder Anthony Peter from his talented speedster Jalberry, whose yearling colt is also by Var. Successful in both the Gr.3 Pretty Polly Stakes and Goldfields Sprint, her string of stakes places included a Gr.1 third in the SA Fillies Sprint. She is proving her class as a broodmare too, for in addition to Purple Diamond, she has produced On This Rock (Trippi), a Zimbabwean stakes winner of the Gr.3 Gold Cup Sprint; his stakes-placed own sister Love To Boogie and Gr.3 Man O’War Sprint runner-up Count Express (Count Dubois).

Jalberry is a daughter of Gr.2 Oaks winner Taineberry, the grandam of Gr.1 Cape Guineas winner Solo Traveller (Western Winter).

BETTING WORLD 2200 (GRADE 3) - R500,000 - 2200m - Greyville 1st R312,500, 2nd R100,000, 3rd R50,000 - July 1 1. CROWD PLEASER 3yo b.c. by Captain Al - Happy Jean (Charismatic) 2nd dam: Jeanie’s Gift (Gulch) 3rd dam: Special Gift (Seattle Slew) Owners: J F and L M F Wernars and Mrs T J Wernars Bred by: Normandy Stud Trainer: J A Janse van Vuuren Jockey: K de Melo

arade MAGAZINE | July 2017 87

hermoso mundo

Nkosi Hlophe

2. Royal Badge 4yo b.g. by Go Deputy - So Royal (Kahir Almaydan) Owners: M J Baigel, E G and Mrs L C Bouwer and Mr B Marcus Bred by: G J Armitage 3. Trophy Wife 5yo b..m by Tiger Ridge - My Squeeza (Goldmark) Owner: C J H van Niekerk Bred by: Wilgerbosdrift Then came: Zodiac Ruler (Aus), Bankable Teddy, Hidden Agenda, Go Direct, My World, No Worries, The Centenary (Nz) Won by: 2 - 1 - neck Time: 2-12,65 Proven frontrunner CROWD PLEASER ran his rivals ragged to open his stakes account in the “Consolation July”.

The Wernars’ three-year-old jumped into the lead from the start and was never headed. Allowed to dictate, he quickened again at the top of the straight to increase his advantage and was not for the catching, powering home to score by two lengths.

This was a career-best effort from the winner, who had employed similar tactics in last month’s Gr.3 Cup Trial, but was caught on the line

by Elusive Silva Crowd Pleaser is the 79th stakes winner for Klawervlei’s flagship stallion Captain Al and was bred by Normandy Stud from the American import Happy Jean, whose five winners from six runners to date also include Gr.3 Man O’War Sprint third Jannu (Jallad). A halfsister to American Gr.2 winner Elaborate (Gilded Time), Happy Jean has as her third dam the champion juvenile and four-times Gr.1 winner Smart Angle (Quadrangle).

SABC GOLD VASE (GRADE 3) - R500,000 - 3000m - Greyville 1st R312,500, 2nd R100,000, 3rd R50,000 - July 1 1. HERMOSO MUNDO 4yo b.g. by Ideal World - Escoleta Fitz (Fitzcarraldo) 2nd dam: Escoleta (Mariache) 3rd dam; Escola Do Samba (by Redtop) Owners: N C Smith, G D Cahn, G Morris, Neil Patrick Smith,

S Singleton and W Volschenk Bred by: Mauritzfontein Stud Trainer: W H Marwing Jockey: K H Zechner 2. Captain Splendid 4yo b.g. by Captain Al - Justthewayyouare (Fort Wood) Owner: A L A Crabbia Bred by: Varsfontein Stud 3. Kinaan (Aus)

88

arade MAGAZINE | July 2017

4yo b.g. by Galileo – Dazzledar (Zamindar) Owner: Al Adiyaat South Africa (Pty) Ltd Bred by: Sheikh Mohammed Bin Khalifa Al Maktoum Then came: Banner Hill, Sun On Africa, Lions Emblem, Rocketball, Great Rumpus, Serissa, Ever Dear, Helderberg Blue, Forbidden Duel, Rio De La Plata, Ovidio (Aus) Won by: shorthead - 1.50 - 1.25 Time: 3-7,95 (Captain Splendid crossed the line first, demoted to second) Progressive stayer HERMOSO MUNDO added a second Gr.3 victory to his tally when he was declared the winner following the disqualification of Captain Splendid.

Captain Splendid had slipped into the lead at the top of the straight, but coming under pressure inside the final furlong, markedly drifted off a straight line and into Hermoso Mundo, who was going full throttle on his outside. The pair literally crossed the line as one, with Captain Splendid looking to have held on by a whisker. However, the hooter sounded shortly afterwards and following a stipendiary enquiry, Hermoso Mundo was declared the winner.

The winner is now unbeaten in two Gr.3 outings for the Weiho Marwing stable and was following up on a runaway victory in Turfontein’s Gold Bowl on May 6.

His victory added to a splendid day for Mauritzfontein Stud, breeders also of subsequent July winner Marinaresco. By resident stallion Ideal World, Hermoso Mundo is out of champion racemare Escoleta Fitz, a dual Gr.1 winner of the Paddock and Garden Province Stakes. In addition to Hermoso Mundo, she is also the dam of stakes-placed Eugenes (Fort Wood). The mare foaled a colt by Byword in 2016.

This is the famed Argentinian “E” family of South African-performed champions Empress Club, Epoque, Ecurie, Elusive Fort and Eventuail.

MERCURY SPRINT (GRADE 1) - R800,000 - 1200m - Greyville 1st R500,000, 2nd R160,000, 3rd R80,000 - July 15 1. BULL VALLEY 4yo b.g. by Toreador - Star Of Liberty (Saumarez) 2nd dam: Top Times (Elliodor) 3rd dam: Paris Model (Sarnia Call) Owners: PCS (Pty) Ltd, G L Blank, Z L Nassif, G Nichas and J Sarkis Bred by: Ambiance Stud Trainer: S G Tarry Jockey: S Khumalo 2. Search Party 4yo b.g. by Captain Al - Princess Magdalena (Pennekamp) Owner: Mrs D J Sherrell Bred by: Ascot Stud (Pty) Ltd

bull valley

Candiese Marnewick

3. New Predator (Aus) 4yo b.c. by New Approach – Head Over Heels (Fastnet Rock) Owners: J F and L M F Wernars Bred by: D Austin, Qld

2. A Time To Dream 4yo b.f. by Dynasty - Aqueduct (Giant’s Causeway) Owners: Mayfair Speculators (Pty) Ltd Bred by: Normandy Stud

Then came: London Call, Champagne Haze, Trip To Heaven, Brutal Force, Rivarine, Attenborough, Captain’s Causeway, Kangaroo Jack, Sergeant Hardy, Gulf Storm, Talktothestars Non-runner: Victorious Jay Won by: 1 - head - 1.25 Time: 69,22

3. Ngaga (AUS) 3yo b.f. by Fastnet Rock - Zarinia (Intikhab) Owner: Mrs S Plattner Bred by: Kia Ora Stud, NSW

BULL VALLEY made no mistake when he added the final top level sprint of the season to his previous score in Scottsville’s Gr.1 Tsogo Sun Sprint. He also joined a select group of champions who claimed the double in a single season, the most notable of which has to be J J The Jet Plane, who did so in 2008 and following a successful international campaign, repeated the feat two years later.

Settled on the rail just off the pace, Sean Tarry’s runner found a timely gap in the straight, hit the front 200m from home and held Post Merchants winner Search Party’s rally to score by a length.

The win was full of merit, considering a hoof abscess had interrupted the four-year-old’s preparation, to the extent that he was a doubtful starter in the week leading up to the race.

“I almost pulled the plug on him,” Tarry confirmed post race.

The lightly raced son of successful Danehill stallion Toreador obviously has his issues and was facing the starter for only the tenth time in his career. Since joining the Tarry stable in March last year, he has won four of six starts and was second in the Gr.2 Merchants at Turffontein.

Bred in the Western Cape by Ambiance Stud, Bull Valley now boasts stakes earnings of R1,611,125, a far cry from the R180,000 he cost as a yearling.

He is out of Gr.3 Umzimkhulu Stakes second Star Of Liberty, a halfsister to Gr.3 Diana Stakes runner-up Time Control (Complete Warrior), the dam of triple Stakes winner Control Freak (Tamburlaine) and to Majestic Star (Doowaley), who produced this season’s Gr.1 Majorca Stakes second Star Express to Silvano. This is the female line of former Horse of the Year and successful stallion Model Man (Elliodor).

FINAL FLING STAKES (GRADE 3) - R250,000 - 1800m - Kenilworth 1st R156,250, 2nd R50,000, 3rd R25,000 - July 22

Then came: Goodtime Gal, Harvard Crimson, Harlem Shake, Rock On Wood, Miss d’Aray, Sublime Lady, Hilaria, Jetano Non-runner: Upper Echelon Won by: 2.50 - 0.50 - 1.50 Time: 1-50,44 There may not be much of her, but what she lacks in size and bulk, SILVAN STAR makes up for in ability. Previously successful in the Listed Ladies Mile, the four-year-old made the step up to Gr.3 level with aplomb and was rewarded with a commanding victory.

Entering the straight on the heels of long-time pacesetter Hilaria, she slipped into the lead when jockey Richard Fourie stepped on the gas and was not for the catching, powering home to score by 2.5-lengths from old rivals A Time To Dream and Ngaga, the pair having finished third and second respectively in the Ladies Mile.

Maturity has brought out the best in the daughter of Silvano, who has now won four and placed as many times in her eight most recent starts. A valuable dual stakes winner of six races, she has also rewarded owners Peter de Beyer and Georgina Jaffee with stakes earnings in excess of R520,000, a fine return on the R200,000 De Beyer gave for her as a yearling.

Silvan Star is one of 13 individual stakes winners this season sired by Maine Chance phenom Silvano, who was crowned the country’s champion stallion when the season ended on July 31. The filly was bred by Ascot Stud and hails from a female line which over the years, has served the stud with distinction.

Silvan Star is the first foal of modest one-time winner Bold Choice (Lustra), a half-sister to homebred Bold Silvano. That makes Silvan Star a three-part sister in blood to the champion. Grandam Bold Saffron ran second in the Flamboyant Stakes and is a half-sister to multiple Gr.1-placed Cape Saffron (Mullineaux), a triple stakes winner of the Gr.3 Christmas Handicap, African Breeders and King’s Cup.

1. SILVAN STAR 4yo b.f. by Silvano - Bold Choice (Lecture) 2nd dam: Bold Saffron (Al Mufti) 3rd dam: Saffron (Enchanter) Owners: P G de Beyer & Ms G A Jaffee Bred by: Ascot Stud (Pty) Ltd Trainer: G S Kotzen Jockey: R Fourie

arade MAGAZINE | July 2017 89

sail south

Candiese Marnewick

CHAMPIONS CUP (GRADE 1) - R1,000,000 - 1800m - Greyville 1st R625,000, 2nd R200,000, 3rd R100,000 - July 29 1. SAIL SOUTH 6yo b.g. by Sail From Seattle – Southern Pride (Northfields) 2nd dam: Civic Pride (Spike) 3rd dam: Civic Worker (Clear Night II) Owners: Mrs G J Dempsey and Mr and Mrs G N Pott Bred by: Mr and Mrs G N Pott Trainer: B Crawford Jockey: R Fourie 2. Captain America 6yo b.g. by Captain Al – Requista (Fort Wood) Owners: Mesdames A Gurney, D Nagle and D J Sherrell Bred by: Varsfontein Stud 3. Matador Man 3yo b.g. by Toreador - Sahara (Mogok) Owners: G D Tooch, G L Blank, G J Nassif, J Nassif, Z L Nassif,

J Sarkis and R M Scott Bred by: Scott Bros Then came: Bela-Bela, Ten Gun Salute (Aus), Table Bay (Aus), Black Arthur, It’s My Turn, Marinaresco, Judicial Non-runners: Deo Juvente, Brazuca (Aus) Won by: 1.25 - 1 - 0.50. Time: 1-48,28 SAIL SOUTH made a mockery of his 25-1 starting price when he scored a career best first top level win at the expense of his more fancied stable companion Captain America. Under Richard Fourie, the gelding tracked last month’s Gr.1 Gold Challenge winner into the straight and accelerated into the lead inside the final furlong before scoring with authority. Revenge was sweet for the six-year-old, who had finished fourth, 2.50 lengths adrift of Captain America in the Gold Challenge. The pair had also run second and third behind Legal Eagle in the Gr.1 L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate and finished on top of one another in the Gr.2 Drill Hall Stakes, won by subsequent Durban July winner Marinaresco, who started favourite here but was always trailing and finished with just one behind him. Sail South’s sole previous stakes success had come in a Listed mile event at last year’s Durban July meeting where he romped to a five-length victory under top weight.

His Gr.1 victory put the seal on a phenomenal season for deceased stallion Sail From Seattle, who led the way in terms of juvenile winners with a total of 22.Sail South is the last known foal out of Southern Pride, who also bred Listed Scarlet Lady and Stormsvlei Mile victress Dancing Dynasty to the cover of Dynasty. A winner of four races, Southern Pride is a half-sister to Majorca Stakes third and stakes winner Proud Tzarina (Russian Fox), the grandam of the dual East Cape Breeders Stakes victress Hurricane Katrina (Windrush).

90

arade MAGAZINE | July 2017

fort ember

Candiese Marnewick

GOLD BRACELET (GRADE 2) - R400,000 - 2000m - Greyville 1st R250,000, 2nd R80,000, 3rd R40,000 - July 29 1. FORT EMBER 4yo b.f. by Elusive Fort - Glowing Amber (Kahal) 2nd dam: Compass Fire (All Fired Up) 3rd dam: Compass Queen (Verdino) Owners: Dr K G Bakos and Messrs G M Bakos, I Levitan, T Myeni

and P A Peter Bred by: Arc-En-Ciel Stud Trainer: P A Peter Jockey: G Lerena 2. Nightingale 4yo b.f. by Silvano - Quickwood (Fort Wood) Owners: Mauritzfontein (Pty) Ltd and Wilgerbosdrift (Pty) Ltd Bred by: Wilgerbosdrift 3. Witchcraft 4yo ch.f. by Kahal - Deceptive Charm (Kingmambo) Owners: C J H van Niekerk, B G Gardner, M J Jooste and K P Truter Bred by: Summerhill Stud (Pty) Ltd Then came: Persian Rug, Star Express, Intergalactic, Premier Dance, Captain Gambler, Bella Sonata, Epona Non-runner: Pennington Sands Won by: 1.75 - neck - 0.50 Time: 2-3,52 The Gold Bracelet threw up a surprise result, with the Paul Peter-trained FORT EMBER coming home an easy winner.

Settled in the pound seat, the four-year-old came alive at the top of the straight and struck the front approaching the final furlong. Once in the clear, she was never in danger of defeat and powered home, pursued in vain by favourite Nightingale, who did her best to make up the deficit but was found wanting by the best part of two lengths.

Significantly, Fort Ember’s previous win had also been at the Durban track, on New Year’s Day, when she landed the Gr.3 Flamboyant Stakes under virtually similar tactics. An excellent third in the subsequent Gr.2 Hawaii Stakes, she then failed to feature in four subsequent starts, all in graded stakes company.

The now six-time winner is by Fort Wood’s champion son Elusive Fort and is the only known foal of dual winner Glowing Ember, one of six winners produced by stakes-placed Compass Fire.

hermoso mundo

CHAMPAGNE STAKES (GRADE 3) - R250,000 - 1200m - Kenilworth 1st R156,250, 2nd R50,000, 3rd R25,000 - July 29 1. NORDIC BREEZE 3yo b.f. by Windrush - Nordic Vine (Northern Guest) 2nd dam: Montrachet (Foveros) 3rd dam: Sauterne (Prince Tor) Owners: Mesdames V Foulkes and J Truter and Mr K P Truter Bred by: Normandy Stud Trainer: S J Snaith Jockey: B May 2. A Time To Dream 4yo b.f. by Dynasty - Aqueduct (Giant’s Causeway) Owners: Mayfair Speculators (Pty) Ltd Bred by: Normandy Stud 3. Come Fly With Me 5yo b.m. by Jet Master - Fly The Wind (Model Man) Owners: Mr H C and Mrs P J Devine Bred by: Patricia Devine Investments (Pty) Ltd Then came: Felicity Flyer, Love To Boogie, Hanavi, Captain’s Dove, Sails Set, Ahoy Me Matey, Anneline, South Side, Varumba Won by: shorthead - neck - 3.25 Time: 1-15,55 On bare form, the Champagne Stakes appeared to be at the mercy of class act A Time To Dream, who was sent off a popular favourite, even though she was coming off black-type places over a mile and 1800m. She duly made her forward move to take the lead 250m but could not shake off her year-younger stable companion Nordic Breeze and the pair went head to head to the line. In the shadow of the post, jockey Brandon May called for one last effort from Nordic Breeze and with one late lunge, the 25-1 shot put her head down to prevail by a shorthead. Remarkably, Nordic Breeze is no stranger to upsetting her more fancied stable companions. As a juvenile, she lowered the colours of her then undefeated stable companion The Merry Widow in the Gr.3 Kenilworth Fillies Nursery.

Raced in partnership by her breeder Veronica Foulkes and Ken and Jane Truter, Nordic Breeze is by Windrush out Veronica’s accomplished broodmare Nordic Vine, whose last known foal is a yearling filly by Warm White Night.

Although unraced, the daughter of Northern Guest boasts a quartet of stakes performers amongst her eight winners from nine runners. To a previous cover by Windrush, she bred Gr.3 Matchem Stakes winner and Gr.1-placed Rushing Wind, while visits to Western Winter produced East Cape Guineas winner Ice Wine and Irridescence Stakes runnerup Nordic Wind. In addition, her Jallad daughter Cheers produced Castle Tankard and OK Grand Challenge hero Yer-Maan (Jam Alley).

Candiese Marnewick

ELAN GOLD CUP (GRADE 3) - R1,250,000 - 3200m - Greyville 1st R781,250, 2nd R250,000, 3rd R125,000 - July 30 1. HERMOSO MUNDO 4yo b.g. by Ideal World - Escoleta Fitz (Fitzcarraldo) 2nd dam: Escoleta (Mariache) 3rd dam; Escola Do Samba (by Redtop) Owners: N C Smith, G D Cahn, G Morris, Neil Patrick Smith,

S Singleton and W Volschenk Bred by: Mauritzfontein Stud Trainer: W H Marwing Jockey: K H Zechner 2. Zante 5yo b.m. by Ideal World - Temperate Lady (Western Winter) Owner: Lammerskraal Stud Bred by: N D Page 3. Let It Rain 4yo b.g. by Dynasty - Gardener’s Delight (Giant’s Causeway) Owners: H Adams, D Chinsammy and Mrs T Chinsammy Bred by: Highlands Farms Stud (Pty) Ltd Then came: Fortissima, Kinaan (Aus), Banner Hill, Krambambuli, Mr Winsome, Cool Chardonnay, My World, Royal Honour, Captain Splendid, The Elmo Effect, Trophy Wife, Francia, Royal Badge Non-runners: Serissa, Cape Speed, Hyaku Distances: head, 2¼l, ½l A champion stayer was crowned at Greyville when Hermoso Mundo completed a clean sweep of the country’s premier staying events by adding the Greyville Gold Cup to his Gold Bowl and Gold Vase victories. Coming wide into the straight, Hermoso Mundo took aim at Oaks winner Zante and produced a powerful finish to join her a furlong out. From there, the pair had the race to themselves and although Zante fought on doggedly, Hermoso Mundo proved stronger in the finish to take the honours by a longhead.

Initially trained by Alec Laird, the winner has yet to taste defeat since joining the Weiho Marwing stable.

“I must thank Alec, he gave me the horse in brilliant condition,” remarked winning trainer Weiho Marwing. “This horse just amazes me.

I don’t think I’ve even gotten to the bottom of him. I don’t know where we go from here, but he just continued to improve after every race.”

It was another splendid result for Mauritzfontein, for not only were the first two foaled and raised at the famed Kimberley stud, both are by resident stallion Ideal World, who just 48 hours earlier had also sired the winner of the Port Elizabeth Gold Cup, Shady World. Quite an achievement.

(For pedigree details, see Gold Vase above)

arade MAGAZINE | July 2017 91

lady in black

Candiese Marnewick

THEKWINI STAKES (GRADE 1) - R750,000 - 1600m - Greyville 1st R468,750, 2nd R150,000, 3rd R75,000 - July 30

eyes wide open

Candiese Marnewick

PREMIERS CHAMPION STAKES (GRADE 1) - R750,000 - 1600m Greyville . 1st R468,750, 2nd R150,000, 3rd R75,000 - July 30

1. LADY IN BLACK 2yo b.f. by Dynasty - Mystery Dame (Jet Master) 2nd dam: Dame Kiri (Flaming Rock) 3rd dam: Duzzn’t Miss (Foveros) Owners: Miss N Mitchell and Mr W J C Mitchell Bred by: W J Engelbrecht (Jnr) Trainer: D R Drier Jockey: S Veale

1. EYES WIDE OPEN 2yo b.c. by Dynasty - Live Your Dreams (Jallad) 2nd dam: Syrian Flame (All Fired Up) 3rd dam: Damascus Road (Mecca Road) Owners: Chrigor Stud (Pty) Ltd Bred by: Highlands Farms Stud (Pty) Ltd Trainer: G S Kotzen Jockey: R Fourie

2. Rockin Russian 2yo b.f. by Seventh Rock - Russian Foxtrot (National Emblem) Owners: Dr K G Bakos, G M Bakos, G Nichas

and Sean Tarry Racing CC Bred by: Hemel ‘n Aarde Stud

2. Ancestry 2yo b.c. by Oratorio - A Daughter’s Legacy (Windrush) Owners: K Doyle, D M Graham and Mesdames A M Doyle,

D Nagle and P Shanahan Bred by: Avontuur Thoroughbred Farm

3. Folk Dance 2yo b.f. by Tiger Ridge - Liberty Dance (Fort Wood) Owners: T Myeni, G L O’Brien and Hyperpaint Syndicate Bred by: Wilgerbosdrift and Mauritzfontein

3. Warrior’s Rest 2yo b.c. by What A Winter - Bardot (Badger Land) Owner: C J H van Niekerk Bred by: Lammerskraal Stud

Then came: Desert Rhythm, Meryl, Too Phat To Fly, Mara, Just My Style, Flichity By Farr, Frederico’s Dream, Holly’s Vision, Sorceress, Illegal, La Bella Mia Won by: 0.50 - 1 - 0.50 Time: 1-36,16

Then came: Monk’s Hood, Sea King, Borya, Pack Leader, Mujallad (Aus), Cat’s Legacy, Chantyman, Captain And Master, Leftrightgoodnight, Purple Diamond Non-runner: Leslie Shadowliner Won by: 0.50 - head - shorthead Time: 1-36,69

Veteran Cape owner Jack Mitchell has raced a number of outstanding Dynasty offspring, notably former Horse of the Year Futura and triple Gr.1 winner Jackson. Together with daughter Nancy, he looks to have another budding champion by the blue chip stallion in the shape of LADY IN BLACK, who stretched her unbeaten record to three from three with a splendid come-from-behind effort in this Gr.1 mile event.

Forced to race four wide due to a wide draw, Lady In Black nevertheless hit top gear in the straight and she strode into the lead at the 50m mark to win going away by a half-length.

Trained by Dennis Drier, the filly made a winning debut on June 7 up the Scottsville straight and stepped up to 1400m on July 15 to score an easy victory over the Greyville polytrack.

Lady In Black was bred by Willem Engelbrecht Jnr and is the second foal of his homebred Mystery Dame, a five-time winner who twice reached the frame in the Gr.3 Final Fling Stakes. Lady In Black’s fourth dam is the outstanding filly Duzzon (Who Duzzit), a dual Gr.1 winner of the SA Nursery and SA Fillies Sprint.

Bloodstock agent John Freeman, who gave R1.1-million for Lady In Black at last year’s National Sale, had to pay considerably more twelve months later for the yearling own brother, R1.7-million to be exact. Mystery Dame produced a filly by Oratorio in 2016.

92

arade MAGAZINE | July 2017

EYES WIDE OPEN made it a quickfire double for Dynasty when stepping up from maiden to Gr.1 winner in the colt’s equivalent.

Glen Kotzen’s charge came from off the pace and together with Ancestry, threw out a determined challenge on the stand side. The pair surged past long-time leader Warrior’s Rest close home and with Eyes Wide Open holding a narrow advantage, the colt took the honours by a half-length.

Third on debut, the winner lined up here following an impressive 3.5-length maiden romp over the Scottsville mile three weeks earlier and has now rewarded owners Hugo and Susanna Hattingh of Chrigor Stud with their very first Gr.1 winner.

The second highest priced lot at last year’s KwaZulu-Natal Yearling Sale, Eyes Wide Open has fully justified his price tag of R850,000 with this coveted Gr.1 score. One of 45 stakes winners sired by Dynasty and the 13th to succeed at the elite level, the Highlands-bred is out of Live Your Dreams, whose previous foals include Gr.3 Byerley Turk second Living With Heart (Spectrum). Grandam Syrian Flame, one of six winners out of Tibouchina Stakes victress Damascus Road, is a half-sister to Gr.1 Met hero Alastor (Al Mufti). Live Your Dreams’ last registered foal is a juvenile filly by Oratorio.

princess peach

Candiese Marnewick

THE DEBUTANTE (Gr.3) - R300,000 - 1200m - Greyville 1st R187,500, 2nd R60,000, 3rd R30,000 - July 30

al mariachi

Candiese Marnewick

UMKHOMAZI STAKES (GRADE 3) - R300,000 - 1200m - Greyville 1st R187,500, 2nd R60,000, 3rd R30,000 - July 30

1. PRINCESS PEACH 2yo b.f. by Captain Al - Princess Tobin (Badger Land) 2nd dam: Alice B Tobin (J O Tobin) 3rd dam: Gipsy Jet (Windy Sands) Owners: Chrigor Stud (Pty) Ltd Bred by: Varsfontein Stud Trainer: G S Kotzen Jockey: R Fourie

1. AL MARIACHI 2yo b.c. by Great Britain - Senorita Al (Captain Al) 2nd dam: Model Guest (Northern Guest) 3rd dam: Magic Model (Model Man) Owner: G P C Glover Bred by: Riverton Stud Trainer: B Crawford Jockey: C Orffer

2. Neptune’s Rain 2yo b.f. by Antonius Pius - Water Is Gold (Rich Man’s Gold) Owner: D D MacLean Bred by: Highlands Farms Stud (Pty) Ltd

2. So Var 2yo ch.c. by Var - Surabi (Wolfhound) Owner: M E Leaf Bred by: Maine Chance Farms (Pty) Ltd

3. Light On Her Toes 2yo b.f. by Gimmethegreenlight - Vermilion (Western Winter) Owners: The Fire Racing Trust Bred by: Team Valor International

3. Sniper Shot 2yo ch.c. by Judpot - Seven Veils (Rich Man’s Gold) Owners: L C W van Wyk, M A Currie and P V Lafferty Bred by: Birch Bros

Then came: Spring Breeze, Tsessebe, Red Enchantment, Virga, Marsala, Outlander, Winter Watch, Fancifilly, Celestina Won by: neck - 1.75 - 0.50 Time: 1-10,47

Then came: Quinlan, Procal Harum, Zerodarkthirty, Roy’s Regis (Aus), Laurent Du Var, Concealed Secret, Sir Frenchie (Aus) Won by: 2.75 - longhead - head Time: 69,96

PRINCESS PEACH put her best foot forward to open her stakes account with a hard-fought victory in the Debutante.

Racing on the heels of pacemaker Celestina, she willingly responded to the urgings of jockey Richard Fourie to take the lead 300m from home. Favourite Neptune’s Rain (Antonius Pius) was in hot pursuit, but the 2kg pull in the weight probably made the difference, as Princess Peach held on to win by a neck.

A debut winner in late December, Princess Peach snapped a fourrace losing streak here, albeit that she had finished fourth in both the Strelitzia and Allan Robertson.

Out of stakes-placed Princess Tobin, the Varsfontein-bred is an own sister to East Cape Fillies Nursery victress Princess Alberta, while halfsister Badger’s Cove (Joshua Dancer) ran second in this race before winning the Gr.2 Sceptre Stakes at four.

Princess Tobin’s half-sister Alice Blue Gown (Elliodor) is the dam of Gr.3 East Cape Derby runner-up Kilconnel’s Blue (Kilconnel), a durable winner of ten races from two to eight.

Princess Tobin has a yearling filly by Master Of My Fate.

Bargain buy AL MARIACHI capped his juvenile season with a visually impressive win in the final stakes race of the 2016/17 racing season.

The colt bided his time in second place and after taking the lead in mid-straight, was punched out to win unchallenged by the best part of three lengths.

Bought by trainer Brett Crawford for just R70,000 at the 2016 KwaZuluNatal Yearling Sale, Al Mariachi cracked his maiden second time out and placed in both subsequent starts, notably when third in the Gr.1 Gold Medallion. He fully justified favouritism when landing the lucrative million Rand sales race on Durban July day.

Al Mariachi looks a fine prospect and with three wins and two places from six starts, has earned his owner over R950,000, which makes his purchase price pale in comparison!

He is yet another feather in the cap of the underrated stallion Great Britain, a stakes winning own brother to leading English sire Cape Cross.

Al Mariachi is the second foal of Senorita Al, a placed half-sister to Gr.3 winner London Guest (London News) from the family of champion sprinter Senor Santa (Northern Guest), ill-fated Gr.1 Cape Guineas winner Flight Alert (National Assembly) and Gr.2 Natalia Stakes victress Magic Model (Model Man).

arade MAGAZINE | July 2017 93

SUBSCRIPTION FORM Parade Magazine is a quarterly magazine which showcases thoroughbred horseracing in South Africa. The content includes relevant and current information and analysis of racing and breeding in South Africa, as well as detailed records of all Graded race results. Parade stimulates interest in all aspectsof the South African thoroughbred industry, and is a forum for discussion and debate of topical issues involving breeding, training, racing and ownership. The magazine is also a national and international showcase of South African racing and breeding.

NEW SUBSCRIPTIONS ONLY - current subscribers please contact us for a renewal form.

Annual Subscriptions include postage and packaging • Local: R120 per annum incl. VAT • Overseas: R240 per annum.

PLEASE COMPLETE THIS FORM IN BLOCK LETTERS AND POST TO THE ADDRESS BELOW: Gold Circle Publishing Dept, P.O. Box 40, Durban, 4000, South Africa

NAME: POSTAL ADDRESS:

POSTAL CODE: TEL:

CELL:

EMAIL: Accepted Payment Methods: Cheque payable to: Bank Deposit:

TAB KwaZulu Natal (Reference: Parade Mag Subscription, with name and contact number). Please attach a copy of this form to your cheque payment TAB KwaZulu Natal, First National Bank, Branch No: 221426, Account Number: 50853789012 (Reference: Parade Mag Sub & your name and contact number)

Deposit slip and this application form to be faxed to: +27(0)31 314 1779 Cheques with copy of this form can be posted to: Gold Circle Publishing Dept, P.O. Box 40, Durban, 4000, South Africa Tel: 031 314 1926 | Email: warrenl@goldcircle.co.za Gold Circle (Pty) Ltd - An A Empowerdex Rated Company Reg No: 1998/24366/07 T/A GOLD CIRCLE RACING AND GAMING GROUP P.O.BOX 40, DURBAN, 4000, SOUTH AFRICAN Parade is published on behalf of the South African Thoroughbred Horse Racing Industry

frequently found in the uneducated, the seemingly unsophisticated. It’s similar in meaning to common sense, streetwise.

Earlier in the year, an article appeared in “The Daily Telegraph” drawing attention to studies which bring a new, more fitting meaning to the term, horse sense. Scientists at the University of Sussex conducted experiments which show that horses are able to discern happy faces from angry ones, that their heart rate increases when they see an angry face.

In essence, that horses are able to read human emotions … something those closely connected with horses have known all along.

Horses, so I learnt from the article, view negative events with their left eye because information from that eye is processed in the right hemisphere of the brain which is where sense is made of all threatening stimuli.

Strange, but True …

Jockey Billy Jacobson’s hirsute appearance when interviewed at Scottsville after his win in September aboard the Gary Rich-trained, Connect Me, momentarily startled me.

Holy Moly, a bearded jock, something I’d never seen before in more than fifty years of racing. If it helps bring home the winners, let it grow, Billy Boy, let it grow.

Then there was Amberine, a filly which managed to slip her saddle before the start of a race at Bath. I don’t know how she managed that, and can only assume that she got away from whoever was holding her before her saddle had been properly secured.

Over the years I’ve seen other extraordinary happenings in horse racing. While still an adolescent I witnessed a race re-run at Scottsville (after the last event of the day, of course) because the starter had despatched the field of an earlierrun race a few minutes before the official, advertised starting time of the race. A huge blunder on the part of the starter.

The most dramatic, heroic act I’ve ever witnessed was at Greyville racecourse many years ago, long before any of our current crop of apprentices were born. On the turn, before the entrance to the straight, a quick-thinking jockey, Glyn Schofield, now resident in Australia, noticed that apprentice Heinz Runge was in serious trouble, about to part company from his mount. Coming alongside the desperate apprentice, Glyn seized him by the seat of his pants, or was it his arm, and returned him to the saddle, averting a nasty accident.

Rude and Crude “Shatin … Asia’s Premier racecourse situated in Hong Kong. Also a term used in the Antipodes (and elsewhere) to describe an easy win, as in “the horse shatin”. -The World’s Best Horse Racing Book Ever. Published in the Sixties, it is the silliest book that I own.

Food, Glorious Food …

Dubious racing lore would have us believe that legendary

billy jacobson.

Holy Moly, a bearded jock, something I’d never seen before in more than fifty years of racing. If it helps bring home the winners, let it grow, Billy Boy, let it grow.

English rider, Lester Piggott, now approaching his eightysecond birthday, survived each day, during his many decades in the saddle, by eating a poached egg and puffing his way through a handful of cigars. It also ridiculously contends that former Panamanian champion jockey, Laffit Pincay Jnr, now almost seventy-one, used to cut a peanut into slivers and nibble on the slices as his sole daily ration.

Both claims, exaggerated as they may be, serve to highlight the fact that professional riders have to watch what they eat. The plight of many riders with regard to maintaining an acceptable riding mass, while at the same time retaining superior physical strength, alertness and emotional wellbeing, is rarely considered by the racing public who are frequently ignorant of the discipline and sacrifice that are part and parcel of a rider’s daily regimen.

Spare a gentle thought for all jockeys when you tuck in, and probably overindulge, over the Festive Season.

arade MAGAZINE | October 2017 95

horsing with hennessey

Absolutely Splendid

Simply Marvelous...

For those of you who aspire to speak posh English, here are a few useful tips that I picked up, quite by chance, on the Internet.

S

peak slowly, use a great deal of inflection and intonation in your voice, contort your face into that of a bulldog, your lower jaw extending outwards below your upper jaw. Such a facial distortion will enable you to speak with a truly plummy, hot potato accent.

Furthermore, liberal use of the adverbs - absolutely, wonderfully, simply, awfully, terribly and frightfully - will add just the right sort of upper crust touch to all your conversations.

Amused and influenced by such advice, I’ve chosen to be awfully clever in my description of Marinaresco’s win in the Vodacom July Handicap run mid-year at Greyville. His polished performance was, without a doubt, absolutely splendid, simply marvlous.

Whether the four-year old Silvano gelding was your big race fancy or not, you just have to be in awe of the manner in which the small, feisty thoroughbred dealt with his opposition.

Ignored by the country’s expert tipsters in their selections and allowed to start at odds of twelve to one or better, Marinesco darted home resolutely in the latter stages of the race to snatch victory on the line.

Every year I have a ten rand wager on a few July entrants for my elderly friend, Maudie. She’s not at all keen on racing but delights in watching any race if she knows that I’ve placed a few bets on her behalf. Luckily for her, on the Thursday before the big event, I heard the talented Bernard Fayd’herbe, rider of Marinaresco, counter the argument that his mount had

96

arade MAGAZINE | October 2017

little chance of winning because it was carded to carry top weight. He made it clear that his chances were greater than what most people thought because, as one of the heaviest jockeys in the country, his mount would have almost no dead weight to shoulder. Knowing that live-weight is considered so much easier to carry than dead-weight, Bernard’s comment persuaded me to include Marinaresco as one of five horses for Maudie’s July splurge.

On the Sunday after the race, when I took ol’ Maudie her winnings of more than two hundred rand she appeared to be thrilled beyond measure. Thank you, Bernard.

He made it clear that his chances were greater than what most people thought because, as one of the heaviest jockeys in the country, his mount would have almost no dead weight to shoulder.

Horse Sense …

The late American comedian and actor, W.C. Fields, facetiously described horse sense as “the thing which a horse has which keeps it from betting on people”. In general usage, however, horse sense refers to the innate shrewdness

P.T.O