SP Sprint - 15 May 2024

GREEN FOR GO!

SLAM DUNK!

A delighted Craig Zackey chats to trainer Glen Kotzen after the lionhearted Rascova beat the favourite Double Grand Slam in last Wednesday’s World Sports Betting Gr2 Fillies Guineas at Hollywoodbets Greyville. Zackey went on to ride Green With Envy to victory in the World Sports Betting Gr2 Guineas on the same afternoon. Candiese Lenferna took the photograph.

On the cover

Craig Zackey makes a point to trainer Dean Kannemeyer after Green With Envy’s eyecatching victory over champion Sandringham Summit in the WSB Gr2 Guineas at Hollywoodbets Greyville on Wednesday 8 May. Candiese Lenferna took the photograph.

‘Use the best of media and latest technological systems to create a customer-centric operation. Make it personal and let them identify with the stars of the sport, reach them with interactive systems as we see similarly in F1 motor racing and other sports’ – Robin Bruss

HOW

DO WE GET THE SHOW BACK INTO THE FAST LANE?

The Rise and Rise of Gambling (Part 2): A Discussion on The Tote

There has been a precipitous decline of betting on the Totalisator which gives cause for concern for the horseracing industry. In the 1990’s, the tote accounted for 66% of ALL betting in South Africa.

Robin Bruss writes that today it accounts for 0,3% of ALL betting in South Africa.

More importantly, in terms of betting on horseracing only, in 2023 the betting market share of the Tote was 17,4% (at R1,7 billion) compared to the Bookmakers 82,6% (at R9,75 billion). This is the reverse of what used to be. I can’t say that this essay is a complete authoritative study. The subject is much bigger

than one article and has multiple facets. I hope that some of the facts that I am able to show and some of the observations I have made will resonate, and stimulate further discussion and thinking as we eke our way forward to a better model of racing’s future.

Here goes:

The Tote was the dominant form of betting in South Africa until 2012, when bookmaker’s bets on horse racing surpassed it for the first time at around the R4,5 billion mark. Since then, bookmaker’s bets on horseracing have more than doubled. The Tote by contrast has more than halved.

THE CONCERN FOR RACING

Those of us in racing are concerned, because traditionally for more than a hundred years, the Tote has been the provider of the income stream on which horseracing was regulated,

organized and operated, and its prize money paid.

In short, it is the Tote on which we have traditionally relied to keep racing stabilised. It is the Tote’s contribution to prize money which

largely informed the yearling and racehorse market, which thereby enable the employment of staff on breeding farms; its contribution to purses stimulate all the employment of participants in the Sport, the staffing of operations of the turf clubs.

There was a time when the tote fully funded the regulatory authorities, plus the lion’s share of the training of jockeys and work riders,and funded its own betting operations.

Without the tote income, the costs of running racing and paying purses has to be found from other sources, and so it has come to be in recent years – with the lion’s share currently coming from the pockets of philanthropists, and bookmaking ventures.

Consider that the Tote has significantly large deductions from the Pool. In most countries where Totes operates, Win and Place pools have between 14% and 16% deducted before declaration of the dividend.

In two horse bets such as the Exacta or Dupla, it’s around 25%, and in the big exotic pools like the Pick 6 and Jackpot, it’s between 25% and 30%.

It was able to do this because of one word: LIQUIDITY.

Pools were so much bigger than what Bookmakers could hold, and liquidity was so much deeper that even after the fat deductions, the dividends to punters could be traditionally larger.

This was especially true in the case of the exotics such as the Pick Six and the Jackpot, which at times in days gone by, had payouts that looked more like a lottery windfall.

The Tote was meant to have the tools to compete but, as we have seen, it has been on a downward spiral for the last 28 years.

So what changed ?

Understanding the Regulatory Framework

In the period from 1948 to 1998, the Tote maintained its advantage by betting licensing being controlled by the Jockey Clubs and Bookmakers had to apply to the Head Executive of the Jockey Club (now the NHA) for a licence. If memory serves me correctly, the order was maintained at around 60 bookmakers’ licences country wide.

All of that changed with the New South Africa in which the Wiehann Commission (1993) recommended a new dispensation for widespread gambling which would include Casinos, slot machines, Bingo and a National Lottery, competing with horseracing.

One of the inducements in setting up the public company Phumelela, was to provide racing with a modern way of competing with other forms of gambling. The tote was allowed reductions in taxes to try and make it more competitive, and the first Sports betting licence was issued to the Tote for the set up of Soccer Pools.

The National Gambling Board was set up for the regulatory and licensing of all gambling which was then outsourced to each Provincial Gambling Board.

Although there is supposed to be a national policy framework, what happens in practice is that each Provincial Gambling Board issues licenses for its province, they determine tax rates for their province, they collect betting taxes at various differing rates depending on what they deem suitable for their province.

Today there are some 380 bookmaker’s licences and around 600 bookmaking outlets countrywide.

Distortions in the Provinces

The differing rates and allowances have led to distortions.

For example, Mpumalanga has a 4,3% share of the national economy, but it leads the whole country by betting in 2023 with a 28% share of all gambling. They report turnover of R229 billion, despite being only the 5th richest province of all nine provinces.

By comparison, the richest province, Gauteng, accounts for 41% of the national GDP, but only 20% share of all gambling with an aggregate turnover of R170 billion.

KZN is the second richest province with 20% of the national GDP, but ranks only 4th in betting with just 12% of all gambling.

For little Mpumalanga, who have a population (2022 census) of 4,9% of South Africa, and a GDP of 4,3%, how is it possible for them to have 28% share of the National Gambling market, but for them providing such an advantageous regulatory framework for big gambling operators, that they are sucking away betting from other provinces far richer than them?

The matter of different regulations and licencing in each Province is a fascinating study in itself. We will save the subject for another day. Suffice

to say that, although the Constitution of South Africa demands a harmonization of the law, the fact is that Provinces have a widespread autonomy and different dispensations abound

The effect of this, when you start to analyse what it may mean in practical terms for horseracing, is that you discover two things:

1. The Return to Punter in horseracing bets on a national level, especially on the tote, is a big disadvantage.

2. That according to the 2022/23 National Gambling Board statistics, the total taxes paid by Bookmakers AND the Tote on HORSERACING betting was EIGHT TIMES the rate paid by SPORTS betting.

The regulatory and tax anomalies for horseracing require introspection and revision, both provincially and nationally.

The National Gambling Amendment Bill

In 2006, the Department of Trade & Industry commenced a review in order to update and harmonise gambling legislation.

This led to a National Gambling Review Commission (NGRC) under the chairmanship of Ms Joan Fubbs, with presentations given in parliament by various stakeholders, including the writer, who presented an industry outlook on behalf of the NHA.

The distortions in taxation rates was referred to, but Minister of DTI, Rob Davies, issued a press release in 2013 to state that Government was aware, but required the horseracing industry to deal with transformation first.

The NGRC released a report which contained various recommendations on a national framework on all gambling policy.

This led to a White Paper in 2015 calling for public comment on provisions of the new National Gambling Amendment Bill, followed by the final draft coming to Parliament in 2018 and again in 2021 and being returned both times as inadequate and incomplete.

The new draft has yet to be issued – the gambling landscape is changing so rapidly with new bet types and digital expansion, that the Act has yet to keep up.

It is therefore possible for racing to review its own position and make representations for further amendments.

The Tote as a System of Betting

THE TOTE is a glorious system of betting in countries when it is protected from competition by legislation.

They include most notably, JAPAN, HONG KONG, FRANCE and USA. They fill four of the five top countries ranked by prize money paid.

In many countries where the Tote must compete with bookmaking, the tote has a greater struggle. The obvious reasons are that bookmakers have the advantage of offering credit, they are permitted a wider variety of bets, can offer discounts or stretched prices, and many other inducements, with known outcomes.

The tote is heavily negatively influenced by a single large bet if the liquidity of pools is low, and that weak state of liquidity is becoming more prevalent in South Africa as turnovers slide downhill.

One way of overcoming this was to create a National Tote (SAFTOTE) in which all betting on the tote countrywide is mixed into a single comingled pool.

A second way was to mix that co-mingled pool

with the international totes to which South Africa is beaming its product.

Although Phumelela was the pioneer in taking South African racing to 40 other countries, its effect on local totes appeared negligible. Its global dissemination was through an offshore vehicle, Phumelela-Gold, owned at the time with Gold Circle and in partnership with British Racing (GBI) and Australia’s Tabcorp.

Its revenue was reflected in Phumelela’s Annual Financial Statements as ‘Intellectual Property Fees’, effectively the recording of media rights.

Hong Kong Jockey Club’s World Pool is a global initiative in which the host country several times a year beams its racing into the global broadcast and on which Totes around the world co-mingle their tote pools with the host country receiving a large commission. It is extremely profitable for the host country.

For example, the British Tote reported in 2023 that because of the World Pool, the British Tote’s turnover in 2022 grew by 44% to a figure of £521 million turnover.

South Africa’s signal festival events such as the July, the Met, the Summer Cup and Champions Day are all part of the World Pools now.

Liquidity remains an issue for the Tote in South Africa and is one of the factors causing its slide.

Other Factors affecting the Performance of the Tote

I’m going to express some personal observations, not reliant on full quantitative facts and analysis, but a current estimate of some things that might have altered the balance against the Tote:

1. Lack of focus and reduction in the number of tote outlets.

2. Lack of media dissemination and appropriate information to the rank and file of punters, who lost faith in the product of horse racing.

Punters are not kept informed to the same standards of operators like the HKJC and the JRA, which make it a hallmark to put the punters first.

The words of the Japan Racing Association Chairman Masayuki Goto at the Asian Racing Conference in South Africa 1995 remain pertinent:

3. Failure to be the leader in the astounding rise of online betting on smart phones. Bookmaker and Casino platforms are far more advanced.

4. The tote’s branding is weak, with mixed messages – the branding is for TAB, which means what – ‘Tote Agency Board’, or sometimes advertised as ‘Take a Bet’. In Durban it’s called TABGold, but the tote in all the provinces is referred to as SAFTOTE. We talk about having a Tote bet, but the online betting platforms say TAB.

Bookmakers offer fixed odds, but they also offer Tote bets in a system called the Open Bet, which invariably, except for some egalitarian bookmakers, don’t put the bet into the pool, but will pay you out the same dividend as the declared tote (err.. TAB) dividend, unless it’s a big exotic dividend - which they don’t because they have limits on what they will pay.

5. I’m a racing man but even I get confused

where to study the form between the NHA’s pdf results posted to a site no one looks at; TABGold used to publish results pages, now you have to look at a site called Gallop. I don’t know where 4Racing publishes results, I use independent group Formgrids.org, others use Racebook.co.za; the local newspapers don’t publish results, other than numbers of the horses with payouts but no names of the horses and definitely not the connections names, not even jockey or trainer.

6. Trying to watch the races is also not easy. 4Racing and Gold Circle have different channels, not all races are even on DSTV. By year end, 4Racing will only have Gauteng and East Cape racing on their DSTV channel, because, as I understand it, the contract with Cape Racing and KZN expires.

Getting to live stream is good but challenging, as the channels require gateway password access, and if it’s a hassle for me, it can’t be easy for the masses.

To me there is no doubt that the MARKETING of the tote, and even of horseracing is a MISH MASH, capable of confusing even the ardent fans.

In this regard, I am not surprised at the decline of the Tote.

Given the media coverage of the major bookmakers, their sponsorships, their customer related marketing, it’s clear that they create loyal fans, and so they now control 82% of the horseracing betting market.

A new look at a racing media division is advised, not only to promote the horse and protect the tradition and history of the Sport, but also to align it to betting.

In this respect, organisations such as the Racing Association and the Thoroughbred Breeders Association ought to put on their agenda ways in which to preserve and protect the ETHOS of the Sport.

Reduction in Tote Outlets

Over the 10 years period to 2021, there has been a steady decline in the number of Tote

outlets, whilst bookmakers have almost doubled their reach. Whilst significant, bricks and mortar outlets as platforms have been dwarfed by the explosion of mobile betting.

Source: National Gambling Board 2023, but figures for 2022 and 2023 not available.

Global Digital Insights noted that in 1998, mobile phone penetration was 9 million phones of about 18% of the population of South Africa. In 2022, it is over 100 million or 176% of the population. Of these 80 million are Smart Phones, capable of data platforms on which betting is possible.

The Open Bet occurs when the Bookmakers lays the equivalent to a tote bet but holds the bet himself rather than submitting it into the tote pool. He promises to pay the same dividend as the Tote and risks that if the punter wins, he loses and must pay the equivalent dividend as

declared by the tote.

Effectively the Open Bet deprives the pool of the turnover it would receive and similarly it avoids the takeout ordinarily used to fund the operator, pay the prize money and provide for government taxes.

If the punter loses, the bookmaker scoops his whole bet as there was no requirement to pay it into a pool.

Let’s take a look at the open bet:

THE OPEN BET

The open bet has been in play since it was approved by an Ordinance in 1961.

Various highly speculative estimates have been given as to the level at which the Open Best takes revenue away from the Tote. I have yet to see or been able to find any published quantification.

The principle of the Open Bet was examined and its impact discussed in both the High Court and in the Appellate Division when Phumelela sued three bookmakers in an attempt to overturn the current law allowing the open bet in a bid to protect the Tote.

The case is known as Phumelela v Grundligh, Schuler and Turfsport cc (2005).

Phumelela charged that Bookmakers were licensed to offer Fixed Odds which are clearly defined as having an agreement of the winnings in advance of the race. By offering equivalent payouts for Tote Bets, for which the dividend could only be declared after the race was run, they charged that the bookmakers had contravened the definitions of the National Gambling Act 1995.

The High Court agreed, the Appellate division did not and overturned the High Court judgement.

The three judges of the Appellate division found that that the definition of Fixed Odds also included the notion of a bet struck on the basis of the horse’s Starting Price, for which the winnings could not be known in advance but only after the race.

In considering the function of the Open bet, they deemed its principle of paying a dividend after the race when in became calculated to be a similar or the same as the starting price payment and they overruled the High Court judgement.

Interestingly, the Appellate division also had to decide if such a practice was unfair and

“All

that can be offered in defence of the practice is that it has been legislatively sanctioned for many years (1957, 1961, 1978 2004) (even though) such bets remain essentially parasitical. In my view they reap an unrighteous competitive harvest, they are legally unfair.”

unlawful in order to consider if the law should be amended. Just because something may be unfair, it does not necessarily mean it is unlawful. In determining the difference, the defining point lies in the public interest.

Judge Comrie described the perceived unfairness thus –

“Reduced to these essentials the parasitic nature of the appellant’s exotic bets is in my view, plainly evident. There is no fear that the parasite will kill the host, but competing on these uneven terms, there can be little doubt that in accordance with the laws of nature and business, the parasite will likely harm the host, as parasites usually do. I consider that right thinking members of the community should and would condemn it without much ado.”

However, Judges Farlam and Conradie did not agree with Comrie. Whilst they understood it may not be particularly fair, they determined that it was not ‘unlawful because of the history’.

The law permitting it had been in place in Natal since 1957, permitting bookmakers to offer “bets at Tote odds”.

This stance was repeated in the National Horse Racing and Betting Ordinance 24 of 1978.

The replacement legislation, the National Gambling Act 4 of 1995 did not prohibit the Open Bet, but then the Gauteng Gambling Act 1998 did, excluding bookmakers from ‘offering a tote bet of any kind’. However, this was then reversed in the National Gambling Act 2004 which specifically permits an Open Bet.

Given introspection and examination and confirmation many times by legislative bodies means it is a long standing law, and if the public interest was so assaulted in the past 50 years, why had only one objection come to the court in this long period?

After the Appeal Board’s decision in 2005, the discussion came up at the 2012 NGRC hearings on gambling policy in parliament. Apart from noting that horseracing was entitled to some form of payment by bookmakers for

use of their IP in betting, no recommendation was made to amend the Open Bet and it did not appear in the White Paper 2015.

What effect would a change to Open Bet have for the Tote?

Currently the big bookmaking chains are supporting horse racing to the hilt despite the fact that racing accounts for altogether R9,7 billion out of Bookmakers total turnover of R427 bn turnover. That is 2.2% of their business. How much of that total might constitute the Open Bet?

At the moment, the figures are highly speculative: we don’t know. If there is evidence in someone’s possession, let’s hear it.

The Operators and Bookmaking chains might find it useful to seek clarity and decide if there is merit to re-visit and if so, who would support the amendment to the Bill and to consider what

the Tote or the Sport of Racing might have to gain by it.

Alternatively, it might even be a lesser sum than the big bookmaking companies are already giving to racing, and if that is the case, it will be dead before it can begin.

Where to From Here for the Tote ?

It’s going to be interesting to ask both Cape Racing’s Greg Bortz and 4Racing’s Chairman Charles Savage and CEO Fundi Sithebe to provide their views on the way forward with the Tote, as they seem to have polar opposite views on the matter.

Cape Racing eschews the Tote in its current form as being capable of turnaround and enhancing the sport of horseracing as it used to do. They have hitched their future to a ‘partnership’ with South Africa’s biggest bookmaking chain, Hollywoodbets, and they have some well stated innovative plans - and there are others in the wings which use the principle of a Tote license but create a different operational pathway.

4Racing eschewed the bookmaker’s licenses in its purchase of Phumelela’s assets and the tote, but not the bookmaking operations they held in Betting World and Supabets. Whether 4Racing can turn the tote around, or has alternative plans, deserves a different article.

What is true, is that creativity and entrepreneurial capability abounds, especially given the vastness of the new technologies which already have commanded the incredible rise of betting with a 10 000% growth path.

How to tap into it is the new frontier and to boldly go where no man has gone before (to borrow a phrase from Star Trek!) provides both hope and excitement.

Before closing, one more point regarding the structure of racing and sport:

Alternative Funding of Other Major Sports

Most Sports are organized differently to horseracing’s reliance on gambling.

Soccer, Rugby, Cricket, Tennis, Basketball, Golf, Motor racing and major league sports all depend largely on media rights (television and internet) because they command a massive viewership, and the bigger the drawcard of public viewership, the greater the fee that sports commands.

Multichoice announced a broadcast rights deal with the Premier Soccer League to pay more than R1 billion p.a. for television and internet rights. The Rugby Championship (South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Argentina) is worth several hundred million dollars p.a. American Football commands $10 billion p.a.!

No such luck for racing here, whose income has traditionally been from gambling, and is obliged to pay its own way to be on television.

The challenge is for racing to be so popular that broadcast channels will pay for the right to broadcast. Or for Sports to find a way to earn revenue from the massive gambling which we see taking place on it.

The changing landscape already sees a blurring of the lines.

The Jockey Club in UK established an alternative model. It’s as a non-profit body by Royal Charter and all of its profits flow back into horseracing. It owns 14 racecourses and no betting outlets.

The racecourse and the festival meeting they operate include some of the most iconic in the history of horseracing such as Epsom Derby and Oaks; Aintree’s Grand National; Royal Ascot, and Newmarket’s Classic races. The Jockey Club’s sale of media rights for these events runs to more than £200 million (R4,6 billion) p.a. which is more than double

the £99 million contributed by the Horseracing Levy Betting Board in 2023, from bookmaker betting.

Media rights are based on popularity, and its popular appeal to the public that drives every sport whether its income is betting based or media based.

Perhaps one of the keys is the simplest as Japan has proclaimed. Use the best of media and latest technological systems to create a customer-centric operation. Make it personal and let them identify with the stars of the sport,

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reach them with interactive systems as we see similarly in F1 motor racing and other sports, use AI to tailor make and personalize the approach. Find new revenue drivers.

We are already living beyond Huxley’s proverbial Brave New World in technological advances. We can, and must, step forward and these articles will continue the series to look at what we have and where can go.

Ed – Author Robin Bruss is away overseas for a few weeks. We look forward to part 3 of this series on his return.

DISAPPOINTMENT AS DE KOCK FILLY ABANDONS JULY

Star filly Gimme A Nother was withdrawn from the 2024 Hollywoodbets Gr1 Durban July on Monday and will be heading to the United States.

Trainer Mike de Kock made a short announcement on Monday afternoon as to her future plans.

He said: “After consulting with Gimme A Nother’s owners, Jessica and Steven Jell, a decision was made to plan a campaign for her in the United States. I will be flying to the US this week to explore our best racing options for her. If all goes well, we’ll be sending a couple of

other runners with her to continue their careers in the US, and hopefully we can attract other top South African runners to race there.”

Mike said that it was unlikely that Gimme A Nother would race in South Africa again.

“We’ll be shipping her as soon as we have an agreed course of action,” he noted.

Gimme A Nother, a three-year-old by Gimmethegreenlight out of Nother Russia, is unbeaten in seven career starts. Her wins include the Gr1 Wilgerbosdrift SA Fillies Classic and the Gr1 TAB Empress Club Stakes.

Gimme A Nother – leaving SA for USA | Credit: JC Photos

ROBERTS CHAMP HEADS JULY LOG

Hollywoodbets Durban July log-topper See It Again, with Piere Strydom and trainer Michael Roberts | Credit: Candiese Lenferna

The first Hollywoodbets Durban July log was published on Tuesday, 14 May 2024.

The Log was determined by Messrs Lennon Maharaj (Senior Handicapper), Raf Sheik and Graeme Hawkins, and their deliberation was overseen by Manfred Rohwer, Chairman of the Gold Circle Racing Committee.

The panel considered Merit Ratings, Current Form and Graded Race performances in arriving at their decision and the issuing of the Log is to provide a clear indication to all stakeholders and racing fans as to where each horse fits into the pecking order with just 53 days to go before the running of the R5-million Hollywoodbets Durban July at Hollywoodbets Greyville on Saturday 6 July.

In a genuine effort to be as transparent as possible, the Log is issued on the basis that if the Hollywoodbets Durban July was run today, these are the horses that would make up the final field.

But there are still a number of key races scheduled in the coming weeks, presenting an opportunity for horses to improve their chances of being considered for the final field at the time of final declarations on Monday, 24 June at 11h00.

Forty-five horses stood their ground at the first acceptance stage on Monday with the second

declaration stage set for Monday 03 June. A notable scratching was the unbeaten 3-yearold filly, Gimme A Nother who is destined to continue her racing career in America.

Flag Man was the only additional supplementary entry after his eye-catching win on Saturday, but he will need to perform well in the Daily News 2000 to get into the final Hollywoodbets Durban July field.

There is a final supplementary entry stage which closes at 11h00 on Tuesday 18 June.

The Log reflects the top twenty horses in order of preference and the next six in alphabetical order.

• Second declarations: Close 11h00 Monday 3 June 2024

• Final supplementary entries: Close 11h00 Tuesday 18 June 2024

• Weights published: Tuesday 18 June 2024

• Final declarations: Close 11h00 Monday 24 June 2024

• Final field and draw announcement: Tuesday 25 June 2024

NEXT 6 IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER

SNAITH’S KING OF SWING

Justin Snaith’s Hollywoodbets Durban July master plan for the 4yo Future Swing is unfolding sweetly and the tough Futura gelding stamped his authority at his second run after a rest to win the R500 000 World Sports Betting 1900 at Hollywoodbets Greyville on Saturday.

Day 2 of the 2024 SA Champions Season went off smoothly after the 4 May debacle, with a host of form results characterizing a good afternoon for punters, and the Cape raiders again dominating the feature contests.

Snaith has walked this path in recent times with Belgarion, and the SA Champion must fancy his improved chances of saddling his sixth winner in the big one on 6 July after 2023 Algoa Cup and 2024 Chairman’s Cup winner Future Swing, a horse that he has conceded has been hidden from the handicapper, showed that his opening effort in the WSB Listed Sledgehammer at Hollywoodbets Scottsville in mid-April was all wrong.

Allowed to relax by Richard Fourie, who was registering his personal fourth winner on the afternoon, Future Swing (28-10) powered up the inside and changed legs late to grab the determined 3yo Oriental Charm (25-2), who did much of the donkey work.

With Richard Fourie’s body language showing some contempt, Future Swing beat his year younger contemporary by 0,30 lengths in a time of 116,50 secs.

The runner-up ran third in the SplashOut Cape Derby off an 87 at his previous start 11 weeks ago and caught the eye with a smart effort here.

Future Swing (Richard Fourie) powers up to beat Oriental Charm (JP van der Merwe) | Credit: Candiese Lenferna

There was some debate about the 26-point penalty incurred when running 3,25 lengths Off Green With Envy, but maybe the handicappers were on the mark and he looks a low profile 3yo capable of going all the way to a date with destiny on 6 July.

Andre Nel’s Master Redoute (25-2) and Dean Kannemeyer’s Ponte Pietra (16-1) did their own Hollywoodbets Durban July claims no harm, by rounding off the quartet, with two lengths separating the top four.

Bred by Drakenstein, Future Swing is a son of former SA Horse Of The Year Futura (Dynasty) out of the twice winning Carousel Swing, a daughter of retired champion Trippi (End Sweep).

Raced in partnership by Drakenstein, Kalinga and Pamela Isdell, the winner is a R600 000 National Yearling Sale graduate and a winner of 7 races with 8 places from 17 starts for stakes of R1 119 850.

Richard Fourie talks to the sponsor’s representative | Credit: Candiese Lenferna

TRIPPI DAUGHTERS ARE FIRING

Future Swing and Richard Fourie return to the winner’s box with the Snaith team after their Gr2 success on Saturday | Credit: Candiese Lenferna

Not for the first, broodmare daughters of former South African Champion Sire Trippi came to the fore in Southern Africa over the past weekend.

Trippi mare Carousel Swing is the dam of Saturday’s World Sports Betting Gr2 1900 winner Future Swing (Futura), while another Trippi mare, Monte Carlo Girl, is the dam of Saturday’s Listed KRA East Coast Cup runner up Future Girl (Futura).

Yet another Trippi mare, Listed Summer Juvenile Stakes/Listed Milkwood Stakes winner Agra, is the dam of the classy sprinter Hithemhardsunshine (What A Winter), who won the ninth race at Hollywoodbets Greyville on Saturday.

Blue blooded Trippi daughter Viking Princess, a full-sister to Gr1 South African Fillies Sprint winner and Gr1 producer Real Princess, is the dam of Industrialstrength, who made an encouraging debut when finishing second at Hollywoodbets Greyville on Saturday.

Trippi’s influence also extended to Zimbabwe on Saturday, with his daughter Girl’s Best Friend dam of 2024 Castle Tankard winner Raffles (Time Thief). The latter was winning for a fourth time on Saturday, with the versatile galloper having been victorious over 1200m prior to his Castle Tankard (2000m) score.

Former Horse Of The Year Futura has enjoyed fine results when sent Trippi mares. At the time of writing, the Futura/Trippi cross had produced six stakes winners, headed by graded stakes winners Future Swing, Pink Tourmaline and Vihaan’s Pie, as well as the smart performer Future Prince (2nd Gr3 World Sports Betting Variety Club Mile).

While Trippi is yet to head the Leading Broodmare Sires premiership, broodmare daughters of the son of End Sweep look set to enjoy greater success over the coming seasons.

At the time of writing, Trippi sat sixth on South Africa’s Leading Broodmare Sires table, having finished fourth on the same premiership last season. In 2022-2023.

Trippi mares were responsible for eight black type winners of 11 stakes races in South Africa, with this tally including Gr1 Pongracz Cape Flying Championship/Gr1 Golden Horse Sprint winner Gimme A Prince (Gimmethegreenlight).

The Trippi influence also continues to be felt in North America. His daughter Tuscan Sunset is the dam of Gr2 Raven Stakes winner Miss Sunset (Into Mischief), whose Gr3 Lecomte Stakes winning son Track Phantom (Quality Road) contested this year’s Gr1 Kentucky Derby.

Top-class half-brothers Not This Time (Giant’s Causeway) and Liam’s Map (Unbridled’s Song) (both out of the top-class Trippi mare Miss Macy Sue) continue to enjoy success at stud in North America.

At the time of writing, Not This Time ranked 17th on the US General Sires List for 2024 with his half-brother in 28th spot.

Between them, the half-brothers, both of whom have sire sons at stud, have been responsible for 11 black type winners in the Northern Hemisphere this year thus far, with Not This Time’s flagbearers headed by such graded stakes winners as Arzak, Cogburn, and No More Time.

Liam’s Map, already sire of such Gr1 winners as Basin, Colonel Liam, Juju’s Map and Wicked Whisper, is responsible for this year’s Gr3 Gotham Stakes winner Deterministic, as well as this year’s graded stakes winners Roses For Debra and Starting Over.

KZN YEARLING SALE CATALOGUE ONLINE

Bloodstock South Africa have announced that the catalogue for the 2024 KZN Yearling Sale is now online and can be viewed at www.bsa.co.za.

Among the promising, proven and popular stallions with yearlings on offer are Danon Platina, Elusive Fort, Fire Away, Futura, Gimmethegreenlight, Ideal World, Legislate, Master Of My Fate, New Predator, One World, Pathfork, Querari, Rafeef, The United States, Trippi, Vercingetorix, and What A Winter.

Stallions represented for the first time at the KZN Yearling Sale include Declarationofpeace, Erik The Red, Hawwaam and Summa Cum Laude.

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NHA RELEASES AGM MINUTES

The National Horseracing Authority have published the minutes of their 142nd Annual General Meeting held on Wednesday 17 January 2024 at the Head Office of the racing regulator at Turffontein Racecourse.

THE SPRINT IS INTERACTIVE

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RIP HARCHIBALD

Paul Carberry has hailed Harchibald as ‘a total machine of a horse’ as he paid tribute to Noel Meade’s hurdling great following his death at the age of 25.

Some would say Harchibald and his everloyal pilot were a match made in heaven, with Carberry’s style and ice-cool nerve perfect to maximise the son of Perugino’s quirky personality but undoubted ability.

The duo linked up 28 times together on the racecourse, returning to the winner’s

enclosure nine times, and while both would become popular racing figures in their own right, their affinity for each other stood the test of time.

Meade described Harchibald as his favourite horse upon the news of his death and that sentiment has been echoed by Carberry, who holds his former mount in the highest esteem.

“He was a serious horse and my favourite horse as well I suppose,” said Carberry.

IDEAL JULY PREP FOR PLATTNER FILLY

The Sabine Plattner-owned Hollywoodbets Durban July entry Saartjie bounced back with fire after a 15-week break to win the R200 000 KRA Listed East Coast Cup at Hollywoodbets Greyville on Saturday.

Coming in fresh off a sixth placed effort behind recently exported SA Horse Of The Year Princess Calla in the City Of Cape Town Gr1 Majorca Stakes on Met day, the already dual stakes-winning Saartjie (9-2) exploded down the inside under regular pilot Corne Orffer to hold off an eyecatching late challenge from longshot Future Girl (33-1) by 0,30 lengths in a time of 123,68 secs.

Barend Botes’ Ballroom Bliss (25-1) stayed on well just over a length further back for third, ahead of the runner-up’s stablemate Donna Mo (6-1) in fourth.

The weak favourite Hold My Hand (5-1) was always in the vanguard, but tired late to run

seventh and 3,15 lengths off the winner.

The winner is trained by Andre Nel and was one of only two Hollywoodbets Durban July entries in the line-up, the other being MJ Odendaal’s Danse Milord, who never showed and ran 9th and 4,70 lengths behind.

A R700 000 National Yearling Sale purchase, Saartjie was bred by Shadwell Stud and is a daughter of 2003 Durban July winner Dynasty (Fort Wood) out of the twice-winning Redoute’s Choice mare Shaama, who raced under the Mike de Kock banner.

Saartjie has won 5 races with 6 places from 13 starts for stakes of R818 613.

Saartjie storms to victory under Corne Orffer | Credit: Candiese Lenferna

The beautifully-bred Saartjie’s dam Shaama (Redoute’s Choice) was a classy performer and showed considerable promise at two when winning on debut, before finishing second, beaten just a length, in the Gr1 SA Nursery.

Shaama, a three-parts sister to Australian Gr3 winner Jazz Song (also sired by a son of Danehill), is out of Gr1 Winter Stakes winner Absolut Glam (Snowland), with the latter hailing from an exceptional female line.

Absolut Glam, and thus Saartjie and Shaama, is directly descended in female line from US champion Nellie Morse (Luke McLuke). The latter was one of four fillies to win the Gr1 Preakness Stakes, second leg of the US Triple Crown.

Gold Circle thanked the race sponsors, the Korean Racing Authority, for their ongoing collaboration, and it’s certainly an association that dates back many years.

Saartjie (Corne Orffer) with the Nel team and KRA delegates | Credit: Candiese Lenferna

HALO SYNDICATE’S DERBY JOY

The Wilgerbosdrift & Mauritzfontein-bred Master Of My Fate filly Joy And Peace spearheaded a fairer sex 1-2-3 in Friday’s R350 000 TAB Listed East Cape Derby to celebrate a rare regional Oaks-Derby double.

The yellow and black silks of the winning partnership of the Pine Lodge Stud & Halo Stables T/A Halo Syndicate (Nom: Mr A C Greeff), like the rest of the world, would

probably have expected to win the final leg of the East Cape Sophomore Challenge with their 8-10 stablemate Fairy Knight.

But the handsome son of Global View came under pressure in the home run and frankly didn’t appear to see out the 2400m, after Kaidan Brewer had left them for dead early on Woman’s World, who set the pace benchmark and led the charge by a good fifteen lengths turning for home.

Kendall Minnie brings Joy And Peace through from last to catch the pacesetter and draw clear to win | Credit: Pauline Herman

The move by the Kelly Mitchley filly probably upset the orthodox plans, and it was left to Kendall Minnie, who brought Joy And Peace (4-1) through from last to catch the pacesetter, and draw clear to win by 2,25 lengths in a time of 51,77 secs.

The Global View filly Woman’s World (16-1) stayed on doggedly for second, while her stablemate Public Benefit (12-1) plugged on for third, a further 2 lengths back.

With visitors from Australia in their midst, the Halo Syndicate enjoyed two runners in the prestigious Eastern Cape feature, a ‘once in a lifetime opportunity’, in the words of seasoned trainer Alan Greeff.

Jockey Kendal Minnie rides the winner in work regularly, and it was good to see the

journeyman getting a chance to show his mettle. He rode a polished race, and his emotion in the post-race interview was refreshing.

Bred by Wilgerbosdrift & Mauritzfontein, Joy And Peace is by Varsfontein’s Jet Master stallion Master Of My Fate out of the three-time winning Spectrum mare, Amazing Grace.

Joy And Peace has now taken her tally to 5 wins with 5 places from 13 starts for stakes of R562 126.

A National 2yo Sale graduate, Joy And Peace only cost R130 000 and looks set to give her connections plenty of fun yet.

As for Fairy Knight, he will be back.

ZACKEY RULES AGAIN

Highveld-based jockey Craig Zackey is riding at the top of his game, and made it four feature race victories in six days over three racing centres, when he got Kingdundee up in the last stride to give Gavin Smith a thrilling 1-2 in Friday’s R175 000 Listed Dahlia Plate at Fairview.

Zackey partnered Time For Love to win the Listed Ladies Mile at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth last Sunday, then grabbed the Guineas double via Rascova and Green With Envy at Hollywoodbets Greyville in midweek, and delivered the goods in the Windy City on Friday.

While owner-breeder Clive Murphy will be over the moon with his Listed East Cape Nursery

runner-up breaking the stakes ice in such courageous style, none will be happier than Moutonshoek-based Dr Bennie van der Merwe, whose Gr1 winning stallion The United States he has preached, literally from day one!

Doc Bennie has always said that they will improve with age, and Kingdundee, who started a 7-2 tote favourite, looks a smart prospect for next term after nabbing the free

Craig Zackey times it perfectly to get Kingdundee up in the shadow of the post, to pip the game Happy Holly Credit: Pauline Herman

striding Heavenly Blue filly Happy Holly (7-2) in the final stride to win by a head in a time of 70,27 secs.

While beaten some 4,25 lengths away in third, Play Act (25-2) will have put a smile on trainer Cliffie Miller’s face.

Raced and bred by longstanding owner Clive

Murphy, Kingdundee has now won 2 races with a place from just 3 starts and stakes of R192 500.

A son of Moutonshoek’s top-class Galileo stallion The United States, he is out of the one-time winning Duke Of Marmalade mare, Miss Marmalade.

It was Anne Frank that said that ‘nobody has ever become poor from giving’ and it is through her own life philosophies and personal experience that Johannesburg-based owner Lorette Louw has launched the Thread Of Life initiative, which first saw the light of day on a beautiful sunny afternoon at Fairview on Friday.

In a nutshell, all stakes earned by her 2yo filly Thread Of Life will be donated to cancer causes.

Lorette, a single person, whose horses are her ‘kids’, has raced for five years and started out at the Vaal with Lucky Houdalakis, before enjoying her racing with a few other trainers, before meeting Dorrie and Mark Sham, and ultimately falling in love with the Eastern Cape.

“I just find the warmth and hospitality of the racing community in the Eastern Cape so special. The feeling of a sincere welcome cannot be quantified. The intimacy of Gqeberha clearly lends itself to being a destination where one feels one is amongst friends,” says Lorette.

The passionate owner had a few runners down at the Nelson Mandela Bay Racing HQ these past few days, and took some time off to spend with veteran trainer Tara Laing, and to publicly launch the Thread Of Life at Fairview on Friday.

“It was so emotional – the release of the white doves and the presence of people wearing the pink t-shirts. You will notice I am wearing my dark sunglasses in the photographs, for good reason!” she added emotionally.

Thread Of Life is a Birch Bros bred Master Of My Fate filly that was purchased for R220 000 by leading horsewoman Jane Thomas at Nationals last year.

“She was the first filly purchased for us by Jane, whose own story is a remarkable one of courage after fighting her own battle with cancer recently. We took some time to find the right name for her, but Thread Of Life works –she is meant to be seen and supported as a symbol of hope for all and a tribute to Jane’s courage,” says Lorette.

Having lost her own Mom to the dreaded scourge in 2020, the 44 year old commodities

trader tells the Sporting Post that there were over 20 million cases of cancer reported worldwide last year, and that almost every person around us would have had their lives touched in some measure by the ‘big C’.

“We all have a relative or friend, or somebody close, whose lives have been impacted, and giving and helping others is something close

to my own heart. I am fortunate to have a successful business and to be able to enjoy racing horses. So I came up with the Thread Of Life concept. Besides giving back, as all of Thread Of Life’s stakes cheques will be donated to Cancer aid organisations, it also has the goal of lifting some of the cloud of negativity that pervades racing,” she adds.

“There are so many great horse and people stories. But, boy oh boy, there is a lot of negativity in this game and we need to start expending some of that energy in a more

constructive direction. Hence, the idea to give to a great cause and I hope that other owners will consider donating the career of at least one horse to carry the flag of a charity, that is in dire need of every rand.”

Another of Lorette’s trainers, Jacques Strydom introduced Cindy Lottering, herself a cancer sufferer, who will be the Thread Of Life ambassador.

“This is a great initiative by Lorette and I hope it catches on. I am aware that our local Cancer

Bongani Mpulwani leads Thread Of Life and Raymond Danielson in after her fourth placed finish on Friday

Credit: Pauline Herman

Organisation needs to replace their mobile clinic. It costs R750 000, but Ford have offered them a replacement engine for only R30 000. I intend arranging a raceday to raise the funds. It’s amazing how good things evolve from great ideas. This world is unquestionably a better place when we are helping others,” added Strydom.

Thread Of Life has now run three times, and has earned two place cheques.

“She was only a brick and a ticky high and could hardly see over the stable door in the early days. But she is maturing and Tara feels that she will be a stronger three year old,” says Lorette of a filly whose racing career has now taking on a whole new dimension with the added interest.

Always a great sport, Thread Of Life’s trainer Tara Laing says that she loves Lorette’s

energy and determination to drive such a wonderful cause.

“Cancer can happen to any one of us at any time of our lives. I admire the fact that Lorette is balancing her love of racing with a generosity to give back, while maintaining a positive public outreach platform for the sport. The Tara Laing Racing team is proud to be a part of the foundation of a great cause, and three cheers again for East Cape racing,” added a happy Tara.

SOMETIMES ALL IT TAKES IS AN EXPERT EYE…

Expert Eye – top class racehorse now stands at Paardeberg Stud

Credit: Dan Abraham

Given South Africa’s racing programme, which favours speed and precocity over stamina, it is somewhat of a mystery that no local breeders ever climbed on the Acclamation band wagon - that is, until newcomer Paardeberg had the foresight to snap up his Gr1 winning son Expert Eye

When Acclamation retired to stud all of 20 years ago, no one in their wildest dreams could have anticipated that he would become a bona fide breed-shaper and an influential sire.

Notwithstanding the fact that he was just a Gr2 winning sprinter of the Diadem Stakes and lacked a vitally important Gr1 success on his CV, history shows that he has left a huge footprint as arguably one of the finest sire-ofsires of modern times.

Acclamation is by the blisteringly-fast twoyear-old Royal Applause, who won both the Coventry and Gimcrack Stakes before crowning an unbeaten juvenile campaign with a brilliant win the Gr1 Middle Park Stakes.

Having replaced the retiring Derby winner Shirley Heights at the Royal Studs, Royal Applause proved more successful as a stallion than both his sire Waajib and grandsire Try My Best, both of whom initially graced the starstudded Coolmore stallion roster before ending up in Japan.

A firm favourite of the late Queen Elizabeth

II, Royal Applause sired just one Gr1 winner, the filly Ticker Tape, who twice scored at the highest level on export to the States and whilst he also features as the damsire of leading sprinter and successful sire Blue Point, his legacy continues mainly through Acclamation.

Granted, as the sire of just six Gr1 winners, Acclamation will never manage to equal the likes of the great Galileo and Dubawi, yet it is as a sire-of-sires that he has made his mark, to the extent that a number of his sons have risen to elite status as stallions, notably Dark Angel and Mehmas, who currently rank amongst the very best in Europe as sires of sprinters/milers.

Trained by Barry Hills and from his sire’s first crop, Dark Angel raced only as a two-year-old, emulating his grandsire by winning the Gr1 Middle Park Stakes.

As a source of top juveniles and sprinters, he has sired the likes of Cartier Champion Sprinter Battaash and Gr1 winning speedsters Art Power, Khaadem, Harry’s Angel, Lethal Force and Mecca’s Angel, yet, he is also capable of producing a classic winner in Gr1 French 1000 Guineas victress Mangoustine and smart milers such as Angel Bleu, Raging Bull and Hunt.

It was always a given that a good number of his own sons would be given the opportunity to stand at stud and one of them, the Champion 3yo sprinter Harry Angel, already boasts a Gr1 winner in Tom Kitten.

When Mehmas retired to Tally-Ho stud in 2018, his race record somehow mirrored that of Acclamation in that he never won at the elite level. Successful in both the Gr2 Richmond and Gr2 July Stakes, he won four times as a

juvenile and never finished out of the first three in all his starts.

To say that Mehmas made an electric start to his stallion career would be an understatement. He proved far too good for his peers when he emerged as Europe’s Champion Freshman sire of 2020 with a record 56 individual winners, topped by Gr1 Middle Park Stakes hero Supremacy. From that first crop have also emerged the Gr1 winners Minzaal, Chez Pierre and Going Global.

Mehmas too has a number of sons now standing at stud in Britain and Ireland and to give an indication of the esteem in which they are held by breeders, all of Minzaal, Persian Force and Caturra (both top-class two-yearolds), covered six-figure books in their first season.

As for Mehmas himself, he is likely to have over 160 two-year-old to go to war with this year, such was the support he received in 2021 when he covered almost 300 mares, 68 of which were stakes performers!

Whilst Dark Angel and Mehmas are now firmly established amongst the hottest sires around, they are not the only ones to have advertised Acclamation’s prowess as a sire-of-sires.

Equiano, a dual winner of the Gr1 King’s Stand Stakes, was rated higher than both his sire and grandsire and began his stallion career at Newsells Park Stud.

Just like his sire, he produces tough and hardy horses, a prime example being specialist sprinter and triple Gr1 winner The Tin Man, who raced with distinction over six seasons until suffering a career-ending injury at age nine.

His American-based daughter Belvoir Bay, raced by Team Valor International and Gary

Barber, racked up a dozen wins from two to six and won the Gr1 Breeders Cup Turf Sprint on her final start.

Yet another Gr1 winning son of Acclamation to have added to his sire’s outstanding record as a sire-of-sires is the Gr1 Prix de la Foret winner Aclaim. He won up to a mile and has the distinction of siring a classic winner in his first crop when his daughter Cachet made all to win the Gr1 One Thousand Guineas in 2022.

Given South Africa’s racing programme, which favours speed and precocity over stamina, it is somewhat of a mystery that no local breeders ever climbed on the Acclamation band wagon, that is, until newcomer Paardeberg had the foresight to snap up his Gr1 winning son Expert Eye.

Successful in the Gr1 Breeders Cup Mile, he is Acclamation’s only son to have won a Gr1 over that distance, in addition to which he won the Gr3 Jersey Stakes at

Royal Scot by the biggest margin this century.

Interestingly, his Timeform rating of 124 also puts him in the company of Vercingetorix and above the likes of Foveros, Var and Trippi.

A product of the world-renowned Juddmonte Farms, Expert Eye stood five seasons at his birthplace Banford Manor Stud prior to his sale to South Africa.

True to his sire-line, his progeny are precocious, considering that his stakes winning daughters Snellen and Juniper Berries earned their black type stripes at two, Snellen defeating colts in the Listed Chesham Stakes at Royal Ascot, whilst Juniper Berries claimed the Gr3 Dicke Poole Fillies’ Stakes.

Kudos to Paardeberg for taking cognizance of Acclamation’s ever growing stature and their purchase of Expert Eye, who will command a service fee of R25 000 (R5 000 nomination plus R20 000 at live foal).

Whilst Acclamation’s stallion sons and grandsons are advertising his ability as a sireof-sires, his own star shows no sign of waning.

His gelded Hong Kong-based son Romantic Warrior continues to rewrite the record books on the track and recently became the first horse ever to win the Gr1 Queen Elizabeth Cup (a race won by London News), on three occasions. He also proved he can cut it on the world stage when claiming the prestigious Gr1 W S Cox Plate in Melbourne last October.

As for Acclamation, this living legend is still going strong at Rathbarry Stud at the advanced age of 24, which comes as no surprise, considering his own sire Royal Applause died at 29.

He has been a wonderful servant in his two decades-long stallion innings and, who knows, may yet come up with another stallion son to keep the flame burning and further enhance his incredible record.

Acclamation’s son Romantic Warrior wins the Longines Gr1 Hong Kong Cup | Credit: Candiese Lenferna

SANDRINGHAM SUMMIT – SERVICE FEE ANNOUNCED

The Sandringham Summit Syndicate held their first AGM at Varsfontein Stud Farm on Thursday. The syndicate’s management committee has confirmed that his next mission in racing will be the R2m Gr1 Gold Challenge at Hollywoodbets Greyville on 08 June over 1600m, (draw, etc. dependent).

That may not be his final mission for the season as the option is being kept open for one more race before he retires to stud in 2024. And the R1.5m Gr1 Champion’s Cup on 28 July over 1800m may also be on the cards for Sandringham Summit.

A decision about the Champions Cup will depend on:

AHS travel restrictions being one of the most important considerations.

Then of course it will also depend on draw and any other issues that might arise before the event.

As an Equus Champion son of dual Champion Sire and current reigning Champion Sire

Gimmethegreenlight out of Captain Al’s multiple group placed winner of 6 races; Townsend is a half-brother to Gr1 winner Eden Roc who is already at stud.

Sandringham Summit is a winner of 5 including the Gr1 Premiers Champion Stakes.

He has only once in his 11 starts finished out of the first two places (when third in the Dingaans).

He really has nothing more to prove.

Sandringham Summit | Credit: JC Photos

He is the intended future successor to his Champion Sire and will be very well supported by his widely held shareholding and his homebase Varsfontein, who are well known for giving their home-based sires maximum support.

We are confident that early pre-season retirement will set him up very well for the breeding season ahead and that he will be fully booked.

His fee for 2024 is set at R15,000

• Deposit of R5,000

• R10,000 due at live foal.

Booking is essential. Please send requests to: stallions@johnfreeman.co.za with the name of your mare and where she will be boarding for the season.

• Media release by Freeman Stallions on Friday, 10 May 2024.

LUCKY’S SABRE STRIKES

Lucky Houdalakis’ William Longsword gelding Sabre Strike stepped up from a very decent recent post-maiden run to win the first leg of the inaugural Highveld Winter Series at Turffontein on Sunday, in a victory the Vaal trainer dedicated to his legendary father-in-law, Trevor Lange, who passed away recently.

“Sabre Strike’s a difficult customer. You can work him for two weeks. Then you can’t for two weeks. He is just made that way,” added the former jockey, who has done a sterling job with Peter van Schoor’s gelding, who won well on debut in December 2023, and then followed up in the R200 000 Listed Secretariat Stakes on Sunday.

Given a peach of a ride by Winning Formsponsored jockey Raymond Danielson, Sabre

Strike (4-1) pressured the long-time leader Longsword before asserting himself in the fashion of a decent sort to hold off the late attentions of Warhawk Bomber (8-1) to win by 0,60 lengths in a time of 87,06 secs.

Two Miles West (20-1) stayed on best of the rest for third, a further 0,40 length back.

The winner’s stablemate Master Christmas (201) was not disgraced in fifth, after being run off his feet on the Turffontein circuit.

Raymond Danielson has Sabre Strike in charge | Credit: JC Photos

The tote favourite Longsword had every chance but petered out to run downfield and some 5 lengths off the winner.

Sabre Strike was bred by owner Peter van Schoor and is a son of Klawervlei’s Captain Al sire William Longsword out of the unraced Jet Master mare, The Jet Girl, who has produced her share of winners.

A winner of 2 races with a place from 3 starts, he has banked R231 375 in stakes.

Sabre Strike is in line for the R500 000 series bonus, with the next leg being the Non Black-Type Egoli Mile to be run over a mile at Turffontein on Sunday 9 June.

The third leg is the Gr3 Sea Cottage Stakes run over 1800m at Turffontein on Sunday 7 July.

FUTURE SWING RISES TO 110

Future Swing had his rating increased from 103 to 110 following his win in the World Sports Betting Gr2 1900 over 1900m at Hollywoodbets Greyville on Saturday.

The Handicappers were unanimous in their view that Imilenzeyokuduma made for the most suitable line horse here, leaving him unchanged on a rating of 105. In rating the race this way Mucho Dinero runs to his rating of 110, effectively making him a line horse as well.

3rd Placed Master Redoute was increased to 115 from 113 while 4th placed Ponte Pietra was increased to 106 from 103.

No other horses were given increases to their ratings here. The following horses were given drops, Baratheon was dropped from 98 to 97, Atticus Finch was dropped to 110 from 111 and Safe Passage was dropped to 109 from 112.

KRA Listed East Coast Cup

Saartjie remained unchanged on a rating of 110 after finishing strongly to land the KRA Listed East Coast Cup over 2000m at Hollywoodbets Greyville on Saturday.

The Handicappers felt that Donna Mo made for the most suitable line horse here and she remained unchanged on a rating of 94. In rating the race this way Lucky Miss runs to her rating of 89, effectively making her a line horse as well.

The runner-up Future Girl was increased by 1 point from 96 to 97, while 3rd placed Ballroom Bliss received a 4-points increase from 82 to 86.

Three horses received a drop in ratings in this event, Givers Grace was dropped to 83 from 85, Grandi Orecchie was dropped to 85 from 88 and Damostar was dropped to 91 from 93.

TAB Listed East Cape Derby

Joy And Peace was adjusted to 100 from 97 following her success in the TAB Listed East Cape Derby over 2400m at Fairview racecourse on Friday.

The Handicappers were unanimous in their view that Public Benefit made for the most suitable line horse here and she remained unchanged on a mark of 90.

The front-running runner-up Woman’s World was adjusted to 93 from 79, making her 3 points higher than the 90-rated line horse Public Benefit, who she beat here by 2 lengths at level weights. This makes them correct on handicap terms.

There were no other changes to ratings for this event.

Listed Secretariat Stakes

Sabre Strike was increased from 90 to 93 after winning the Listed Secretariat Stakes over 1450m on the inside track at Turffontein on Sunday.

The Handicappers were of the unanimous opinion that Warhawk Bomber made for the most suitable line horse here and he remained unchanged on a rating of 92.

There were no other increases to ratings in this race however the following horses received drops to their ratings, Max The Magician was dropped to 85 from 86, Command Pilot dropped from 92 to 89, Emporium was dropped to 93 from 95 and Longsword was dropped to 82 from 83.

• Media release by NHA on Tuesday 14 May 2024

MAINE CHANCE SIRE’S ZIM DERBY SUCCESS

Maine Chance Farms dual Gr1 winning stallion Erupt was the toast of Zimbabwe on Saturday when his gelded son Buster Barnes claimed the Coca Cola Zimbabwe Derby at Borrowdale.

Under Deryl Daniels, the Debra Swanson trained three-year-old romped home to claim the final leg of the Zimbabwean Triple Crown by ten lengths.

Bred by Millstream Farm, Buster Barnes is out of the Caesour mare Servilia.

The three-year-old has now won six of eight starts, with Buster Barnes having claimed the Listed Zimbabwe Guineas and Listed Island Farewell Zimbabwe 2000 in his two starts before Saturday’s victory.

His Gr1 Juddmonte Grand Prix De Paris/Gr1 Pattison Canadian International winning sire Erupt also enjoyed success at Hollywoodbets Greyville on Saturday where Erupt’s two-year-

old daughter Sorceress Supreme won the first race on the card.

The Harold Crawford/Michelle Rix trained Sorceress Supreme proved a class apart from her rivals as she drew clear to win Saturday’s WSB welcomes you Maiden Juvenile Plate (1200m) by eight lengths.

Bred by Dr Veronique Kritzinger, Sorceress Supreme is out of the Silvano mare Chillon.

Erupt’s outstanding sire Dubawi recently made headlines when his unbeaten son Notable Speech won the Gr1 Qipco 2000 Guineas to become the fourth English 2000 Guineas for Dubawi.

Buster Barnes’ connections and jockey Deryl Daniels pose for the camera after the son of Erupt’s big win Credit: Zimbabwe Equine News

STARS ON THE MOVE

South Africa’s leading Equine Transporters, New Turf Carriers have hit the high road in the nationally recognizable Hollywoodbets branding.

In a recently announced partnership between the two companies, New Turf Carriers’ KwaZulu Natal and Cape Race-Day fleet are in the process of being rebranded to sport the Hollywoodbets colours on a mobile billboard to inform the world that racing is on at a venue nearby, and that the equine champions are on the move!

The Sham family’s New Turf Carriers is a wellknown brand on the SA horseracing landscape and boasts an impressive fleet of equine carriers, providing raceday and other transport support services.

Established in 1995, New Turf Carriers was started by Mark and Dorrie Sham, and is now run by their sons, Michael, Matthew and Marcus.

In 2020, New Turf Carriers offered a range of generous discounts to assist in alleviating some of the financial implications of the Covid-19 lockdown downtime for industry stakeholders. That community-minded approach is infinitely aligned to the spirit of Ubuntu, as holds strong with the Hollywoodbets culture.

“Horse racing is our passion, and to partner with the leading SA equine carrier that

transports our much-loved champions, is something we are proud of. The New Turf Carriers trucks will carry our brand in a show of our unified support for a sport that is very close to all of our hearts,” said Hollywoodbets Brand & Communications Manager, Devin Heffer. Mathew Sham said that New Turf Carriers was a passionate family business with strong roots in South African horseracing and breeding.

“The idea of branding our fleet came up in casual conversation with Owen and Devin Heffer, and it’s a privilege for us to align our good name with an industry giant. It’s a partnership based on a handshake and mutual trust,” he added.

The wrapping of the NTC fleet was done by Winning Form group company SplashOut Media, sponsors of the Cape Derby.

SplashOut offers a wide range of signage, branding and printing solutions, and has been successful in the provision of signage for Hollywoodbets Greyville, Scottsville, Kenilworth and Durbanville racecourses.

The company also provides all the branding material for the Hollywoodbets Durban July.

THE GREEN MACHINE!

Craig Zackey has Green With Envy in charge as Sandringham Summit (Gavin Lerena) has no answers | Credit: Candiese Lenferna

SplashOut Cape Derby winner Green With Envy defied the mile and a gusting tailwind to stamp himself a leading Hollywoodbets Durban July contender with a rousing performance under a superb Craig Zackey ride to win the R500 000 World Sports Betting Gr2 Guineas at the Theatre Of Dreams on Wednesday.

Dean Kannemeyer and his leading owner Lady Christine Laidlaw last won the Hollywoodbets Greyville contest back in 2010 with Noordhoek Flyer, and they will now be looking ahead to the Gr1 Daily News 2000 and then straight into Africa’s greatest horseracing event on 6 July, with a measure of confidence.

Returning off a ten week break since his emphatic SplashOut Cape Derby victory down at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth, Green With Envy was lagging ten lengths behind his field for much of the trip.

With pacesetter Snow Pilot leading the charge, then lugging in dramatically to the inside rail halfway down the home straight, Gavin Lerena looked to have timed his run to perfection on the champion Sandringham Summit (7-10).

But Craig Zackey,made it a glorious Guineas double, and had other ideas as Green With Envy (4-1) sprouted wings to score an unlikely

victory by 0,30 lengths, with the Highveld star just nabbed late in a time of 96,66 secs.

Hollywoodbets Cape Guineas winner Snow Pilot (7-1) did the donkey work, and was only beaten further 0,30 into third.

It was a big result for Varsfontein’s champion Gimmethegreenlight,whose sons ran 1-2.

Bred and owned by Khaya Stables, Green With Envy has now won 5 of 9 starts with 3 places, the colt having earned R1 718 899 in prize money.

This was a third straight graded win for Green With Envy.

Bred and raced by Khaya Stables, he is out of the Galileo mare Miss Coco, and is one of 63 stakes winners for Gimmethegreenlight, South Africa’s Champion Sire in both 2020-2021 and 2022-2023.

THE GREEN MACHINE!

The list of entries for this year’s Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe features 73 names, with Derby and Oaks favourites City Of Troy and Ylang Ylang among ten engaged by Aidan O’Brien.

One striking aspect is that no fewer than 19 three-year-old fillies have been entered – 26 per cent of the total – with Ylang Ylang joined by stablemate Opera Singer, who was a wide-margin winner of the Prix Marcel Boussac on Arc day in 2023. O’Brien has also entered Auguste Rodin and stayers Kyprios and Tower Of London.

Returning to the three-year-old fillies, Ralph Beckett has given an entry to his two recent Oaks trial winners, Forest Fairy and You Got To Me, while unlucky Qipco 1,000 Guineas fourth Tamfana also features, as does Sunday’s Poule d’Essai des Pouliches heroine Rouhiya.

Japanese trainers are responsible for three entries, though what may be lacking in numbers is more than made up for in quality.

THE AUSSIE DRILLS THEM!

Royal Aussie (Richard Fourie in pink) holds off an unlucky Cousin Casey (Smanga Khumalo) with Gladatorian (Sean Veale, gold cap) in third | Credit: Candiese Lenferna

The 2024 SA Champions Season got underway to a delayed start at Hollywoodbets Greyville on Wednesday with Justin Snaith claiming the first trophy in the shape of the R500 000 IOS Gr2 Drill Hall Stakes in thrilling fashion with Hollywoodbets Durban July entry, Royal Aussie.

A winner of the Pongracz Listed Jet Master Stakes on SplashOut Cape Derby day, Royal Aussie came out firing on all cylinders after a ten week break, to win a cracker – even though many would grant the Snaith galloper enjoyed some luck, courtesy of Cousin Casey’s serious traffic problems late in the 1400m contest.

But part-owner Suzette Viljoen deserved something of a change of fortune, after vocally pleading with sectors of the unruly mob at Hollywoodbets Greyville on Saturday to allow racing to continue.

Richard Fourie rode his usual polished race and produced Royal Aussie at the right moment, after Humdinger had led the gallop.

The clearly unlucky horse of the race was Sean Tarry’s Cousin Casey (7-2, tote favourite) under

Smanga Khumalo, who became a victim of Gladatorian’s (7-2) late antics and went down by a quarter length in a time of 82,67 secs.

Gladatorian stayed on for third, with the 3yo Gimmeanotherchance (4-1) running a decent race, after switching in late, to grab fourth.

The Klawervlei-bred Royal Aussie is a son of Royal Mo (USA) and was originally pinhooked for R300 000 at the 2021 Cape Premier Sale by Grant Knowles, and then sold at the Cape Ready To Run Sale.

Royal Aussie races for Suzette and Basie Viljoen and Dr Jill Warner in partnership with Australian-based Dane Squance, and has now won 6 races with 9 places from 18 starts for stakes of R6 126 051.

Justin Snaith claims the first trophy of the 2024 SA Champions Season | Credit: Candiese Lenferna

RASCOVA EDGES RIVAL IN THRILLER

Arch Cape rivals Rascova (Glen Kotzen) and Double Grand Slam (Justin Snaith) provided the Hollywoodbets Greyville midweek audience with a grandstand finish to the R500 000 World Sports Betting Gr2 Fillies Guineas, as the former edged ahead to lead 3-2 in their personal duel after a top-notch Craig Zackey ride.

A slipped saddle at her last start when beaten just over 5 lengths by Double Grand Slam in the Umzimkhulu Stakes at the same venue, meant that Rascova was always a prospect –but the punters didn’t want to know over the mile, and Double Grand Slam went off a redhot 4 to 10 favourite to make it three feature victories on the trot.

Craig Zackey is riding with supreme confidence and he took the free-striding Rascova up to

lead Sovereign Grant and White Pearl, with Double Grand Slam relaxed in midfield.

Things hotted up inside the final 300m as Richard Fourie brought Double Grand Slam down the outside with Rascova looking like a sitting duck. But the cucumber-cool Zackey was holding an ace, and he waited to the last moment as Fourie ranged up alongside, before calling on Rascova to give it her all.

Rascova (Craig Zackey) breaks rival Double Grand Slam’s (Richard Fourie) spirit | Credit: Candiese Lenferna

In a breathtaking final 100m the duo got close to each other, before Rascova (5-1) broke her rival’s spirit, edging ahead to win by 0,60 lengths in a time of 95,67 secs.

The pair were over 4 lengths ahead of the rest, with Highveld raider White Pearl (8-1) staying on for third.

Rascova has always been a flagbearer for her late Dad, Lancaster Bomber.

She was the son of War Front’s first winner, his first black type winner – when she won the Listed City Of Cape Town Summer Juvenile Stakes Christophe Soumillon on Met day 2023 – and then cracked his maiden Gr2 accolade

with a runaway win in the 2023 Western Cape Fillies Championship.

A R260 000 Cape Yearling Sale graduate, the Cheveley Stud-bred Rascova is out of the fivetime winning Western Winter mare, Netsuke.

Now a winner of 4 races with 6 places from 14 starts, Rascova has banked R1 450 938.

Full marks to Glen Kotzen and the Woodhill Racing Team, as well as loyal investors Sandy and Eugene Arundel, who put the memory of Saturday’s disappointment behind them, with a Wednesday that they will remember for a long time.

Gold Circle’s Raf Sheik, WSB’s Steve Karam, and happy owners Eugene and Sandy Arundel | Credit: Candiese Lenferna

“Pinhooking is a term that describes the practice of buying a horse at one stage of development and selling them at the next.”

• Purchase a yearling at the Cape Racing Sales Winter Yearling Sale 2024

• Payment due only after selling the yearling at the Cape Racing Sales Breeze Up in October 2024

• Summary of costs for the scheme:

Purchase Costs

- CRS Yearling Sale – 2% Buyers Commission

- R5000 CRS Bonus Initiative levy

Sales Costs

- Free entry onto CRS Breeze Up sale

- 5% Vendor Commission

- 3% Pinhook Premium

Potential Buy Back Costs

- 2% Buyer Commission

- R5000 CRS Initiative Levy

one stripe

WINNER OF THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE NURSERY (GR3)

WINNER OF THE WINTER NURSERY (GR3)

PAID R100 000 - PINHOOKED AND SOLD FOR R1 400 000

www.caperacingsales.co.za | For further information or to apply for the scheme contactJustinVermaak – justin@caperacing.co.za

THE AUSSIE REMAINS ON 124

Royal Aussie remains unchanged on a rating of 124 after winning the Independent On Saturday Gr2 Drill Hall Stakes over 1400m on the turf course at Hollywoodbets Greyville on Wednesday 08 May.

The Handicappers were of the view that 3rd placed Gladatorian made for the most suitable line horse in this event and his rating remains unchanged on 120.

The only horse to receive a rating’s increase here was Gimmeanotherchance who was adjusted to 115 from 111.

Only 1 horse received a drop in the ratings for this event, Al Muthana was dropped to 123 from 125.

World Sports Betting Gr2 Guineas

Green With Envy was increased from 119 to 123 after he got-up to impressively win the World Sports Betting Gr2 Guineas over 1600m at Hollywoodbets Greyville last Wednesday.

His win was eye-catching as the runner-up Sandringham Summit was given every chance and, in fact, had first run on Green With Envy who quickened up smartly.

3rd placed Snow Pilot was used as the line horse here, leaving him unchanged on a rating of 120.

4th placed Hluhluwe was increased from 111 to 117 for finishing 1.4 lengths or 3 points behind the 120 rated line horse at level weights. Mid-Winter Wind was increased to 116 from 114 for finishing a short head behind the now 117 rated Hluhluwe at level weights.

Navajo Nation, who was beaten only 2.45 lengths by the winner, was given a marginal increase from 103 to 110 despite achieving a higher performance figure. The Handicappers felt that Navajo Nation was suited to the slow run tempo of this race and may be flattered by his margin behind the winner and opted not to take his performance figure literally.

No horses from this race were given a rating’s drop.

World Sports Betting Gr2 Fillies Guineas

Rascova has had her rating raised from 115 to 119 after she won the World Sports Betting Gr2 Fillies Guineas over 1600m at Hollywoodbets Greyville on Wednesday. The Handicappers felt that Double Grand Slam made for the most suitable line horse here and her rating remained unchanged on 118.

The Handicappers noted the time of this race was significantly faster than the World Sports Betting Gr2 Guineas and the margins were more stretched out which is indicative of a faster run race.

Accordingly, both 3rd placed Celtic Beauty and 4th placed Sovereign Grant were adjusted to their actual performance figures of 104 and 103 respectively.

There were no other changes to ratings in this race.

• Media release by the NHA on Thursday, 09 May 2024

KHATHI’S DOUBLE SOURED BY FINE

While he booted home a great double at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth on Saturday afternoon, the day was soured for jockey Robert Khathi when he was slapped with a hefty fine and had his riding weight restricted.

A talented rider, Khathi guided Green Mandarin to victory for Glen Kotzen in the fifth, and then went all the way in the final race on what was a really well-judged effort on Paul Reeves’ Palo Queen.

Khathi was charged with a contravention of Rule 55.4 in that he failed to weigh out at the carded weight on Nordic Prince (Race 3) and Holding Thumbs (Race 6), or at the higher weight confirmed in his engagement with the Trainer, resulting in a change of rider.

He signed an admission of guilt and was fined R5 000.

Furthermore, the Stewards, considering his apparent recent history of being unable to weigh out at the carded weight, have restricted him to a riding weight of 56.5kg.

He may not accept to ride under this weight until such time that he can demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Stewards that he can comfortably ride below the restricted weight.

Robert Khathi embraces trainer Paul Reeves after Palo Queen’s courageous win | Credit: Cape Racing

Tankard winner trophy presentation | Credit: Zimbabwe Equine News

1960 saw the first running of the Castle Tankard and on Saturday 11 May 2024 we saw the latest renewal of this Group 1 Handicap with a purse of over R900 000.

As expected, recently arrived Raffles creamed it with an awesome ride by Gavin Lerena, who picked up three winners on the day.

Raffles won in the fast time of 120,06 for the 2000m.

Second was another recent SA purchase, Majestic Warrior ridden in an equally well-timed drive by Deryl Daniels.

Wantage ran a cracking third and last year’s winner, Ideal View ran a creditable fourth.

Read more about Time Thief.

This outcome might spur other SA owners to consider a raid across the border – but it’s too late for the next Group 1 – the OK Grand Challenge – with a purse of R1,800,000 to be run over 1800 meters on 8 June.

The qualification criteria – at least one run in Zim before the big race – has now passed as there is no scheduled meeting before the OK –but it is something for them to consider for next year.

Chairman of MTC congratulating the Jockey | Credit: Zimbabwe Equine News

And what a racecourse Borrowdale Park is.

The course looked superb on Tankard Day and the stands were packed for the racing, the beer, the fashion and the entertainment – all put on by sponsors, Delta Corporation – brewers of so many top-class beers and soft drinks.

Rumours of the death of Borrowdale Park and the Mashonaland Turf Club are grossly exaggerated.

In discussion with a number of Stewards, it was established that the finances of the club –which had been under pressure for a few years – were now in decent health and the Board’s drive to re-purpose the club’s assets through

the development of its retail park and its infield farming activities were paying handsome dividends and that there were a number of other typically creative Zim initiatives about to bear fruit in the near future.

That Borrowdale Park can now sustain itself in these ways is made doubly impressive when it is recognised that the Club receives not one cent from gambling. Having said that, it is understood that discussions are underway to rectify this shortcoming.

All of this means that the future of Borrowdale Park is assured – how many race course operators can make such claims in such circumstances?

Such prospects will be music to the ears of those who are members of the Centaur Syndicate – now reported to be the most-long standing racing syndicate anywhere in the world. Centaur is currently in its forty seventh successive year in racing at Borrowdale Park. Its mantra is to try and invest in horses which might be able to lift the coveted Zimbabwe Triple Crown – the Guineas (1600m), The Zimbabwe 2000 and the Zimbabwe Derby (2400m) – and to do so with budgets that are consistent with the purses on offer at Borrowdale.

Long term Centaur Chairman, “CJ” Smith, says “the economics of owning race horses are not too clever – anywhere really, but especially in Zim, but the members are in it more for the sport and bragging rights than profits”.

Winning the Triple Crown is such a difficult mission to achieve and has only occurred about seven times in the history of the Zim accolade – so that is why we have it as our mission – because it’s tough to achieve. There’s a winner of the big handicaps every year, indeed, I and some good pals were very pleased and proud to win the 2023 Castle Tankard with Ideal View, but elusive Triple Crowns still remain our chief goal.

And the current season has filled Centaur with much pleasure – no more so than when Buster Barnes cruised through to win the Zimbabwe Derby on Tankard Day. To buy a yearling or young two year old, bring it through the months soundly to the three different races of the Triple Crown is not easy. Not only has the horse to be exceptional but so too does the trainer. Debbie Swanson has proved she has such credentials. As for the jockey, he needs to ride his races in three different ways and be able to go to plan B with ease. Jockeys such as Richard Fourie and Gavin Lerena are supremely talented in these things and it’s no surprise that they have so

much success. What does surprise me a quite a lot is that the jockey we chose to ride Buster Barnes is not better supported in South Africa. I know there was a period when Deryl Daniels was not riding and for a variety of reasons but he is back now – in full command of himself and I am impressed. His style, his balance, his calmness and his overall riding skills are there in abundance (I am sure he was once Champion Appie) – and he can ride at 53kg. Here is a jockey SA trainers should be using a lot more – but not until Buster Barnes retires!

On Tankard Day not only did Deryl complete the Triple Crown in the orange silks of Centaur when winning the Derby by a country mile, but he also rode brilliantly on Majestic Warrior to run second to Raffles in the Tankard.

With regards to Buster Barnes, he was bought at the 2-year-old sales in South Africa in late 2022 at a cost of R200,000. He is by Erupt, who is by Dubawi. For me, this sire is surprisingly not as popular in SA as perhaps he should be, you know he ran in the 2015 Arc and was only a couple of lengths off Golden Horn and then later he ran in the Japan Cup and again was unplaced but just a couple of lengths off Shonon Pandora. The dam Servilia is by Caesour – the Northern Dancer cross we look for – and she was a sprinter and winner of five or six races over 1000 to 1200 meters. So a bit of stamina and a bit of speed from a Mr Prospector – Northern Dancer cross. One of the classic nicks which Centaur has pursued for years – a stayer with a good turn of foot. Well done breeder Millstream.

Buster Barnes will now be targeted at the OK Grand Challenge – and Deryl Daniels is assured of the ride – if he wants it. Beyond that, the plans are less clear. Should he win the OK, he will need to do so in a very fast time if he is going to have any chance of prospering in South Africa – but we shall cross that bridge when we come to it”

Also on Tankard Day, another of CJ’s projects surpassed all expectations. The ZimFun Racing Club Ltd.

“Ahh this was a bit of a Covid induced idea – to form a racing club as a limited company and offer shares for $100 each – ideally an annual purchase – and use the format to encourage folk to get involved in racing for not a lot of money or risk, bring former owners back into the racing fold, provide a bit of a learning nursery for those who might want to buy their own horses but need to know a bit about the game first and to bring a few more people to the races. And to do all this without any paid admin function – the whole thing is run by volunteers and all capital goes to buying and keeping horses in training.

Modestly speaking it’s been a great success. I think we have about 200 shareholders of which about 50 are stalwarts. And we have had some great horses, not least of which is our current gelding, Var Aglow – by Var out of Jet Aglow. Debbie Swanson trains him and on Saturday he went for his sixth win in succession. He had won four races for ZimFun – which race in the bright yellow colours with the Smiley Face Emoji – but had to carry 61kg. I didn’t

think he could do it but duly obliged and did so impressively. ZimFunners have become renowned for their noise and extravagant champagne fuelled celebrations – Saturday was no exception.

How long I can keep this show on the road remains to be seen but at this stage it is doing all we hoped it would do and new owners are emerging from the ranks of ZimFun shareholders”

It is refreshing to learn first-hand that the prophets of Borrowdale Park doom are being proved wrong and yet it is not surprising when it is recognised once again that Zimbos don’t give up easily and are renowned world-wide for “making a plan”

In closing, CJ said “the best is yet to come, watch this space and make a plan to be racing at Borrowdale Park – soon”

• Report by C John Smith for Zimbabwe Equine News

MALMOOS HALF SISTER CATCHES EYE

Ridgemont’s Triple Crown winning sire Malmoos gained another boost to his pedigree page when his half-sister Mascherina won at Hollywoodbets Greyville on Saturday.

A three-year-old daughter of Gimmethegreenlight, the Peter Muscutt trained Mascherina was a well backed favourite for the WSB Aviator takes off FM 82 Handicap (F and M) (1600m) and duly obliged.

Under the record chasing Richard Fourie, Mascherina hit the front full of running and stayed on strongly to win by just under a length and three-quarters.

Out of the Fort Wood mare Justthewayyouare, Mascherina has now won twice from five starts with the three-year-old having also finished second twice.

Mascherina is one of six winners for her Listed Spook Express Handicap winning dam, with Justthewayyouare herself a halfsister to top sire Master Of My Fate.

Justthewayyouare, who won four times from 1600m to 2600m, is best known as the dam of Gr3 East Cape Derby/Gr3 Lonsdale Stirrup Cup winner Captain Splendid and the latter’s full-brother Malmoos.

The latter, who shares his champion sire Captain Al with current sire sensation One World and more than 100 other black type winners, won seven of 12 starts and earned more than R1.4 million.

Malmoos stormed home to land the South African Triple Crown in 2021 when victorious in all of the Gr1 World Sports Betting SA Derby, G1 World Sports Betting SA Classic and Gr2 WSB Gauteng Guineas.

CITY OF TROY STANDS STRONG!

Unplaced 2,000 Guineas favourite City Of Troy remains Ballydoyle’s first choice for Epsom on the first Saturday of June. Aidan O’Brien spoke candidly post Newmarket about his hopes of Betfred Derby glory with the Justify colt.

“Everything has been good since the Guineas. We just accepted that all these things just happened and went wrong on the day, and we’ve decided to stay with the plan,” the trainer observed. “He’s done nothing since to make us change. The plan was always to start with the Guineas and go on to the Derby.”

“When he went down to the start, he should have been relaxed but when he went into the stalls, he was revved up. He wasn’t flustered but obviously his mind wasn’t in the right place.”

“For us, I’m not sure we’ve ever sent a horse to The Derby with as much ability as this. If we can get him to come out of those gates and everything to work properly for him then we can have him in the right place.”

City Of Troy remains Ballydoyle’s first choice | Credit: Racing TV

“I never thought any trip was a problem for him. You’re never sure until you do it, but he has a big, long stride and he’s usually very chilled and relaxed. It will be a very interesting race now.”

“We all know horseracing and we all know life – no one knows what’s going to happen in the next half hour. The Guineas just wasn’t meant to be. I feel like, myself, I hadn’t got him prepared properly, so what we would have learned in the Guineas will hopefully help us to prepare him properly for The Derby.

“There is a weight of expectancy with him. At the Guineas, everyone was there to see City Of Troy, and I apologised afterwards because I felt I didn’t have him prepared properly and expected too much of him. If you are not open and honest, you can’t progress.”

City Of Troy is likely to have company on the flight across the Irish Sea, with the unbeaten

Los Angeles and recent Dee Stakes winner, Capulet very much in the mix.

“We were happy with Los Angeles on Sunday (in the Leopardstown Derby Trial). The horse that made the running – that was the way it was going to suit him. Jockey Wayne Lordan was very happy with him.”

“He’s a big, relaxed horse. We always thought he would step up big time when he went to a mile and a half, and we were very happy with the way that he won so he’s definitely possible.”

“Capulet could go. There’s been a lot of interest in him from Hong Kong and all these places so it’s possible too. He was always a horse that was going to step up going to a mile and a quarter and we always thought he was going to step up even further if he went further. Ryan rode him positively.”

1000 -WIN MILESTONE FOR YIU

Ricky Yiu celebrates his 1,000th Hong Kong victory with The Hong Kong Jockey Club’s CEO Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges | Credit: HKJC

Ricky Yiu has joined Hong Kong racing’s elite by reaching the 1,000-win milestone to match the feats of the city’s most decorated trainers with Hayday’s breakthrough success at Sha Tin on Saturday.

Among the first intake of apprentices in 1972 into The Hong Kong Jockey Club’s Apprentice Jockeys’ School, Yiu took out his trainers’ licence in 1995/96 after a brief riding career and was crowned the city’s champion trainer in 2019/20.

Famed by his association with champion gallopers Sacred Kingdom and Fairy King Prawn, Yiu has proven to be a remarkably consistent force and last season saddled his first BMW Hong Kong Derby winner, Voyage Bubble.

With Hayday’s victory in the Class 4 Jordan Handicap, Yiu is the fourth current trainer to notch 1,000 wins or more along with John Size, Tony Cruz and Caspar Fownes. Retired handler John Moore holds the Hong Kong record with 1,735 victories.

“I’m glad to have this achievement of 1,000 winners in my career so far, it’s amazing,” said Yiu, who has also savoured elite success in Japan and Dubai. “First of all, you have to have the right horse to travel. They’ve all been good travellers.”

return clash with Hong Kong middle distance champion Romantic Warrior.

Francis Lui (54) edged to within four wins of catching Pierre Ng (58) in the 2023/24 trainers’ championship with Chancheng Glory’s triumph in the Class 2 Hong Kong China Rugby Cup Handicap.

The four-year-old, who finished second to Helios Express in the Hong Kong Classic Cup, collected a PPG Bonus of HK$1 million.

Keith Yeung advanced to 300 Hong Kong wins courtesy of a double with Master Of All and Awesome Treasure.

bit hard

I’m very thankful for the owner and trainer for giving me the ride again,” Mo said. “I just try my best to get winners. This season has been a little

but I try very hard to get more support and

more wins.

Yiu sealed a double when Jolly Ruler landed the second section of the Class 4 Ho Man Tin Handicap under Andrea Atzeni. The trainer made it a treble as Gracious Express broke through in the Class 3 Austin Handicap with Brenton Avdulla, collecting a HK$1.5 million PP Bonus for his efforts.

Yiu has entered Voyage Bubble for the Gr1 Yasuda Kinen at Tokyo on 2 June in a

“It has been a long journey – I never thought I would achieve that number,” Yeung said. “It’s been very complicated. There have been lots of ups and downs – falls, injuries, good rides, bad rides – and I really want to pay tribute to my first boss, Almond Lee.

“He brought me into the industry and taught me a lot and without all of his help and tutoring I would not be standing here. I also want to thank all the owners, trainers, media and the Club for their support. The Club has supported the jockeys so much with all the physiotherapy, psychology and medical support. I could not do it without them.”

Hong Kong’s champion apprentice in 2009/10, 36-year-old Yeung’s progress has repeatedly been stymied by injury but he was at his best on Saturday with a runaway victory aboard Chris So’s Master Of All in the Class 5 Yau

Ma Tei Handicap and David Hayes-trained Awesome Treasure in the Class 4 Kowloon Cricket Club Centenary Club Cup Handicap.

Hayes was chuffed for Yeung.

“That’s so good and Keith gave me my first Hong Kong win (Moneymore) when I came back. It was my first runner which was really important to me and Keith won on him, so it’s nice to see him have his 300th winner,” Hayes said.

So brought up a double with lightly-raced Winning Gold, who landed the first section of the Class 4 Ho Man Tin Handicap for Keagan De Melo.

Dylan Mo slotted his first win since 15 November when he piloted Frankie Lor’s Massive Action to an all-the-way success in the Class 3 Tsim Sha Tsui Handicap to end a winless streak of 73 rides.

“I’m very thankful for the owner and trainer for giving me the ride again,” Mo said. “I just try

my best to get winners. This season has been a little bit hard but I try very hard to get more support and more wins.”

David Hall extended a fruitful phase with a double, striking first with Ka Ying Victory’s tenacious win in the Class 3 Mong Kok Handicap for Alexis Badel. Clocking 55.73s, the Charm Spirit three-year-old surged up the middle of the course to post his first win since striking twice last season as a Griffin.

“He’s still a very young horse in the mind and he was a bit of a handful as a Griffin when he won those couple of races. He broke his nose and he was difficult in the gates so he hasn’t been a straightforward horse,” Hall said.

“Of course, we were expecting a bit better over the first few runs but he was just doing too much and being empty at the finish. It’s just taken him a while to relax enough in his races.

Hall boosted his season’s tally to 34 when Harry Bentley drove Sun Of Makfi to a slender victory in the Class 4 Hung Hom Handicap.

Keith Yeung rides his

A LIFE LIVED TO THE FULLEST –TREVOR LANGE

A former jockey and trainer, and a man who dedicated his life to horseracing, for seven decades, Trevor Lange has passed away at the age of 87.

In recent years he was an assistant to his son in law, trainer `Lucky’ Houdalakis, and his equine and people skills were in demand as he he tapped as much pleasure from the sport in his later years as he did when he became a jockey in 1951, a trainer in 1971, a Stipendiary Steward in 1988, a trainer again in 1994 and 2000, and a small-time breeder in between.

“My first ever ride was a winner,’’ he is on record as saying as he recalled one of his finest days, 26 December 1951.

“My mount was Forage Cap, trained by Felix Coetzee’s father Hennie. We beat horses

ridden by Charlie Barends and Bert Sage.”

Trevor was privileged to ride with the mentioned pair and the likes of ‘Tiger’ Wright, ‘Cocky’ Feldman, Benny Little, Basil Lewis and many other jockeys, still today considered in a league of their own.

He was a successful apprentice, so good that he was given a mount in the 1952 Durban July, just a few months after starting his apprenticeship. The horse was Lord Louis and they’d struck up a good relationship in the run up to the big race, winning three on the trot and being instituted an early favourite to win.

“But Mr Coetzee took me off on the day of the race, they could do it in those days, and it was a major disappointment. Lord Louis finished fourth behind Mowgli, who beat Radlington,” he told Charl Pretorius some years ago.

Trevor did get to ride in nine other Durban July’s – indicative of his talent, and his bestplaced finish was a third, in 1958, on Excise. He also won the 1962 God Cup on Specialist for JBK Cooper, the Newbury Stakes on Appeal Court, two PE Derby’s and the November Handicap on Onyx.

He never came across as a braggart when he said: “I was a good jock, competitive against the best. Roy Curling used to joke and say I mustn’t come to Port Elizabeth and steal their winners; Stanley Amos and Peter Kannemeyer and the guys in the Cape said the same when I went there in 1961 and had a big run with Sir Harvey Bruce.”

Trevor was a successful raiding jockey, and adapted to all circumstances to win. One example was his only ever race in Zimbabwe, the then prestigious Castle Tankard on Dr John for trainer Barry Labistour.

Interestingly seven years to the day after his first winner, Trevor was involved in what newspapers for many years afterwards would call, “Racing’s Blackest Day’’ – 26 December 1958 at Clairwood – when a punters’ revolt on the course proper led to two horses having to be put down and five jockeys being injured.

“There was a nine-race programme at Clairwood and at the start of the eighth race, I recall, Percy Cayeux’s mount, the hot favourite, refused to jump. The punters were furious.

“I had a ride in Race 9, there were 16 runners I think and on the way to the start we could see that a large group of punters had congregated close to the grandstand.

We got to the start, there were no gates in those days and Charlie Barends was keen to get home, he shouted at the starter that he had a plane to catch and soon after we got clearance from the stipes and the horses kicked off and ran. But as we approached the 200m mark there were lots of people on the track. They were armed with pieces of sharp wood, picket fences from next to the track turned into spears, and they formed a human barrier in front of us!”

Trevor acknowledged that he ‘got lucky’ that day because he was on a stayer in a sprint race and was some way behind the rest.

“But ahead of me the horses were being hastily pulled up. Some were hit by the flying pieces of wood; several horses came down and two had to be destroyed. Five jockeys were injured. I escaped unhurt, thank God, but it was an awful experience all the same!’’

With a few weight problems and an opportunity to train in 1971, Trevor hung up his boots and started at a farm near Henley-On-Klip with a few nice horses, including Salaman and Min Bridge.

Then followed a spell at the Vaal, in the early days of the racecourse as a training centre, and Trevor fondly recalls a handful of trainers operating from the Viljoensdrift track including Ormond Ferraris, Ralph Halket, Bertie Sage, later Ricky Maingard, Spike Lerena and John Nicholson.|

“The Vaal training track was superb in those days. There are a few more today and they are still exceptionally good, world class!’’

He won many feature races including three Jubilee Handicaps, with Flannel, Baldrick and Trauhaut and most of his winners were ridden by Robbie Thompson.

He also served on the Owners and Trainers Association.

Trevor returned to Durban in 1979 for a spell at

Pietermaritzburg and Summerveld, turning out feature winners like Turnsail (Frank Lambert Stakes and placed in the J&B Met).

Times were getting tough though and racing was changing and Trevor packed it in, becoming a Stipendiary Steward in 1988, serving under Dudley Feldman, with the likes of Harold Taylor and the Patterson brothers, Peter and Barry.

But the lure of open air and the horse brought him back as a trainer to owner Derek Martin in the mid 1990s, during which the undisputed highlight was when Martin’s Shoe Shac (Doug Whyte) beating the superstar Tommy Hotspur in the 1996 Computaform Sprint.

Trevor finally called it a day in 2002 after a brief spell on the Highveld and worked in the storage industry where he met Coenie Strydom, who became one of the leading patrons of ‘Lucky’ Houdalakis. We all remember JJ The Jet Plane!

“There’s a purpose to everything and I am so privileged to have been involved in Lucky’s rise to prominence. He is a very good horseman. I tried to give little bits of advice where I could, but he’s good, he knows his oats,” he told Charl Pretorius.

The Sporting Post facebook post on Thursday morning reporting Trevor Lange’s passing speaks volumes of the esteem in which he was held.

Our condolences are extended to Natalie and Lucky, and all of his family and friends. Racing has lost a good man.

• Information – kind courtesy of Charl Pretorius’ Legends Of The Turf, Volume 2.

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