REMEMBERING FAMILY : YEATS ET AL
Friday, June 17, 2011 at 11:53AM 
Ice Axe and Castlethorpe - MR 96 Divided Handicap
(Photo : Gold Corcle)
KWA-ZULU NATAL BREEDERS’ 1600
Clairwood, Turf, 1600m
19 June 2011
It was the Irish poet, William Butler Yeats, that once proclaimed “I have spread my dreams under your feet; tread softly because you tread on my dreams.”
The Irish have always had a sense of the romantic, and their premier racing outfit, Coolmore, have never been short of imagination when it comes to the naming of their best racehorses. They regularly “reserve” great names, and when a youngster tells them on the gallops, that he may be worthy, he is assigned an appropriate title.
So it was with the two brothers, Yeats and Solskjaer, the one named for their poet laureate, the other for their best footballer at their club, Manchester United, in a European Championship year.
In a weekend when both might be remembered, it’s appropriate that a statue was unveiled at the Royal Ascot meeting, commemorating the greatest stayer of all time, Yeats, for his four consecutive Gold Cup victories.
On Sunday, Solskjaer gets his turn, with his son the short priced favourite for the R250,000 KwaZulu-Natal Breeders’ 1600 at Clairwood. Now 4 wins from 5 starts (including a disqualification when defeating major Vodacom Durban July hopeful, Castlethorpe,) Ice Axe is a late December foal from his Sire’s first crop.
Dangers? There are a few, none more so than a fellow Summerhill-bred dual Group winner of 2011 and a Guineas heroine of last season, Fisani.
We’ll know more on Sunday afternoon.
KwaZulu-Natal Breeders’ 1600
Final Field
| # | Horse | Kg | MR | Dr | Jockey | Trainer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | FISANI | 60.0 | 104 | 11 | G Lerena | Mike de Kock |
| 2 | SEAL | 58.0 | 107 | 7 | M Odendaal | Gavin van Zyl |
| 3 | SMANJEMANJE | 58.0 | 97 | 2 | S Brown | Tyrone Zackey |
| 4 | DANCE WITH MIKEY | 58.0 | 87 | 10 | M Yeni | Colin Scott |
| 5 | ICE AXE | 56.0 | 98 | 5 | A Marcus | Charles Laird |
| 6 | THE MOUSEKETEER | 56.0 | 87 | 6 | A Delpech | Sean Tarry |
| 7 | SHIELD THE SHEIK | 56.0 | 72 | 4 | S Randolph | Des Egdes |
| 8 | ABINGTON | 54.0 | 94 | 9 | G Hatt | Greg Ennion |
| 9 | KINGS CALL | 54.0 | 83 | 3 | R Danieslon | Paul Lafferty |
| 10 | FOURTH ESTATE | 54.0 | 82 | 1 | C Orffer | Colin Scott |
| 11 | LAS RAMBLAS | 51.5 | 95 | 8 | *A Mgudlwa | James Goodman |
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