MIKE RATTRAY : THE CHESHIRE CAT

Solo Traveller - Bloodstock SA Cape Guineas (Gr1)
(Photo : Gold Circle)

BLOODSTOCK SA CAPE GUINEAS (Grade 1)

One man who’s grinning from ear to ear this week is Mike Rattray. The man who brought the Santa Gertrudis cattle breed to South Africa, founded Mala Mala game reserve and imported multiple champion sire Western Winter, has no need to bother where his next stallion is coming from. In the R1million Bloodstock SA Cape Guineas (Gr.1) on Saturday, his Solo Traveller (son of Western Winter) went to the top of the Three-Year-Old class with a famous victory over a deep entry of sophomores, including his principal Cape rival, What A Winter (also Western Winter), and Mike de Kock’s pair of Perana (Rock Of Gibraltar) and Kavanagh (Tiger Ridge).

Whether this lot will measure up to last year’s remains to be seen, but if Robert Bloomberg’s prophecy is correct, there’s depth to the crop, as the first five or six finished within a couple of lengths of each other.

One thing’s for sure, the race was a triumph for Justin Snaith and his team. Not only were they first and second across the line, but they earlier won the Fillies’ version, and it seems from Justin’s comments, that there are big things in store for Solo Traveller. It’s conceivable he will go the route that put Horse Chestnut on the map, and toss his ticket into the sweep for the J&B Met at the end of January. The trip shouldn’t be a problem, given that his dam is a daughter of the former champion sire Jallad, and comes from a family with no shortage of stamina. Western Winter gets them to go from 1000m t0 3200m.

SOLO TRAVELLER : BLOODSTOCK SA CAPE GUINEAS (GR1)

Click above to watch Solo Traveller winning the Bloodstock SA Cape Guineas…
(Photo : Gold Circle - Footage : Tellytrack)

BLOODSTOCK SA CAPE GUINEAS (Grade 1)
Kenilworth Turf 1600m
For all 3-year-old horses
18 December 2010

David Thiselton
www.goldcircle.co.zaSolo Traveller became the first progeny of former champion sire Western Winter to win the Bloodstock SA Cape Guineas at Kenilworth on Saturday and the race was a triumph for Mike Rattray’s Lammerskraal Stud but even more so for trainer Justin Snaith and jockey Bernard Fayd’Herbe.

Justin Snaith and Bernard Fayd’Herbe claimed a Cape Guineas double, having won the fillies’ version two weeks ago with the exciting Ebony Flyer. Snaith nearly achieved the same three years ago with filly winner Captain’s Lover and colt runner up Russian Sage, but this was in fact his first triumph in the male version of the race. He made sure of it, claiming a one-two as his Dynasty colt Run For It finished strongly for second. The last trainer to do the Guineas double was the maestro Terrance Millard whose filly Star Effort won both races twenty seasons ago in the 1990/1991 season.

Lammerskraal Stud’s Sally Jordaan was thrilled with the victory. She and Mike Rattray choose only a couple of colts from each crop to race themselves every season so it is highly rewarding when they get it right as they have with Solo Traveller.

Fayd’Herbe had to ride Solo Traveller very strongly in the closing stages, but the horse responded by hitting another gear and his long stride took him through a gap and past Kavanagh. Fayd’Herbe said that the tougher the circumstances the better Solo Traveller liked it. He added that Solo Traveller was still “underdone” so should come on for the run. Solo Traveller is a full-brother to Strawberry Ice who finished second in last season’s KRA Fillies Guineas and was never tried beyond a mile. However, his relaxed demeanour in the running coupled with his long stride and tough character will give him every chance of staying the 2000m of the J&B Met. Furthermore his second dam Taineberry won the Grade 2 Natal Oaks over 2400m. Snaith intimated that Solo Traveller would go for the Met as he felt this season’s three-year-old crop were strong particularly in relation to the older horses still left in the country.

Run For It, who did not have a clear path in the Selangor, relished the longer straight not to mention the skill of Felix Coetzee. He had to be switched around the front bunch to get a run, but it is unlikely he would have beaten Solo Traveller with a straighter path as the latter ran all the way to the line and probably would have found extra if challenged. Snaith intimated that Run For it would be aimed at the Grade 1 Cape Derby over 2000m on J&B Met day. Run For It does have a Vodacom Durban July look about him.

Mike de Kock must have been disappointed once again with Kavanagh, whom he rates highly. Kavanagh quickened very well into the lead, but could not stave off the challengers in the final 100m for the third time in his short career to date. There is no way that jockey Johnny Geroudis could have waited any longer with him as he was behind King Fahiem who had begun to fade. Perana ran a fine race, staying on well. He will be a big runner in the Grade 1 Cape Derby or J&B Met, whichever one he targets, as he clearly needs further. Il Saggiatore also caught the eye as a Cape Derby prospect. He lost two lengths at the start and turned for home last, but was finishing very strongly and was just 2,6 lengths back at the line. Fifth-placed M’Lords Throat ran an excellent race considering he had to come from a very wide draw. He fought on courageously for a long time in the straight from his handy position. Many will say that the race proved that What A Winter, who finished a 2,35 length sixth, didn’t stay. However, he was firstly caught three wide, secondly had to come from a long way back and thirdly appeared to be running on perfectly well until the whip was drawn. He then appeared to become unbalanced and lugged in.

FINAL RESULT

#	LBH	Horse	Kg	MR	Dr	Jockey	Trainer
1	0.00	SOLO TRAVELLER	58.0	104	3	B Fayd’Herbe	Justin Snaith
2	0.25	RUN FOR IT	58.0	95	1	F Coetzee	Justin Snaith
3	0.35	KAVANAGH	58.0	104	2	J Geroudis	Mike de Kock
4	0.60	PERANA (AUS)	58.0	102	12	K Shea	Mike de Kock
5	2.10	M’LORDS THROAT	58.0	96	14	G Schlechter	Glen Kotzen
6	2.35	WHAT A WINTER	58.0	109	9	K Neisius	Mike Bass
7	2.60	IL SAGGIATORE (AUS)	58.0	98	7	G Hatt	Joey Ramsden
8	3.10	GREEN KEEPER	58.0	92	6	W Agrella	Justin Snaith
9	3.35	TOP SELLER	58.0	101	11	M Byleveld	Vaughan Marshall
10	3.60	CASTLETHORPE (AUS)	58.0	101	4	A Marcus	Mike Bass
11	5.85	WOLF ON THE FOLD	58.0	93	8	R Fourie	Brett Crawford
12	9.10	COPPER PARADE	58.0	104	5	K Teetan	Joey Ramsden
13	11.85	LUCKY MOON	58.0	93	13	C Segeon	Joey Ramsden
14	11.95	KING FAHIEM	58.0	93	10	M Latorre	Glen Kotzen
15	15.20	BRILLIANT CUT	58.0	97	15	*A Domeyer	Vaughan Marshall

BLOODSTOCK SA CAPE GUINEAS : THE NEW GIANTS

What A Winter - Bloodstock SA Cape Guineas (Gr1) Challenger
(Image : Gold Circle/Atlantica/TBA)

Or are they “Paper Tigers”?

There’s a helluva scrap brewing in the Western Cape. As the Proteas take on India in Pretoria, the nation’s “Mother City” is cooking up another kind of storm, unrelated to the South-Easter which has been blasting Cape Town for the past several days.

Last year, racing fans were treated to a series of staggering performances from one of the deepest and most talented crops of Three-Year-Old colts our sport had ever witnessed. Any one of Irish Flame, Pierre Jourdan, Bold Silvano, Noordhoek Flyer, Bravura or Ancestral Fore, and even Curved Ball or Galileo’s Galaxy might have been champions in any other year.

Readers of these columns will remember the Summerhill mantra going into the 2009 Emperors Palace Ready To Run Sale, that this was meant to be the “Year of the Filly”.

Ebony Flyer, Igugu and Hollywoodboulevard (the latter two both graduates of our draft at that sale), have revealed just how prophetic that judgment has turned out to be, but it seems the colts may be serving up a dish almost as formidable.

You’ll never know just how good the Cape’s What A Winter and Solo Traveller or Perana and Kavanagh (from Gauteng) really are, till they’ve faced-up to one another and then eventually been tested against their elders, but for the time being at least, the prospect of an all out “North vs South” war in Saturday’s Bloodstock SA Cape Guineas, beckons.

One man who won’t be budged from a powerful conviction that these four will stand comparison in time with those of last season, is Robert Bloomberg. He knows this game as well as anybody, and he puts down more money than most. When he speaks, we listen. Best tune-in to Tellytrack DSTV Channel 232 Saturday, and give the cricket a break.

R1,000,000 BLOODSTOCK SA CAPE GUINEAS (Grade 1)
Kenilworth, Turf, 1600m
18 December 2010

FINAL FIELD

#	Horse	Kg	MR	Dr	Jockey	Trainer
1	WHAT A WINTER	58.0	109	9	K Neisius	Mike Bass
2	COPPER PARADE	58.0	104	5	K Teetan	Joey Ramsden
3	KAVANAGH	58.0	104	2	J Geroudis	Mike de Kock
4	SOLO TRAVELLER	58.0	104	3	B Fayd’Herbe	Justin Snaith
5	PERANA (AUS)	58.0	102	12	K Shea	Mike de Kock
6	CASTLETHORPE (AUS)	58.0	101	4	A Marcus	Mike Bass
7	TOP SELLER	58.0	101	11	M Byleveld	Vaughan Marshall
8	IL SAGGIATORE (AUS)	58.0	98	7	G Hatt	Joey Ramsden
9	BRILLIANT CUT	58.0	97	15	*A Domeyer	Vaughan Marshall
10	M’LORDS THROAT	58.0	96	14	M Neisius	Glen Kotzen
11	RUN FOR IT	58.0	95	1	F Coetzee	Justin Snaith
12	KING FAHIEM	58.0	93	10	M Latorre	Glen Kotzen
13	LUCKY MOON	58.0	93	13	C Segeon	Joey Ramsden
14	WOLF ON THE FOLD	58.0	93	8	R Fourie	Brett Crawford
15	GREEN KEEPER	58.0	92	6	A Fortune	Justin Snaith

Grade 1 success for son of Kahal

The highly thought of Emperor Napoleon (Kahal x Ellinore) lived up to his supporters’ opinion when running a  gutsy second in today’s feature race - the R1m Bloodstock SA Cape Guineas Gr 1, the son of Kahal was beaten only half a length after racing wide early.

Another future star for champion trainer Mike de Kock one suspects.