FILLIES AND LUCKY RED RODS

Cherry On The Top
(Photo : The Times)

CHAMPIONS DAY
Turffontein, 27 April 2013

Mike Moon
The TimesSuperstition abounds in racing. Fans have “lucky” hats they wear on the racecourse. Many refuse to wear anything green. Even the great Terrance Millard, trainer of six Durban July winners, had a pair of lucky socks.

I met a trainer who wore the same pair of red underpants whenever his horses competed. It paid off as he won the Summer Cup, though by then those rods were in tatters.

A partner owner of mine believed his mere presence was a jinx on winning and, at race time, would walk resolutely off the course into the nearby café for a few puffs on a fag as our horse galloped. The nag won just twice from dozens of starts but, for my mate, that was evidence enough of the efficacy of his strategy.

Such mysterious forces don’t usually bother me. But I am a little concerned that lately when I’ve written about horses or connections ahead of a race, they’ve failed to meet expectations.

The highlight of today’s Champions Day meeting at Turffontein is the bid by Cherry On The Top to claim the Triple Tiara by winning the Wilgerbosdrift Stud SA Oaks - completing three victories in the daunting series.

Ormond Ferraris, trainer of Cherry On The Top, recently chased a TV camera crew from his yard, apparently because he didn’t want to be jinxed by media hype.

So, given my record and Ferraris’ sensitivities, I’m loath to write about the big moment.

I won’t dwell on how bookmakers are offering prohibitive odds of 1/6 on Mary Slack, Wilgerbosdrift’s owner and sponsor of the Oaks and Triple Tiara, handing the R1million series bonus cheque to her very own mum - Cherry On The Top’s owner Bridget Oppenheimer.

I won’t witter about keeping it in the family. Anyway, I’m sure Mary won’t appreciate jokes about her mother not needing the extra few bob. After all, Mary has said the sponsorship is to encourage the breeding of quality fillies in an industry she cares fervently about - and she clearly never had mater in mind when she got out her purse.

I’ll also not drone on about Mrs O’s record of a dozen or so wins in the Oaks, dating back 50 years.

Instead, I’ll focus on the host of other big races. In the President’s Champions Challenge, where anything could win, I’m going for Master Plan (16/1) and Shogunnar (6/1). Sorry for that.

Red Ray (5/10), in the SA Nursery, is rumoured to be dynamite and watching a potential superstar in action might be worth the visit to Turfies on its own.

In the SA Derby, bookies reckon Tellina (16/10) is a shoo-in, though I caution that any of the maturing three-year-olds might relish the gruelling 2450m they’re trying for the first time. Wylie Hall at 8/1?

Then there’s the Computaform Sprint. But, go on, you place your own curses.

Extract from The Times

CELESTIAL HOPE

Mary Slack
(Image : Sporting Post / Mike de Kock Racing)

CHAMPIONS DAY AND
THE NATIONAL YEARLING SALES

There were a few spots in racing’s firmament that shone brightly this weekend. One was the excellent competition at Turffontein on Saturday, where Group events kicked off with a David and Goliath cameo in which, of course, David comes out on top. It was the Juvenile Fillies Nursery, in which an unknown Kimberley trainer of an untried horse by an unproven (or supposedly failed) stallion, knocked over the hitherto unbeaten daughter of the sire of the moment, belonging to one of the nation’s most celebrated owners. We’ll post a choice piece on that and the Colts Nursery in tomorrow’s script, but for now we don’t want to detract from what was as good a day as Mike de Kock and Mary Slack have enjoyed at the races in careers which recall some of the sport’s stellar moments.

De Kock saddled no fewer than five Group winners on the day, four of them sporting the Slack’s black silks and cherry cap originally made famous by the diamond magnate, Jim Joel. Looking at the margins of victory, it was as if De Kock had instructed his jockeys to avoid the traffic (and the objection hooter) by staying well clear of the field.

There are emerging parallels between the performances of the Slack string and those of other larger owners, and the dominance abroad of Coolmore over Godolphin, which remind us again of the glorious uncertainty of the turf, and the sheer democracy of it all. Money is undoubtedly a major factor, but the one thing you can’t do without in this game, is the intuition of the great horseman.

For sure you’ll have your “on” days, but in the end, all the money in the world can’t alone guarantee your success. Mary Slack was born into the game, and in De Kock and the other two “wise men”, Jehan Malherbe and the “lion tamer”, Dr John McVeigh, she has surrounded herself with a team to take on the world.

We were in De Kock’s box which gazes out appropriately across the gold mines of early Johanneburg, when the world’s number one trainer turned up once the business was done. I asked him if he’d like a drink, “or is that a silly question?” It was a silly question.

The other bright spot was the level of activity at the Emperors Palace National Yearling Sale, where the trade was undoubtedly more bouyant than on the opening Friday. Whether it was the catalogue or the public holiday that influenced outcomes, there was certainly more emotion in the ring from bidders, and while that didn’t necessarily convert itself into bigger statistics, it was a sign that the smaller players were getting in a stab, even if it was at lower levels. Vendors were game in lowering their sights and in the end, given the foreboding with which so many approached the sale, it had to be seen as a satisfactory result.

We’ve been saying it for a while now, but we’ve felt it since the Ready To Run in November and again at our inaugural sale on Summerhill in February, that the worm is definately turning. With stakes increasing in KZN and the prospect of R100,000 maiden prizes next year in that jurisdiction, there’s new hope out there for a steaming up.

IT’S NEVER BEEN BETTER : RACING FANS SPOILT FOR CHOICE

The Computaform Sprint (Grade 1)
(Photo : Computaform /Phumelela)

THE SA DERBY, SA OAKS AND THE COMPUTAFORM SPRINT

There’s been an awful lot in the news and on television about Pierre Jourdan and his crack at the SASCOC Triple Crown next Saturday (24^th April), but there’s a helluva supporting cast around the SA Derby, including the SA Oaks (Salutation has a go at restoring the fortunes of a family which last tasted Group One glory with Last Watch in the SA Classic equivalent of yesteryear).

But for race goers, the other very serious diversion on Champions Day, revolves around the Computaform Sprint (Gr1), which has thrown up its own retinue of legends over the years. This year’s renewal must rival, if not outpoint any of its predecessors, with three individual champions taking on one another in what might arguably turn out to be the fastest 1000 metres the world has ever witnessed, given its history of 55 seconds scorchers.

The protagonists include the mercurial Mythical Flight, champion juvenile and multiple Grade One sprinter Warm White Night, and last year’s Computaform ace Private Jet.

Yes, a Triple Crown bid at a mile and a half, and a world-class dash at a 1000 metres, with nothing but a hair’s breadth separating the candidates on their best exposed form.

One thing’s for sure, the result will be tight; there will be no Ussain Bolt surging away from a gathering of street joggers this time, and it will be a wonderful prelude to a assault on the Triple Crown by arguably the best Three Year Old we’ve seen since Horse Chestnut.

What a day for racing.

R1 Million COMPUTAFORM SPRINT (Grade 1)
Turffontein 1000m
24 April 2010

FINAL FIELD

No	Horse	Kg	MR	Dr	Jockey	Trainer
1	PRIVATE JET (ARG)	60	115	4	P Strydom	Geoff Woodruff
2	WARM WHITE NIGHT	60	114	1	A Marcus	Charles Laird
3	MYTHICAL FLIGHT	60	113	11	J Geroudis	Sean Tarry
4	INTELLECTUAL	60	110	6	R Danielson	Herman Brown
5	SOUTH COUNTRY	60	106	9	A Fortune	Gary Alexander
6	STRIKE PARADISE	60	105	7	B Lerena	Dominic Zaki
7	LIGHTENING LECTURE	60	102	10	S Khumalo	David Nieuwenhuizen
8	OPENING NIGHT	60	95	5	M V’Rensberg	Clinton Binda
9	LAUREAL MAN(BRZ)	58	92	3	D David	Brett Webber
10	NOBLE HEIR	57.5	105	8	A Delpech	Dennis Bosch
11	GOLDEN SECRET	57.5	88	12	*JP v’d Merwe	Mike Azzie
12	ESTEREL	55.5	101	2	F Naude	Dianne Stenger

The true clash of Champions : Champions Day 26th July

(Bethany Carlson/Summerhill Stud)

There’s always a great deal of hype around Africa’s greatest horserace, the Vodacom July, but for true merit, there’s nothing to match a weight-for-age or condition event, in which the likelihood of the best horse succeeding is strong.

Saturday’s Champion’s Cup brings together last year’s Horse Of The Year and major aspirant for the title again this year, Pocket Power; Dancer’s Daughter, for whom a case could be made as the best filly to race in this country, and of course our own Imbongi head and shoulders the standout three-year-old miler of the season.

Pocket Power aims to string together his fourth Gr.1 of the season, having previously added the Queens Plate, the J&B Met and a dead-heat with Dancer’s Daughter in the Vodacom July to his long retinue of major career successes, while Dancer’s Daughter goes for her fifth Gr.1 of the season. Imbongi is a triple Gr.2 winner of three races all deserving of Gr.1 status, though its no fault of his, in the newer scheme of things, that those races were made Gr.2’s. He dominated both the “ Guineas ”, and subsequently recorded a facile victory over his elders including three champions in Pocket Power, Floatyourboat and Bold Ellinore, in the Drill Hall Stakes at weight-for-age at Greyville. His only defeat since his first Guineas victory at a mile or less came at the hands of Dancer’s Daughter (to whom he was conceding one kg) in the Gold Challenge (Gr.1) where he went down a length.

This time around, he gets three kgs from her and four from Pocket Power, and we think that the only thing that stands between Imbongi and victory in what the press are now dubbing the race of the season (they’ve forgotten the Gold Challenge already!) is whether or not, after a break, he will see out the 1800m. Keeping our feet on the ground, we need to recall the fact that, at that distance, he didn’t quite see it out in the S.A.Classic Gr.1 at Turffontein, where he cut through the field like a knife through butter, only to find the final furlong beyond his reach.

We live in hope, and we’re dying for Saturday.

CHAMPIONS DAY this Saturday

Basil MarcusThe fields for Saturday’s big day at Turffontein have just been released and gratifyingly, runners from Summerhill are deeply represented in all but two of the eight Stakes events. Despite the tragic loss of Emperor Napoleon our biggest and surest hope on the day, we still have four out of the fourteen entries (almost 30% in South Africa’s richest race the Gomma Gomma Challenge). They are Pick Six (last year’s hero), Catmandu, Desert Links and Fork Lightening. Catmandu and Desert Links are the two “wild cards”, and on a straight line of his form in the Horse Chestnut (Gr1), Catmandu will go close at the weights to turning the tables on the winner of that race, Our Giant. All things being equal, which they aren’t because he’s drawn 13 out of 14, he’s a live chance.

At the same time, Basil Marcus is bullish on the prospects of Desert Links, after his recent highly impressive victory, and while this is a big step up, a man of Basil’s standing wouldn’t make the trip to altitude lightly. For what it’s worth, Our Giant is likely to start favourite, so there may be value in our two runners. Don’t dismiss Pick Six though. He’s been there before, and he’s reportedly as well as ever.

As an illustration of the depth of quality runners emerging from Summerhill right now, (four of the first six home in Saturday’s KZN Guineas were “graduates”), we have another eleven engaged at Saturday’s big race meeting, and a further eight that were sired here. In the big juvenile race of the day, the SA Nursery, there are three Summerhill youngsters involved, Hurricame Force, Mpumelelo and Mdansi, all graduates of November’s Ready to Run sale, and all eligible for the R1 million + Emperor’s Palace Ready to Run Cup due to be staged on 2^nd November 2008.