BRICS AND THE HONG KONG INTERNATIONAL RACES

Dougie Whyte, Julie Alexander, Mick Goss, Dougie’s Mum and Derreck David
Summerhill Box, Greyville, Vodacom Durban July 2011
(Photo : Summerhill Stud)

CATHAY PACIFIC
HONG KONG INTERNATIONAL RACES
Sha Tin Racecourse, Hong Kong
11 December 2011

Just under a year ago, South Africa was admitted to the prestigious conglomerate of nations known as Brics (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), and the 2011 staging of their international meeting by the local Jockey Club in the Chinese enclave of Hong Kong, is the first since our admission.

It is, of course, the season for international events, and especially jockey’s internationals, and these always invoke a measure of parochial interest. South African jockeys have dominated the Hong Kong championship (one of the most sought after titles in racing) for 18 of the last 19 years. The most successful of these is a man who might legitimately lay claim to the title of “Best Jockey in the World”. He is the Durban-bred and raised Dougie Whyte, who just happens also to be the most successful rider in the history of the jockey’s challenge. Local fans will remember it was Dougie who piloted London News to his epic victory in the Queen Elizabeth II Cup (Gr1), heralding the return to the international fold of South African horses, and that it was he, aboard the Summerhill-bred Pierre Jourdan, who ran Igugu to three quarters of a length in this year’s Vodacom Durban July. You can bet your bottom dollar Dougie will be at the action end of things come Sunday’s Cathay Pacific Hong Kong International Races.

Rocket Man’s South African connection

Summerhill clients, Ronnie and Bev Napier, Jean Marc and Clothilde Ulcoq, are all in Hong Kong for this annual jamboree, as they have been for some years as guests of the Hong Kong Jockey Club following the initiation of their attendance in the days when Major General Guy Watkins was still the CEO. It is a sign of their loyalty and affection for racing in that jurisdiction, that they haven’t missed a meeting in close to twenty years, and you’d have to forgive them a measure of patriotic sentiment when it comes to the chances of the South African-connected Rocket Man in the Hong Kong Sprint (Gr1).

A victim of an irrepressible late surge from the South African-bred, JJ The Jet Plane (by Jet Master) in last year’s renewal, Rocket Man’s owned by local doyen, Fred Crabbia, trained by Pat Shaw and his regular rider is Felix Coetzee. He’s reported to have worked up a storm on Tuesday morning on the Sha Tin all-weather track.

“He’d have done more if we’d let him, but he’ll do a piece of work on the grass tomorrow over about 800 metres”, Trainer Shaw explained.

The six-year-old brings top credentials into the 1200 metre event, having won the Gr1 Dubai Golden Shaheen over the Meydan Tapeta in March and the Gr1 Krisflyer International Sprint on the turf at Kranji racecourse in May.

YEBO IGUGU... OR SO YOU THOUGHT

Click above to watch Igugu - The Superstar
(An iKind Media Production 2011)

RACING’S NEW HOLY GRAIL

MELBOURNE - With more than 20 international horses - from England to France to Chile to Germany to the USA - in Melbourne for the 2011 spring carnival, the racing heart of the city certainly has a cosmopolitan feel.

You could argue it lacks just one thing - a horse from South Africa. And, of course, we’d love to have you here right now in the wake of the Rugby World Cup quarter final. Only kidding! It was a travesty of justice. How did you guys manage not to win that one?

Of course, the more-than severe quarantine restrictions imposed on horses leaving South Africa virtually rule out an Aussie assault, which is a shame given the links between the two countries. The immediate future doesn’t look bright according to Racing Victoria’s international recruiting agent Leigh Jordon, but he’s working on finding some end of tunnel light next year.

“We would love to see the South African horses competing on our shores but the situation has got worse recently and I’m not sure there’s a real solution in the foreseeable future. What I am working on is to get Dubai ticked off before March, so Mike de Kock and others could send a team straight to Australia from Dubai if they so chose. I think this could well be a better option than going to the UK,” Jordon said.

And this writer has little doubt that champion filly Igugu, prepared by De Kock (and Aussie bred, I hasten to add), might well have had this year’s Cox Plate at her mercy with a lack of depth this season among our middle-distance weight-for-age horses. At the time of writing, there’d been different winners of the five weight-for-age races run in Melbourne this spring.

Igugu, you could argue, has already been denied a victory in Australia. She was third behind Rocket Man in the Champion Australian-Bred International Award at the recent Horse Of The Year function in Melbourne.

Rocket Man polled 280 votes with Sacred Kingdom second on 100 and third was Igugu on 98. This result was absurdly skewed by most of these eligible to vote being simply more familiar with racing in Asia than in South Africa. I’m sure that most of them have not seen nor understood the quality of the Durban July but, trust me, I’m telling them all about it.

My compatriots also got it wrong with Black Caviar, as good and as unbeaten as she is, a runaway winner over So You Think in the Australian Horse Of The Year. The latter ought to have been given more credit… unbeaten in Australia for the season other than for the “shy at the stumps” in the Melbourne Cup.

Maybe it’s a spurious argument but I’m always inclined to look at these things as follows: could you imagine Igugu or So You Think giving Rocket Man and Black Caviar any sort of run at their pet distance of 1200m. My answer is yes - assuming a fair track and a decent pace. On the other hand, Rocket Man and Black Caviar would have no hope of beating the other two in their ideal distance range.

Of course, the award was not lost to South Africa with Rocket Man owned by Johannesburg businessman Fred Crabbia, trained by Singapore-based expat Patrick Shaw and ridden throughout his career by South African jockeys, his most recent partner being Felix Coetzee.

And maybe we could now argue there’s a new theory to finding racing’s Holy Grail. You simply get a horse bred in Australia and have it trained by a South African - after all, Igugu and Rocket Man each claimed their respective Horse Of The Year honours.

Another case in point is Australian-bred Hong Kong sprinter Bear Hero, who’s trained by David Ferraris - you got it, a South African. A winner three of four starts and champion griffin in Hong Kong, he’s the nearest thing to an South African Melbourne raider this year. He’s currently domiciled at the Werribee quarantine centre and is being prepared to take on Black Caviar in the Patinack Farm Classic at Flemington on 5 November.

Bear Hero went to Flemington on Friday morning to contest a jump-out (an unofficial trial) and he looked the part as he won the better-than-routine exercise test down the Flemington straight track.

The great mare, as you are no doubt aware, resumed at Caulfield on 8 October and stretched her unbeaten run to 14 wins. Just as importantly, she was single-handedly responsible for drawing an extra 10,000 fans through the gates.

I think she’s the best horse I’ve seen. I know memory plays tricks on you - and I’m not sure whether we can judge her against the great middle-distance and staying horses of the past - but she is freakish.

Her stride length is estimated at somewhere between one and two metres longer than the norm and she simply glides at high speed - having other very decent horses off the bit and struggling at the halfway mark of short races. Incredible! I’ve certainly never seen any other sprinting horse of her calibre.

I have no doubt she’d pick up and carry Rocket Man. I would rate her four to five lengths his superior. That, of course, is largely subjective, but, hey, as a mate of mine always reminds me, racing is all about opinions. And, he says, never overlook the possibility that you might be right.

Extract from Tab Online

GITANO HERNANDO SCORES SINGAPORE AIRLINES CUP

Click above to watch Gitano Hernando and River Jetez fighting out the
Singapore Airlines International Cup (G1)
(Image and Footage : Singapore Turf Club)

SINGAPORE AIRLINES INTERNATIONAL CUP
Kranji, Turf, 2000m
22 May 2011

David Thiselton
Gold CircleSouth African trainer Herman Brown won the Singapore Airlines International Cup (Grade 1) at Kranji racecourse on Sunday, for the second time in his career, thanks to his newly acquired Gitano Hernando who was given a brilliant ride by South African jockey Glyn Schofield, while fellow South Africans, trainer Pat Shaw and jockey Felix Coetzee, landed the other big international Grade 1 on the card, the KrisFlyer International Sprint, with the amazing Rocket Man. South African dominance didn’t end there as the Mike de Kock-trained and Bernard Fayd’Herbe-ridden River Jetez finished second in the Singapore Airlines International Cup.

Brown won this race with the South African-bred Jay Peg in 2008. Gitano Hernando, who is by Hernando, joined his yard immediately after running in the Dubai World Cup and this was the five-year-old entire’s second run in the colours of Chechnyan President Ramzan Kadyrov. Schofield has become known as a master of pace judgement and used this skill to telling effect. He soon had Gitano Hernando out in front and was able to dictate a steady pace. Brown said afterwards, “It was a great ride by Glyn. In fact he really stole the race. This horse is more of a staying type, better suited to 2400m, so we thought our best chance was to make the pace and it all worked out.” De Kock watched from Clairwood and felt River Jetez had run a very good race. The seven-year-old Jet Master mare lost her position twice in the race, so did very well to claim the runner up spot. Gitano Hernando was allowed to run around her on the first turn after Fayd’Herbe had initially done well to claim a position right near the head of affairs from a wide draw. On the final turn River Jetez, who had been lying in about third place, was shuffled back as a number of horses ran around her in the steady-paced race. However, she picked up superbly after they had straightened and passed all of those horses again but couldn’t get to Gitano Hernando, who held on by 0,5 lengths.

Brown said the Melbourne Cup might be an option for his charge, although nothing is concrete yet. De Kock will take River Jetez to England to prepare her for a crack at the Beverley D Stakes over about 1900m at Arlington in the USA in August.

Rocket Man, who was purchased by Durban bloodstock agent Andy Williams in Australia and is owned by South African Fred Crabbia, proved he is getting better all the time and for the second time in succession landed a big international sprint by a facile margin. The six-year-old gelding by Viscount can also go on any surface as that last big race win was on the tapeta in Dubai where he romped home with the Grade 1 Dubai Golden Shaheen over 1200m. He has now won 17 from 20 starts and finished narrow seconds in the other three including twice in the KrisFlyer and once in the Golden Shaheen. Felix Coetzee, as cool as ever, had him in the leading three throughout from his wide draw in the 1200m turf event and drew away as he liked in the straight to win by nearly five lengths. Rocket Man’s Kranji home crowd were jubilant that their idol’s jinx in this race had finally been laid to rest.

Singapore Airlines International Cup (G1)
Final Results

#	Margin	Horse	Sire	Kg	Dr	Jockey	Trainer
1	0.0	GITANO HERNANDO (GB)	Hernando	57.0	4	G Schofield	H Brown
2	0.5	RIVER JETEZ (SAF)	Jet Master	55.5	9	B Fayd’Herbe	M de Kock
3	1.5	IRIAN (GER)	Tertullian	57.0	5	D Beadman	J Moore
4	1.5	WAIKATO (NZ)	Pins	57.0	6	J Moreira	L Laxon
5	2.0	CHINCHON (IRE)	Marju	57.0	12	G Mosse	C Laffon-Parias
6	2.3	RISKY BUSINESS (AUS)	Danehill Dancer	57.0	10	G Boss	S Burridge
7	3.8	WIGMORE HALL (IRE)	High Chaparral	57.0	3	J Spencer	M Bell
8	4.6	CALIFORNIA MEMORY (USA)	Highest Honour	57.0	13	M Chadwick	A Cruz
9	5.6	ROYAL BENCH (IRE)	Whipper	57.0	7	O Doleuze	R Collet
10	6.1	PRESVIS (GB)	Sakhee	57.0	2	R Hughes	L Cumani
11	8.1	NEW ROSE WOOD (AUS)	Love A Dane	55.5	1	KB Soo	D Koh
12	8.9	FATKID (NZ)	Handsome Ransom	57.0	8	I Azhar	HK Tan

Extract from Gold Circle

THE SOUTH AFRICAN CONNECTION : DWC AND ALL THAT

Click above to watch Rocket Man winning the Golden Shaheen (Gr1)
(Footage : Dubai Racing)

DUBAI WORLD CUP
26 March 2011

The Dubai World Cup meeting featured two sprints, one on grass, the other on tapeta. Having shown his preference for the turf, (or rather, his dislike of the tapeta), it was Lucky Houdalakis’ decision to keep J J The Jet Plane on his best surface in the Al Quoz Sprint (Gr2) and he was vindicated when our local ace came sprinting out of the mist after twice being interfered with, to get over the line in the last stride of the 1000m trip, now arguably too short for him.

His ranking as the best male sprinter in the world remains intact, and was not eclipsed by Rocket Man’s gutsy win in the Golden Shaheen (Gr1) a few races later. The latter is a man who thoroughly deserved his victory, as he’d been narrowly denied last year in the same event, as well as by J J The Jet Plane in the Hong Kong Sprint (Gr1) a few months ago. Rocket Man may be Australian-bred, but he’s South African owned, South African-trained, and he was South African-ridden on Saturday evening, the protagonists being respectively one of the country’s biggest owners, Fred Crabbia, the veteran horseman, Patrick Shaw, and one of our most celebrated riders, Felix Coetzee.

As gallant as gallant gets, it was very nearly South Africa’s turn to grab the cash in the $5million Dubai Duty Free (Gr1) yet again, (no country has won it more often), when River Jetez claimed the lead 300m out, and just as she appeared to have the race at her mercy, the Luca Cumani-conditioned Presvis finally got his act together, (having had a couple of shots at the event before), for a half length victory. Now in her seventh year, River Jetez’s astonishing effort was as fine an advert for the class and durability of South African gallopers as any, and the Amms and Marsh Shirtliff can take some solace from the knowledge that she ran her guts out for “president and country”.

PAST MASTER WINS J&B MET 2011 : RESULTS AND VIDEO

Click above to watch Past Master winning the J&B Met (Grade 1)
(Photo : Gold Circle - Footage : Tellytrack) 

R2,5 MILLION J&B MET (Grade 1)
Kenilworth, Turf, 2000m
29 January 2011

FINAL RESULTS

#	LBH	Horse	Kg	MR	Dr	Jockey	Trainer
1	0.00	PAST MASTER	57.5	114	15	G Schlechter	Darryl Hodgson
2	1.25	MOTHER RUSSIA	57.5	111	8	A Marcus	Mike de Kock
3	2.00	RUN FOR IT	52.0	108	10	F Coetzee	Justin Snaith
4	2.75	TALES OF BRAVERY	57.5	111	16	M Mienie	Vaughan Marshall
5	3.25	LION IN WINTER	57.5	105	9	A Fortune	Joey Ramsden
6	3.30	IN WRITING (ARG)	58.0	97	6	M Winnaar	Dean Kannemeyer
7	4.55	BRAVURA	59.5	110	13	G Hatt	Joey Ramsden
8	4.65	POCKET POWER	60.0	114	3	B Fayd’Herbe	Mike Bass
9	4.90	SUPER STORM	57.5	99	17	A Dommeyer	Mike Bass
10	5.00	RUSHING WIND	58.0	108	1	P Strydom	Mike Bass
11	5.05	CASK	57.5	100	11	R Fourie	Stephen Page
12	5.55	FORT VOGUE	58.0	104	7	K Neisius	Mike Bass
13	6.05	RUDRA	60.0	109	2	J Geroudis	Mike de Kock
14	6.10	LAST REGAL	57.5	104	12	M Yeni	Dean Kannemeyer
15	7.35	FLIRTATION	57.0	104	5	A Delpech	Mike de Kock
16	8.60	CELTIC FIRE	57.5	107	14	K Teetan	Yvette Bremner
17	8.60	PADDY O’REILLY	57.5	100	4	R Danielson	Glen Kotzen

www.jbmet.co.za