Sporting Post columnists share their opinions and insights into horse racing from South Africa and around the world. They are experts who have a deep understanding of the sport of kings, enjoy their thoughtful and fresh articles.
The sales environment is evolving in a hurry and BSA have joined the fray with their rejuvenated Cape Summer Yearling Sale at the gorgeous Val de Vie estate. The Sporting Post went along to take a look.
The Prix Du Cap has been won by a number of top notch racemares over the years, many of which have gone on to make their mark at stud, including Badger’s Gift, Kelly’s Olympics, National Vixen, Siren’s Cove, and Our Table Mountain
If that is the best we can conjure up, then the country is pretty close to a crisis and we should not be sleeping well at night, suggests Joey Ramsden
I’ve always been in love with horses and now the racing bug has bit, and I’m sure it’s there to stay. It’s hard to explain, I just feel it’s all I want to do.
Feature race time is slowing down for a few weeks but we have a couple of nice ones still to come in the always competitive Prix du Cap and the Chairman’s Handicap. Sadly, staying horses down here are as rare as the rain is at the moment. I wonder if the race is actually going to stand up
Encosta De Lago built a reputation as a consistently high class stallion and his retirement from stud duties last week marks the end of an era
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” It is a habit Ryk Neethling has clearly acquired. The only difference is that the energy is no longer directed at excellence in the swimming pool, but at the management and development of Val de Vie.
Twitter has made the world smaller in many ways, but the global racing community in particular seems to have found a spot on the platform – and not just for rumour and innuendo. It’s a place of opinion, news, analysis and arguments.
The only let-down on Met day, I think, was the excessive security. I kept looking above me to see when Air Force One might be arriving and Barrack Obama stepping out. Security really was way over the top and caused unnecessary frustration
Clearly, as in much else relating to horses, there is no hard and fast rule about a son of a failed sire being unable to make it at stud
For racing to be a genuine game of skill and a more prestigious challenge we need to take the disparities of unequal spending power out of the equation and make it a true test of ability alone
It will be good news for South African racing fans that, despite a number of offers from abroad, Gerald and Karen Kalil’s multiple champion Quid Pro Quo will continue her 3yo season on African soil
Former SA Champion jockey Andrew Fortune’s six month quest to be relicenced to ride again reaches something of a watershed
The Ridgemont’s Kieswetter and Drakenstein’s Rupert families are major players in our horseracing and the Monmouth Park feature thus held more than a passing interest for many of us
