Dennis Drier with Met hopeful, Punta Arenas (pic: hamishNIVENPhotography)
They say you’ve got an uncle in the furniture business. In the racing business, we’ve got Dennis Drier, better known as ‘Uncle Den’. We catch up with him – and his Cape Summer Season raiding string – at his Philippi base.
It was a glorious early Cape summer’s day – blue skies, but comfortably warm, rather than the dry scorch of February. The Philippi security staff flattered with an exclamation of ‘long time no see!’ as they ushered me through the gates with a cheery wave.
A left and a quick right found me a shady park outside the gates of Stan Elley’s old premises. The yard, freshly painted and spruced up, practically hums with energy. There are no bangs, pops or fireworks, but the horses are glossy and there is a definite spring in Dennis Drier’s step. There is a renewed sense of energy, optimism and a sense of purpose which states in no uncertain terms that the team are here to do business.
Settling in
Visible through the office window, Dennis’ hat hangs behind the door, indicating that he has already made himself at home. The office, entirely transformed since Stan’s departure, is simply, but neatly furnished – a desk, a chair, and a set of shelves holding all the necessary tools of the trade: a desk calendar, a well-thumbed racing programme and a stack of passports – as well as a copy of Deon Meyer’s Icarus to fill in any quiet moments. However those are few and far between in a racing yard.
On arrival, Kevin Sommerville was appraising the Drakenstein Stud Farm string, affording an opportunity to take in the general tableau and watch Mr Drier at work. As each horse was led out and stood up correctly for inspection, he stood back for an overall view, gave a brief precis of the breeding, each individual’s progress to date, race performances, jockey comments and where necessary ran an expert hand down a leg or checked a joint. More often than not, having extolled its virtues, he’d lay a hand on a glossy neck or velvety nose, look into the horse’s eye and marvel ‘And what a temperament!’
Uncle Den doesn’t simply love his horses, he genuinely savours each character with their individual quirks and seems to enjoy trying to get to the bottom of each of his charges.
Off To A Good Start
Dennis saw the string safely onto the transport trucks in Durban, while assistant Stuart Ferrie was already in Cape Town ensuring that everything was shipshape and greet their arrival on Thursday, 24 September. “Last year it was a mess. The place had been used for Ready To Run horses and not prepared properly and as soon as my first lot of horses arrived they all went down with a virus. Then the second lot arrived and we had the same thing,” he shakes his head sorrowfully. “Hell, it took ages to sort out, you have NO idea. They got a good talking to and this time they did their job,” he says with satisfaction. “This year we sent all the horses together and they all arrived on the same day and we had an amazing trip this year. I’ve had plenty of good years, but this is the best my horses have ever travelled. They’re all happy, none of them have tucked up – it’s really been a great start.”
Asked how the Philippi facilities compare with what he’s used to, he says, “I was at Milnerton once about 30 years ago and have been coming to Philippi ever since. The Summerveld facilities are very nice, but along with Turffontein, I rate Philippi one of the best tracks I’ve ever worked on.”
Strength in Numbers
“I’ve not brought this many before. I normally bring 20 – 22 horses, but with Stan’s yard available, they said I could bring up to 30. I’ve got 24 horses so far and I’m hoping to bring in a few more from the spelling farms. I tried it for the first time last year with Seventh Plain and it worked well,” he says thoughtfully.
“Beach, Schiffer, Master Of My Fate – all my older horses are gone now, so it’s quite a young string this time,” he says almost apologetically, but in truth, he has enough high speed fire power at his disposal to make a ballistics expert nervous.
Seventh Plain
Seventh Plain wins Golden Horseshoe
Occupying pride of place is Seventh Plain in box no 1. He carries a strong stamp of his sire and Dennis confirms that the temperament is a hallmark of the Seventh Rock progeny. Dennis found his star colt on the 2014 CTS March Yearling Sale where he was listed under the account of The Alchemy Stud. “Of all the horses on the sale, he was the one I wanted most,” remembers Dennis. Thrilled to discover the colt didn’t appear on any of the existing lists, he showed him to Derek Brugman who concurred with Dennis’ assessment and duly purchased the colt for R400k. Led through the ring a few months later at the 2014 CTS Cape Ready To Run Sale, Seventh Plain was knocked down for R160k and the rest, as they say, is history.
The Equus Champion 2yo Colt rounded off his debut season with victory in the Gr1 Golden Horseshoe, which Dennis explains reluctantly he’d not been entirely ready for. “I was taught by Uncle Syd who was a genius – and I’m not just saying that because he’s my uncle. And he was taught by a genius. If I didn’t learn a thing or two I wouldn’t deserve my trainer’s license. My horses are always fit, because one thing Uncle Syd taught me is that good horses want to win and the surest way to mess up a good horse is to run him when he’s not ready. Seventh Plain had an interrupted prep and missed a good few days’ work and really showed his character and class to win there. Hell I’ve been lucky,” Dennis shakes his head. “Him and Guiness have done me proud.” Going forward Seventh Plain will be aimed at the Ready To Run Cup and topping the log with a rating of 110, the CTS Million Dollar will be his main target.
Cape Flyers
Tsogo Sun Medallion winner Guiness
Another son of Seventh Rock, Guiness has benefitted from gelding and a wind op. He won impressively last time out at Scottsville and will be aimed at the Cape Flying Championship. Occupying the third stable is the flashy Var son, Generalissimo. The striking dark bay has matured exceptionally well and will also take his chances in the Cape Flying Championship.
Other stable highlights include Big Cat, looking pleased to be back ‘home’ and Sea Fever, Jack and Nancy Mitchell’s lovely son of Argonaut, is another who seems the better for a wind op and may be a possible Merchants contender.
Big Race Hopefuls
The game and gutsy Punta Arenas
Mr Drier rates Braam van Huyssteen’s Trippi colt Triptique very highly. “I think he prefers 1400-1600m and I’m hoping he might be a Queen’s Plate horse. I think he’ll be more effective as a 4yo, but time will tell,” he shrugs.
It’s lovely to catch up with Punta Arenas, who is shiny as a conker and absolutely brimming with health and vigour. “He’s got a new lease on life and is looking like a 5yo. He really did us proud in the July season,” he says, giving him an affectionate rub.” Punta will be the stable’s Met hope and as it’s no secret that Silvanos age like fine wine, if the draw gods ever smile on him, Punta should be in with a strong chance.
Grand dames
Four-year-old Eventual Angel (Right Approach – Summer Angel) is a horse Dennis rates a “Top filly. She had feet problems. The inside heel on her off fore just had no growth. It’s taken almost year to get her right. We sent her away for 6 or 7 months and it seems to have paid off. She’s sound as a bell and is a really good filly. She could be taking her chances in the Paddock and Majorca Stakes.”
Another filly that will be aimed at the top female prizes for the season is Vanessa Harrison’s Gary Player Stud-bred Supreme Dynasty. Mr Drier explains that the filly wintered badly, so he decided to leave her alone, but is looking forward to the summer season. “She’s above average, so we’ll see what opportunities pop up. She may be a Majorca / Paddock Stakes prospect.”
Flying Fillies
There is a strong Cape Fillies Guineas contender in Bruce le Roux’s homebred Well In Flight, who is flying the flag high for the first crop of Spring Valley Stud’s resident sire, Just As Well. The filly has had 3 starts for 2 wins and a place and will line up for the Choice Carriers Fillies Championship en route to the Cape Fillies Guineas.
Drakenstein Stud’s homebred Rock On Royalty (Seventh Rock – Cutty Sark) was unlucky to finish second on debut, but made amends to win her next two outings very well and will be aimed at the Southern Cross Stakes.
The Lammerskraal-bred Gathering Fame (Jet Master – Googol) won last season’s Listed Jamaica Handicap for owner Mike Rattray. “I think I’ve been racing her out of her class a bit, instead bringing her along at a slower rate. I’m hoping she’ll pick up a little feature.”
One Million Reasons
“I’ve got a few unraced horses that qualify for the Million Dollar. I think they’ve got ability, but have just needed a bit of time to mature. I hope to get them fit and racing and see whether we can qualify. Quite a number are owned by Cape-based owners, so we hope to have some fun. Then there’s a couple of very promising maidens, which I know the Cape guys are not going to enjoy, but I don’t make the rules!” he grins mischievously.
The Trippi colt Ferrie has had one run and finished 3rd in a very competitive race. He also rates the the Fort Wood colt Whitley Willows “a winner without a penalty” for his 0.25 length loss to Triptronic over Greyville’s 1200m poly trip.
The pricey Speightstown colt, Ante Omnia was a R3 million Cape Premier Sale purchase and ran an eye-catching 2nd on debut at Scottsville. Dennis is characteristically frank and says, “He’ll win his races, but it will be hard for him to recoup his purchase price.” With a ticket for the CTS Million Dollar, Ante Omnia may not be too far off.
Young Guns
They say no-one has ever committed suicide with an unraced horse in their stable and it is the unraced horses which look really exciting.
There is a magnificent unraced Captain Al colt out of the Casey Tibbs mare, Irish National (who was also trained by Dennis) named Shamrock Skipper. He is a large, high-quality, scopey individual who if looks are anything to go by, should have no trouble finding the winner’s enclosure.
Dennis has an exciting prospect in the homebred Rock Royalty (Var – Royal Fox), who is a chestnut version of his sire. This colt has proved so impressive that Pippa Mickleburgh asked to buy a share, which should put him firmly on the watch list for the season.
Clouds Of White is an unraced half brother to Chave De Oura, who Dennis rates highly and he has yet another promising Seventh Rock colt in Jack Mitchell’s unraced half-brother to Tick Tock, Great Expectations.
Local is Lekker
Dennis muses that he’s never had owners to buy fancy horses from abroad, so he’s always been happy to make do with local horses. With arguably one of his strongest raiding teams to date, it seems he makes do very well.
