Cupking fights on to win (photo: Candiese Marnewick)
There is a rather fun social media phenomenon whereby users all work together to flood social media platforms with a specific theme, message or photograph to show support for a campaign.
Facebook often joins in by providing filters that people can add to their profile pictures to show their support of the latest campaign. It is often seen in the wake of important international events, awareness campaigns or even simply to whitewash over events that dominate the news that people are tired of (such as the US elections), where users ‘whitewash’ the platform with something more pleasant and fun.
The racing industry is still trying to process the enormity of the news about the ‘Orange Army’ and all the implications and potential repercussions it may bring. As rumour and speculation grow wilder and the facts grow harder to find, rather than focussing on the negative, I thought it would be a good idea to share an uplifting story this week as a reminder that trials and tribulations do exist, but as the old expression goes ‘this too shall pass’. Racing tames tigers, but in the end the community always regroups and carries on. And I think that’s something to reflect on and celebrate, particularly ahead of what might be a bumpy few months.
The story comes with grateful thanks to social media and one of the many racing groups on it. On 7 February, a member of Love Racing, Steven Purves, posted the following appeal on the site: “Help please! In race 2 at Greyville on Friday the only horse I’ve ever bred is running and what makes it so special is he has a good chance of winning on my now deceased Mom’s birthday and I feel that I just have to be there. Is anyone going down that could give me a ride please?”
It is easy to dismiss a lone appeal like that in the chaos and noise of the internet and I didn’t give it much more thought until a post later that week announcing that his horse had won. Sensing a story, I got in touch with Steven, who was still on cloud 9.
That winning feeling
There is very little to rival the feeling of leading in a winner, unless it’s leading in a winner that you bred yourself. Steven concurs. “It’s so personal. You feel like you want to burst. I can’t even describe all the emotions.”
Steven is a lifelong horse and racing fan. Although he’s had his fair share of ups and downs, he finally chartered a course which allowed him to own a mare of his own. “A few years ago, I was sitting at home one evening watching Winning Ways when a Gavelhouse ad for a mare caught my eye. I’d wanted to get involved in racing all my life, but had kept delaying my dream. When I saw that ad I thought ‘go for it’ and bought her over the internet from Filly Bowles. Everything just fell into place. Fields Of France was in foal to King’s Chapel at the time. She produced a filly that I named Goddess. Although I’m registered as Goddess’ breeder, it was Filly who bred her, but she kindly allowed me to take the credit. Sadly I couldn’t hold on to the filly and had to give her away, but the minute I saw Goddess I knew I wanted to send the mare straight back to King’s Chapel.”
Cupking
Steven moved his mare to Rathmor Stud where she foaled down Cupking. Quizzed on the name he explains, “I saw an insert on Australian trainer Bart Cummings who is known as the ‘Cup King’. Everything ties up because of the word ‘King’ in King’s Chapel and if you saw the movie Phar Lap, his trainer Harry Telford believed a horse’s name had to have 7 letters and Cupking is 7 letters. So that’s how he got his name.”
It was a difficult birth and it was touch and go, but both mare and colt survived. However, Fields Of France sadly died in a tragic paddock accident 6 months later in foal to King Of Kings. “My world just crumbled,” admits Steven, who was also running into personal as well as financial difficulties at the time. “Anything and everything that could go wrong, did. Mike and Tanya McHardy carried me as long as they could and I still owe them a debt that I am determined to repay, but eventually we had to send Cupking to the sales. Paul Lafferty bought him and the rest is history.”
‘Laff’ trained the dam who had won a number of races for him and he picks up the story. “She wasn’t a big filly,” he remembers, “but she won 6 or 7 for me. I saw this horse on the sale and he was a neat individual, just immature. We got him for R10k. My assistant Dave Byrnes’ wife Barbara and a friend took it and they race it. We took our time and always knew he’d win a few.” Paul was kind enough to keep in touch with Steven via email to chart the colt’s career. “Steven has kept a keen interest all along and it’s wonderful that he got down here for the race.”
The story so far
Cupking debuted in March last year and has been brought along slowly, notching 6 places including 3 good seconds, indicating that he was knocking on the door. When Steven got news that Cupking was due to run again on 10 February, he was determined to be there.
“My mom passed away three years ago and her birthday was the 10th of February. Cupking was running in race no 2 and was wearing saddle cloth number 1. The number 2 was my mom’s lucky number and in numerology, for double digit numbers you drop the zero, which gives us the ‘1’ for the equivalent of her birthday. Lastly, Cupking was drawn 5, which is my astral lucky number and for me that was a sign that I had to go down.”
To base a caper on something as, well, esoteric as numerology seems a little mad, but of course racing loves nothing more than a good story. To quote Terry Pratchett, “It couldn’t happen. It shouldn’t happen. But, you never knew … this time it might”. And so the adventure began.
Cupking is led in by his connections (photo: Candiese Marnewick)
“I had no money, and no way of getting there, so I posted on Love Racing to ask for help and also starting asking friends and family. A very good friend, Ursula Coster, sponsored me R1000, so that covered the trip down. I had no way of getting back, but I had to be there, so I got into my car and drove down and he won the race!”
It was an incredibly close and exciting finish under determined apprentice Diego De Gouveia and a particularly emotional result for all the connections. Paul Lafferty introduced Steven to the owners and they all led the horse in together. With Barbara’s husband Dave battling cancer and Steven also at a personal crisis point, the win represented so much more than just the results on the board.
A wing and a prayer
With no funds beyond those that got him to Greyville, Steven spent the night in the back of his bakkie at a local garage and in the morning was robbed of the few personal possessions he had on him. With his positivity and sense of humour undented, he then managed to rustle up sponsorship for the journey home thanks to the Mac Vay family and Anthony Williams and made his way back to Johannesburg where he proudly related the story to me.
When I comment on what a crazy adventure it all was, he agrees excitedly. “It was. But it was fantastic and I’m glad I did it, because ever since the universe has sent all sorts of interesting things my way. It just proves that if there’s a will there’s a way. I just took that attitude and it materialised and I’m extremely grateful to everyone who helped. If I could wash everyone’s car for a year to say thank you, I would!”
The win might not trouble the keepers of our stud or record books a huge amount, but for those involved, it was a huge victory. Well done to everyone who contributed, encouraged and shared in the journey in some small way. It’s small pieces of every day magic like this that make racing such an addictive sport and when people pull together the way they did here, well, it makes one damn proud to be part of.
