Fred Crabbia was on hand to lead his Trippi colt in after the Golden Horseshoe
Gr1 Golden Horseshoe winner Afrikaburn has turned the 2014 KZN Champions Season landscape on its head since winning on a low-key debut just six weeks ago and will definitely take his place in the line up for the R600 000 Gr1 Premier’s Champion Stakes at Greyville on Super Saturday.
The son of Trippi has pulled a 3 draw and his trainer Dean Kannemeyer is convinced he will go the mile.
“It is not in keeping with the Kannemeyer approach to push 2yo’s but this fellow has done nothing wrong since he won on debut on 31 May. He wasn’t ready that first time. He was slow, green, ran wide. But Kevin Shea got off and said ‘wow’. I then gave him a sprint at Clairwood and he won that after being slow away again. I let him take his chances in the Gr1 Golden Horseshoe on Durban July day as he had earned it. I am in much the same position with next Saturday’s race. He won the Horseshoe so well that he has to take his chances. He is a really lovely 2yo but Fred (Crabbia) will have an even nicer 3yo with classic prospects,” he suggested.
Dean Kannemeyer has a smart colt on his hands
What of owner Fred Crabbia’s Golden Horseshoe post-race quip that Afrikaburn was his ‘Rocket Man of the distance races.’ Is that pressure?
Dean smiled and said there was nothing like a bit of pressure to keep a trainer on his toes.
“Our record speaks volumes of our ability to handle top horses. Fred has owned some damn fine horses all over the world, so he knows a good one when he sees it. And what does one say about an unbeaten Gr1 winner? And he doesn’t win by half the racecourse. He does the job. I really like him,” he said.
The Drakenstein Stud-bred son of Trippi was bought for R900 000 on the Cape Premier Yearling Sale Book 1 last year.
Kannemeyer said that the impression might have been created, following a misquote in the media after a post-race interview, that he had bought the horse.
He said that he had loved him from the moment he saw him at the sales and was thrilled to get him to train.
“Jehan Malherbe and myself had him listed amongst the pick of our top five colts shortlisted at the sale and were trying to buy him. But our money ran out and Jane Thomas and Emma Rorke did well to find him for Fred Crabbia. He got a great start with Jane’s pre-training and hasn’t given me a day of trouble. He shows nothing at home but keeps his best for raceday. A sign of a good horse,” he said.
He said that Hot Ticket and Capetown Noir had been accepted to run in the Gold Cup and Champions Cup on the same afternoon and that he could not be happier with the way they were coming along.
“It has been a long hard season of racing for these top horses and they would all have earned a nice break before the Cape summer,” he said.
