I am 5’4 in my bare feet, which makes me the tallest in my family. I share this rather random fact less to show off about me and rather more to add context to my next sentence.
My dad was a rugby player. The son of a rugby fanatic, he didn’t have too much choice and made the Paul Roos A-team and later played under Danie Craven at Stellenbosch University. While I may have inherited some of the enthusiasm, it came without the benefit of prowess, or probably too much real understanding of the game. But one doesn’t have to paint to appreciate the Mona Lisa and I can cheer with the best of them!
South Africans know how to support their home team
So 25 May 1995, found me in Cape Town for the opening game of the Rugby World Cup. I hadn’t attended the actual game – I’d been at work and really, I wasn’t going to take a day’s leave for a game that we were probably going to lose. It was one year after our first democratic election with all the changes and uncertainty that had wrought and the Rainbow Nation was still trying to find its feet. We had a new president and here we were not only hosting the World Cup, but kicking off against on Australia. What were the chances? Well, history provided the answer. Flags flew, whistles blew and vendors sold T-shirts – still warm from printing “27-18” – by the thousands. There was an air of surprise, celebration and unbelievable patriotism. It was the start of a great many things. I think I still have the t-shirt somewhere.
The land of the Bedouin
Fast forward to a different lifetime, a different industry and a different World Cup. Rather than lions in the streets, we’re now in the land of tents, peregrine falcons and 1001 Arabian Nights – the land of the Bedouin. But unlike the rugby where we took on the world in our own back yard, our horses and their people have had to do the hard yards – fighting their way through quarantine and draconian export protocol for the privilege of facing off against the best on the world stage. Somehow, South Africans not only cope with adversity, we thrive on it.
Mike De Kock – proudly South African
South African horses have been making international headlines for decades, with the likes of Camp Fire II, Top Gallant, Colorado King and Hawaii blazing a trail. Our riders were no less successful with Bartie Leisher, Muis Roberts, Basil Marcus and Felix Coetzee paving the way for others to follow. And don’t forget our trainers. Alec Laird exploded onto the world stage with London News and subsequently the likes of Patrick Shaw, Tony Millard and David Ferraris have flown our flag high. They say today’s champions often stand on the shoulders of yesterday’s giants and perhaps none more so than Mike de Kock, who hasn’t just picked up the baton, but run right out of the stadium and made South African horses an internationally recognised brand. The trickle that started with the likes of Victory Moon and Ipi Tombe has become a flood and this Saturday will see one of the strongest South African contingents at the ‘Olympics of Horse Racing’ fans have ever seen.
Despite the legions of international accolades, De Kock has stayed true to the Thoroughbreds that shaped his career and maintained a firm commitment to South African bloodstock. Saturday will see him saddling 8 runners, of which no less than 5 are locally produced. Of the remaining 3, Mars is an Irish bred, but runs in the colours of Mary Slack! Other card highlights are Military Attack (son of Avontuur Stud’s new resident stallion) in the Dubai World Cup, as well as Ernst Oertel saddling Capital Attraction and Joey Ramsden doing the honours for dual Horse of the Year, Variety Club, so plenty to carry South African hopes.
What the connections say
I caught up with a few of the connections to see how the nerves were holding up.
Variety Club “We hope that everything will stay on track for the big night” Markus Jooste and Joey Ramsden
In the Variety Club camp, Markus Jooste expressed his personal excitement at having a runner and said how wonderful it was for the country to be represented by so many local horses – “Now we must just all hold thumbs!” Derek Brugman said he was happy that the Godolphin Mile was the right choice and made the filly Shuruk the main danger, but said he was confident Variety Club had made the necessary improvement to have her measure this time round. Conditioner Joey Ramsden (who has had an enviable Dubai debut) was just grateful that things had gone smoothly so far and hoped that everything would stay on track for the big night. Beaumont Stud’s Anton Shepherd was uncharacteristically lost for words, saying simply “These are the moments we breed horses for.”
The exquisite Soft Falling Rain is a poignant runner after the recent loss of National Assembly and Star Empire also represents the late Second Empire (whose progeny has proved remarkably versatile and include 2013 Grand National winner, Aurora’s Encore).
John Koster said he was very excited, but admitted there is “a lot of trepidation” for Klawervlei’s two representatives. Shea Shea is attempting a difficult Al Quoz Sprint double, but has already signalled his well-being in the Gr3 Meydan Sprint on 8 March. Vercingetorix goes into the Dubai Duty Free without a single blot on his copy book. Although lightly campaigned, the more he’s been asked, the more he’s produced and this son of Silvano will touch gloves with the Breeders Cup Filly & Mare victress, Dank.
John Koster – “Excited and a lot of trepidation for Klawervlei’s two representatives, Shea Shea and Vercingetorix”.
James Armitage was ‘very excited’ about Sanshaawes, but content that the hard work had been done and that it would all be up to the horse and jockey on the night.
I caught up with Sanshaawes’ breeder, Barbara Sanne to see what she made of it all. This is after all her second round, after having Lucky Find line up for the Dubai World Cup in 2008 and appearing at the 2009 and 2010 festivals. “You know, Dubai has been very good to us. I’d followed a filly called Little Erna on the racetrack. She ended up with Paul Lafferty and I rang him and said ‘Paul when you’ve finished with that filly, I’d love her’. One day he rang up and said ‘Would you like that filly?’ and I said ‘Yes please!’ I sent her to Saumarez and she produced the filly Pay The Piper, who is now at Maine Chance and has a Silvano yearling on the Nationals. That was the first one I bred and the next was Lucky Find. He was first trained by Dennis Drier and then Mike de Kock. He was owned by that very young Sheikh – I think it was his first horse – and it took him right through to the Cup. Lucky Find also won very well in England. I saw an article that he is now a lead horse in Dubai. And now the same Sheikh owns Sanshaawes!”
Sanshaawes is from the first crop of Ashaawes, you know! When he came into the country I rang James and said I would like a share. I am shareholder and I believe the horse will do something for us. So I sent him Vicario and she had this nice foal. We sold him for R35k on the Cape Sale.” When I offer commiserations she says “It is the right thing. We are little guys, but we are so proud to have produced a horse like that.”
Barbara also has an interest in Military Attack via her shares in Oratorio and her loyalties will be tested even further as Earnst Oertel used to be her assistant at her Witkoppen base. She’s not going to Dubai this year though. “They invited me with Lucky Find and I went with my sons and I know what it looks like. Someone asked me why I’m not going and I said ‘Maybe if that horse wins I’ll have a heart attack and it will be easier if I’m at home ! I’m too busy anyway. Nationals are coming up and so on and these trips take a lot out of me – I’m getting a bit old you know! I’m going to John Kramer and the two of us are going to shout them home.”
Team South Africa
Great British Racing International launched a concept called Team British Racing, designed to highlight and support the talent in the British training ranks. The Brits are already famous for supporting their cricket and football teams on tour and the scenes between the English and Irish at the Cheltenham festival are probably the best example of how passionate the English are about their racing. Team British Racing has made team ‘uniforms’ for the horses with personalised blankets and kit and assembled a racing ‘Barmy Army’ who are heading to Dubai with branded caps, flags and patriotic paraphernalia to support their runners, The Fugue, Red Cadeaux and Joshua Tree.
Of course South Africans are no slouches when it comes to supporting the Boks on tour. We paint our faces, dye our hair and literally wear our green and gold hearts on our sleeves. I managed to grab Phil Georgiou from Let’s Go Travel en route to the airport to fill me in on their annual Dubai trip. “We’ve been supporting the World Cup meeting for 13 consecutive years. Right at the start, we identified the Parade Ring restaurant as the best place to race from – you’re arms’ length from every horse in the ring, directly in front of the winner’s enclosure and directly in front of the big screen. It’s the only place to race from, really! It just gets bigger and better every time we go. We are very fortunate to have the Mike de Kock team behind us. Despite the enormous pressure that the yard is under, Mike always pushes the boat out to welcome the South African fans. We have people flying in from all over the world and will have a group of 120 supporters on the night. There’s something for everyone with golf and a desert 4×4 trip on Wednesday, on Thursday we attend Breakfast with the Stars followed by a visit to Zabeel Stables where Mike will be on hand to show us around, chat to the group and show us the World Cup runners and then we’re having a barbeque on the roof of Meydan racecourse. It’s going to be spectacular. Saturday is race day and the racing will be followed by a J-Lo concert and then Mike de Kock is hosting a private party for his supporters. Sunday is usually a bit more quiet with everyone nursing headaches and the day ends off with a sunset cruise around the Dubai Marina before packing up and heading home on Monday.”
Avontuur’s Pippa Mickleburgh is a regular tour member and says the ‘gees’ is amazing. “Back home, we’re used to competing with one another and supporting our own horses, but in Dubai, we’re here to support the whole team. We shout and scream and wave flags and party like mad. It genuinely is an amazing experience.”
Will we, won’t we?
There has been a lot of anxiety over whether the fans at home will be getting TV coverage or not. Phumelela’s Rian du Plessis confirmed that Tellytrack is negotiating hard with Multichoice. They hope to reach an agreement before the 27th cut-off date and will make an announcement as soon as possible. In the interim, fans are encouraged to register for live streaming via the Tabonline website.
Only 4 more sleeps to go ! Now where did I leave that T-shirt?
