Weiho Marwing has established a reputation as a phenomenal trainer of stayers and his charge Hermoso Mundo looked a potential winner when passing the stand for the first time in the Grade 3 SABC Gold Vase over 3000m on Vodacom Durban July Day at Greyville on Saturday.
Tense moments as Karl Zechner and Hermoso Mundo go down a short head – before getting the boardroom decision
However, in the end the connections had to go through the agony of an objection inquiry before landing the result they had dreamed about for weeks.
The most relieved man on course was part-owner Sean Singleton, who then entertained the crowd to his traditional victory war cry.
Over in Germany the race had also stopped an important match on the tournament tennis circuit in which another part-owner Neil Patrick Smith had been taking part.
Sean’s war cry is well known to all of his racing friends, but this was the first time it had been shouted outside the confines of his home or a racecourse suite.
Sean Singleton – no question where he will be on Gold Cup Day
He explained yesterday the Afrikaans sequence of words, which are shouted at full volume while imitating a jockey riding and whipping a horse, were invented by him chiefly as an adrenalin reliever and had no real meaning.
“Jou lekker ding, jou lollipop, jou opgeswelde hoender haan, jou woer woer masjien!”, echoed across the racecourse and it was clear afterwards Sean had finally recovered his composure and breath.
Earlier, while waiting for the objection verdict, his girlfriend Chantal as well as his good friend Darryl Maree had become concerned. The latter poured water down his throat and Chantal ordered him to breathe deeply.
On this occasion he really did need to get rid of the adrenalin. He said, “I didn’t really have a big bet, but we just really care about this horse and it was all about the excitement of having a winner on July Day.”
Later, Sean was speaking to Neil Patrick Smith on the phone. “He was crying like a baby,” admitted Sean. “He then said, hang on, I have to get back to my tennis match!”
Neil is an outstanding tennis player and his important tournament match on Saturday was scheduled to clash with the time of the race. However, it had been agree by all involved in the match, including the umpire, they would call a halt at race time and watch the live transmission from Greyville on a computer screen at the back of the court. The objection caused quite a long delay to the match, as Neil could not leave the result hanging in the air.
Sean is a passionate fan of the sport of kings from many angles and the Pick 6 is one of his favourite bets. He did banker his horse in the Pick 6 and then landed a percentage of the healthy R253,143.70 dividend when his other banker Al Mariachi arrived in the last leg.
The connections of the Mauritzfontain Stud-bred Hermoso Mundo, who also include NC Smith, GD Cahn, G Morris and W Volschenk, are now dreaming of a Gold Cup win and the completion of a historic hattrick.
Sean said, “He won the Gold Bowl at Turffontein, which used to be a Grade 1, and he won the Gold Vase, which used to be a Grade 2. The Gold Cup used to be a Grade 1 and I don’t think any horse has ever won all three of these races in the same season.”
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