Sands of Time – April 1995

5- 11 April 1995

A grand plan to amalgamate the three clubs in Gauteng into one club with a management company came apart at the seams when Gosforth Park Turf Club members voted against the proposal at a special general meeting in April. The proposal had to be accepted by the members of each of the three clubs to be implemented and special general meetings that had been scheduled at Newmarket and Turffontein were cancelled after Gosforth Park members gave the thumbs down. Barry Walters takes over as chairman of the HRA and each of the clubs gets a new chairman – Peter Jaeger at Turffontein, Kim Latilla at Gosforth Park and Joe van Streepen at Newmarket.

A Good Prospect

If you can’t afford to buy yearlings in Sydney, try Durban! What A Prospect became the second graduate of the 1994 Natal Winter Yearling Sale to win a juvenile Feature event when he captured the African Breeders Stakes at Greyville on 5 April (Shanjar, acquired at the same auction, had previously landed the Hibiscus Stakes). Mind you, there wasn’t a great deal in What A Prospect’s record to suggest victory in the 1400m African Breeders was imminent. It needed Muis Roberts at his best to get the colt home a short head winner from moderate opposition first time out, and What A Prospect was then beaten almost seven lengths behind Gallic Son in a juvenile plate next time out.

Top fancies for the race were stable companions Big Fling and House Colours, but trainer Vaughan Marshall’s pair had to be content with third and second respectively. Big Fling took over from early pacemaker Brave Champion soon after turning for home, but this power son of Crystal De Roche still looks very much on the immature side and failed to shift up another gear when challenged in the closing stages. House Colours threw down a strong late bid, but it wasn’t as strong as that delivered by What A Prospect, who stuck his head out only strides short of the post to win in a photo. In the process he credited young Ashburton trainer Cyril Naidoo with his first stakes winner.

High On The Hill

Australian import Stormy Hill was all the rage to win the Gr2 Computaform SA Oaks Futurity at Turffontein on 8 April, and started 9/10 favourite to carry off the 2450m classic. The enthusiasm for Mike de Kock’s filly was easy to understand. Stormy Hill had run a corker in the Oaks Trial Handicap at Newmarket, going down by 1.25 lengths to Hunters Chase while conceding the winner 5.5 kgs and finishing with five of the final Oaks field behind her. The Oaks itself, naturally, was run on level terms and it didn’t require a genius to figure out that Stormy Hill was going to take some downing at the weights. Nor was there much doubt that Stormy Hill would cope with the 450m longer distance at Turffontein.

She is by Gr1 winning sprinter Danehill, but it was made perfectly obvious long ago that Stormy Hill has inherited her distance requirements from her dam November Rain. The latter won three Oaks in various centres around Australia, and for good measure took out a St Leger over 2800m as well. No lack of stamina there, you will agree. So it all pointed to Stormy Hill, and she didn’t disappoint. The early pace was quite fast, with Prescona blazing a trail many lengths clear of Hunters Chase, Yasnaya, Carolera and Dancing Telegraph, while Stormy Hill bided her time in midfield. Prescona folded soon after turning for home, which left Yasnaya and Hunters Chase in command as Carolera suddenly compounded. Stormy Hill was now making up ground along the inside, going smoothly under Johnny Geroudis. Yasnaya still led 200m out, but any hopes that trainer Ormond Ferraris would add to his already magnificent record in this race came to nothing. Yasnaya kept going gamely, but Stormy Hill clearly had her measure more than 100m from the post. In the end the favourite had only half-a-length to spare, but somehow you had the impression long before the post was reached that the bookmakers would be paying out a fortune. Drum Taps, stable companion to the winner and very much a Turffontein specialist, finished third ahead of Hunters Chase, who possibly found the distance just too far. Victory for Yasnaya would have completed a remarkable classic hat-trick for the progeny of her dam, the Del Sarto mare Volga. She has already bred a pair of Fillies Guineas heroines in Muscovy and Vistula, and Yasnaya will get another chance in the Natal Oaks at Scottsville this winter. On the other hand, she may again cross swords with Saturday’s winner.

New Sire Off The Mark

Freshman sire Print had his first winner when the colt Mustang Manny narrowly won a maiden juvenile race over 1200m at Kenilworth on Wednesday. Print was a useful race horse in the UK and USA, winning eight races (1000/1600m) between the ages of two and six. He placed third in a Gr2 event in England and was rated a very healthy 121 by Timeform. Print is by the Sharpen Up horse Sharpo, champion European sprinter in 1981 and 1982 and champion UK first season sire in 1986. Print is out of the Lorenzaccio mare Picture, a winning half sister to 11 winners including Queen’s Hussar, a horse who will forever be remembered as the sire of the remarkable Brigadier Gerard. Picture is grandma also of Breeders Cup sprint winner Sheik Albadou. Eleven-year-old Print had 26 foals in his first crop and stands for an undisclosed fee at The Alchemy, Robertson.

12-18 April

The Golden Easter Egg

Star Award, having her first start since December, always headed the betting for the Easter Handicap at Turffontein on 15 April, but both Dean Maroun’s SA Nursery winner, Golden Man and former Cape campaigner Classical Lover had their fans as well. Classical Lover seems best when setting the pace and employed such tactics again, showing the way to National Dance with Star Award some four lengths behind and Golden Man held up well off the pace. Classical Lover disappeared as if the earth had opened up and 400m from home Star Award was in front. The Elliodor filly looked set to justify the faith of her backers, but it was a different story once Piere Strydom let Golden Man go. Maroun’s gelding simply took off over the last 200m, sprinting past Star Award to beat her by a widening length, with National Dance a gallant third. It hopefully won’t be long before we see Star Award back in the winner’s enclosure. The four-year-old was cut into during the running of her last race at Milnerton and this forced her off the scene for some four months, but she is likely to come on with Saturday’s effort and trainer Ormond Ferraris will be looking for a nice fillies’ event during the Natal season for his charge.

Some lead, others follow

Dual hemisphere sire Alzao scored an unusual double in South Africa when his daughter The Predecessor (bred in Ireland) and son Zelator (from Australia) won in KwaZulu-Natal and the Cape respectively. Their victories come hot on the heels of a sparkling performance of another of his daughters, Mosszao, who scored in Gauteng the week before. The three are the only Alzao progeny to have raced in South Africa. Alzao, a son of Lyphard (and out of a half sister to sire Tom Rolfe) was champion first season sire in UK and Ireland.

Irish-bred filly The Predecessor has let her backers down more than once, and she can sometimes be a difficult ride for her jockey, but she is certainly above average. The daughter of Alzao showed what she can really do when holding off 11/10 favourite La Favorite by more than a length in the Easter Fillies & Mares Handicap over 2000m at Clairwood Park on 15 April.

La Favorite was all the rage on the strength of some good recent form which included a third placed finish behind Dancing Danzig in the Gosforth Park Fillies Guineas. The daughter of Foveros was caught too far off the early pace, however, and did well to run on as strongly as she did to take second place. This was a good trial for a race such as the Natal Oaks at Scottsville in June, and La Favorite was receiving only 0.5 kg from the six month-older The Predecessor.

Alzao’s 4yo Australian four-year-old Zelator, who completed the unusual double for the stallion by winning a progress race at Kenilworth the same afternoon.

Super Sydney

The annual Cape plunder of Natal’s feature races has already begun, and the winter season proper hasn’t even started. Sydney’s Dream opened the batting for the visitors when she captured the R50 000 Poinsettia Stakes for fillies and mares over 1200m at Greyville on 17 April.

The withdrawal of both Winning Purple and Discover Diamonds left Sydney’s Dream a red hot 6/10 favourite for this Weight For Age event, and Geoff Woodruff’s charge duly came through. Jockey Gavin Howes wasted no time taking the Australian import to an early lead, showing the way from Bow Street Belle into the straight. Sydney’s Dream briefly looked to be in trouble when tackled by Best Guest and Bow Street Belle at the subway, but the only three-year-old in the race found extra when popped the question. She extended her lead racing into the last 200m, and had enough in reserve to beat a faster finishing Fair Model by a neck. Best Guest ran above most expectations in third, with Outstanding Star giving notice of things to come this winter by finishing fourth after being last into the straight.

19 – 25 April

Northern Lights

Most trainers must approach long distance Feature events at Turffontein with the trepidation of a green batsman about to face Alan Donald. Ormond Ferraris is not unbeatable in those races, just like Donald can be hit out of the park, but chances are you’ll go home with tail firmly wedged between legs.

To saddle the first four finishers in a race like the Gr1 Computaform SA Derby is an achievement of rare merit; to do it twice in four years is science fiction. Ferraris can claim just such a record; he saddled Launching Pad to beat a trio of stable companions in 1992, and on 22 April he again rounded off a Derby quartet saddling the first four past the post in Travel North, Alpine Chief, Sparkling Taxi and Pinehurst respectively.

The winner was enterprisingly ridden by jockey Willy Figueroa, who has endured an extremely lean spell of late, but who proved here that he is still the wily fox we’ve long known him to be. The early pace in the 2450m Derby was slow, despite two trainers having nine runners between them (which made you think one of them at least might be a pacemaker). The stamina of the proven stayers, amongst them Pinehurst, simply never came into play. Nor did any of the four Mike de Kock entries ever look like putting a dent in the Ferraris armour. Singing Mountain set a very sedate pace ahead of Alpine Chief, King Singer and Sparkling Taxi, with Kentucky Flyer looping horses to be second into the straight and Travel North biding his time near the back. The race was decided halfway down the stretch as the leaders faded, with Alpine Chief and Sparkling Taxi struggling to quicken in what had become a sprint home. Travel North, needless to add for a horse sharp enough to win the 1600m Jensen Electronics Dingaans, had no such problem. The son of Northern Guest accelerated as if joining the race 300m from the wire, immediately opening up a big lead which left the final result in no doubt at all. Alpine Chief and Sparkling Taxi plugged on for the places, with Pinehurst struggling into fourth place after being much too far out of his ground.

For the notebook

Rocky Marriage certainly has some nice babies this season. He’s not only sire of unbeaten Queen’s Nursery winner Weather Bird, but the stallion also has Never So Good to represent him. This inmate of the Dennis Drier stable posted his second easy success from as many starts when he floored Casey’s High and Rhode’s Dream by 5.75 lengths and 12 lengths respectively on Saturday. This cannot put Never So Good very far behind the best juveniles with the possible exception of Harry’s Charm. Casey’s High had previously finished little more than four lengths behind Amazon Fighter in the Morris Lipschitz Memorial at Newmarket, while Rhode’s Dream ran four lengths off Weather Bird (albeit while receiving 4 kgs) in the Queen’s Nursery at Greyville. The next stop for Drier’s horse is, no doubt, the Smirnoff on May 20th.

Havana Smokes ‘em

There seem to be more races exclusively for fillies than ever before in Natal these days. The Easter Handicap at Clairwood Park was converted to a race for females this season, and so was the 1400m Ashburton Handicap at Scottsville on 22 April. No doubt the demand is there, but it seems rather a pity when you consider for instance that Royal Chalice used the 1988 Ashburton Handicap as a springboard for a winter campaign that ended with triumph in the Rothmans July.

On the other hand, the need to dump previously open handicaps might not be so acute if our ridiculous system of handicapping didn’t help to consign half of South Africa’s top division horses to Mauritius, cut down by the handicapper while still in their prime. Ironically, perhaps, the first running of the new look Ashburton Handicap fell to Des Egdes’ daughter of Royal Chalice. In the process, though, Havana Royale did for the three-year-old fillies’ form what Desert Storm did for the Kuwaiti tourist industry. Dahlia’s Legacy and Lake Gate had finished within a couple of lengths of Shepherd’s Moon on one or two occasions during the Cape season, yet neither of them could find a place on Saturday. Granted this was a handicap, but the concession of 4 kgs to Havana Royale by Dahlia’s Legacy or 3kgs by Lake Gate should hardly have been so testing.

The winner could only boast two wins in modest company, and she was receiving fully 8 kgs from Winning Purple when fourth behind that more in the Ladies Mile last time out. This was not a very reassuring turn of events given that the SA Fillies Guineas will be run at the same course on May 20th. Clearly, both Dahlia’s Legacy and Lake Gate must have run well below their best, given that Northern Girl proved no match for them in Cape Town yet finished half-a-length second to Havana Royale here.

Weanling steals the show

The Aldora Stud dispersal sale on April 23 enjoyed a better-than-expected turnover of R3 632 500. And while a number of broodmares sold extremely well, the weanlings stole the show with a Northern Guest (USA)-Volga colt selling for a record R130 000, bettering the previous South African record for a weanling sold at auction by R10 000. Somerset Stud’s Alan Sutherland signed the sale slip for the colt, a half-brother to Classic winning fillies Muscovy and Vistula. Top-priced broodmare of the sale was Crescent Fields, a half-sister to Argentinian champion Lord At War by former world-leading broodmare sire Northfields (USA), at R240 000. In foal to new young sire Krusenstern (USA), the mare was acquired by Mike Rattray’s Lammerskraal Stud at Ceres in the Western Cape.

26 April – 2 May

Weather Watch

Weather Bird, the George Rowles-bred son of Rocky Marriage, gave his most impressive performance yet when galloping off with the Gr3 Clairwood Park Nursery Stakes on 26 April. Only six rivals turned out to oppose David Payne’s colt, but they included unbeaten St Lazare, a youngster who is evidently held in very high regard indeed by his trainer Derek Dalton. St Lazare ran somewhat below his previous form, it must be said. He could only finish fourth, having beaten both runner-up Delta Dash and third placed Gallic Son over the same course and distance just a fortnight earlier. On the other hand, he only beat Delta Dash by a neck, and Delta Dash was treated to a galloping lesson from Weather Bird. Jockey Doug Whyte had the son of Rocky Marriage racing just off the early pace, but the race was decided the moment he asked his mount for an effort. Weather Bird drew up to Gallic Son and Delta Dash going two strides to their one, and sprinted away in the last 150m to post an emphatic victory. This youngster clearly didn’t just stay the 200m longer distance, he positively relished every inch of it. He could give the much vaunted Harry’s Charm something to think about if they do meet in the Smirnoff.

The Lone Ranger

Gosforth Park’s pair of Juvenile Stakes over 1400m, one for colts and the other for fillies, have often given a good clue of things to come. Last year’s winners National Emblem and Dancing Danzig have both tasted classic success this season, but the jury is out on whether a similar destiny awaits either of this year’s winners.

To say that the formbook was thoroughly capsized in both races would be no exaggeration. The Gr2 Gosforth Park Juvenile Colts was won by Irish Ranger, who had finished almost two lengths behind Cape Hunt in the SA Nursery, but who clearly did appreciate the 200m longer distance. It may also help to explain the result that trainer Mike de Kock has hit top form since then. Irish Ranger made a decisive move 300m out, taking a clear lead within strides, and held on to beat Diamond Tout with almost a length to spare. Loofah, who had finished more than five lengths behind Cape Hunt in the SA Nursery, just held third from a fast finishing Kiloton. Irish Ranger didn’t seem to have much left at the finish and may not stay very much further than 1400m; he is clearly useful, but on form to date certainly not top drawer.

Royally surprised

Recent maiden winner Fine Royal sprung a surprise in the fillies race, notching an easy triumph. The fact that Fine Royal was drawn worst of the 15 starts could not have won her many friends, but on the day Mike Riley’s charge was much too good. She burst out of a bunched field halfway up the straight and soon had the race won, going on to beat Wild Rush by two lengths, with French Darby staying on for third. A filly by the Sharpen Up horse Fine Edge, Fine Royal is the first foal of the Del Sarto mare Countess Di, who was successful once over 2000m. Interestingly, Irish Ranger and Fine Royal are both first foals, so it sometimes pays very nicely to bet against the widely held dislike for such creatures!

Express Delivery

Clairwood Park’s Gr3 Rupert Ellis Brown Plate over 1200m on 29 April looked a highly competitive affair. Instead, it proved to be a one horse race. Vaughan Marshall’s Shoe Express simply annihilated a field of three-year-olds which included such talented sorts as Wise King and Casey’s Honour.

Cape Town raider Wise King was all the rage and was a heavily supported favourite, but he had to settle for a clear second place. True, the Argosy colt was left with plenty to do, coming from far off the pace and having to switch in for a run, but those who immediately blamed jockey Garth Puller for the colt’s defeat are talking straight from recently drained pockets. Casey’s Honour fared a great deal worse, racing just off the early pace set by Shoe Express, but fading right out in the last furlong to finish well back. Shoe Express had his rivals stone cold through the 200m mark, so much so that jockey Robbie Fradd, glancing over both shoulders, saw nothing with the remotest chance of catching him. He was able to stop riding in the closing stages and still win by 2.25 lengths. This display makes the defeat suffered by Shoe Express in a B Division handicap at Greyville last time out all the more difficult to explain, but it may well be that Vaughan Marshall’s colt is at his best when racing in a straight line.

For the Notebook

The long weekend was a memorable one for apprentice jockey Ryan Roberts. Having only his third ride in public, he gave a polished display aboard Judicial Secret to win a maiden juvenile race at Clairwood Park on 29 April. Young Ryan certainly has race riding in his genes; he is son of the late Aubrey Roberts and grandson of the legendary Charlie Barends. On the evidence of Saturday’s race, the lad could go far.

Louis Saunders won’t forget May 1st in a hurry. The former jockey had his first success since he switched to training when Blue Society won a maiden race at Gosforth Park, and followed that up later the same day when saddling Chestnut Fields to justify 13/10 favouritism in a 1700m novice event. Both horses are owned by Mr M. Msiza, who employs Saunders as his private trainer.

JC Postpones New Registration Fee Structure to July

The Jockey Club announced that revised registration fees relating to the Breeders Cup and Championship Series will only come into effect from July 1st. The new fees, according to the Jockey Club, have been agreed upon by the TBA (breeders), NATFED (owners and trainers), ARCSA (race clubs – what has it got to do with them?) and SAROA (a minority association of owners).

Laurence Allem, chairman of a mysterious Executive Committee for the Breeders Cup and Championship Series has announced that the inaugural Cup-day will be run in 1997, featuring six Gr1 races on one day. The Championship series, which is said to embrace 230 feature races, is due to be launched on 1 August 1996. The Jockey Club states that more details about the program will be released in the foreseeable future. We can’t wait.