Sands of Time – July 1995

5 – 11 July

 

Horsewise Howard

July sees the launch of a daily ‘Turf News’ programme on M-Net on week day mornings at 6:45 (with a repeat at 8:30) and the half hour ‘Talking Turf’ programme at 7:30pm on Fridays, both presented by Neil Andrews. It is received more warmly in some quarters than others. Reports surface in the London press that Rothmans July winner Teal may have a go at the two mile Melbourne Cup in November. The Mixed July Sale, held on Thursday, 6 July, offers a total of 71 individuals of which 27 are withdrawn or not sold and 44 find new homes. The sale topper is lot 27, 1994 Gerald Rosenberg Handicap winner Jessamine (Del Sarto – Try Your Best), who goes under the hammer to Kramer Bloodstock for R120k.

Taban’s Clean Sweep

Taban, recipient of the ARCSA champion sprinter award for the last two seasons, completes a career clean-sweep of Natal’s premier sprint races in the Durban Merchants Handicap over 1200m at Greyville on 8 July. The six-year-old has now won all of the Merchants, the Natal Mercury Sprint, the Concord and the Chairman’s Stakes.

It adds even more gloss to a glorious month for Alan and Vera Sutherland’s Somerset Stud. Having a Somerset Stud 1-2 in the Gr1 Rothmans July with Teal and Barrellen, Somerset-bred Taban and Casey’s Honour finish first and second in the Durban Merchants, and four days later the Joseph Dorfman and KwaZulu-Natal Free Handicap are won by juveniles Cash Ablaze and Gallic Son respectively, both sons of Somerset resident stallion Gallic League, making Somerset’s resident stallion the leading freshman sire for the season!

Stormy weather

Back in the Cape, the 3200m Durbanville Cup is rained out and held over to 8 July, where it doubles up on the Milnerton card with the Durbanville Oaks. However, the week hasn’t made much difference and both races are run in a quagmire, prompting some critics to say that the sale of the course may not be such a bad thing after all. James Lightheart’s charge Noble Prophet takes Durbanville Oaks under an easy ride for Mark Neisius and four-year-old filly Elegant Option ran on dourly to beat early pacemaker Jolly Jungle by half-a-length in the Listed Durbanville Cup for Mr M Allie and Craig Arnold.

R100,000 Match Race

A stake of R100,000 has been offered for a 1600m match race, dubbed the IGN KwaZulu Natal Telebet Challenge,between Chris Snaith’s High Profile and Herman Brown’s Eldoriza, scheduled at Clairwood Park. Earlier in the season, High Profile sparred with The Decorator in a match race at Kenilworth, winning as he liked. High Profile has an aversion to confined spaces after being involved in a road accident. He’s a very big horse, which doesn’t help matters, and he point blank refuses to go into the starting stalls, which is why the match race will be started by flag.

World’s Richest Race

The Emirates Racing Association of Dubai announced the creation of the Dubai World Cup to be run on 27 March 1996 on the sand track at the Nad al Sheba Racecourse in Dubai. The race will carry stakes of $4 million, with a winner’s purse of $2.4 million, making the 2000m event the world’s richest race. Nominations are due 9 October at a fee of $5,000 (or a late fee of $10,000 on 2 January), with a final acceptance fee of $30,000. The runners and reserves will be announced in mid-January to give the connections of all horses an opportunity to train them in Dubai one month prior to the event. The cost of shipping the horses to the race, as well as all expenses for the connections for each runner will be paid by the Dubai Racing Club.

Standalone Sires

Racing Record’s Sire Handbook comes out as a standalone publication for the first time. With over 80 pages of content and a collection of sire profiles, it is a steal at R20.

New sires

Maine Chance announces new resident sire West Man to replace Golden Thatch. The Beck farms in Robertson will have two other new stallions this season, including Habaayib (full brother to the dam of this year’s Epsom Derby winner Lammtarra) and Fast Gun (a son of Mexico, and winner of the Bloodline Million). Gainesway stallion Badger Land is back for the 1995 breeding season, but will return to the US as before.

Another new sire for the Cape is Foveros horse, Lauterbrunnen. Heming-trained Lauterbrunnen, who is a full brother to Queen’s Cup winner Wengener Hof, had his promising career cut short by injury and will stand at Golden Oaks Stud of Henry Devine in the Western Cape.

12 – 18 July

 

Music of The Stars

The scratching of unbeaten Ashtontown from the 15 July Cape Breeders Stakes robbed the son of Bush Telegraph of his chance to post a fifth win from five starts. Or so it seemed. The way things turned out, it could have saved him from suffering his first defeat.

Ashtontown may have been absent, but still in the field for this event over the Milnerton straight 1400m were Mustang Manny and Freedom Fortune. This pair had respectively finished two lengths second and an unlucky 3.5 lengths third to Northern Fair in the JWS Langerman Handicap Futurity over 1500m at Milnerton in June. Northern Fair’s subsequent exploits behind What A Prospect and High Raiser in Natal hinted strongly that that was pretty decent form. Planetary Music simply destroyed them, handing out a beating of a scale usually reserved for Japanese rugby squads. Mustang Manny and Freedom Fortune showed the way early with Planetary Music biding his time a couple of lengths behind them.

The three had the race all to themselves 400m from the wire, but what momentarily promised to be a contest turned into a rout when Planetary Music was turned loose by Eric Chelin. The inmate of Patrick Labuschagne’s yard strode away over the last 150m to beat Freedom Fortune by 4.75 lengths, with Mustang Manny half-a-length back in third. The form reversal between the two placed horses does incidentally strengthen the view that Freedom Fortune was most unlucky in the Langerman, where he was drawn wide and then found traffic in the straight.

Raise A Toast

Trainer Vaughan Marshall has a bunch of nice two-year-olds in his yard this season and High Raiser underlined his potential as a classic contender when he won the Clairwood Park Juvenile Futurity over 1800m on Saturday, 15 July.

The current term has produced few fireworks in the juvenile department, especially amongst the male of the species, and at this stage High Raiser must be nearly as bright a prospect for next year as could be found anywhere.

Northern Fair was sent out favourite on the strength of his win in the JWS Langerman Handicap and second in the Premier’s Champion Futurity in two starts since racing beyond sprints. High Raiser had his backers, though, and so did the likes of Ganser Macher, Tops ‘n Tails, and unbeaten Gauteng raider Cato Court. The early pace wasn’t fast, with Howard’s End showing the way to a bunched field, but the tempo soon quickened on turning home. Northern Fair moved up smartly to lead just inside the 400m and for a while looked set to justify the faith of his supporters, but the picture changed rapidly over the last 200m.

High Raiser had been some lengths back at the top of the stretch, but Marshall’s colt accelerated really well to hit the front some 150m from the wire. Presidential Suite unleashed a strong run from near the tail of the field, but High Raiser always had his measure in winning by three-parts of a length. Northern Fair held on for third after possibly having made his move too soon, while Cato Court came from last of the 17 runners on the bend to finish fourth.

Excuses could quite readily be made for some if not all of the placed runners, but that is never difficult to do in racing and the fact remains that High Raiser had them cold. He accelerated in the manner of a good horse when jockey Robbie Fradd pressed the button, and he was full of running at the finish. He is getting better all the time, and to try and argue with the merits of this form would surely be unwise. That said, runner-up Presidential Suite certainly has the makings of a potentially very useful middle distance horse. The son of Northern Guest was having only his third start and clearly relished the longer distance he was attempting for the first time. This inexperienced youngster is a long way from being the finished article, and looks to have a bright future in his own right.

Keenelend Select Yearling Sales

Michael Tabor, who owns a string of betting shops in the UK, attended his first Select Keeneland Sale and wasted little time making his mark, going to $375,000 for a Danzig half brother to South African stallion Al Mufti purchased in partnership with Irishman John Magnier. He also paid $825,000 for a Seattle Slew filly out of a mare by Secretariat. D Wayne Lukas was another big buyer, signing over around $3 million for seven yearlings, including the day’s third highest priced lot, a colt by AP Indy (whose dam is a half sister to Al Mufti). Eighty five yearlings changed hands on the first day of the sale, for a total of $22 million, an average of R260,000 per horse, and an increase of some 14% on last year.

Day 2 saw Graham Beck going to $950,000 for a Danzig colt out of 1991 Breeders Cup Turf winner Miss Alleged. “I went a little too high to purchase him,” confided Beck, jokingly adding: “I’ll have to sell five of my own horses today to afford the one I bought, or dig up some more coal!” The Danzig yearling colt will stay in the US, but no decision has been made as to who’ll train the horse. “He looks like stallion material, that’s the whole idea,” Beck said.

Top lot at the Keeneland Sale came on the evening of the last day, when veterinarian Demi O’Byrne bid $1,25 million for a daughter of Mr Prospector. O’Byrne acted on behalf of the partnership of Michael Tabor and John Magnier, who were the biggest spenders at the sale. The yearling filly (inbred 4×4 to Nasrullah) is the ninth foal of a Bold Bidder mare, and a half sister to two Gr1 winners.

19 – 25 July

 

The Champion Charms ‘em

Harry’s Charm chalked up a thoroughly bloodless victory in the Jack Patience Futurity over 1200m at the Vaal on Tuesday, 18 July. Not a race commonly contested by horses with an ARCSA Award safely in the bank, but total prize money of R100 000 made this a much smarter alternative than grass gallops at home. It was, almost needless to say, a rout. Harry’s Charm started at odds of 1/5, and never came off the bridle to win by 4.25 lengths from Northwester and Bacall.

The one certainty of the upcoming ARCSA Awards is that the champion two-year-old filly title is going the way of Harry’s Charm. Winner of five races from six starts and placed second in the Gr1 Smirnoff Futurity when plainly off-song, Harry’s Charm has truly been the only outstanding juvenile of either sex to race in Gauteng this season, and surely the best to be seen anywhere.

A Future Star?

Tony Millard may not have enjoyed a vintage winter season, but Ahmatir must have given her trainer a big thrill when she landed the JB McIntosh Fillies Classic over 1400m at Greyville on 22 July.

Ahmatir was racing for only the third time in her career, but so impressive was she in winning a Clairwood Park maiden race by ten lengths second time out that she was sent out 16/10 favourite in a powerful field. Amongst her opponents were Stakes winners Fine Royal and the unbeaten Dance Every Dance, and the Gr1 placed pair of League Title and Royal Owl. This represented a quantum leap in class from maiden level, but Ahmatir took it all in her stride.

A fresh following wind made racing handy the prudent option and Lloyd had the favourite in second as Plastic Lady set a brisk pace. League Title made ground on the turn to be poised right on Ahmatir’s heels turning for home, but Dance Every Dance raced at the back of the 13 runners after jumping from a wide draw. Ahmatir was quick to take on Plastic Lady in the straight, and Millard’s filly soon had the race sewn up. League Title chased her for all she was worth, but her efforts were always going to be in vain and the Allan Robertson Fillies Futurity runner-up had to settle for second place again. Plastic Lady stayed on for third, with Dance Every Dance making solid progress to finish fourth without ever threatening to get any closer. Fine Royal never showed at all, and the Gauteng juvenile form took yet another pounding in the process.

Earning Their Keep

Trainer Kevin (“Buddy”) Maroun doubtless had his critics. It’s easy to say he races his horses too often, but that doesn’t explain how they seem to stand up to it. He evidently belongs to the school of thought that racehorses are meant to race, and that his patrons don’t pay him to shroud their horses in cotton wool. He runs precisely the kind of stable which comes into its own at this time of year, when Gauteng’s best are off campaigning in Natal, and he was on the mark with another two winners at Gosforth Park on 22 July.

Granted, the stable’s haul consisted of a maiden plate and a maiden juvenile plate. That’s as bread-and-butter as you can get, but for punters the bottom line is value-for-money betting. Kalarama Kay and Tough Tommy went into their races on Saturday with the kind of form which gave them a chance against the level of opposition they were facing, ye they were both allowed to start at eight-to-one. More than enough to cover losses incurred on the five losers also sent out by the stable that same afternoon.

There’s bound to be more to come from Buddy Maroun before the Gauteng scene begins to hot up again – literally and figuratively – and you’ll more often than not get better value from his superbly fit horses than on those from many of the ‘glory’ stables.

Supa Dupa

Zimbabwe’s Triple Crown for three-year-olds produced its first winner since 1986 when a horse called Stay Alert walked off with the laurels this year.

Stay Alert has not been beaten since he was a two-year-old, and the last horse to show him the way home was Dupa Dash. Connections of the latter have good cause to believe that their horse would have won a Triple Crown himself, had they entered him for the Newmarket 2000 back in May. That is the first leg of Newmarket’s Triple Crown, and it was won by Excellerator. Dupa Dice won the next two races in the series, on both occasions handing out a solid hiding to Excellerator. The Zimbabwean import romped home to an easy win in the Computaform Derby over 2400m in June, with Excellerator almost three lengths behind him.

It was more of the same in the SA St Leger over 2850m last Tuesday, final leg of the Crown and, at R125 000 the most valuable. Dupa Dice was a popular favourite to land the St Leger, and Mike Riley’s gelding let nobody down. Fellow Zimbabwean Gold Panner set a slow pace early, almost certainly against the wishes of his jockey, but was quickly challenged by Pinehurst and Excellerator halfway down the straight. Dupa Dice, though, can boast a pretty effective turn of acceleration and he was clearly going too well for his rivals when ranging up to them at the 200m. He strode away to beat Pinehurst by an emphatic 1.5 lengths, with Excellerator filling third place as he had done in the earlier Computaform Derby.

26 – 1 August

 

Queen For A Day

Visiting jockey Alan Munro has created an instant following amongst Natal racegoers and the Englishman was right at the top of his form when Clifton Queen snatched a short head victory in the Tibouchina Stakes over 1400m at Clairwood Park on 26 July.

This race marked the beginning of a thoroughly frustrating week for both trainer Mike Bass and jockey Doug Whyte. They teamed up in the Tibouchina Stakes with Dollar Fortune, who looked a winner until virtually the last strides, and a few days later were subjected to more of the same when Counter Action was run out of the Sharp Electronics Cup with victory in his grasp.

Dollar Fortune looked the form choice in the Tibouchina Stakes, and her backers had every reason to smile when the Elliodor filly took over from pacemakers Northern Girl and Upper Delta halfway down the straight. Clifton Queen, however, responded in laudable fashion to some energetic riding from Alan Munro, making up ground at a rapid rate from well off the pace to snare Dollar Fortune right on the line. Bacio ran on nicely to fill third place ahead of Winning Purple, who ran a gallant race to finish fourth while conceding 6 kgs to the winner and 5.5 kgs to the runner-up.

Four-year-old Clifton Queen was having her first start since she switched trainers from Tony Millard to Mike Azzie. Interestingly, her juvenile full sister Hyperdrive won a maiden race earlier on the Tibouchina card, when also racing for the first time under Azzies care. None of which stopped Millard from walking off with his second trainers’ championship in three years, of course!

Tour De Force

The inaugural running of the 29 July Sharp Electronics Cup was a day to remember. The sun shone from a flawless blue sky, some of the very best thoroughbreds contested what has always been Clairwood Park’s showpiece event, and a good crowd took advantage of the non-existent entry fee. A few might even have backed the winner!

National Emblem was backed as if defeat was out of the question in this 1800m event, but he let his backers down with a bump when unplaced for the first time in his life. He was also wearing blinkers for the first time, and that is probably no coincidence. Just why it was thought that this gamest of thoroughbreds needed the aid of a ‘rogue’s mask’ is difficult to understand. Why a race valued at half a million rands was chosen to fiddle with what has essentially been a winning formula beggars belief altogether. National Emblem could boast a record of nine wins and four places form 13 starts going into the Sharp Electronics Cup. He is the type of horse who will run until he bursts, yet somehow his defeat in the Rothmans July was blamed on lack of resolution rather than the more obvious lack of stamina. Suffice to say that he fought for his head in the early stages of what was a slow run Sharp Electronics Cup, and lacked his usual finish where it mattered most.

The winner turned up in Tourisimo, a horse with the almost unblemished record of five wins from six starts but one who had never won above B Division level. This result will doubtless have caused an apoplectic attack amongst those who swear by the dreaded race-figure system of handicapping, for on that basis Tourisimo must have been further rout at the weights than Bosnia is from the average tourist’s itinerary. Exactly how a horse who has raced half a dozen times in his life is supposed to build up a race-figure equal to one who has won more than six races from twenty-plus outings has never been explained to the satisfaction of any sane person, but that is another story.

Tourisimo had suffered his sole defeat when beaten 3.75 lengths behind Sleek Machine in the Sharp Electronics Trial over the same Clairwood Park 1800m in June, and in fairness it must be said that on such form he had to be considered a forlorn prospect in the big one itself. Nobody told the horse that, however. The early pace was predictably slow, for the scratching of Wengener Hof had robbed the race of its only frontrunner, and Counter Action soon found himself setting a moderate gallop. La Mancha was handily placed, with National Emblem eventually settling in about five lengths back. Tourisimo, as always, was well back in the field as heads turned for home.

Counter Action, who would be a true champion if looks were everything, made a spirited attempt to steal the race from under the nose of his 13 rivals. He opened up a three length break at the top of the straight, and fought on in grand style when tackled by La Mancha and Morisco racing into the last 200m. It looked as if Mike Bass’ colt had the race won, but he couldn’t contain the late challenge of Tourisimo. Jockey Robbie Fradd had to do some nifty weaving and bobbing around traffic in the final stages, but Tourisimo was positively airborne and he flew past the gallant Counter Action only strides from the line. La Mancha and Morisco filled the minor places, but as so often happens when the early pace is slow the race produced something of a blanket finish.

Tourisimo made full use of his superior finishing speed, and on the day no doubt deserved his success, but you could run the race again a dozen times and very easily come up with eleven different results. Still Tourisimo pocketed the winner’s purse of R312,500 and that is all that matters. Now in the care of Clairwood Park trainer Michael Roberts, the four-year-old won four on the trot for trainer Bobby Schutt at the Cape before changing hands for a reported R120,000. The first Gr1 winner sired by the outstanding Argentinian bred racehorse but disappointing Liloy stallion Prontissimo, Tourismo saw his life’s earnings rocket from R83,180 to R395,680 in one single swoop.

A word to the wise

On the first of August all horses are a year older, and the newly turned 3yo’s are thrown into the deep end. Suddenly they have to compete against older horses on equal terms and that’s not easy. It all has to do with maturity: it’s like a teenager competing against a senior athlete. N matter how talented the youngster is, he simply doesn’t (yet) have the strength. That comes only with time.

In racehorses that immaturity can be translated into weight – hence the term weight-for-age scale. At this time of year there’s at least seven or eight kilo’s difference between the newly turned 3yo and his elders. That’s enough for a mediocre 4yo maiden to thrash a promising 3yo, especially over distances beyond sprints.

So be smart and watch for opportunities. Include 4yo’s in your quartets and trifecta’s when they race against 3yo’s – even if logic tells you that the 3yo’s are better than the 4yo’s. They probably are, but will show that only later.

And remember: the lower the class of the race and the longer the distance, the better for the 4yo’s.

Another effect of maturity is sudden improvement shown by so-called late foals, horses born in November or later. In South Africa, all horses are born between August and December, with the vast majority in October and before. That means that horses born earlier will, on average , mature earlier. But it also means that the later born foals suddenly start catching up when the older horses rate of maturing slows down. And right now’s the time for that to happen, early in the horse’s fourth year.

So watch out for new 4yo’s with a birthdate of November or later. An improvement of even one or two kilos can cause a useful reverse of form which most punters won’t anticipate.