Sands of Time – November 1994

30 October – 5 November

Vincent Retires

A great career ended quietly last week, when former champion trainer Vincent O’Brien retired, exactly 50 years since receiving his trainer’s licence. A perfectionist to the core, Vincent O’Brien trained the winners of six Epsom Derby’s, two Oaks winners, four winners of the 2000 Guineas and one of the 1000 Guineas, and three St Leger winners. He won the Irish Derby six times and the Arc three. Apart from his remarkable training feats, O’Brien is best known for the way in which he and soccer pools magnate Robert Sangster took the Keeneland Sales in Kentucky by storm, spending millions of pounds and causing the explosion in the bloodstock industry in the 1980’s. O’Brien also was the man who gave Lester Piggott the greatest encouragement to return to the saddle late in his career.

R34,000 for a rainy day

It doesn’t only rain in the Cape. Midweek racing on 28 June at Greyville was abandoned after the running of the fourth race, when jockeys refused to continue riding. This despite the recommendation of a specially convened ‘going committee’ (consisting of trainers, jockeys, stewards and a stipe) that racing should continue. The Jockey Club swiftly opened an inquiry into the jockey’s’ refusal, which amounted to ‘breach of contract’. Everyone wondered at the time what the purpose was of a special ‘going’ committee if a majority vote can simply be overturned by a disagreeing party.

The Jockey Club has completed its investigations and has announced, four months after the event, that 17 jockeys have been fined R2,000 each for refusing to ride. The jockeys are Byrnes, Chelin, Dillon, Fradd, Geroudis, Hill, Jupp, Marcus, Mawing, Neisius, Odendaal, Randolph, Strydom, Sutherland, Venter and Whyte (surprisingly, no apprentices riding on the day were included). Apparently the reason for the jockeys not wanting to continue to ride in what was described as ‘dangerous conditions’ was not so much the state of the wet track and the pull-up area, but rather the poor visibility. As one wag put it: “The jockeys probably couldn’t see the bookmaker’s boards any longer.”

All jockeys have the right of appeal against the fines imposed.

Bumper harvest

After a 48 hour delay, the R75 000 Transvaal Tattersalls Bookmakers Sprint over 1000m at Gosforth Park, was run on Monday, 31 October. Showing a dramatic improvement after his gelding, Young Harvest, a four-year-old son of Hard Up, demolished ten rivals in the using his proven early speed to its maximum effect.

Ricky Maingard’s charge showed up in a narrow lead from the start, and then drew right away over the final 300m to win by five lengths from Harrison, who was conceding Young Harvest 5kgs and who clearly would have relished a sixth furlong. Richebourg showed pace all the way to finish third, but Super Sheila yet again disappointed her backers and showed nothing like her form of last season in finishing fifth.

Young Harvest was purchased for a trio of owners (including Maingard himself) for the bargain price of R12,000 from the 1992 Ready To Run Sale. The Gosforth Park victory was the seventh of his career, from a total of only 13 lifetime starts, and took the gelding’s bankroll to a healthy R170 145. Significantly all seven of Young Harvest’s victories have come at the minimum distance, from a total of ten attempts.

The Gr1 Melbourne Cup, run on Tuesday, 1 November, was shouted home by over 80,000 on course (!) spectators and won by imported horse Jeune. The son of Kalaglow is the second successive European winner of the famous Cup, after Vintage Crop’s 1993 victory. Jeune won from 1200m to 2400m in the UK, and had a Timeform rating of 121 at 3. He was bought at the end of his 4yo career by Hamdan Al-Maktoum, with the specific mission to be trained in Australia by David Hayes for the 1994 Melbourne Cup.

Breaking Ice

Wednesday’s 2 November R20,000 Lions Club of Port Natal Maiden Plate over 2000m at Clairwood saw La Zingara’s score narrowly to mark the first career success for both her sire Gitano and for her trainer Pat Riley.

Pat Riley had to endure a few irritating near-misses before La Zingara put him on the scoreboard. He recently took out his licence after a lengthy spell as assistant trainer to his brother Mike Riley; now Pat is the third Riley brother to hold a licence, as former bloodstock agent Tony runs a racing stable in Harare.

Flash of Humour

Buying a second hand horse can be like acquiring a used car; you may find yourself paying for nothing but someone else’s problems. Not always, though, and it was certainly the vendors and not the buyers who got the short end of the stick when Quick Wit changed hands for R35 000 at the mixed sale in September last year. The five-year-old more than recouped his purchase price when winning a pair of R75 000 events within nine days last month, but that was made to look like spare change when Quick Wit captured the R400,000 Gr1 Germiston November Handicap over 1600m at Gosforth Park on 5 November. The win was worth a cool R250 000 to his current connections, not bad for any horse, let alone one who was acquired as a ready made racer.

Most eyes were on Surfing Home and his bid to complete a remarkable hat-trick after victories in the 1600m Premier’s Handicap and the IGN Gold Bowl over double that distance. Fears that he would find Gosforth Park too sharp for his liking were evidently confirmed when he could only finish fourth and Tony Millard’s gelding was far from disgraced in the circumstances. As expected, Surfing Home set out to make the running, but he set a pace that really wasn’t fast enough to make full use of his undoubted stamina. Jeff Lloyd was pushing hard at his mount in a vain attempt to set fire to the powder keg turning for home, but by then it was too late. Surfing Home was caught completely flat-footed as chief market rival Record Edge made a dash for home at the top of the lane. That move briefly looked as though it would pay dividends for Record Edge, but the Sunny North four-year-old was swallowed up on all sides some 150m from home. Young Victor took a narrow lead close home, but Piere Strydom now had Quick Wit making up ground on the outside and he got up to beat Young Victor a short head in virtually the last stride. Imperial Despatch ran on for third, an excellent effort as it was his first race as a gelding and he was trapped wide for most of the way. Surfing Home only found his feet again when the race was all over, but finished a gallant fourth.

The November Handicap was the most important career success to date for trainer Mike Schuleman. The former Capetonian was lured to the Transvaal as one of the principal trainers for the Swynford Paddocks outfit of Dr Hilda Podlas, but has evidently lost favour with that fading force on the thoroughbred stage. He now looks after a mostly moderate string at his Vaal stable, but he has taken Quick Wit to heights which would have seemed unimaginable just a few months ago. Whether Schuleman’s gelding can beat the best milers on level terms is another story, for he was receiving 4kgs from Surfing Home, but he clearly is a much better horse than would have seemed possible when he made his appearance in the sales ring fourteen months ago.

Mission Complete

Trainer Spike Lerena was denied big race glory with Young Victor, but the day was far from wasted for the Randjiesfontein conditioner, who sent out his very useful five-year-old mare Complete Lee to win the R100 000 November Consolation Handicap over 1600m, an event for horses considered not good enough to contest the mother race.

Millard-trained Darling Ally was posted as 22/10 favourite, but this was not to be the trainer’s day. In fact, Darling Ally did well to finish as close as he did, for it was only some enterprising jockeyship from Jeff Lloyd that nearly pulled the wool over the eyes of his fellow riders. Bold Cruiser set a slow early pace, but Lloyd was quick to take the initiative and drove Darling Ally to the front turning for home. His supporters must have been counting their profits with less than 200m to run, but Complete Lee unleashed a powerful late run which took her past Darling Ally close home and on to a one length victory. Yeltsin and Best Pound stayed on for the minor places, but had been left with too much to do in a false run race.

Free Flowing

Down in the Cape, the four-year-old Flobayou confirmed his status as one of the country’s best sprinters by winning the R100,000 Gr2 Merchants Stakes over 1200m at Kenilworth on Saturday. Eric Sands’ gelding was sent out 5/2 favourite despite facing the stiffest task of his career to date. Against him also were the facts that he had not raced for three months and that he wasn’t entirely sure to see out what has to be one of the toughest six furlongs in the world. Flobayou swept all these doubts aside. Nicely placed just off the pace as Steel Blade and Dachmar showed the way to a bunched field, Flobayou came forward strongly to challenge 200m from home. He soon took command and kept going strongly under Karl Neisius to peg back challenges from Making Mischief and 3yo Bushmanland. The last named ran a splendid trial for the 1600m Bloodline Guineas at Milnerton in early January and must surely post his first Feature race success one of these days.

6 – 12 November

Random drug testing on jockeys has started in Britain, bringing racing there in line with other major sports.  After months of discussion and delay, jockeys can now be subjected to examination for drugs and alcohol. Every rider, from the cream of the crop down to the journeymen, can expect to be tested for substances which could well affect their performance, including drugs such as cocaine, marijuana, and amphetamines. In other sports, the punishment for transgressing the guidelines can be severe. Remember Maradonna? Jockeys in Australia, America, Italy and France are subjected to random tests for drugs. A scale of penalties was also agreed on for jockeys in Britain who fail tests and can give no acceptable explanation in mitigation.

Lunar Lullaby, dam of champion race filly Roland’s Song, died when the foal she was carrying ruptured the mare’s internal organs. Lunar Lullaby was two weeks overdue in foaling when the accident happened, and had to be put down when it proved impossible to save her. Thankfully the foal she was carrying did survive, and shows a picture of health under the watchful eye of a foster mare. As Roland’s Song also is no longer alive (she died in her paddock last year), the family traditions will rely heavily on the newborn foal, a valuable filly by Elliodor.

The Highveld Racing Authority, the body that decides on all racing matters in the Transvaal, has made unilateral changes to betting units. Pick Six betting in the Transvaal will, as of 11 November, have its 10c unit increased to 50c. This, according to the HRA, to bring the unit of betting in line with that of Jackpot and PA, but, according to our observations, out of line with the rest of the country. The unit of betting on the Quartet will be increased from the same date to R1 for a different reason: according to the HRA this move will simplify the betting package, as “the unit of betting will now be common for all wagers on individual races, and will result in increased pay-outs.” The consolation Pick Six is abolished from the same date, peculiarly (according to the HRA) to assist in the establishment of national Tote rules and pools. Which presumably means that the rest of the country will have to first follow Transvaal with increased betting units for Pick Six and Quartets.

It is hard to believe that the HRA can take decisions like these at precisely the time when – for the first time ever – the provincial totes were seen to be moving in the same direction, with a common goal of national pools and national Tote Rules. There were hopes to have these in place by the end of the year, but they high handed HRA attitude has effectively torpedoed progress.

The HRA claims its decision was taken after ‘extensive consultation in the industry’ and after ‘consideration of the results of an extensive survey of punters both on and off course.” As there is no reason to believe that ‘industry’ and punters in other provinces would have different views from the ones the HRA claims to have reacted to, why couldn’t this have been implemented country-wide – after the HRA had also managed to agree with the ruling bodies in other provinces? National Racing Unity clearly is a lot further away than we hoped and believed.

Record-breaker

On 11 November, Port Elizabeth trainer Stanley Greeff set a new record for number of winners trained in a lifetime. He equalled Terrance Millard’s total of 2258 winners with Midnight Heat in a maiden race at Fairview, then passed it an hour later with lightly raced Derby Choice. Derby Choice started at 4/1, and appropriately was the Sporting Post top rated choice and roving banker. It doesn’t get easier than that!

Stanley Greeff won another two races on the same day to bring his total to 2261, and certainly won’t be stopping there.

On 12 November 1994 Sporting Post statistics were ranked, for the first time by percentage winners to runners. Log leader amongst the trainers was the to many unknown PE ‘Penny” Bester, with a figure of 100% – her first runner a winner earlier this month. Penny kept the record intact with her next runner, when Fourth Spirit scored in the Claiming Stakes at Kenilworth at comfortable odds of 7/1.  And only now does the penny drop: the new trainer used to be assistant to Geoff Woodruff, who had an equally meteoric start to his training career four years ago, with something like seven winners from his first seven runners. It must be in the water.

Lift Off!

The R75,000 Gr2 Computaform Stakes run over 1600m at Kenilworth on 12 November was something of a puzzle. For the first time this season, top flight males from the three-year-old crop were up against high class older horses, at Weight For Age. For those (like us) who believe the current classic colts to be the best for several seasons, the 1600m Computaform Stakes was something to relish. Would Western Rocket and La Mancha prove a match for the likes of Queen’s Plate winner Take A Walk, John Skeaping scorer Rusty Pelican, or Rothmans July third Ravenous, smart animals representing three different and older generations?

Well, yes and no. Western Rocket licked his elders in grand style, La Mancha finished out of the frame. For reasons we’ll attempt to explain, La Mancha’s failure should not be held against him. Western Rocket’s triumph, on the other hand, speaks for itself. The early pace was rather slow and la Mancha found himself loping along in front, followed by Bare Truth, Laurasian Express, and Divine Fashion. Western Rocket, after fighting for his head early, settled in some five lengths back. La Mancha led into the straight, but with 200m to go he was a spent force and was gobbled up on all sides. Possibly, Greg Ennion’s gelding is at his best when able to race from off the pace and ran that way most notably when a flying second to Morisco in the Premier’s Champion Futurity last July. The lack of early pace must have been at least partly responsible for his undoing and La Mancha has certainly never been this much inferior to Western Rocket. Western Rocket was still a couple of lengths off the pace half way up the straight, but he responded immediately once jockey Mark Nesius popped the question. Jimmy LIghtheart’s three-year-old accelerated smartly, striking the lead inside the final 200m and drawing away to beat Rusty Pelican by an emphatic 1.75 lengths.  Outstanding Star was running on in third after being forced to race a little more handy than is normally the case, with Take A Walk coming from far back to grab fourth place.

The richest race in Mauritius, the Duke of York Cup, was won by Proclaim gelding Bold Statement on 12 November. The 6yo made all the running to win from a fast finishing race favourite Botanique. The win was a double for the family, as later that afternoon at Kenilworth half brother Bold Approach (by Fair Season) scored a good win in the B-division. Both horses were bred by Hyjo Stud from the mare Uboldi.

Bold Statement is owned and trained by the Gudjadhur family, who have been regular buyers of especially Cape trained horses in the last years, with help mainly from Western Cape racing steward Hassen Adams and Sporting Post editor Karel Miedema.

The Duke of York Cup was sponsored by SAA, and carried prize money of Rs 225,000. Winning jockey was local hero Praveen Nagadoo, who now joins Tobie van Booma at the head of the local log with 19 winners. With just two meetings to go before the close of the season, the Mauritian Jockey championship is still wide open.

13-19 November

They Followed Like Lambs

Chris Snaith doesn’t look the type to lose much sleep without good reason, but even the most bombproof stomach could have been excused some butterflies before the 19 November Gr2 Western Province Fillies Championship.

The Kenilworth 1400m event marked the first appearance of Shepherd’s Moon since she was sold for a reported R650,000 and joined Snaith’s stable from that of fellow trainer Guy Rixon. The Hawks would have been out in force had Shepherd’s Moon failed to deliver the goods first time out for her new connections, especially as she appeared to have a simple task against a field of fillies her own age.

The star three-year-old did not fail, even if she didn’t win with quite the flair that might have been expected. The daughter of Trigger Finger went postward as 1 to 4 favourite in her bid to recoup R48 000 of her exclusive price tag, a position she surely deserved after four emphatic Feature race victories in succession. Stable jockey Karl Neisius probably couldn’t believe his luck the day Shepherd’s Moon was delivered to the Snaith yard and he had her well placed in third or fourth as stable companion Dixie Ballad set a decent early pace.

Shepherd’s Moon was quick to assert herself once in the straight and 400m out the darling of Cape Town had the lead. She needed shaking up to peg back a few determined challengers and it briefly looked 200m out as if she might be in real trouble. Still, champions don’t fold quite that easily. Shepherd’s Moon had all the answers, even if her jockey had to work pretty hard to find them, and the favourite was in fact drawing clear at the finish to beat Dahlia’s Legacy by 1.75 lengths. Lake Gate ran on to finish third ahead of Joyous Dancer.

It was a performance by the winner that was a great deal more workmanlike than it was electric, and one might have expected Shepherd’s moon to accomplish her task with considerably greater ease. Yet it would be unfair to expect her to stretch out her rivals on the faster ground of summer in the way that she did several times in wet winter conditions, given that soft going lends itself to strung out fields. Saturday’s race was also her first for a new trainer who is probably still getting to know the latest addition to his stable, and she did have daylight to spare in the only place where it really matters.

Allstar Action

Maybe it’s wishful thinking, but it has surely been several seasons since we have seen so many three-year-olds of real potential popping up all over. Two who have always looked above average are Northern Host and Counter Action, and they looked more promising than ever after their respective races at Gosforth Park and Kenilworth on Saturday, 19 November.

Northern Host may have the rare and dubious distinction of having been beaten twice in succession at odds of 5/10, but the son of Northern Guest is surely going to square the account with our bookmaking friends. He made no mistakes in a 1000m graduation plate at the weekend, racing up with the pace from the start and pulling away close home to beat Lord Orage by 2.25 lengths. Lapswael stayed on to beat Star Player for third, the latter clearly needing the run and losing momentum when his condition gave out. This was a decent graduation field as both the runner up and third finisher have bene Stakes placed at some point in their lives and Northern Host is bred to prefer 1400/1600m.

We don’t know if there is any truth in the rumour which floated last season that Northern Host is considered a better horse by trainer Tony Millard than his Gr1 winning stable companion Morisco.  The son of Northern Guest does look like a good horse, however, and it will be fun to see what happens when he meets classy rivals over more ground.

Down in the Cape, Counter Action gave the best performance of his career to date in a 1200m progress plate at Kenilworth. There were fears that he would find the distance too sharp against a field which included some decent sorts in Villiers, Steel Blade and Wild Power, but the son of Complete Warrior made them look as if they had taken root on the spot. He sprinted away over the last 200m to win by four widening lengths and this inmate of the Mike Bass yard is certainly a very good prospect. This was his fourth successive win, and from only five career starts at that. How close Counter Action is to classic standard is the big question, and his presence is sure to add spice to what promises to be one of the hottest Guineas fields in a long time.

20-26 November

TBA Sale

The TBA stages a mixed bloodstock sale on Tuesday, 22 November. Venue is the TBA complex at Gosforth Park, starting time 6:30pm. The catalogue shows 58 entries, most of which are 3yo and 4yo’s. There are a few interesting possibilities for serious breeders (and of course, remember that Quick Wit was sold at a similar sale last year for R35,000).  Misty Peak (lot 29) is a half sister by Mount Hagen to a host of winners including champion filly Evening Mist. This is a high class female line and Misty Peak (who incidentally is a full sister to Gr3 placed Fairy Mist) ought to have a bright future.  The same owner partnership consigns the lightly raced filly Cut Free, by National Assembly. This is a half sister to Walk In Space and Royal Voyager, from the female line of Fast Gun, Crimson Crown and that useful sprinter Insurgent.  Jaap van de Vendel has several entries, including Dancing Champ filly Fine Things, who won the Gr2 Golden Slipper and was Gr2 placed.  There is another Dancing Champ filly on sale, Jazz Champion, a winning half sister to All Jazzed Up, from what seems to be a useful female line.  Mufski is a promising race filly, from the first crop of Al Mufti, and should have both racing potential and breeding value.

A Traveller’s Tale

The R125,000 Gr2 Jensen Electronics Dingaans run on 26 November, was widely billed as a grudge match between once-beaten National Emblem and his conqueror in the Premier’s Futurity, Morisco. On that score it proved to be the damp squib of the season, with National Emblem finishing a well beaten third and Morisco trailing home stone last to become the subject of a dope test.

Nor was the 1600m ‘mini Classic’ won by last season’s official champion juvenile filly Dancing Danzig, who took home fourth prize. Even less successful were the promising colts Pelagos and Orkney Islands, whose weak showing underlines the vast chasm which exists between bottom division handicaps and Gr2 Stakes races.

It was left to Orkney Islands’ stable companion Travel North to leave Turffontein with the winner’s cheque of R78 125 safely tucked away, but Ormond Ferraris’ charge had to work double overtime to secure the honours. Recent Bloemfontein Feature winner Naiyerah set out to make all the running in this 1600m level weights contest for three-year-olds, showing the way to Syrian Guest, Man Of Glory and Keep It Up. Morisco was nicely placed about four lengths back, with National Emblem another couple of lengths in arrears but saving ground along the fence. Naiyerah all but succeeded in his brave bid to take the Dingaans by the scruff of its neck. National Emblem looked to be full of running when coming to tackle James Maree’s colt inside the final 400m, but the favourite could find no more with 200m left to run. That left Naiyerah looking all set to spring a 20/1 upset until Travel North began to cut into his lead with every stride. It took a typically determined ride from Willie Figueroa to get Travel North past Naiyerah in virtually the last stride of what proved to be a real cliffhanger. This provided some consolation for Travel North’s connections after the narrow defeat of their horse The Monk in a similarly desperate finish to the IGN Gold Bowl at the same venue in October.

It is difficult to imagine the winner of the forthcoming Cape Guineas emerging from the Dingaans. Travel North is certainly useful, but he appeared distinctly fortunate to beat La Fabulous at Scottsville in October and La Fabulous couldn’t account for talented Western Rocket in the Clairwood Park Futurity. Naiyerah has thrived since trying a mile, but a half-a-length defeat of Hawkeye in Bloemfontein hardly looks like classic form even if he conceded the runner-up 6.5 kgs and Hawkeye scrambled home narrowly in a Natal C Division handicap next time out. Something was clearly amiss with Morisco, even if Tony Millard’s colt owes his win in the Premier’s Futurity more to some clever jockeyship than anything else.

Travel North was comfortably beaten two lengths by National Emblem at Gosforth Park in April and the two were meeting on identical terms in the Dingaans. However, 1400m on the sharp Gosforth Park circuit is a very different race from 1600n at Turffontein and Travel North may simply possess better reserves of stamina than National Emblem. The Dingaans winner is after all out of a daughter of the splendid staying sire St Cuthbert, and National Emblem did run as if finding a testing mile just too far. The sharp Milnerton 1600m may suit Russell Laird’s colt much better, but his performance on Sturday was surely not good enough to give National Emblem a real chance against a top class bunch of Cape Town three-year-olds on January 7th, nevermind Special Preview. Comparisons between National Emblem and Special Preview have always looked like wishful thinking on the part of National Emblem’s supporters, and never more so than after the weekend. Quite honestly, the best thing that could probably ever have happened to backers of National Emblem on Bloodline Sprint day back in March is that the son of National Assembly was scratched at the start. That way, at least, they got their money back!

Oh So Special – Special Preview still is the firm choice for the country’s best three-year-old

The son of Model Man didn’t convince everybody with his short head defeat of Casey’s Honour when making his seasonal debut in October, but he was a good deal more convincing when he landed a 1200m middle division handicap at Turffontein on Saturday, 26 November. Joe Soma’s champion wasn’t quite a penalty kick with 56 kgs to shoulder against a field which numbered SA Guineas winner Crimson Waves and the very promising four-year-old Golden Chef. Yet it was no race from the moment Piere Strydom gave Special Preview his head, the flashy chestnut simply striding away in almost arrogant fashion to beat Jungle Note by two lengths, easing up.

It would not be difficult for the hyper-critical to pick holes in this form. Both Crimson Waves and his stable companion Golden Chef were coming off a rest, and Crimson Waves is no doubt a better miler than he is a sprinter. Jeff Lloyd didn’t give one of his best ever riding displays on Golden Chef, bobbing and weaving around for a clear run on a horse who has done best when racing in front anyway. And runner-up Jungle Note must be a sitting duck of a target for any horse with half a claim to championship status, even if he is a respectable middle division sprinter. Crimson Waves, in particular, ran like a horse who wasn’t tuned up, showing pace for 1000m and then finding the tank had run dry. On the other hand, Special Preview could not have been more dominant had he come home doing cartwheels and he could also be an even better horse over 1600m than he is in sprints. Make no mistake, this really does look a smashing horse, and one with a chance of becoming the best horse bred in South Africa since his own legendary father, Model Man. We can only cross our fingers, and hope.

Still Flowing

Flobayou has every right to be considered South Africa’s best sprinter of the moment after his triumph in the WPOTA Diadem Stakes over 1200m at Kenilworth on 26 November.

This Weight For Age event pitted Eric Sands’ gelding against a field which included dual ARCSA champion sprinter Taban, Gilbey’s Stakes winner Golden Taipan, and Secret Rites. This trio had filled the first three places in the WFA Natal Mercury Sprint at Clairwood Park back in August, but Flobayou gave them all start in the Diadem Stakes and still managed to make them look ordinary.

Flobayou was a heavily backed 12/10 favourite after his emphatic success in the Merchants Stakes run over the same course and distance (but on handicap terms) three weeks earlier. Backers of the four-year-old couldn’t have been too thrilled to see Flobayou tucked in at least five or six lengths off eth early pace after a sluggish start. Surprisingly, it was Golden Taipan who disputed the early running with Taban, the result more of Derek Dalton’s gelding proving hard to settle than any deliberate change in tactics. Golden Taipan was a spent force 300m from home, which left Taban with a marked advantage. Flobayou was now starting to make progress, however. Brought to the outside of his field for a clear run, the son of Waterville Lake took off under Karl Neisius and collared Taban 100m from home to win by an increasing 2.5 lengths. Merchants runner-up Making Mischief gave another good performance to finish third and the Esplendor gelding is on target for a possible crack at the Queen’s Plate and even the J&B Met this summer. Secret Rites stayed on to finish fourth, thus adding to a record which has seen him placed in more and diverse Feature events than there are fish in the ocean.

The Diadem marked Flobayou’s eighth career win from just nine starts and it is worth repeating that he finished lame on the sole occasion that he tasted defeat. He has more than recouped his R80 000 price tag from the 1992 National Yearling Sales, having now chalked up winnings o fR244 960. He is likely to try next for the WFA Cape Flying Championship over 1000m at Milnerton in January; victory there would give Flobayou a remarkable clean sweep of his home town’s premier sprint events.

Mauritian Championship

Tobie van Booma won the Mauritian jockey championship in the last day of the 1994 season. Going into the meeting Van Booma had a 2-win lead over local hero Praveen Nagadoo, who put the cat amongst the pigeons by riding the first two winners on the day, both by short heads. Tobie clinched the title witwh a win in race 3, although Praveen came close to level the score again with a second on Operational Area. Final standings were: Van Booma 22 wins, Nagadoo 21, Boutanive 13. Robbie Hill and Mark Sutherland shared 4th place with 12 wins apiece.

Leading trainer was Philippe Henry with 32 wins. He won the Mauritian title for the seventh year in succession.

Biggest earning horse was Bold Statement, from the Gudjadhur stable, followed by Proud Appeal, Botanique and Path of Power.

27 November – 3 December

The world’s richest race, the $4 million Japan Cup, was won by local longshot Marvellous Crown on the 27th of November. The winner beat US challenger Paradise Creek by a nose, running the 2400m in 2m 23.6s. Another Japanese horse, Royce And Royce, finished a length back in third, while Marvellous Crown’s half brother Grand Flotilla came sixth. The 14-horse field included challengers from Japan, US, Australia, New Zealand, France. It was the third year in a row that a Japanese horse won the race.

Belle of the Ball

Fillies were in the limelight midweek, with the Feature events at Newmarket on Tuesday and the Vaal on Thursday both restricted to females of all ages.

Victory in Newmarket’s 29 November Issie Shenker Memorial Handicap over 1300m marked the most important success to date of the beautifully-bred Bow Street Belle. This four-year-old is by Elliodor, one of South Africa’s few established surviving stallions of real merit, out of the multiple Zimbabwean Stakes winner Cockney. Bow Street Belle became Cockney’s fourth Stakes winning son or daughter after ill-fated 1989 Rothmans July winner Right Prerogative, useful Cape stayer Gee C, and Zimbabwean Stakes performer London Fog. What makes Cockney’s stud record all the more remarkable is that these four horses were sired by as many different stallions.

Bow Street Belle has been lightly raced and the Issie Shenker marked only her eighth visit to the races and her third since she joined the Tony Millard stable. She was previously trained in Natal by Willie Pieters. Bow Street Belle is bred to stay at last a mile and certainly raced that way at Newmarket, running on strongly to collar the frontrunning My Sweet Love a couple of strides before the line.

The R55,000 Vaal Feature over 1800m on 1 December marked the return to form of last season’s Natal Oaks heroine Summer Line. The daughter of Hobnob had been unplaced in all three starts after winning the Scottsville classic in June, but she was right back in top form at the Vaal. Ormond Ferrarisi’ filly ran on strongly from some way off the pace to win by 1.25 lengths from As Ever, but it must be remembered that As Ever was conceding no less than 6kgs and can at least be considered some king of a moral winner. Interestingly, Summer Line is the only Stakes winner discussed in this week’s column who was not sired by some representative or other of the Northern Dancer dynasty.

Just Fabulous

One race whose result was stunningly predictable was the R100 000 Pick ‘n Pay Hyper Three-Year-Old Stakes over 1600m at Fairview on Friday, 2 December.

La Fabulous had his opposition stone cold whichever way you sliced the form; even the three Cape Town challengers looked safely held as Fairly Eligible was easily the best of them and he finished almost six lengths behind La Fabulous in the Clairwood Park Futurity in July. Not surprisingly, bookmakers gave nothing away and La Fabulous went off as 4/10 favourite.

The end result may not look very impressive on paper as La Fabulous only got up close home to beat Altruist by a neck. There is much more to this than meets the eye, however. Not only has Altruist shown unmistakable improvement this season (thus offering some hope to those who feared Al Mufti’s progeny would not train on), but La Fabulous beat him with plenty in hand. Well back early as Invitingly set a slow pace, La Fabulous was kept tucked in behind horses as the field raced into a strong headwind in the straight. He only made his move late in the race and hardly had to be shaken up to inflict a second successive emphatic, if narrow, defeat on the hapless Altruist.

Trained by South Africa’s winningest trainer Stanley Greeff, La Fabulous is by a long chalk the best horse to emerge from the first local crop of the Danzig stallion Lustra. He is the seventh foal, fifth winner and first Stakes horse produced by his USA-bred dam Amanzimtoti. A daughter of the Damascus stallion Accipiter, Amanzimtotii never placed during an unsuccessful track carreer but she is a half sister to Mastique, winner of four Gr1 Races in America. La Fabulous is raced by his breeders Peter and Val Fenix of Port Elizabeth and will most likely be aimed at races such as the Cape Guineas and Derby this summer. His chances, especially in the latter race, should not be lightly dismissed.

Russian Revolution Revisited

Soviet Rising took full advantage of some frankly substandard opposition to record his second successive win in Gosforth Park’s Allen Snijman Stakes over 2000m on 3 December. The five-year-old was having only his sixth start since winning the 1993 renewal of this Weight For Age event.

Talented but unsound IGN Trial winner Barrellen was sent out favourite to win the Allen Snijman, with the Pat Shaw-trained runners Soviet Rising and Art De Vivre both attracting solid support. Soviet Rising was tucked in about three-quarters of the way downfield as Fast Prince set a good pace from Frederiko and Barrellen, but the picture soon changed in the straight. Fast Prince soon folded, Barrellen didn’t last much longer, and coming to the 300m Soviet Rising made his move. The chestnut immediately opened up an unassailable lead, with only Art De Vivre emerging to make any sort of a race of it. Soviet Rising reached the wire two lengths clear of his stable companion; Golden Deposit, a recent narrow winner in modest middle division company, underlined the moderate overall quality of the field by taking third place a further 1.25 lengths behind.

The Allan Snijman Stakes was certainly a feather in the cap of Patrick Shaw. Peculiarly, the Randjiesfontein trainer acquired Soviet Rising literally hours after the gelding’s triumph in the 1993 equivalent. Soviet Rising had previously been in the care of Kevin (Buddy) Maroun. Art De Vivre is a more recent addition to the Shaw stable as the Allen Snijman Stakes marked only his second start since he left Natal trainer Dennis Drier.

Soviet Rising is by recently deceased Nijinsky stallion Russian Fox and is out of the Royal Affair mare Lese Majesty, winner of two races over 1200m at two. He is the eighth foal, fifth winner and second Feature winner (after multiple Stakes scoring filly Harry’s Lady) produced by 17-year-old Lese Majesty. An R80 000 purchase from the 1991 National Yearling sale, Soviet Rising now boasts a career record of eight wins from 40 starts and purses of R317 650. He can also claim a course record as he lowered the previous best for Gosforth Park’s 2000m when winning at the weekend, but he has always looked a few lengths below the very best and victory in a really major prize will always prove a hard target for him.

Model Man Again

The Guineas picture, already confused after the result of the Jensen Electronics Dingaans, was muddled still further at Kenilworth last Saturday. But it was another Model Man that won.

Several likely candidates for the January 7th Guineas lined up on 3 December for the R100,000 Premier’s Challenge Cup, a conditions race for three-year-olds over the classic distance of 1600m. Counter Action, Western Rocket, Bushmanland and La Mancha were at the forefront of a strong Cape Town challenge, but they were all upstaged by Natal visitor Amberpondo.

Amberpondo has always looked, on two-year-old form at least, Natal’s best classic prospect for this season. That, however, is not necessarily saying a great deal. He appeared to be about the equal of La Mancha on their form behind Morisco in the Premier’s Futurity last July, but La Mancha has never yet proven the equal of Western Rocket. It was therefore difficult to make a strong case for Amberpondo winning the Premier’s in receipt of a mere half kilo from Western Rocket and Paul Denysschen’s gelding was unsurprisingly allowed to start at 10/1 Counter Action, bidding for a fifth straight win but racing in Stakes company for hthe first time, was all the rage and went off as 16/10 market leader. One performance that Amberpondo could safely be excused was his unplaced run in the Natal provincial Guineas at Greyville in September, where his jockey set him the sort of task that required the skill of a Sea Cottage to overcome. It was a vastly different story in the Premier’s however.

Karl Neisius took the ride this time and had Amberpondo racing in fourth as Bad Influence blitzed along six lengths clear of Spectral Prince and North Facing. Counter Action was a good ten lengths off the leader in midfield, with Western Rocket near the back and Bushmanland last of all after a slow start. The frontrunners soon tired in the straight and Amberpondo was in a perfect position to strike. He saved ground by racing on the fence all the way and was turned loose coming to the last 300m. Counter Action was also starting to make rapid progress from well back, with La Mancha and Bushmanland also running on nicely, but they perhaps had given away too much start early on. Counter Action briefly threatened to justify his role as favourite, but a tough mile may stretch his stamina to its upper limits and Amberpondo found more close home to win by nearly a length. La Mancha took third place from a charging Bushmanland, with Western Rocket fifth and beaten just more than three lengths in total. If nothing else, Western Rocket still looks good as a Derby horse this Cape season.

This result must have pleased connections of Special Preview, for whom the Premier’s Cup’s inability to produce a single strong challenger to their colt has to be the best possible news. That said, Special Preview has yet to race either at a mile or around a turn and Amberpondo must have as much chance as most in the Guineas next month. Still, history is not on his side as the Premier’s form has seldom held up in the Cape’s major classic. The last two runnings of the Premier’s were won by Stamford Bridge and Jewel Of Asia respectively; neither even threatened to win the Guineas, where Stamford Bridge had the tables comprehensively turned on him by a horse (Eli’s Truth) whom he had beaten pointless in the Premier’s. This naturally doesn’t mean that 1995 has to follow the same pattern, of course, and we do respect the Guineas prospects of Amberpondo. Still, he won’t be the only leading contender hoping to race handy and get first run in the straight; those are pretty much the tactics that Shepherd’s Moon is likely to employ should she have a crack at the colts on January 7th; her presence would also deny Amberpondo the highly polished services of jockey Karl Neisius.

A son of Model Man, Amberpondo is the second foal and second winner of the Argosy mare Amber Gem, who scored once over 900m in a career which totalled just three races, and he has now collected stakes of R197 170. Amberpondo was a R23 000 purchase from the 1993 Cape Yearling Sale, from which La Mancha and Western Rocket were also acquired. The is the best possible publicity for the 1995 Goodwood sale on January 29th and 30th , now less than two months away.