Mission Improbable, accomplished. It wasn’t very long ago that you would have been looked at in amazement (and possibly in pity) if you had dared to suggest that a horse could win the hallowed J & B Met three times. You had to go back to the late 70s to find the last horse to even win it “only” twice, and it took a creature of Politician’s almost boundless talent to achieve it.
Well, now there is Pocket Power. Practically invincible around the turns at Kenilworth, Pocket Power went one better on Politician when he recently won the Gr1 L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate for the first time – a previously unaccomplished feat – and the country’s best thoroughbred rewrote history one more time on Saturday when he completed his hat-trick of wins in the J & B Met.
No horse had built up a record at Kenilworth even remotely like Pocket Power’s since the days of, well, Politician, and the dual horse-of-the-year was always going to be favourite to capture the 2000m Met one more time. Those PP fans who waited to the last minute to place their wagers could hardly believe their eyes when Pocket Power, quoted at odds-on prices throughout the ante-post market, became freely available at 12/10 by post time. This, too, has become standard operating procedure with the champ. There are usually rumours floating around that not everything is quite right with Pocket Power, whose ongoing foot problems are well documented, and there are always a good few punters willing to take him on. There was obviously plenty of interest shown in Pocket Power’s traditional rival Dancer’s Daughter, while the favourite’s year younger sister and stable companion River Jetez found plenty of race day support and had her odds trimmed from 10/1 to sevens by off time.
Fans of Pocket Power who are accustomed to seeing him drop in towards the back in the early stages of a race may have been rubbing their eyes in mild disbelief when he flew out of the stalls and briefly found himself in 3rd place early on, but he steadily shuffled back to stalk his rivals in around sixth or seventh place – but still more prominent than usual – as rank outsider and known front-runner Quick Millions made himself useful. Ivory Trail had led soon after the break, but Quick Millions found his way to the head of affairs down the back stretch and set a decent pace from Ivory Trail and African Appeal. Dancer’s Daughter found herself next in line, with Buy And Sell and Pocket Power in behind her as Surfin’ USA raced in midfield. River Jetez was well back early, with Kapil held up as well.
Quick Millions may have raised plenty of eyebrows by even making it into the Met field, but the cognoscenti would have realized that his presence was going to ensure a properly-run 2000m and he fulfilled the role admirably. He must have been the best part of four lengths clear midway around the turns, and while he predictably disappeared from view soon after turning for home he had played his part in ensuring Kenilworth’s premier race didn’t fall victim to the notorious Cape Crawl. Kevin Shea on Dancer’s Daughter probably took the view that his best chance of beating Pocket Power was to be in front of him the whole way and aim to get first run on the favourite once straightened for home. The grey mare was in the perfect position to make her bid for glory once the pacemakers folded, and coming to the 300m Dancer’s Daughter had every chance, but her hopes were soon dashed.
Pocket Power is famous for his “flat spot”, sometimes needing several strides to compose himself and click into top gear once asked for an effort, but it was nowhere to be seen this time. Rather, he flew through the gears like an F1 car and sailed past Dancer’s Daughter coming to the last 200m, looking set for a very easy win…except that this is not the Pocket Power way of doing things. Once he hit the front, seemingly like a stone fired from a catapult, he began to chill out.
If it is possible for a horse to showboat, then Pocket Power has the trick down to a fine art. He never seems to win by very far, and here he was quite content to do little more than the bare minimum as Bernard Fayd’Herbe punched him out to beat Dancer’s Daughter by a neck. Pocket Power’s co-Vodacom Durban July winner chased him home for all she was worth, but by now we are intimately familiar with Pocket Power and his bag of tricks and, however tight the margin may have been at the wire, there was no risk whatsoever that PP was going to be run out of it again by DD – to use the abbreviated parlance made popular by various racing website bloggers. The star of the show did what he had to do to land the spoils, and very little else above and beyond. Wise chap, really.
River Jetez ran on well to be only three-quarters of a length behind Dancer’s Daughter in third place, a great effort from PP’s little sister especially as she was drawn wide and probably had to come from further off the pace than would ideally have been desired. Kapil came from far back to finish another 2.5 lengths away in fourth, but very few ever got into this once the serious racing began around 400m out. Vision Of Grandeur, the subject of so much controversy as to who would ride him that you could scarcely have believed he was a rank outsider with no chance of winning on the formbook, was never seen with a chance. His stable companion Golden Dice, though, finished an excellent 5th. Buy And Sell was eased up once his chance was gone and trailed in a lonely last. One place ahead of him was Prince Asad, who had finished fourth in the Gr1 Steinhoff Summer Cup in his previous start and whose performance here perhaps helps us to understand why none of the trio that beat him in that frankly much inferior Turffontein race didn’t even bother to turn up for the Met.
“I can’t describe the feeling, there are no words for it,” said Bernard Fayd’herbe, who is the type of bloke to enjoy his many successes quietly rather than run around the course like a man on fire, doing handstands and blowing kisses to the crowd. He added that Pocket Power had “pinged the gate, and was galloping from the start. He accelerated much better than usual.” The winning jockey did confirm that Pocket Power “started to loaf at the 150m mark,” but went on to say that the gelding started to “flick his ears” once in cruise mode – a sure sign that there would have been more to come, if necessary.
In what could be racing’s understatement of the century so far, triumphant trainer Mike Bass described Pocket Power as “a real champion.” Actually, he’s a legend, and while it is pointless (if amusing) to try and rank the all-time greats into any kind of pecking order Pocket Power has put together a record which will most likely not be replicated in our lifetimes. Bass went on to broadly hint that an international career could still be on the cards for his star 6yo, even though Pocket Power would be in the veteran stage by the time that happens.
The trainer reiterated what he has been saying all season, that Pocket Power is sounder now than he has ever been, and while all good things eventually must come to an end there is no sign whatsoever right now that Pocket Power cannot retain all of his talent for long enough to at least try his hand abroad in late 2009 and/or early 2010. Before that, though, another trip to Durban for the winter season beckons and, one imagines, perhaps another crossing of paths with Dancer’s Daughter in the Vodacom Durban July.
Needless to say, owners Marsh Shirtliff and Arthur Webber were over the moon with Pocket Power’s unprecedented achievement. “He can stand tall with all the champions of the past, like Sea Cottage,” remarked Webber, who added that “I know I’ve said this before, but Pocket Power has changed my life forever.” Shirtliff, when pressed for comment on the possibility of an international campaign for Pocket Power, replied that he would leave that entirely up to Mike Bass. “De Kock may be the best trainer in the world, but Mike Bass is the best trainer in SA,” he added. Marsh will get plenty of seconders for that point of view, no doubt.
It is true that the Met conditions were changed after 2007 to make it more feasible for a proven star to win, at the expense of those “nearly” horses that so often won it under the old system. However, while the 2008 outcome might perhaps have been considerably different had the rules not been amended, the current conditions made not one iota of material difference to the result this time. The first three to finish were so superior to everyone else that they would more than likely have filled the trifecta, in the same sequence, even under pre-2008 terms.
Pocket Power, if anybody needs reminding by now, is a gelded son of champion sire Jet Master out of the Prince Florimund mare Stormsvlei, who followed up twelve months later by giving birth to River Jetez. These are the only two foals to have raced out of Stormsvlei that were sired by Jet Master, and while four of the others by four different stallions (including former champion sire Western Winter) have won 18 races between them not one has even managed to place in as much as a Listed race. A match made in heaven, or just evidence of Jet Master’s sheer supremacy? Who knows.
Bred by Dan de Wet at Zandvliet, Pocket Power was bought for R190k at the 2004 Cape Summer Yearling Sale. The 2009 edition of this sale takes place at GrandWest Casino this weekend, on Sunday 8th February, where the 210 lots catalogued include three Jet Masters. SA’s all time highest domestic stakes earner, Pocket Power has now won 14 of his 28 races and earned R7 769 775 in prize money. No wonder he has changed lives!
Kenilworth, SA, January 31, R2.5 million, 2000m, turf, good, 2.04.06 (CR 2.01.00).
POCKET POWER (SAF), 58.0, b g 6, Jet Master (SAF) – Stormsvlei (SAF) by Prince Florimund (SAf). Owner N M Shirtliff and Mr & Mrs A D Webber; breeder Zandvliet Stud (SAF); trainer MW Bass; jockey B Fayd’herbe (1.562.500)
Dancer’s Daughter (GB), 55.5, gr m 5, Act One (GB) – Reason to Dance (GB) by Damister (GB)
River Jetez (SAF), 53.5, b m 5, Jet Master (SAF) – Stormsvlei (SAF) by Prince Florimund (SAF)
Margins: neck, ¾, 2½
Also ran: Kapil (SAF) 56.0, Golden Dice (SAF) 56.0, Catmandu (SAF) 56.0, Surfin’ Usa (SAF) 56.0, Vision Of Grandeur (IRE) 56.0, African Appeal (SAF) 58.0, Quick Millions (BRZ) 56.0, Great Rhythm (SAF) 56.0, Ivory Trail (SAF) 55.5, Floatyourboat (SAF) 56.0, Prince Asad (SAF) 56.0, Buy And Sell (SAF) 58.0
