Our happy Guineas day as Act Of War wins
Grand Parade Guineas day was an incredible day. It was beautifully run by Hassen Adams and his team. It was fantastic to see all the kids on course enjoying themselves and having such a fantastic time. The food was wonderful and the vibe was even better.
To win the Guineas on such an awesome day and with such a special horse in Act Of War – well, life does not get much better than this.
It certainly cheered up my Christmas. He really is a wonderful horse. He travels well and can quicken up off any type of pace. There are not many horses that can do that and that is what makes him so special.
I must also say it was a brave effort by the runner up, Harry’s Son, last year’s champion juvenile. What a fantastic training feat by Paul Lafferty; to keep him in top form after a tough run in the Dingaan’s in soft ground, back to Durban and then to Cape Town to put in such a game effort in the Guineas. Well done to Paul.
Our own Kingvoldt was only beaten a short head by last year’s champion juvenile and this was a very special effort indeed. He will not be long in winning and there are a couple of sales racing coming up soon which I think he will be heading off for.
Ricardo Sobotker – tied the knot
Saturday was not just a special day for us; it was a special day for Ricardo and Chantal Heuvel, now Sobotker, his beautiful new bride.
We had a busy day on Saturday; after winning the Guineas we had to speed to Paarl (no doubt another speeding ticket headed my way) to attend their wedding. It was a spectacular event and dare I say Chantal looked absolutely beautiful. We took a photo of them with the winning Guineas trophy. In fact, the whole team at Goodhope Racing deserve a large pat on the back for having put in such a supreme effort.
Sadly the blog has to be cut short as I have plenty on my plate, with Christmas holidays for the kids, Christmas holidays for the grooms but no Christmas holidays for the horses so we are all exceptionally busy.
I wish everyone a Happy and fruitful Christmas and let’s hope the winners keep rolling in.
I am not sure we can manage five again but we will be out there trying.
