I wish all Sporting Post readers a happy New Year and I hope they had a blessed Christmas. To all the trainers around the country, there is no rest for the wicked. Certainly for us here in the Western Cape, it is the busiest time of the year with the season and everyone needs to play ball, writes Joey Ramsden.
Our staff have been magnificent this year and followed rosters, pitched at work when required and worked extremely hard over the festive season. It is never an easy time of year for them and they have all been fantastic. I think we, at Goodhope Racing, have been extremely lucky.
The weather has truly been unbelievable.
The south-easter seems to have got lost and in the words of Big Cook, Little Cook it is “hot, hot,hot” and there looks to be no sign of the heat letting up.
Dean Diedericks – this man works miracles
This leads to a complete nightmare for Dean Diedericks and his beloved Kenilworth as there is obviously a limited water supply. The track is still looking fantastic but with this heat and the lack of a head wind, it has been running extremely fast. We have seen some competitive racing but not always with horses coming from off the pace. The south-easter has not totally deserted us and seems to be finding some form today.
I know Dean has been battling with some dodgy fungi and bacteria on his baby (Kenilworth racecourse). Watching the cricket at Newlands (where they have produced the pitch in extremely fine fettle) I believe they had the same thing but have managed to beat it. Maybe Dean needs a day at the test match – with a sneak peak at lunchtime to see what they have managed to do to sort out the problem. I have no doubt, being the man he is, that he has not already been in contact with the grounds man at Newlands.
Talking of cricket, it is lovely to have the show in town on what looks to be a great batting pitch, but with some bounce. With the weather being so fine, the ball looks to be going as straight as a dye and it looks to be a run fest ahead.
One of the lovely things about the cricket is that most of the cricket commentators (I don’t know about the South Africans) are complete and utter racing nuts. It is great to have Michael Holding, Mike Atherton and David Lloyd following our sport so closely. I am sure they will be spotted on course this Saturday.
We have had some good winners over the past few weeks and hopefully things are now turning.
This year’s two year olds are a smart bunch and we have some lovely pedigrees. No excuses can be made with the bunch we have. We did not buy too many last year – we bought more at the Ready to Run sales – and while they have been good, consistent earners, it has been quite tough to get their noses in front and we have had far too many seconds.
I can assure you; no one realises this more than the trainer himself!
It was great to win with Prince of Thieves for Anna and Kevin Doyle, Adam Gurney and Diane Nagle. Hopefully now he definitely gets into the CTS Million Dollar race. The excitement is starting to build and it could well be the one we all want to win this year, particularly with the exchange rate climbing, climbing, going, going, gone. There are going to be many excited people around these parts over the next few weeks, particularly the ones trying to qualify. It is going to be some race.
Racing does not get much better, with the L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate on Saturday.
I am sure there will be plenty of celebrities there. The Queen’s Plate is backed up by the Maine Chance Paddock Stakes so Saturday will probably have two of the best WFA events for colts and fillies and then the fillies themselves.
This is something we are extremely fortunate to have at Kenilworth. This year’s Queen’s Plate could well be the best for the past twenty years, with a star-studded line up and the three year old Guineas winners (who have a great record) thrown in just to mix it up that little bit more.
Act Of War will be ridden by Andrew Fortune
We have sadly copped a dodgy draw with Act Of War and whoever rides will have to be extremely astute and smart on the day. He has had a smashing build up and all has gone well with him.
I am really looking forward to what is probably the best day’s racing of the year: true glamour and great horses. A small gripe: when one looks at the field, from a purist point of view, it is probably the best race in the country but the stake is just that little bit small for such a big event and quality field. Let’s hope it can or is allowed to be improved.
As I said, the heat has not let up and continues to wear us down. It is nearly time to hit the road and start looking at yearlings. Hopefully the heat will let up as there is no way one can go to the farms to view their finest when it is forty degrees. It is an absolute killer and one ends up looking like a member of the “barmy army” on day five of the test match. Really no fun at all.
Well, here’s to being competitive in 2016 and wishing all readers plenty of winners but more importantly a good year’s racing.
Get the full story on www.joeyramsden.com
