Happy Forever slipped
Well, they say racing is a game of kings, amongst other things. Saturday certainly proved that for us in more than one big way. We managed to get our backsides well and truly kicked, writes Joey Ramsden.
Poor old Happy Forever slipped coming out the pens and Bernard lost his iron. It took him a couple of hundred metres to regain it and that was Happy’s race over.
But, just when one thinks the worst has already happened, the gods had a good laugh with Cold As Ice managing to sneak her way out the pens while Bernard was calling for assistance.
Watched The Movie
Cold As Ice – got away from Bernard
I have viewed the film of the start many times and had the chance to chat to the Chairman of the NHRA, Mr Ernie Rodriguez, who has been an absolute gentleman throughout the process. It is difficult to pin the blame on any one thing. It is just one of those things that are a natural process of bad luck heaped upon more bad luck. We will just have to try and learn from this and put some process in place so that it does not happen again.
Our filly loped her way round the course, not putting in a huge effort, and finally made her way back to the parade ring.
Appreciated
Mike De Kock’s speech touched my heart
I would also like to thank all the people who sent really kind and sporting texts. Mike’s speech after the race certainly touched my heart. The greatest shame is that we will now never know what the end result could have been. Majmu was hugely impressive and full marks and well done to Mike on bringing another very good horse down to the Cape and winning another one of our Grade 1’s. An excellent effort.
For us, I am not too sure where we will go with Cold As Ice: maybe the Sales race which is worth a million rand and then possibly a go at the Majorca? We will all have to sit down and discuss it.
We then had Set Your Sights in the next race for my mate, Finchie, who also owns a share in Cold As Ice. He looked a winner every inch of the way, except the finishing line where he got nailed on the post. If ever a horse and owner deserved a victory, it was this and I was absolutely gutted.
Never has such a lowly merit rated event meant so much to me.
We start down here with our first juvenile event over 800m, something I usually do not participate in. However, this time we have one for the race, a Var filly, and it will be extremely interesting to see how she goes. She is owned by some lovely new owners from abroad.
They will be coming to South Africa soon so hopefully we can get her out and running as it would be great if we can win a race with her while they are here.
We have a couple of nice feature races this Saturday, the Victress Stakes and the Vasco Premier Trophy. The Vasco Premier looks to be a strong race this year and Bryn Ressell has put his hand deep in his pockets to sponsor one of the highlights of our season.
All I can say is thank you very much to Bryn and Vasco (probably the best Portuguese restaurant in Cape Town and well worth a visit) for sponsoring such a prestigious event. The food alone, even without a drop of alcohol, is certainly worth a visit and they serve the best peri-peri chicken south of Natal.
Marcus Out
Anton Marcus – thumbs down for Guineas ride
It is with deep regret that I read this morning that Anton Marcus has ruled himself out of riding Act of War in the Guineas. My first phone call will be to racing manager, Derek Brugman, for his opinion and some form of cunning plan.
Derek is never, ever short of one and usually one step ahead of the rest of us. I don’t see too many problems ahead.
In the stable yard, our work force is thinning out as the grooms make their annual trip to the Eastern Cape for Christmas. This is always a difficult time for the remaining staff. We try and keep a fairly regimented schedule so we only have a few going on leave at any given time. However, it is never easy and they are always a couple of deserters, making life tough indeed.
Power Play
Again, it will be remiss of me not to mention how difficult Eskom is making life for all of us, with their non-stop load shedding. It is an absolute nightmare trying to organise work lists around our two treadmills. The treadmills have become a crucial part of our work regime and to not have them is a bit like having a leg missing.
Eskom has the most amazing operation: at ten o’clock in the morning one can download the following day’s load shedding schedule but by two o’clock that afternoon, it has changed completely. A complete and utter nightmare.
www.joeyramsden.com
