I am off to Australia to the Melbourne Premier Sale on Wednesday to have a look and see what is going on over there. Do we call it the real world? I am not so sure, writes Joey Ramsden.
Either way, it will be good to get away but it is such a short trip – 5 days. Whilst I claim that I never sleep when I am away for only a short time as I cannot get used to the time difference, I have just had Craig Carey, manager of Ridgemont Stud, fall over backwards telling me I am the first person to fall asleep on the aeroplane.
It is good to get away and see all the other types of horses in the world. One never stops looking and learning and I am really looking forward to it.
It was a busy weekend. Everything ran well and I was really happy with King Of Pain’s comeback run. It is now just a matter of where we go with him next. I was also extremely pleased with Kingvoldt and Happy Forever. They both ran great races under big weights. I am sure both of them will pick up something nice in the very near future.
I enjoyed Coltrane’s win
It was lovely to win the Chairman’s Handicap with Coltrane. It is a race that boasts a fantastic history, with top horses like Aquanaut winning it and then going on to Johannesburg and winning the Holiday Inns and that type of race.
So it was a real treat for Coltrane to add his name to a long list of champions. I have not yet had a chat with Derek Brugman as to where we go with him in the future. However, he has been on the road a long time – since last year’s J&B Met Stayers where he ran 2nd (and in which he ran 2nd again this year). In between he toured the country via Durban, then Zimbabwe and then back to Durban again.
I must look at his holiday snaps sometime. I think they will make interesting viewing!
This is really the end of our summer season now. The racing will start to slow down and I think we only have six meetings this month – a couple at Durbanville.
It will be fun going back there after quite a long break. Feature races are also coming to a close with perhaps only one a month being held down here in the Cape. But the quality of horses is still pretty strong and Wednesday’s meeting in the Western Cape looks to be a pretty strong card with some competitive racing.
It is good to see some better-bred 2 yr olds coming out, especially over the 1200m’s, which is when we really start to get going with them.
KZN Champion Harry’s Son
Joburg hots up this weekend with the Gauteng Guineas and Harry’s Son, like our old Coltrane, on the road again. It will be interesting to see how the other horses are maturing and where everyone stands with the quality of the 3 yr olds and who has the bragging rights and the chest-puffing material. I cannot wait.
We are planning a small raid to PE to try and get some black type for Miss Saigon. She has been running just off them in features down here. She competed in last Saturday’s Breco Seafoods Prix du Cap and it was more like a Gr1 race – really, really hot stuff.
It has been an extremely tough school down here this summer but I would not have it any other way. Competition brings out the best, hopefully, in all of us.
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