Disco Al – top win
After the magnificent racing at Royal Ascot and the spectacle of those beautiful grey carriage horses, along with world class horses, trainers and jockeys, it was great to get back to winning ways of our own by winning the strangely named Grade 2 Track and Ball Derby, writes Joey Ramsden.
This race was open to older horses as well, which was great from a quality and field size perspective, and played into our hands with a really good victory from a hard-knocking horse in Disco Al.
He is an absolute smasher and a pleasure to train and is one of those horses that always makes you smile in the morning. It was not just a good race to watch but was thrilling and entertaining as well. You could have thrown a blanket over them all at the line.
It was a super ride from Anton Marcus as he moves into his more relaxed Roger Federer type stage of life. He has obviously been watching the great man on the television and is adopting similar riding tactics as the giant Swiss, moving in slowly from the back line and working slowly forward. Good work, Anton.
Rose Beaten
Gallica Rose – lost in a tight finish
We were not quite so lucky in a tight finish in the Gold Circle Oaks, with Gallica Rose being beaten a short head. The irony is that the farm which bred Disco Al also own the winner of the Oaks. This just goes to show how incestuous this whole business is and how closely related we all are. Well done to Drakenstein and very well done to Captain Al, who shows he can get winners from five furlongs up to a mile and a half – a truly excellent and versatile sire.
Moving on from Captain Al to Klawervlei and their annual farm sale this past weekend. As usual they managed to put together a truly wonderful occasion and fantastic forty eight hour event. The day kicked off with a bush pig classic for the boys at the fine Robertson golf course. I have not been lucky enough to play there; hopefully I will do one day.
They say it is an extremely fine track and gets better and better each year. We used to play Wellington golf course and that was a smashing place to play. Definitely one for the diary.
After golf, we were treated to the extremely popular and successful band, Watershed. They managed to attract a large crowd at the Klawervlei farm and Watershed (in a large shed) was a huge success, playing their own many hits and some great covers as well. As always, good food, good wine, good company and lots of laughs.
Bigger And Better
The farm sale, held the next day, has grown from a minor event to 100+ and keeps getting bigger and better. Everyone from Mike de Kock, Dennis Drier, Geoff Woodruff and the likes all down for the sale in the middle of nowhere, with yearlings which have literally been pulled out of the paddock. It just goes to show how far forward this event has come. Long may it continue so we might all prosper in the end.
As I said, it was good to have a winner as, for the last couple of weeks, we could not have bought one. Hopefully this win has broken the drought of the last few weeks and we are back on track. We have had a pretty consistent season all the way through and the last couple of weeks have probably been the only minor blip on the radar. The horses have been running well but just not getting their heads in front where needed. Let’s hope the form has turned round, especially with the July just round the corner.
It is an important week this week and I have been handed the dreaded job of drawing for the July. It is without doubt the worst job in racing and it was a highly tactical suicide pass from Derek Brugman on to me. I will get you back, Derek! They say there is no such thing as a free dinner; let me tell you there is no such thing as a free drawer either. Fingers crossed we manage to pull some luck for the big day. I feel more pressure doing the draws than on the day of the race itself. That is how tricky it is going to be. Hopefully we will have the guys from Equine to provide some banter and no doubt some serious ribbing. Hard hat area, me thinks.
July Jockey
Chad Schofield
Talking of the July, we have secured a really interesting jockey booking. It will be fantastic to see one of the world’s up and coming riders, Chad Schofield, ply their trade at Greyville and on our shores. His father was hugely successful in this country; Chad is hugely successful in Australia and who knows, maybe young Chad might scale Glyn’s dizzy heights.
He is certainly being talked about in a positive way and he certainly seems driven to climb to the top of the tree. I am looking forward to meeting him. He has caused plenty of controversy in his short career and is probably a marked man in his own country, Australia. To move out and give Europe a try is probably the best decision of his career. They say he is Hong Kong bound and I can only see him making a huge success of that as well.
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