After being on course for Apache Chief’s hat-trick of runner-up finishes at his last three starts, owner Julia Kieswetter didn’t make the trip to Turffontein on Saturday, but would have enjoyed the thrill of seeing her Ridgemont-bred gelding score an overdue win – and a runaway one at that!
Apache Chief (Gavin Lerena) scores an overdue win (Pic – JC Photos)
Starting at 1-4, Apache Chief continued the rout of favourites at the standalone SA racemeeting, and scored like a gelding who could follow up.
He beat the 50-1 Blurred Vision (50-1) by 5,10 lengths in a time of 101,79 secs for the standside mile.
The son of deceased War Front sire Lancaster Bomber out of the unraced Australian bred Umatilla mare Sorencisco has earned at over 50% of his 15 starts, and appears to have relished the move from the Cape.
Winning jockey Gavin Lerena, who said that the going was ‘sticky’, added that the cheek pieces had made the difference and hoped that the victory would boost the 4yo’s confidence.
Hollywoodbets-sponsored trainer James Crawford quipped that if ever there was a day for Apache Chief to win, it was today!
“We are hoping that he can win a few more from here after that emphatic win. Thanks to Julia (Kieswetter)for standing strong with this boy,” he added.
It was reported by Cape Racing that the silks worn by the winner have stood the test of time – and straddled continents –as Julia Kieswetter continues a family history that started over 60 years ago and spans three generations.
Kieswetter, nee Conway, grew up in Australia but relocated to South Africa in 2017 where she married husband Ross. Having her own racing colours were far from her mind at the time.
“I took such enjoyment in watching the Ridgemont horses that I never felt the need,” she says.“Of course things change, and my riding horse is now a broodmare and has produced three foals. The second foal, a Lancaster Bomber gelding called Apache Chief is now a four-year-old and I would like to think is knocking on the door,” she told Gary Lemke. He got it right on Saturday!
“One other horse I have in training is a five-year-old gelding that’s come back from a significant suspensory injury. He is back in full training so he won’t be far off racing. I don’t think he will shoot the lights out, but he’s a lovely athletic horse. It will be lovely to see him back on course in the purple and gold.”
The purple and gold silks they race in were registered in Australia around 1960.
“My paternal grandfather Maurice Conway was a bookmaker and therefore couldn’t hold a training license, so his friend Tom White took up the licence to train Standardbreds in Victoria around 1960,” Kieswetter says of the origins.
“Tom was from a small place called Yaapeet, and together they chose purple and gold as they were the local football club’s colours. That club was always the heart of the remote, small farming town communities.
“People have moved away though these small towns have shrunk. Yaapeet, some 400km from Melbourne, has a current population of 75 people!
“But back in the day my grandfather purchased a stallion from America named Tarport Low to stand at their farm stud. My father then took over as a trainer. When I was in my 20’s we registered the family colours with the Victoria Racing Board and had a mare called Must You Go. She had two wins for us in the family silks and it was such a thrill. And now those family silks are in South Africa!”
