Justin Snaith
Champion trainer Justin Snaith will be starting a satellite operation in Johannesburg next May and has been allocated 28 boxes for the purpose. Snaith views the prospect as an advantage in many ways.
Firstly it will give him a base from which to target the big races in Johannesburg. Secondly, it will alleviate a problem of importing horses.
The arduous journey horses must undergo when being exported from South Africa, due to African Horse Sickness (AHS), has been viewed as one of the country’s biggest horseracing problems, but Cape Town trainers also face a problem importing. A direct flight to Cape Town solves the problem but can only be done at enormous expense.
The alternative route is via Johannesburg. Upon arriving horses have to be given AHS vaccinations and then complete one month of quarantine.A horse can only enter the Western Cape’s AHS Controlled zone 60 days after the last vaccine. Hence, it is usually about three months before an imported horse destined for the Cape can reach its destination.
The normal route is via Port Elizabeth, where horses need to stay for about two months. Snaith’s new yard should help alleviate this problem.
Marwing Moves
July runner-up Wylie Hall to race out of Ashburton
Another man on the move is Highveld trainer Weiho Marwing, who will be relocating to Ashburton training centre in KZN, from where he enjoyed much success during the Champions Season.
Marwing has been given 40 boxes and will likely move gradually over the next few months, as the Highveld Spring Season is just getting into full swing.
Meanwhile, Gary Rich is expecting to have his trainer’s licence officially renewed by next week. He has been allocated 20 boxes at Ashburton and currently has six horses there, with another two on the way and he will be attending the Ready To Run Sales in Johannesburg in an attempt to increase his numbers.
Gary is the son of Des, who trained the 1977 Durban July winner Lightning Shot. Gary had just left school at the time of Lightning Shot’s famous victory and was working for his father, although he started his national service the following week. Gary took over the reins from Des in 1989 and kept his license until the year 2002.
He then took up a position at the South African Jockey’s Academy as a riding master. He worked at the Summerveld Academy for three-and-a-half years before moving to Port Elizabeth, where he held a Riding Master and management position for another three-and-a-half years.
He then left in July 2009 to become the assistant to private KZN midlands trainer Adam Kethro. He was with Kethro until January this year. Rich said there had been “many highlights” in his career but none had yet matched Lightning Shot’s July win.
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