Reigning SA Champion trainer Justin Snaith, who currently trails Turffontein titan Paul Peter on the national log, has conceded that his team are ‘just over the moon’ to be in the championship race.
Fighting talk again from Justin Snaith (Pic – Candiese Lenferna)
“It is really just a pipe dream if you are from the Western Cape. There is a lack of racing in Cape Town and the travel protocols make it harder and harder every year to bring horses into the Western Cape so we have to consider that every time we race somewhere else,” Justin told Gold Circle’s David Thiselton earlier this week.
Snaith will likely have a stronger hand than Peter in big races like the R5 million Hollywoodbets Durban July, the R1,25 million Hollywoodbets Gold Challenge, the R1 million Daily News 2000, the R1 million Garden Province Stakes and the R1 million Champions Cup, although Peter might have the upper-hand in the R1 million Mercury Sprint.
Snaith said Hollywoodbets’ injection of money into the stakes pots had been a ‘game changer’.
He told Thiselton that there was an 80% chance they would have otherwise gone to Joburg for their season.
He said the only part of the KZN stakes structure which did not suit an out of province yard was the amount for smaller features being not much more than the R100 000 stake for Maiden Plates.
On arrival at Summerveld on Sunday, Snaith said his main shipment of horses had appeared to have all travelled well, although he lamented the journey becoming longer and longer due to more robots and more traffic.
However, he added: “At least this year we have toilet paper and petrol!”, in reference to the impact of the looting and riots during the SA Champions Season last year.
Snaith had arrived later than usual and said owing to certain rules in place for gallops and the lack of a preparation event for some horses it made sense to get his horses 85% fit in Cape Town. He could then just put the finishing touches on in KZN.
Jet Dark – L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate winner (Pic – Chase Liebenberg)
He thus galloped a number of horses at Kenilworth last Wednesday including Jet Dark, Double Superlative, Pomp And Power, Hoedspruit, Warrior and Captain’s Ransom.
He galloped them in a clockwise direction to familiarise them with the right-hand tracks in KZN.
He will be conducting more gallops at Kenilworth this week and this will include former Durban July winner Belgarion, who will be working out with Pacaya.
Belgarion injured his leg for the second successive year in the July and hasn’t been seen since. He suffered a chipped fetlock and has recuperated well after an operation.
He will likely travel to KZN with a later shipment of horses, which might also include Pacaya.
Snaith said Equus Champion Sprinter Rio Querari might travel later too, but added it was unlikely. He added: “He was not moving as well as usual in the summer so we are giving him a break.”
Snaith said his Hollywoodbets Durban July horses would have varying routes into the big race, but he would have to carefully consider running any of them in the WSB 1900, because the clause which protected horses’ merit ratings had been removed.
The clause stated the winner could not be raised more than six points and placed horses could not be raised at all.
Belgarion – injury plagued (Pic – Candiese Lenferna)
it helped Belgarion win the July as a four-year-old in 2020 as he would likely have received more than six points for his three-length obliteration of the opposition in the WSB 1900.
Snaith said Jet Dark would go for the Drill Hall and Hollywoodbets Gold Challenge, and a decision would then be made on his July participation.
He said: “The July was always a no until the stake change. You would need to win five Gr1’s to make the same as winning a R5 million race. If you can get the 2000m of the Met, you can get the 2200m of the July. However, there is the other argument that Jet Dark won the L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate in a canter and three weeks later couldn’t beat the same horses – and the only difference was the distance. However, he is very well. Last year he came here on the back of an injury but I am happy with him this year.”
He said Captain’s Ransom might be taken to Hollywoodbets Scottsville for a gallop to see whether she has the speed there to take in the Gr1 SA Fillies Sprint before running in the Gold Challenge.
He said about Do It Again: “He is unbelievable, a freak, he is thriving and the only being who ages better than him is Dennis Drier.”
Snaith said Do It Again has been given a gallop to wake him up after his flat run in the Gr2 Glorious Goodwood Premier Trophy and he had subsequently been the fastest finisher in the Met.
Do It Again – described as a ‘freak’ (Pic – Candiese Lenferna)
He added: “He was unlucky in the July last year. He will probably take his place in the Gold Challenge because this might be his last season so it would be unfair on him to try and protect his July weight.”
He said Double Superlative and Pomp And Power would both go the traditional WSB Guineas, Daily News 2000 route into the July.
Warrior was his dark horse for the season and he elaborated: “He has run good races in Cape Town without looking well. If I can get him looking good here he could improve and is one for punters to watch out for.”
He said another under the radar horse to watch out for was the three-time winning three-year-old filly Silver Darling, whose chief target will likely be the Gr1 Woolavington 2000.
