Harry’s Son – leads the Laff attack
Summerveld trainer Paul Lafferty will soon be opening a new chapter in his colourful life as he plans to open an international stable in Dubai.
The yard will have small beginnings, but Lafferty is partly inspired by the example set by Herman Brown, whose highly successful Dubai operation that ran for a number of years this century never had more than 15 or so horses.
Lafferty’s Gr 1-winning Equus champion Harry’s Son will be one of the founding members of the international stable. He and his team are also looking out for a quality international horse in training to accompany the Australian-bred colt. His Summerveld assistant trainer Roy Waugh has also been talking to a few international owners in the meantime in order to bolster the numbers.
Paul Lafferty – Meydan bound
Lafferty is gregarious by nature and has always been a team player. This distinguishing trait was honed during his years as a professional footballer with Durban City.
Current champion trainer Justin Snaith provides another example. Snaith’s main role is to train and take care of horses as all other duties required to run a successful yard are divided between the other expert members of his highly professional operation.
Lafferty already has an excellent team in place and for a small yard it is noticeable how often they send out feature race runners. He has had Gr 1 winners through Harry’s Son and Love Struck in both of the last two season’s as well as a Gr 1 third place through Admiral’s Eye.
Other horses to have flown the yard’s flag high in recent times have been the Gr 2 Gold Circle Oaks winner Goat, the Gr 3 Peninsula Handicap winner Pinero and the Gr 3 Southern Cross Stakes winner Oracle News.
Garibondy has won five
Besides Harry’s Son the yard currently have some useful types that include the Gr 3 Flamboyant Stakes runner up Goldie Coast, the five-time winner Garibondy, the up and coming three-year-old fillies Flying Loot and Pearl Emblem and consistent older horses like Auction King and Double Clutch.
Lafferty has loyal and dedicated staff. Head grooms Vusi Ndlovu and Paulos Ntali are two of the most important members as they have both been with the yard since it started out in 1987 and have become experts in horse care and nutrition.
Assistant trainer Waugh is a trainer in his own right having had a lot of success in the USA. Dereck Ramsay is the efficient behind-the-scenes member of the team and takes care of the yard’s financial, accounting and administrative duties and he has also developed the yard’s communication and social media outlets into polished processes.
Ramsay is one of Lafferty’s many staunch friends from his schooldays and runs a successful IT business. He did not get there without determination and is laying out the plans for the yard’s ambitious future with equal zest.
Friends Of Harry
Lafferty would not have done as well as he has done in recent times without this skilled and dedicated team behind him as he has built up Gary Playeresque air miles in staying close to his wife and daughters, Jan, Amy and Holly, who all live in the UK.
Behind Lafferty’s happy-go-lucky exterior is a highly committed father and the many hats he has worn in racing from training at Summerveld, to TV presenting, to directorship of Gold Circle, Chairmanship of the Trainer’s Association and at one stage having a successful satellite yard in Port Elizabeth have all been aimed at raising his profile and stakes in order to secure the future for his daughters.
His high profile helped him recently land the position of South African Ambassador to the Magic Millions Sales company in Australia, a role which has seen the many global friends and connections he has made over the years increase tenfold.
Being well known on the international scene means he will have already accomplished the first step towards his overseas ambitions.
Paul Lafferty – family man
His daughters have reaped the benefits of his and his wife’s dedication and Amy recently qualified Cum Laude at Oxford University, while Holly is currently headgirl at one of the top private school’s in England, St. John’s in Leatherhead.
Lafferty’s travels have sometimes been negatively perceived, but teamwork is what training is all about these days and the current team have all embraced his ambitious plans with keen anticipation.
Waugh helped Herman Brown set up a yard in Chantilly at the outset of his Dubai sojourn and spent time with him in Dubai for many seasons. This coupled with his experience of dirt tracks in the USA will see him taking to the current Dubai racing climate like a duck to water and he will be a natural as one of the new yard’s chief components. Therefore Lafferty will soon be looking for a Summerveld assistant trainer to replace Waugh.
Lafferty has never been short of energy and has a renowned sense of humour so it is a certainty that he will add a lot of colour to the Dubai racing scene.
www.goldcircle.co.za
