Paul Reeves at work (Hamish Niven Photography)
The racing community can be an odd animal. We are at times fiercely separate and independent of one another, and at others, very much a family – with all the ups and downs that that entails!
One of the frequently stated reasons for newcomers either not staying for long, or alternatively giving us a skip altogether is that we can be a tricky bunch to get to know, nevermind join. It provides something of a dilemma in the current climate where racing desperately needs new blood in order to sustain itself. As such it is encouraging to see some new faces not only appear on the block, but starting to make some real inroads.
One such person is Milnerton-based trainer, Paul Reeves. On non-race days, Paul can be found at his yard, tucked just behind the starting stalls at the second entrance to the Milnerton training facility. At the races, he’s usually on the balcony having a cigarette. But you are guaranteed a cheeky grin and a chirp in his trademark staccato, before he rushes off to saddle his next horse.
Born in Bournemouth in 1967, Paul immigrated to Cape Town with his family at the age of 4. Although not from a horsey family, Paul remembers developing a passion for horses as early as 8 years old. He was lucky to comply with the size and weight requirements and applied to the Jockey Academy at the age of 14. His first ride was at Scottsville aboard a horse named Rum Punch for trainer Reginald Passmore. He found the winner’s enclosure on his 3rd try, aboard Tiffany Street over 1600m at Clairwood. Paul gives his trademark chuckle and says “I can’t explain the feeling but you never forget your first winner!”
Paul rode for 25 years, mainly based in Cape Town, but has ridden in Gauteng, Durban, Bloemfontein and Mauritius and mentions his rides aboard Pass The Line (winner of the Transvaal Juvenile Colts Stakes and the Summerhill Sires Stakes) as the wins people were most likely to remember. An early morning training gallop accident spelled the end of his riding career in 1999 and Paul hung up his riding boots.
Paul and his family bought a smallholding and spent a year spelling and prepping horses for the track. He also worked at the races, helping at the starting stalls. The family then decided to go abroad and Paul spent three years working for Newsells Park Stud in Hertfordshire, pre-training the stud’s horses for the likes of Sir Michael Stoute, Mark Johnson and Marco Botti.
However, South Africa is always home and in 2008, the Reeves were back. Paul did transport work for a year or so and then decided to take out his trainer’s license. “I always said I’d make a better trainer than a jockey!” he chuckles. Reeves Racing opened their doors in Philippi in 2009 and sent out their first runner that November.
Reeves Racing has been in business a little shy of 4 years now and Paul is turning up in the winner’s enclosure on a small, but steady basis. And that’s how their business is run. “We are a small, family-run yard. My wife Charlmain does the accounts and client liaison and she loves being around the horses. My eldest daughter Stacey is wonderful with animals and is an experienced veterinary nurse. She has been part of the team right from the beginning and joined the yard full time a few weeks ago. Our youngest daughter Claudia has recently finished school.”
The yard has 30 boxes and currently has a racing string of 10, with a similar number of 2yo’s that they are prepping.
“We are a small yard, so we don’t have any big owners. While there are advantages to having a major patron, there are also risks involved for a small business like ours. We have a small, diverse client base which gives us security and we like to think that everyone gets treated like a major client! When we go to the sales, I try to look at as many horses as possible. I earmark the ones I like that I think we can afford, and then I earmark the ones I like that I can’t afford.
“We chase the ones in our budget quite hard and we occasionally get lucky with one or two of the others. Obviously any yard would like to be full of top pedigrees, but we have to be realistic. We buy what we like and can afford, so we look at the individual rather than the catalogue page. Horses don’t know what they cost of course, but for the main part, we don’t have an expensive string, which makes it all the more fun when we do have success. While you can’t have the results without the horses, we think we get pretty fair results for what we have.”
Warm Welcome
Paul Reeves (Hamish Niven Photography)
The yard is aware of the economies involved and try to keep things as fun and hands on as possible. Clients visit frequently and there are regular get togethers at the yard. Whether it’s coffee, some of Stacey’s home baking or a skottel breakfast, there’s always a smile and a warm welcome. Racing is also a family event with the whole family often there to greet you in the parade ring.
“Every win is an exciting one and that’s what we’re all here for, but you can’t win every time. Ups and downs are part of the game, but we try and make the whole process as much fun as we can.” The team have also started raiding and with an extra set of hands on board, can now do a little travelling. They have a small string in Durban, recently finishing 4th in the Allan Robertson and Paul is proud of the fact that they were one of the first yards to cast their line in Kimberley.
“Each horse is different, right. We are fairly limited in Cape Town as we only have 2 turf tracks and both are on left hand bends. That works fine for some horses, but it doesn’t suit all of them. Some horses prefer a different surface, some are winter horses, some like firmer going. It’s all about working out what suits each horse. The first horse we sent to Kimberley was Magnolia Park. She won her first sand start by 6 lengths! We just raided to start with, but we now send quite a few horses to Sarel Smit.” The strategy has paid dividends and they recently clocked up 5 back to back wins with Code Red.
Code Red
Code Red runs in the colours of long-standing Cape owner, Paul Barrett who takes up the story. Paul is also an Englishman who retired to South Africa some 20 years ago. His first purchase was a horse from Hymie Maisel called Motorcade that he sent to Stan Elley. He jokes that at R20k it was one of the most expensive horses in the yard at the time. “I think it ran 7th once with Garth Puller,” he muses. “But that was the start of it.” He has enjoyed his fair share of success, most notably with Bucked Off, which ran 3rd in the Cape Derby before being sold abroad and racing with success all over the northern hemisphere.
He also owned the big race runner, Fabiani, who has recently retired from racing. Barrett met Reeves for the first time at a Kenilworth AGM when they were both having a cigarette break on the balcony. They got chatting and Barrett promised to try and send the young trainer a horse.
Reeves was prepping some of the Graham Beck dispersal draft and had taken a fancy to a striking Windrush colt. True to his word, Barrett purchased the horse and, as his new trainer liked the horse so much, sold him a half share.
Although the colt produced good work at home, he was not putting it together on the track and Barrett suggested sending the horse to Sarel Smit in Kimberley. “He’s a good horsemen. Not one of these modern trainers who wants to fiddle with everything. He believes if a horse has got what it takes, it will win on its own merits. Well, the rest is history! We have 5 wins on the trot and an exciting prospect for the future.”
He has a similar story with Mr Vindaloo (who some may remember was involved in that horrible collision with Chippendale 2 years ago). The horse was not himself after the accident and after a few disappointing starts in Port Elizabeth, he was dispatched to Kimberley. After a few weeks Sarel rang to say the horse was not quite right.
Barrett explained about the accident and figuring that Mr Vindaloo may well have become nervous of running behind another horse, they decided to adopt front-running tactics. It worked like a charm and Mr Vindaloo now has 4 wins and a host of place cheques to his name. In fact, the formula has worked for a number of his horses.
So why did he opt for a small yard? “To be honest, the element of fun has largely gone out of racing for the smaller owner. I own quite a few horses and do a bit of breeding. I’ve been in racing for 20-odd years now, but no-one knows who I am or greets me at the track. Reeves Racing is a family business. They’re nice people and they make the effort. I’ve been in the game for a long time and I love it, particularly when my son and grandson come racing with me. The main reason I’m still sticking with it is my grandson.
“He is a real wizard at anything to do with racing and often comes to the track with me – I call him my racing manager! I’ve got horses with bigger yards, but it’s nice to support a small trainer. We all went to Durban to see my filly Sea Cat run 4th in the Allan Robertson. I took some friends and made a trip out of it. We had a great time. And that’s what it should all be about really. It should give you something to look forward to. As they say, no man had ever topped himself with an unraced 2yo in his barn!”
