Competition between operators in South Africa might have inadvertently led to a brighter outlook for the owner and breeder as they and their sponsors have driven stakes upward in order to attract the best horses to their respective jurisdictions.
SA Champion trainer Justin Snaith told Gold Circle’s David Thiselton that he doesn’t think we have been in a more positive situation for years.
Justin Snaith (Pic – Candiese Lenferna)
“We have gone through the hardest time ever in SA racing and the racing operators should be applauded for whatever they have had to do to pick up the pieces. Racing has been the winner at the end of the day.”
Towards the end of last year 4Racing announced a commitment to a total stakes increase from R186 million in 2021 to R207 million in 2022 and an announcement of handsome minimum stakes amounts for feature races.
Snaith said as a response to this commitment many Cape trainers had been set to take strings up to the Highveld at a time they would normally be travelling to KZN.
However, KZN then announced exciting stakes incentives at a glittering ceremony held on February 17 to announce a new Durban July sponsor.
Gold Circle announced Hollywoodbets as the new sponsor and the two entities, who have been working together for some time to improve racing in KZN, then jointly announced a July stake increase to a record-breaking R5 million.
The happy crowd at the Hollywoodbets Durban July announcement (Pic – Candiese Lenferna)
A further R13 million has been injected into minor races and feature races from 1 March – 31 August, meaning a total R16m boost to the KZN stakes pot.
KZN also announced that from 1 March until the end of May 2022 grooms would receive R2000 for each winning horse, an increase of R1000.
Snaith said the announcement by Gold Circle was sure to have attracted the attention of connections around the country.
He will be in KZN for the SA Champions Season, which he has supported every year for the past 22 years.
He said the only negative in SA racing at present remains the export situation and he reiterated:
“They would like me to send a horse to the USA but it takes me two weeks to get a horse from the Eastern Cape to Cape Town. They have to sit for two weeks in quarantine even if they return a negative PCR test. The horses we buy at the sales in other provinces will have to sit in quarantine halfway back to Cape Town before being allowed to go to their pre-racing centres. The question I have for the experts is, how is all of this seen to be ‘moving forward’.”
Pomp And Power (Richard Fourie) wins the Cape Derby (Pic – Chase Liebenberg)
Snaith labelled his Gr1 Jonsson Workwear Cape Derby winner Pomp And Power a ‘smart little horse’ and added: “He needed his first run back and hasn’t put a foot wrong since.”
He revealed he had battled to book a rider for the Derby and divulged that Richard Fourie’s agent had said he was waiting “to see what else he could get” when initially offered the ride and had only accepted some time later.
Richard Fourie (Pic – Candiese Lenferna)
Fourie was confident the son of Vercingetorix would stay and suggested a ‘happy bit’ to try and help him settle.
Fourie then surprised all and sundry by reining him back into midfield after a good break as everybody had expected him to lead. Pomp And Power proved himself to not be one-dimensional and ran on strongly in the straight to win easily.
He has only been given a 118 merit rating which will allow the connections an opportunity of targeting the Hollywoodbets Durban July by avoiding the classics and protecting his July weight. The route he takes is yet to be decided by the connections.
Snaith was disappointed by the well beaten third of the favourite Double Superlative and said, “His Met run seemed to have flattened him. It was tempting to go for the Derby, but maybe it was the wrong call.”
He predicted a big future for the runner up, the Adam Marcus-trained Universal who had to do it the hard way in front, and called him ‘impressive’.
- www.goldcircle.co.za
