Master of his craft – Justin receives the EC Derby Trophy
Sunday, 12 May 2013. Fairview race track in Port Elizabeth provided the backdrop for a show of such unprecedented force that it has set a new South African record. The Snaith stable dominated the 10 race East Cape card, taking top honours in 7 of the day’s races, including the feature, the Recall Security East Cape Derby. I believe the previous record is 5.
To call the feat impressive is somewhat of an understatement. It was a show of supreme confidence and ability and executed with military precision and expert timing. I caught up with Jonathan Snaith to congratulate the stable on their tremendous achievement and to ask a few nosy questions.
How it all began
The Snaith name may be a prominent fixture on today’s racing scene, but things weren’t always that way. Robert Christopher Snaith (better known as Chris) grew up in Constantia and started riding at the age of 10. He enjoyed success in many disciplines, but excelled at jumping and had ambitions as a professional show-jumper. It was the days before horse whisperers, but having a natural touch with unsound and problem horses, Chris soon had a steady stream of fix ups coming to him for help. Unfortunately there’s not a lot of money in show-jumping, so in order to fund his competitive horses, Chris applied his talents to point to point racing and that’s how he made his first foray into racing.
He used to exercise his string on Muizenberg beach, using the medicinal properties of the Atlantic to get unsound horses back on track and it was on one of his daily excursions that he caught the eye of Laurie Jaffee. Mr Jaffee had heard that Chris was a decent horseman and decided to pay him a visit one day. He liked what he saw. It was the start of a long association and one of those pivotal events that would shape the rest of Chris and his family’s lives.
Jaffee originally sent Chris some Cape Hunt horses, but eventually encouraged him to take out his professional trainer’s license which he did in September 1974 at the tender age of 21. Establishing a racing string is never easy, but Chris built on his knowledge and experience on the Cape Hunt field and was remarkably innovative, sourcing horses from anywhere he could, even fishing retired horses out of the odd riding school ! Chris quickly built a name for hard work, honesty and horsemanship and as his stable grew, so did his list of winners. With his deft touch, he took on and turned around horses that other people had given up on. Iron Lamp was one such early success, but names such as Idris, Lurgan, Breeze Past, Corcovado, Spanish Lace and What A Beauty were frequent features on the pages of the racing press and Chris slowly built a solid and loyal client base, many of which are still with the yard today.
New Base
The family moved from Muizenberg to their current Philippi base 18 years ago. With Sue Snaith also a successful rider in her own right, the boys grew up on horseback and it was inevitable that they would become involved with the family business. Both were keen amateur jockeys and Jono relates that they both won races on the well-known High Profile. Justin still rides out with his string and is also an accomplished polo player in his spare time. 36 year old Justin (or more correctly Seamus Justin for those wondering what the S stands for) is the oldest of the two brothers, with 33 year old Jonathan (or Jacques Jonathan, named after Chris’s great friend, the late Jacques Malherbe) the youngest member of the Snaith family team.
Jono studied accountancy at UCT with visions of ultimately working for a financial institution like Investec or similar, but says ruefully “things didn’t quite work out that way.” When I ask why, he laughs and says “I started betting on horses!” When Chris took up the reins of Plattner Racing in August 2000, he left Justin and Jonathan in charge of the family business.
They had 19 horses between them. Justin was just 24 at the time and Jono 21, but Chris had given the boys a solid grounding. They sent out their first runner – Mr & Mrs Jaffee’s Park Lane – on 20 August 2000 and the filly broke her maiden smartly to win by 1 length.
Team Effort
Chris may be considered by some to be better with horses than people and Jono admits that PR is probably not his dad’s strongest point, but is quick to explain that a serious kick left his dad with a plate in his head and deaf in his left ear, so people easily mistake Chris for being stand-offish, when quite often he’s simply not able to hear them very well! These days Justin is the one we see and hear most frequently in TV interviews, but it very much an all-round team effort. “We are all very involved and we discuss everything. We go through the programme and the weights and we plan everything together.
We don’t have the big budgets of some yards, so we have to work that bit harder. We put in a lot of research and legwork and look at every single horse on every sale we go to. My mom has an incredible eye for conformation and my dad can spot the minutest problem, often way before anyone else.
Their input is invaluable.” With everyone adding their own unique insights and opinions, it is these combined talents that have made the Snaith stable such a formidable force.
Reputation
A good reputation can take years to build and mere seconds to tarnish and one of the earliest lessons Chris taught his sons was that in the horse business, your name is everything. They take theirs very seriously.
On top of a solid base of honesty and integrity, the two boys add fresh and innovative initiatives to make them stand out from the crowd. Our parade ring, results board and post-race interview are our industry shop windows and the brothers go all out to make the most of their public airtime. There are lots of little flourishes like the blue browbands bearing the wording ‘Snaith Racing’ and that lovely day sheet with all the social media information that we saw on Met day, but it’s not just superficial gloss.
I have commented before that the Snaith grooms stand out head and shoulders in the parade ring, always being neatly turned out in shirts, jackets and ties with a jaunty boater. Senior groom Cyprian is a personal favourite and always greets you with a warm smile and a handshake and loves being consulted about the day’s runners.
But all the grooms take pride in their work and it shows, with the Snaith runners almost always stand-outs on parade. In their turn, Justin and Jono are always well-prepared, neatly dressed and well-spoken and in all respects a credit to themselves and their team.
Derby Day
With bumper attendance figures on feature race days, these are a prime opportunity to really make an impact. While snappy slogans and clever ads are all well and good, for the most part the Snaiths let their horses do the talking. And they don’t speak louder or more clearly than a 7 race whitewash! Jono confirms that Derby Sunday was a carefully planned initiative.
“Those 7 winners weren’t a fluke. We scrutinised the card weeks ahead of time, we carefully evaluated our string and hand-picked our runners and riders to make sure it all came together on the day. We didn’t get lucky, we planned it that way!” Although there have been a few grumbles about their raid, it bears saying that the Snaiths are firm supporters of the East Coast centre and have been regular visitors for over a decade. In fact, of the 7 winners they sent out that Sunday, 4 had travelled from Cape Town, but 3 were in fact locally-based horses.
Without getting too far into controversial territory, Jono is of the opinion that competition is healthy and can only help elevate standards by driving people to work harder and do better.
Plus, he feels that their responsibility is to their clients and at the end of the day, there is nothing preventing any trainer from finding opportunities for their string in any centre where will be successful. In fact, one would think that that was rather the point. Looking to the future, Jono says that they are always looking for ways to change and improve, but they aim to keep their strike rate high and would love to win the trainer’s championship one day. But most of all, they strive to continue providing value and fun for their clients.
Strong customer focus
“Obviously we evaluate the horse and its work and offer our professional opinion, but we encourage our owners to be as involved as possible and they call the shots. It is their horse after all.
We also try and give owners as well as the public as much information as we can, either via the media or otherwise via our Facebook and Twitter feeds. We understand that our livelihood depends on our customers, but our industry depends on our punters and without our punters, there is no racing, so it is vital that we service these two sectors to the best of our ability. We don’t always get it right, obviously, but we do our best.”
I am a fan of business website Lead.co.za which recently posted an article listing some key marketing fundamentals. My favourites were “A customer is anyone whose actions affect your results. You don’t create your results, your customers do. Your brand is not what you say you are – it is what your customers think you are.”
It seems Team Snaith have a very firm grasp on these fundamentals. Obviously we all have different strengths and weaknesses, but it is interesting to see what one can do with a little ingenuity and some plain old fashioned elbow grease. Gary Player is famous for coining the phrase “The harder I work, the luckier I get” and while talent obviously helps, it is amazing how far one can get by simply working a bit harder than the next guy.
I once read a fun story that drives the point home very well. A famous concert pianist gave an interview in which he said he was constantly amazed by the fact that people seemed to think his talent and success was some sort of accident, rather than the product of the (rather more dull!) lifetime of dedication and constant practice. He eventually got a bit fed up and when yet another admirer approached him with the words ‘Oh, you play so beautifully, I would do anything to be able to play like you!’ the pianist replied “well how lucky for me that you never do!” Food for thought.
