At the start of the 2024/5 racing season, trainers and jockeys are preparing to showcase their talents and gearing up for what lies ahead.
Charl Pretorius writes that the stage is set for an exhilarating season that will again captivate racing enthusiasts across the nation.
The industry is getting ready for another year of remarkable performances, fierce rivalries, and unforgettable moments on the track.
Justin Snaith, Mike de Kock and Sean Tarry have shared most of the National Trainers Titles between them over the last two decades, with Snaith claiming his fifth title on World Pool Gold Cup Day recently.
They have various individual goals in the new season.
Trainer Mike de Kock – an impressive career tally (Pic – Candiese Lenferna)
De Kock’s estimated career tally is 3765 winners (this includes his winners trained in other countries, but there is a local period between December 1988 and July 1989 for which statistics will be confirmed by the NHA).
Snaith has trained 3397 winners in just 24 seasons since he stared in 2000. Those figures are amazing considering the achievements of past masters like Ormond Ferraris (approximately 2,600 winners) and Terrance Millard (app. 2300), even bearing in mind that the legends of yesteryear had smaller strings and fewer race meetings.
If he trains for two more seasons, De Kock is likely to reach the milestone of 4000 winners first, but Snaith has some of his best years still ahead of him and at his terrific 24-year average of 141 winners per season, he will get to the 4000-mark well before the year 2030.
Justin Snaith aims to race overseas (Pic – 4Racing)
Snaith will be focusing on the major features this season, aiming to get his Grade 1 tally well up from its current 60.
He said: “I haven’t won near enough Grade 1 races. My three-year-olds are very strong and will make their names this summer. My aim was to race overseas but it seems that SAEHP are grounded so hopefully this will be sorted for my kids when they train one day.”
Sean Tarry – always a force to contend with (Pic – 4Racing)
The competitive Sean Tarry is always a force to contend with. On Gold Cup Day, Tarry launched a determined bid with his top runners to regain the title he last won in the 2019/20 season, but his late momentum was never going to be enough to overtake Snaith and he settled, like last year, for a respectable second place on the leaderboard.
Tarry commented: “Trying to win the title on the last big meeting of the season was like being 3-0 down in the last five minutes of a football game. We tried, we had some good runners and I was happy with their preparations. Things didn’t go as planned, that happens, but there were some notably good runs from horses like Legend of Arthur and Mrs Browning. My team and I are happy with our overall results, we’ve been in a rebuilding phase for the last few years after the retirement from racing of our major patron Chris van Niekerk, and we’ve done particularly well considering what was a big setback.”
Tarry added: “We are pleased and privileged to have a group of staunch patrons behind us again, including a few new owners who have just dipped their toes in the water. We’re set for a good new term with horses like Lucky Lad, Proceed, Cosmic Prince and Legend Of Arthur. My objective is always the same: to develop and maximise the career potential of every runner in my care.”
Mike de Kock saddled six Gr1 winners last season his best since 2015, and did so from training his smallest string since he started his career in 1989. Highlights were the successes of unbeaten filly Gimme A Nother and the hard-galloping gelding Dave The King.
De Kock said: “My string will remain limited in numbers in the new season, a boutique string of around 60 horses. We’ll have a presence in Gauteng and Durban and we’ll raid Cape Town. There are a few young runners that will come through the ranks in the Highveld spring and summer, but Dave The King will be the main arrow in our bow. He has developed into a high-class act. It’s hard to imagine him getting any better, but you never know. His aim will be the 2025 King’s Plate, with the Cape Met as an option thereafter.”
Candice Bass-Robinson – looking forward to this season (Pic – Chase Liebenberg)
Candice Bass-Robinson, fourth on the National Log in 2023/4, said that she was proud of having sent out four Grade 1 winners and several other notable feature winners that made up her tally of 84. “It was a fantastic season for the Bass Racing team. While we set goals at the start of the season, things often change as horses progress through the ranks. I’ve always dreamed of winning the L’Ormarins King’s Plate, and achieving that was a highlight. It remains a goal I’d love to accomplish again.
“We saw the retirements of out star runner Charles Dickens and the accomplished Trip Of Fortune, while Beach Bomb left to further her career abroad which left a gap at the top, and their firepower was sorely missed. Prior to that, I was sitting second on the log and I thought I had a small squeak at the trainers title this year, but this was sadly not to be. Besides stakes, any horse leaving is a sad event and I’m hoping their second careers are fruitful ones.
“I’m looking forward to the upcoming season with great anticipation. I’ll be aiming sprinters October Morn and Future Variety towards the Cape summer season, along with Red Palace, whose major goal is the Paddock Stakes. Among the younger crop, fillies like Roccapina and Symphony In White look like exciting prospects. Unfortunately, due to the inclement weather, many of my juveniles, now three-year-olds, are yet to race but I do have some nice up and coming three-year-olds. There’s much to look forward to in the season ahead.”
Tony Peter – 101 winners with a winning strike rate of 18.9% (Pic – 4Racing)
Unless there is proof to the contrary, Tony Peter (29) became the first trainer to saddle 100 winners in his first full season. He posted 101 winners for a winning strike rate of 18.9%, the highest in the land, and finished fifth on the log. He said: “I like to set goals for myself and mine for last season was 100 winners, so I just scraped through with 101 winners. I am blessed and grateful because it was quite a testing time, physically and mentally because of all the other matters I had to deal with aside from training horses. Those took their toll.
“This season I am changing my goals. I’d like to focus on enjoying racing again, enjoying the horse and the owner and my family. I want to do things a bit differently. Our feature horses are VJ’s Angel, who I think is top class, and the speedy Almond Sea, Pistol Pete and Taxi To The Moon. There are a few other nice youngsters that will hold their own, and among the older horses I think Money Heist will have a good season. He ran into the places on July day and Gold Cup Day when I felt he was unlucky. He’s a horse for a race like the Charity Mile. It’s going to be a nice season for us.”
In the Eastern Cape, Alan Greeff and Gavin Smith have dominated the scene for three decades, winning titles in alternate seasons. In the last 30 years, the only other trainer to have won the EP title was Gavin’s father Andy Smith in the season before he handed over his operation. Greeff won his 16th title in 2023/4 with 139 winners, beating his close rival by five winners.
Greeff, whose strike rate of 15.4% was one of the highest on the table, has always been modest about what has been akin to a conveyor belt delivering loads of multiple winners, year in and year out. He said: “We had a great season and hopefully there will be many more. My objective as always will be to train as many winners as possible, perhaps finding a few big races in Cape Town for my best runners to compete in, in December.”
Greeff said that his now three-year-olds, Three Rocks, Splicethemainbrace and My Best Shot are ones to watch in the new term, while now four-year-olds Luna Halo, Fairy Knight and Joy and Peace are likely to hold their own in older company.
He added: “Training is what I know, and love to do. It’s my life. I don’t need motivation going into every new season, I will continue while I am still enjoying it and training as many winners as I can. I had a chance to go to Newmarket in the UK and I attended the Derby, it was an eye-opener for me. I am lucky to have a base of wonderful and supportive owners and I really like getting runners from other centres, freshening them up and getting them winning.
“The other part of my job I love is going to the sales and selecting and buying young horses, then seeing how they develop into fully grown thoroughbreds, some of them become very capable. It’s a regular exercise that gets the eye trained and gives me lots of joy. The stable also gets fillies from breeders every year and the stock is replenished when they go to stud.”
Gareth van Zyl – looking to make an impact (Pic – Chase Liebenberg)
Up-and-coming Gareth van Zyl landed his third KZN Trainers Title with 63 winners and just over R6,7-million in gross stake earnings last season. Van Zyl has set his sights on being a consistent Top 5 trainer and has expressed ambitions of going all the way to the top.
He moved his own base to Cape Town in 2023 and his father Gavin van Zyl, manages the KZN operation from Summerveld.
Team Van Zyl’s objective is to maximise opportunities for their runners between two centres and while it has taken Gareth a while to settle in at Milnerton, they are geared to deliver excellent results in 2024/5.
Gareth van Zyl said: “I’ve learnt a few things about the facilities and the racing product in the Western Cape which will stand me in good stead this new term. We haven’t yet made the impact we wanted to in Cape Town, but with some good experience now behind us we are set to improve with several nice horses in the string, including Flag Man and Vihaan’s Pride. Durban remains our centre of strength, my dad’s doing a great job there.”
Richard Fourie celebrates another winner with Alan Greeff (Pic – Pauline Herman)
Bookmakers, Hollywoodbets, priced up earlier this week on the 2024/5 Jockeys Title, and the rampant Richard Fourie is not surprisingly odds-on at 8-10 to retain the crown.
Whether Fourie will have a crack at bettering his sensational 377 winners in a single season is unlikely and his agent, Ken Nicol, commented: “Richard will be defending his title, we have good stables behind us and this is an achievable goal.”
Fourie is serving a suspension and Nicol quipped: “Richard has taken a holiday in the Seychelles. I offered to go along to keep him company, or to carry his luggage, but he chose his partner Andrea instead. We’ll regroup when he returns and focus on the season ahead.”
Muzi Yeni – regular top five (Pic – 4Racing)
Regular Top Five jockey Muzi Yeni rode a career best 2015 winners in 2018/19 when he lost the National title by just three winners to Lyle Hewitson.
He finished second again last season, racking up 191 winners despite sitting on the bench for several weeks due to suspensions.
He said: “I know I am capable of riding 200 winners in a season, I’ve done it before. I don’t have a big stable behind me like Richard Fourie or Craig Zackey, but I will continue to work hard and try my best to pick up every available ride.”
Gavin Lerena – in the race for this season’s title (Pic – 4Racing)
Gavin Lerena enjoyed a competitive 2023/4 season with 177 winners and a 20.7% strike rate, third only to Fourie (22.9%) and Aldo Domeyer (21.1%).
Lerena said that he will be in the race for the title and that he will travel even more if he finds himself in contention with a few months to go. “I’d like to secure the best rides in Gauteng first. I am looking for as much support as possible and there are a few runners to watch in Joburg. One of them is Candice Dawson’s Truth, He is really good. He has a big stride and I don’t think he liked the tight turns at Greyville. Also, he was never drawn well.
“In Cape Town there is One Stripe, a wonderful horse with a great turn of foot. I got to sit on him last season and I hope to retain the ride. He is one to follow. I want to keep my strike rate high. If I get good opportunities outside of Gauteng, I will gladly take them, but I don’t want to be just a number.”
Craig Zackey will go in guns blazing (Pic – Candiese Lenferna)
Craig Zackey is another jockey who will ensure that Fourie doesn’t rest on his laurels.
Zackey, who rode 169 winners for a fourth place to Fourie in 2023/4, has declared himself a definite contender in the title race and said: “I am suspended until 18 August, but I will be back next week preparing for the new season. I want to go in guns blazing. If I can start the season like I finished the last one, I will have a title chance. I rode really well in the last four months and I want to build on that.”
Zackey will resume his association with Dean Kannemeyer and said: “We have good runners for the big races like The Real Prince, a young horse I really like, and Gimme’s Countess, who is a top filly. Gimme A Prince is doing well after his long break, I can’t wait for his return. We also have some fresh support from owner Fred Crabbia so we’re excited about our prospects,” he said.
