Bernard Fayd’herbe (photo: hamishNIVENPhotography)
We get to watch and work with (and bet) on some extraordinary people – and horses. So much so, that I think we are occasionally in danger of taking them for granted, even when the evidence clearly reflects extraordinary feats or achievements.
Fortunately, sometimes life gives you a helping hand by producing something so startling that it is impossible to miss. Malcolm Gladwell wrote an excellent book on the subject, bringing the word ‘Outlier’ into the popular vernacular to define a value that lies outside most of the others in a set of data. One such thing was last weekend’s Cape Winter Series. Which brings me neatly to Bernard Fayd’herbe.
History maker – Pocket Power
I returned to South Africa towards the tail end of Pocket Power’s career, so figuring out the horse was something out of the ordinary was not exactly difficult. It afforded me the opportunity to watch Bernard, by then firmly established as Pocket Power’s 2IC, and follow his career progression. The effort has been well rewarded, not only because Bernard is bloody good at what he does (although that does make things easier), but because he’s so thoroughly professional and nice about it.
Therefore it is particularly fitting that having written history as a wide-eyed young rider aboard an even wider-eyed young horse named Pocket Power in the Cape Winter Series back in 2006, Bernard should be the one to become not only the first person to win the Winter Series, but the first person to win it twice, when he brought home African Night Sky in the 2017 Cape Winter Derby last Saturday.
Derby Triumph
African Night Sky runs his way into the history books
It seems ridiculous to feel proud of someone who has achieved far more in their short career than I ever will, but still, there it is. When I rang Bernard to congratulate him, he was in one of his playful moods. “It was good, hey?” Yes, it was good, I smile.
“It was always the plan to run him in the Winter Series,” he explains. “Obviously in the very beginning, before the series started, he’d always showed ability, but he was really difficult. When I came back from Dubai, I started riding him every single day. He’s quite highly strung and the main goal was to get him to relax. After working him for about a month, he started to relax and came good. You can see it in his racing, he settles nicely now, which is half the battle.”
Expressing surprise that the glorious son of Dynasty, who always seems so sweet and quiet in the post race proceedings can be difficult he exclaims, “His dam is a complete dill. Mike Sharkey is the only guy that can foal her down. They can’t even catch her in the paddock. There’s quite a story to her. So he’s got that side of him and can be temperamental, which is why he was gelded and in a way he’s a bit like Pocket Power. He’s got a mind of his own. But we’ve solved that now and he’s come good and is really enjoying his racing,” he says relishing the story, “You’ll see, in all his races, I’ve never used a stick on him. He tries so hard, I didn’t want him to get to the races and worry about anything.”
While it’s hard to draw comparisons with pretty much anything yet, Bernard says, “It’s the way he won that was so impressive. And at the end of the day, he’s only the second horse in history to win the series, so there must be a lot to it.” Asked how the race unfolded, Bernard says, “My main goal was just to get him to relax and breathe and save energy and he did exactly that. He had a lovely race. It was quite funny, at about the 1400m I had MJ on my inside. My horse was so nice and relaxed and breathing well (he does an impression to illustrate). MJ looked across and said, ‘Gee, that’s breathing fire. If he doesn’t win, then I don’t know,’ he chuckles. “He was going so well I thought, you know what, the going is on the inside, I think I’ll take my chances and go for an inside run. So I did. We went to the inside, and he ran away hands and heels – it was a really soft ride – and ran right the way through to the line. It was a really good win.”
Future plans?
“There’s a lot of hype about him. He’s got ability and will definitely be in the features next season. The way he won, and the way he progressed through those three races is as impressive as it gets. Normal horses don’t do that. He’s way above average.”
“It’s lovely for Ridgemont too,” he enthuses. “Geez, how lucky have they been? To sponsor the series and a horse that their farm breeds comes in and wins it and is only the second horse in history to do it. I think the Winter Series is a fantastic platform and in the next few years I think we’ll see something really special develop out of it.”
Comparing notes
“Going into that last race, as confident as I was riding this horse, riding Pocket, I was a lot more confident going into that last leg.” In 2006 did Pocket Power feel anything like the champion he would go on to be? “At the time, no,” says Bernard. “Pocket Power was never as progressive as this horse. When Pocket won the Winter Series, he was a very lanky, immature sort of horse, but he always showed that he was going to be too good for them. This one feels like a racehorse. He’s much more mature than Pocket Power at this stage of his career.”
Having made history in winning it once, what does it mean to win it a second time? “it’s obviously very special. You know how hard it is to win one race, never mind a whole series. The plan always was to win the series and equal Pocket Power’s record, but once I’d achieved it, it was just like ‘wow’. I couldn’t believe I’d done it again. Mr Bass saw me afterwards in the Highlands box and said, “You managed to find another good one!”
Bernard is proud of the work he’s put in, firstly in identifying African Night Sky as a horse with ability and secondly for nurturing the young horse and producing him to his potential. “It’s what keeps me going. That’s what gets me to work, to get on the young horses and stick with them. I love it. Half the problem is getting on them. Sticking with them is another problem,” he laughs.
Relationships
Bernard is either extraordinarily lucky, or has mastered the art of cultivating good working relationships, having come a long way with both Justin Snaith and Fred Crabbia. “Things seem to happen for a reason,” he muses. “Mr Crabbia was one of the first people to give me a break as an appy. Fred had a whole lot of horses that had to go to Singapore, but couldn’t get out of the country for some reason, so they went to Mike Stewart and Fred gave me all the rides. It was one of my stepping stones, so Fred Crabbia gave me one of my first big breaks. I went on from there to the Bass yard.” And that led to Pocket Power. So in a way, Bernard is repaying a long-standing debt.
July
Marinaresco carries top weight on Saturday
I can’t pass up the opportunity to ask him about the forthcoming July, in which he’ll be riding the smallest horse with the biggest weight, for the same stable and in the same silks that he wore in 2007. “Marinaresco is doing well. His last run was disappointing, no-one really knows what happened. I think everyone was a little lost and confused as to why he ran the way he did. I think it was just one of those things, horses do run bad races. It could have been the second run syndrome, because in his first run he was fresh over 1400m and he got up to win,” he muses. “They said I had him too handy in the Gold Challenge, but he was midfield. We came into the straight and instead of kicking on, he just ran no sort of race. It was a very confusing run. His gallop the other day was really good, so I’m just hoping it was the second run after a layoff syndrome and that he will be at his best in the July.”
Asked for his thoughts on this year’s race, he says, “Anything can win. Marinaresco has top weight, but he won’t be carrying any dead weight. I didn’t take any light rides on the day. I’ll be riding 58-60kgs, so it will be just me and the saddle. We’ve got to hope for a bit of luck in running and hopefully he’ll be there.”
