Kotzen Has Assembled A Powerful 3yo Team

By August 16, 2022Featured Article, SA Racing

Picture: Imposing Winning At Hollywoodbets Scottsville yesterday (Sunday) (Candiese Lenferna)

Glen Kotzen has confirmed  Cousin Casey will have a long term target of the Hollywoodbets Durban July.

The crack Vercingetorix colt, who is a certainty to receive the Equus Champion two-year-old colt award at the forthcoming Equus Awards on August 24, arrived back at Kotzen’s Woodhill Racing Estate on Saturday.

Horseman extraordinaire Kotzen has never been able to spend a lot at the sales, but his eye for a horse and astute knowledge of pedigrees sees him with a three-year-old crop in hand which will be able to compete with any yard in the country.

The latest to put up his hand was Imposing (Visionaire), who powered home to win a maiden over 1200m at Hollywoodbets Scottsville on Sunday by 2,90 lengths.

In his previous start in the Grade 2 Golden Horseshoe over 1400m he finished downfield. 

However, Kotzen has always believed him to be a “smart” horse who will blossom as he gets older.

A sign of his class was that Richard Fourie elected to ride him in the Golden Horseshoe ahead of Countdown.

Kotzen will aim Imposing at the Cape Guineas. 

Countdown is a promising colt by Gimmethegreenlight, who, after his 2,95 length seventh in the Golden Horseshoe, won a Juvenile Plate over 1600m on the Hollywoodbets poly by 5,50 lengths. He subsequently disappointed in the Grade 1 Premier’s Champion Stakes, although he had the widest draw of all. However, Kotzen will be giving him the gelding he believes he needs. He  will be a player in feature races this season too.

Another who will be gelded is Grinkov, who started joint favourite for the Golden Horseshoe, but disappointed both there and in the Champion Stakes, although he did have to overcome tough draws. 
 
Kotzen also has a high regard for Dowser, another classy gelding by the underrated sire Visionaire.
 
“He is seriously a top, top horse,” he said.
 
He proved it last time over 1800m on the poly, where he ran off an 88. He saw daylight late and then unwound a powerful run from a hopeless position to be beaten by only 1,65 lengths.
 
Another one he rates is Famous And Rich, yet another son of Visonaire. This gelding was selected by Jason Gates as one of his horses to follow for the season and he duly won his next start over 1800m to make it two wins in three starts. Kotzen pointed out it is no mean feat for a three-year-old to win an early season handicap running off an 84 merit rating. The form was franked today by Track Commander, whom Famous And Rich beat by 3,40 lengths.
 
Kotzen is also looking forward to the season of Grade 1 Thekwini Stakes fourth-placed Hold My Hand (Gold Standard), who will be aimed at the WSB Grade 1 Cape Fillies Guineas.
 
His Grade 2 Zulu Kingdom Explorer Golden Slipper winner Ameena (Quasillo), has recovered from the muscle injury which saw her scratched from the Thekwini and she will also be targeting the Cape Fillies Guineas.
 
Cousin Casey, meanwhile, won both the Golden Horseshoe and Champion Stakes in highly impressive fashion to add to his Listed Gatecrasher Stakes victory.
 
He has July horse written all over him and Kotzen said he would stick to the three-year-old events with him and attempt to get him into the big race with a nice weight.
 
He is out of a full sister to Kotzen’s July winner Big City Life (Casey Tibbs) and Kotzen pointed out his pedigree just keeps on getting better and better. He believes Casey Tibbs, who is by Sadler’s Wells, might have something to do with the class of the pedigree and the latter’s influence would also mean the descendants will get better as they go further. He added the third dam of Cousin Casey, Gran Moza (Arg) (Hard Fighter), was a full-sister to the good stallion who stood in South Africa, Hard Up (Arg), so was another source of class.
 
However, the chief name in the pedigree to get excited about is Vercingetorix, a boom stallion who is following in the footsteps of his father Silvano.
 
He might turn out to be even better than Silvano as his progeny seem to have more precocity and natural speed.
 
Silvano is the greatest July sire in history having now produced five winners of the big race.
 
What makes Cousin Casey’s success all the more satisfying is the Kotzen family bred Big City Life as well as his sisters, who are proving to be fine broodmares.
 
Glen will obviously be looking at lot 205 at the BSA August Sale, a Drakenstein Stud-bred Lancaster Bomber colt out of a full-sister to Big City Life, Cash Register. 
 
However, Glen pointed out he would probably be out of his price range considering the boost Cousin Casey has given to the pedigree.
 
He will also be looking at a chestnut filly by Twice Over, who is out of a half-sister to Big City Life called Dungeon Dragon (Dynasty).
 

The yard bought exceptionally well last year and will be hoping the feat is repeated.

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