Picture: Charles Dickens winning the Gr 1 wfa L’Ormarins King’s Plate at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth on Saturday (Picture: Wayne Marks) 

Turf Talk

Charles Dickens’ syndication for stud was announced today and Kevin Sommerville, racing manager of Drakenstein Stud, revealed in mid-morning that the shares had all been taken already.

Such  is the demand for the superstar racehorse by the superstar sire Trippi, upon whose success the Champion Stud farm has been built.

Somerville’s letter to thoroughbred breeders and other interested parties read:

Morning,

Kind Regards Kevin 

Robin Bruss has compiled the first of a two part article about Trippi entitled “Trippi And The Search For Greatness” in the Sporting Post, which underlines how important a stallion he has been to South Africa.

CLICK HERE TO READ PART 1 OF ROBIN BRUSS’ ARTICLE ABOUT TRIPPI

Royal Aussie winning the Gold Rush last year (Picture: Wayne Marks)

Turf Talk

All eyes were on Charles Dickens and See It Again in the L’Ormarins King’s Plate on Saturday and therefore the fine performance of Royal Aussie in third place has not been given much credit.

The sectionals, kindly provided by Karel Miedema, show Royal Aussie to have actually accelerated quicker than Charles Dickens’ between the 600m and 350m mark.

In most races, horses slow down in the final 300m.

The horses that appear to be “flying” at the finish are usually just slowing down less than the others.

This is shown in the sectionals of the LKP, with Charles Dickens slowing down in the final 300m but not slowing down as much as the others.

The sectionals should not detract from the performance of Charles Dickens though: he was the most efficient racer in the field and won the race comfortably.

     

The question which must now be asked though is, will Royal Aussie stay the 2000m trip of the WSB Met?

If he does his current odds of 25/1 are too big.

His sire Royal Mo won a Gr 3 over 1700m and was third in the Gr 1 Santa Anita Derby over 1800m. Royal Mo only had six starts, so did not get much chance to show how far he stayed. However, his sire Uncle Mo appeared to be a miler.

Royal Aussie’s unraced Australian-bred dam Abelia is by the Fastnet Rock stallion Smart Missile, who won a Gr 3 over 1200m and was second in a Gr 1 over 1400m in a short career.

However, where there is hope is Abelia is out of a Zabeel mare called Lady Zabelia, who was imported to South Africa and won her maiden over 1800m on debut at Clairwood. She had two further wins, both over 1600m, in an eight race career and she was exported thereafter to Australia where she was still owned by Klawervlei Stud.

Lady Zabelia produced the twice Gr 2-winning speedster  Time For War (Snitzel), who became a sire, and a Listed winner over 1110m by Olympic Glory.

So there does look to be a lot of speed all around in the pedigree, although Zabeel is a major stamina influence and could help Royal Aussie get the Met trip.

Royal Mo has produced a winner over 1900m in the East Cape filly Josie Mo.

Royal Aussie does have a nice big action which will help over middle distances.

He does not strike as having a middle distance conformation though. The immediate impression he gives is of being a strongly built miler type.

He won the lucrative Gold Rush race over a mile last season and has never been tried beyond a mile.

All in all, backing him for the Met would be a bit risky.

However, he could one day become a Gr 1 winner over a mile.

Rachel Venniker after her first win as a fully fledged jockey (on the Stuart Ferrie-trained Fire Tonic (Wylie Hall) at Hollywoodbets Scottsville on Sunday) (Candiese Lenferna Photography)

Turf Talk

Rachel Venniker spoke of her pride in See It Again, on whom she does a lot of work, after his runner up finish in the L’Ormarins King’s Plate.

She is a fully fledged jockey now and said not much had changed other than the title of jockey vs apprentice, although she said she would be looking for an agent to help book her rides.

She said about the Michael Roberts-trained superstar See It Again, “I thought he ran a cracker, over a mile it was a brilliant run. He’s a ten furlong horse. Everybody was happy with the run and we are now looking forward to the Met.”

She said the Twice Over colt had come out of the race well.

On the transition from apprentice to jockey, she said, “The only difference is the label, from ‘apprentice’ to ‘jockey’, that is about it, everything still operates exactly the same. I have always done my own rides. However, I am going to be getting an agent. It makes life a lot easier. It is just to help with the organisation. It is such a mission if I’m riding out of province and the weights come out and you are trying to do scratchings, while getting on an aeroplane. It’s not easy.”

Rachel has had about 210 wins all in all, with the NHA stating she won 208 races as an apprentice, and she had one win as a workrider and has had one as a jockey.

She won her first race as a jockey at Hollywoodbets Scottsville on Sunday and said she had endured some frustration since, having had four second place finishes.

She enjoyed a purple patch over the holiday season with only her second ever winner in Cape Town on the 30th of December and then a double at Hollywoodbets Greyville on both New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. She has had a further two wins since then.

Picture: Lot 102 by Rafeef, the full-brother to Gr 1 winner Thunderstruck

Cape Racing Sales

Avontuur Thoroughbred Farm, situated beneath the Helderberg, is a quality producer of thoroughbreds. The stud was established around forty years ago by the late Tony Taberer, and his sons Michael and Philip sustain the legacy, with GM Pippa Mickleburgh still diligently running the operation.

Avontuur is a boutique farm with 25 mares and a specific focus on quality, not quantity. The stud typically features prominently on the winners to runner’s ratio, as well as high up on average earnings per runner (AEPR) stats.

The policy is to constantly upgrade by adding group winners from excellent bloodlines. This long-term approach, coupled with only sending these specially selected mares to outstanding sires, keeps Avontuur at the top of the industry.

They will have six representatives at the upcoming Cape Racing Sales CPYS ’24 to be staged 25 January at the CTICC.

The auction starts at 14h30, and soon thereafter Lot 5, Dreamworld by hugely exciting freshman sire, One World ex Dream de Ra, will go through the ring. The bay colt’s dam is a half-sister to Miss Frankel; the 2^nd dam Val de Ra was champion sprinter in SA in 2010/11 and third dam, Minelli produced top notch performers, Tevez, Cue the Music and Mitra.

Lot 5

Lot 102 will grab everybody’s attention (See Picture Above The Article Headline) – a Rafeef colt out of the Var mare, Varikate and thus a full brother to high-class, Thunderstruck who won the G1 Gold Medallion as a juvenile and has trained on to be one of SA’s premier sprinters. Nightrain will be receiving plenty of visitors beating a path to stable B32.

Thunderstruck

Lot 20, Glastonbury is by the same sire, out of the Gimmethegreenlight mare, Gimme London, with oodles of Black Type in evidence through renowned 3^rd dam, Secret Pact.

Lot 20

Shortly thereafter, Lot 24 will be sold. I’m Gorgeous is by Hawwaam out of Hannah Gorgeous, a three-quarter sister to Futura, HOTY in 2014/15 and now an emerging stallion.

Lot 24

Town Crier is listed as Lot 34. This William Longsword colt ex Kitco is a half-brother to Pray for Rain, a multiple winning sprinter placed at G1 level.

Lot 34

Zalatoris, a bay colt by Erik the Red out of Charisma comes near the end of the day’s proceedings as Lot 131. The sire, whose oldest progeny are yearlings, was a noted speedball. 2^nd dam, Fine Wood (by Fort Wood) produced G1 winning sprinter, Contador so there is speed on both sides. Going back even further, 4^th dam Lunar Lullaby threw legendary champ, 1988/89, HOTY Rolands Song.

Lot 131

Pippa Mickleburgh is the person to contact with any queries relating to the Avontuur draft. She’ll be onsite to show the yearlings; alternatively direct emails to stud@avontuurestate.co.za

ENDS 

For racing queries and sales queries, contact Justin Vermaak at justin@caperacing.co.za or Janine van Blerk at janine@caperacing.co.za  

Cape Racing Sales Social Media: 

Facebook: @caperacingsales

Instagram: @caperacingsales

Twitter: @CapeRacingSales

Website: www.caperacingsales.co.za

Cape Racing Social Media:  

Facebook: @CapeRacing1

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Website: www.caperacing.co.za

Picture: Without Question (Credit: Wayne Marks)

Without Question Appeals As Attractive Longshot For WSB Met

David Mollett

When it comes to big races, punters love to try and pick out a longshot to trouble the leading fancies and this month’s WSB Met is no exception. My stab at the Jan 27 race is the Snaith inmate, Without Question, who is a 33-1 chance and 99-25 a place with the sponsors.

We’re talking here about a horse who finished just two lengths behind See It Again in last season’s Daily News 2000 and was then the subject of huge support (backed down to 8-1) for the Hollywoodbets Durban July. Unfortunately, he flopped in that race beating only two home with no explanation forthcoming for that poor run.

Without Question ran in Saturday’s Anthonij Rupert Wine Premier’s Trophy and finished four lengths behind stablemates Mucho Dinero and Pacaya so why should he turn the tables in the Met?

The answer to that question is that the four year-old was having his second run since October.

Pacaya also failed to fire in the Durban July and finished just two places above Without Question, but he was 3,5kg better off than weight for age in comparison to Without Question in the July and now in the Met they meet on weight for age terms (although on Saturday in the Premier Trophy Pacaya was 1,5kg worse off with weight for age compared to Without Question and beat him by 3,80 lengths).

Prior to Saturday’s Premier’s Trophy, it looked as if Drakenstein had got the best of the deal with Mucho Dinero, selling the son of Twice Over to Nic Jonsson for R1,4 million. He got R267188 back with the Gr 2 win.

Mucho Dinero and Without Question met in last year’s Cape Derby where the former wasn’t sighted and Without Question finished third. The handicapper has now increased Mucho’s rating from 99 to 110 (so officially he will be 3,5kg under sufferance with Without Question in the Met, as the handicappers dropped the latter from 120 to 117).

Obviously, four wins in a row is proof that Justin Snaith has discovered the reason for Mucho Dinero’s poor Cape Derby effort and you can get 20-1 from World Sports Betting and 16-1 from Lance Michael for the Met.

Turf Talk editor, David Thiselton, makes an interesting point by stating the Hollywoodbets Durban July could be “on the agenda” for the four year-old.

In contrast to WSB, Lance Michael is offering 2-1 about Charles Dickens for the Met which suggests the shrewd Gauteng bookmaker feels the King’s Plate winner might not accept for the Cape’s biggest race.

This is where backing a longshot is so attractive – if Charles Dickens misses the race the prices of all of the Snaith trio of Mucho Dinero, Pacaya and Without Question will shorten markedly.

It appears Cousin Casey wont make the trip to the Cape which means the usual situation of me giving my money to Lance Michael (many times last year!) won’t happen on this occasion.

That leaves Mike De Kock’s five year-old, Safe Passage, as the 15-1 third favourite and you had to love the gelding’s Betway Summer Cup run when finishing second behind Royal Victory.

With 4-1 a place available about Without Question for the Met, we must now hope for a favourable draw and perhaps a tip or two in the UK to take doubles with the son of The United States.

October Morn impressed with her victory in the Gr 2 Cartier Sceptre Stakes, although the time for the event was actually slower than the Okapi International Ladies race surprisingly enough (Picture: Wayne Marks)

Turf Talk

Winning Form’s new website contains sectional timing information.

CLICK HERE TO GO ON TO THE SITE

You will have to register or you can use your Hollywoodbets login details to get access to the site.

At The Races website in the U.K provide sectional timing data.

CLICK HERE TO READ ABOUT GETTING THE MOST OUT OF THE AT THE RACES SECTIONAL TIMING DATA

The article also provided the below tips, and these tips could possibly be applied to the data available in SA and will otherwise give food for thought.

Look for things that are out of the ordinary
When looking at the sectional times grid, try to spot those instances that go against the overall trend of the race. Sections when a horse is going faster or slower than the rest of the field, for instance, can highlight horses that have made race winning or losing moves by going too fast, or giving away ground.

Pay particular attention to the Early pace
The early pace sets the tone for what will follow. Our Pace Bar is an overall indicator of how the race was run and the Early Pace indicator gives you an instant snapshot. We’ve pulled this element through into our form pages so that you can see what the early pace was like instantly.

Familiarise yourself with trends at different tracks
Races at certain tracks are often run in a familiar style. Over a mile and further at Lingfield, for instance, runners often steady the pace at halfway before quickening from 2f out, whilst races run at Southwell tend to be strong from the start leading to a slower finish. Knowing how races at these tracks tend to be run can highlight whether a horse’s running style is suited to it.

Look at the Sectional Tools as a whole
Generally, the Sectional Tools are a variety of ways of displaying the same information. They should help you to form an overall view about a horse’s performance but don’t read too much into just one single aspect.

Watch out for the flame icon in the Finishing Speed % column
The flame icon indicates horses that have finished particularly strongly off a weaker than ideal pace. In some races several horses will be highlighted but in others it will just be a single horse. Look out for horses that have performed well and earned a flame icon as they are probably better than the run indicates; a stronger pace is likely to suit such horses next time.

Inefficiency can be both a good and a bad thing
When a horse runs in an ‘inefficient’ style that is a strong indicator that it has more ability than the run suggests, provided it can race more efficiently. However, it is worth remembering that some horses will always struggle to run to their optimum. Try to figure out why the horse ran inefficiently – was it inexperience? Is the horse a ‘closer’ that didn’t get a strong enough early pace? Is the horse a front-runner that was taken on for the lead? When it next runs ask yourself if today’s conditions are likely to suit the horse better? Equally, respect horses that have a proven record of racing efficiently – they are the ones most likely to run to form.

Remember to watch the replay too
Sectional Times can tell us things that purely watching the video can’t, but that’s true in vice-versa too and they are best used alongside video replays. Start by looking at the sectional grid and try to get a picture of what happened in the race, then watch the race over knowing what you are looking out for.

NHA Press Release

Adv C F van der Merwe SC, leading practicing Senior Counsel at the Johannesburg Society of Advocates, was appointed to the National Board of The National Horseracing Authority of Southern Africa (“the NHA”) as an Independent Director in terms of Clause 15.1.1 of the Constitution on 14 October 2020.

He has today resigned as a Director of the NHA, including from all Committees, with immediate effect for personal reasons.

The Board of Directors of the NHA thanks Adv van der Merwe SC for his valuable contribution to the NHA during his tenure as a Director and wishes him every success in his future endeavours.

The Nominations Committee shall commence the process for the appointment of a Director to fill the vacancy.

 

Mr N Nalliah

Chairman

11 January 2023

Picture: And We Danced wins a thriller in last year’s Listed Lady’s Bracelet (Pauline Herman Photography)

LADY’S BRACELET

The five-year-old mare And We Danced (Sharon Kotzen Racing) will defend her title in the R150 000 Listed Lady’s Bracelet at Fairview on Friday (12/01/2024), writes Henk Steenkamp.

The Lady’s Bracelet for fillies and mares over 1600m is the feature event for the meeting planned for the Turf track.

It is race seven on the card and will jump at 16:15.

The three-year-old filly Luna Halo (Alan Greeff) has been priced up as the favourite. The Western Cape raider Gold Poker Game (Candice Bass-Robinson) is second on the betting boards, followed by And We Danced.

RECENT WINNERS

2023: And We Danced

2022: Chat Ching

2021: Sovereign Secret

2020: Dancing In Seattle

2019: Platinum Class

2018: Merysagos

2017: A Time to Dream

2016: Sea Cat

2015: Nonki Poo

2014: Star Jet

2013: Rush For John

2012: Sammy Jo

2011: Illumiere

2010: Tuvana Silva

Turncoat was a son of Folmar.

His first trainer was Mark Watters, who bought him for a relative tuppence. He won both of his starts for Watters as a juvenile, including the Gr 1 Cape Of Good Hope Nursery Futurity.

He was then bought into the Jean Heming yard by one of her big owners.

He started his three-year-old career in fine style but was then put up for auction.

On Herman Brown’s recommendation Chris Smith secured him at a sizeable price on behalf of Sangster.

Turncoat went on to win the Cape Guineas and later that year won the Gr 1 Mainstay International over 1800m at Clairwood, beating top horses like Bodrum, Rain Forest, Up The Creek, The Rutland Arms and Gondolier.

Brown said “He was nothing to look at as he was small and had one club foot. At first sight you wondered how he could run at all. He was the greatest freak of a horse I have ever known.”

Jockey Michael Roberts confirmed that Turncoat was a terrible mover in his slow gaits and would stumble virtually every second stride.