Aldo Domeyer’s ride on Charles Dickens in the Gr 1 wfa L’Ormarins King’s Plate is one of the nominations for Emperor’s Palace Ride Of The Month (Picture: Wayne Marks) 

Turf Talk have chosen five rides in January for the Emperor’s Palace Ride Of The Month competition.

Vote for one of the rides listed below and stand a chance to win a one night stay with breakfast at the Peermont Mondior Hotel at Emperor’s Palace.

To have a chance of winning submit your choice to editor@turftalk.co.za

An explanation of each ride is given acompanied by a video link.

When submitting, send the ride number of your choice and jockey’s name.

1. Aldo Domeyer, Charles Dickens, L’Ormarins King’s Plate. Charles Dickens was coming off a disappointing third in the Gr 2 WSB Green Point Stakes, the only time in his career he was out of the top two. However, Aldo had faith in his good friend and believed he was back to his best. He abandoned his original plan of placing him and told trainer Candice Bass-Robinson he was going to ride him as if he was “the old Charles”. He rode him accordingly, sitting on him in the early stages from draw seven and slotting him in to a one out position with cover backward of midfield. He was patient in the straight and made use of Charles Dickens’ renowned finishing burst at the 300m mark. His devastating turn of foot  quickly carried him into the lead and the Drakenstein Stud homebred Trippi colt went on to record a famous victory by 2,75 lengths to cap Gaynor Rupert’s “best day of my racing life.” CLICK HERE TO WATCH RIDE 1 

2. Daniel Muscutt, Double Superlative, WSB Cape Town Met Daniel became the first overseas-based rider to win Cape Town’s most famous race. He rode all of his Met day mounts before the big day and walked the course with trainer Justin Snaith ahead of the meeting, taking note of his advice on the going and how to ride the left-handed track. He rode the five-year-old Twice Over entire exactly how instructed. The horse had come back from a serious tendon injury and he conserved his energy perfectly in the running. He got a tow into the straight from the favourite See It Again and made a snap decision late in the race to switch inward instead of outward. He powered through a gap to win trainer Justin Snaith and owner Nick Jonsson their second Met together in succession. CLICK HERE TO WATCH RIDE 2

3. Piere Strydom, Banha Bridge, MR72 Handicap 1800m Vaal Classic The legendary jockey is renowned for his pace judgement and timing and in this race it was seen at its best. He got over from draw 8 to sit on the rail behind the pacemaker. He switched the Candice Dawson-trained seven-year-old gelding outward a long way from home as this allowed his mount to keep a rhythmical stride, rather than sitting behind a longshot pacemaker who was likely to fade. He was headed in the closing stages and looked likely to be swamped. However, as always, the wily Striker had left a little in reserve. Banha Bridge fought back to get up by a neck. CLICK HERE TO WATCH RIDE 3

4. Sean Veale, Great Cat, Cape B Stakes F&M 1200m Hollywoodbets Kenilworth. This was the first time Sean Veale was riding the Brett Crawford-trained Hollywood Syndicate-owned Dynasty filly, but he got the best out of her. In a classic boxer vs fighter contest she was the fighter as she has pace and carried a light weight, but does not have the class of some of the others who were in this contest. Veale was going to have to use her pace to get an advantage, but leave enough in reserve to keep the more classy closers at bay. He pinged the gates and allowed her to stride out behind the leading line. He timed his finishing run to perfection and a quintet of more fancied closers were unable to catch her. She held on by a head. Hall of fame jockey Michael Roberts’ judge of a good jockey is “one who is in the right place at the right time and wins races he shouldn’t have won.” Veale fulfilled those requirements in this race CLICK HERE TO WATCH RIDE 4

5. Serino Moodley, Silver Tudor, MR84 Handicap Turffontein Standside 1160m Moodley, in a field of ten, had a standside draw of ten, which is favourable by trends and he was on a talented Sean Tarry-trained individual, whose best career win had been over this course and distance. However, the Lance gelding had to carry a welter burder of 62kg and the outside rail can become crammed as jockeys try and seek the better going. Serino sat on his mount from the off which enabled him to get a tow from the good sort Dreamland. He received a bump when the inside drawn horses moved outward, but managed to hold his covered-up position. By the 400m mark the outside rail was crowded and there would have been nowhere for him to go. He made a snap decision to switch inward. Silver Tudor gave a little jump as Moodley switched him off the heels of the horse in front of him. Serino continued to sit on him and only pressed the button at the 300m mark. He managed to squeeze him through a gap at the 200m mark. He then extracted a strong finish from the topweight with rhythmical encouragement and minimal use of the whip. He got up by the shortest of short-heads. Not much went right for Silver Turdor but he still won. A fine ride. CLICK HERE TO WATCH RIDE 5

Dyce’s Gr 1 win brought a moment of unbridled joy for a couple of the Lucky Houdalakis yard’s employees (Picture: Wayne Marks)

Dyce -a First Grade One Winner For David Shawe And William Longsword

by Sarah Whitelaw

Klawervlei Stud’s homebred stallion William Longsword came up with his first Grade One winner when his son Dyce ran out a convincing winner of the G1 World Pool Cape Flying Championship at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth last Saturday.

In the process, Dyce provided his stalwart owner-breeder David Shawe with his first Grade One success in the Sport Of Kings. David first got into racing through his brother, who invited David to breakfast at Randjesfontein in 2013. During that visit, David was introduced to Geoff Woodruff, and later met Sharon Patterson -both of whom have played important roles in David’s racing career.

The first horse he was involved was the Var gelding Dirty Champagne, but David’s best horse, prior to Dyce, was the very classy Singapore Sling. The latter, a son of Philanthropist and the Western Winter mare Sing Dixie Sing, not only won the G2 Dingaans in 2016, but also enjoyed a hugely successful campaign in Hong Kong where Singapore Sling earned more than R35 million in prize money.

Another good horse raced by David was Al Danza (Captain Al -Jet Danza), with the latter winning 2018 Listed Jacaranda Handicap and finishing runner up in the G1 Empress Club Stakes in the same year.

Al Danza has a Gimmethegreenlight filly at foot, and she is back in foal to South Africa’s reigning champion sire.

David boards his breeding stock at Winterbach Stud, and when his yearlings are ready they get sent to Sharon Patterson  (at David’s house) to get broken in.  He had previously boarded at Sorrento Stud, where Dyce himself was broken in.

He purchased Dyce’s Galileo sired dam Beshaayir in foal to William Longsword, with David liking William Longsword after remembering his duels with his own star Singapore Sling.

The well related Beshaayir is currently in foal to Gimmethegreenlight, and has a two-year-old Lancaster Bomber two-year-old yet to be sent into training. Unfortunately Beshaayir’s three-year-old Itsybitsy Spider (by Lancaster Bomber) was injured in training and thus was unable to race. However, Itsybitsy Spider is now in foal to Erik The Red, like William Longsword a son of Captain Al.

Beshaayir also has a yearling full-brother to Dyce currently at Winterbach Stud.

Beshaayir’s outstanding son Dyce has had a star-crossed career, with the speedster having had two serious injuries during his career thus far. Described as a beast of a speciman, Dyce has, however, a wonderful temperament, with David saying the entire is like a lamb.

Dyce wins full of running on Saturday (Picture: Wayne Marks)

Stud plans are definitely on the cards for Dyce, but David and Lucky Houdalakis both feel as he is lightly raced there should be plenty more to come from him. David is keen for Dyce to target the Computaform Sprint following which he could be aimed at two G1 races in KwaZulu-Natal.

While Dyce might have been winning for a first time at the top level on Saturday, the entire had captured three black type races prior to landing the 2024 Cape Flying Championship with Dyce’s previous black type victories had come in the 2021 G2 Epol Umkhomazi Stakes, and this season’s G3 New Turf Carrier Merchants and Listed Golden Loom Handicap.

The five-year-old, who had been laid off for 15 months following his Umkhomazi win, hails from the first crop of his sire William Longsword, with the latter a very well bred son of outstanding sire Captain Al. Out of the Fort Wood mare Pagan Princess, herself a winning half-sister to three stakes winners including Dubai star and G1 sire Victory Moon (sired, like William Longsword’s own sire Captain Al, by Al Mufti), William Longsword is himself a full-brother to 2021 Listed World Sports Betting Sweet Chestnut Stakes winner Really Royal and half-brother to two other stakes winners.

William Longsword’s G1 South Africa Fillies Sprint/G3 Poinsettia Stakes winning half-sister Real Princess (by Trippi) has also done her bit to uphold the family’s honour. Not only is Real Princess herself the dam of dual G1 winner Gimme A Prince (by Gimmethegreenlight), her three-year-old son The Real Prince (a full-brother to Gimme A Prince) made a big impression when winning by two and a quarter lengths on debut.

Yet another member of this prolific family, Arabian Pearl (by Al Mufti), a half-sister to William Longsword’s dam Pagan Princess, herself made headlines last season when her son Future Pearl (by Futura) was crowned Equus Champion Stayer for 2022-2023.

William Longsword emulated his champion sire Captain Al by wining the G1 Cape Guineas. Trained, like his sire, by Vaughan Marshall, William Longsword made just eight starts but won six of them including the 2016 G1 Cape Guineas (beating inform sire Gold Standard into second place) and the same season’s The CTS 1600. The latter race saw the strapping bay account for a high-class field, with his beaten rivals headed by Singapore Sling and Janbooi, who went on to claim the 2018 The Hong Kong Classic Cup and 2018 G2 Zabeel Mile respectively when sent overseas, Equus Champion Just Sensual and 2018 G1 G-Bets Summer Cup winner Tilbury Fort.

Vaughan had the following to say about his former charge, “He just had fantastic ability and was a horse with great cruising speed. There was a lot of Captain about him in terms of his nature and zest for work, and he was up there with the best I have trained. He got his size from Fort Wood. I never got to the bottom of him, and feel he could have been a Met/July contender.”a

Retired to Klawervlei in 2017, William Longsword made a good impression with his first two-year-olds seeing him finish second, to Rafeef, on South Africa’s Leading First Season Sires premiership of 2020-2021, and he was also 11th on South Africa’s Leading 2YO Sires premiership for the same season.

His first 43 runner strong first crop has seen 30 winners emerge, with this tally headed by five black type horses. While Dyce has been the star of William Longsword’s first crop, this crop has also produced Listed Secretariat Stakes winner Bon Vivant, Listed Model Man Mile winner Hasta Manana, G2 Prosport International Debutante runner up Remember When and Safe Return. The latter finished a close up second in the 2021 Listed#Womeninracing Sophomore Sprint when beaten only by subsequent G2 World Sports Betting Guineas winner Zapatillas.

William Longsword’s second crop has produced four stakes winners and a further two stakes placed horses. Stars in this crop are the graded stakes winners Itsrainingwilliam (G3 World Sports Betting Legal Eagle Stakes) and Rulership (G3 Betway Lebelo Sprint), and stakes winners Lord William and Virginia Sweet. The smart performer Melech is another member of this crop.

His third crop, current three-year-olds, include the stakes placed trio of Ice Star, Tamil Tigress and Just Be Lekker, with the latter, runner up in the 2023 Cape Racing Sales The Ready To Run Stakes, having already earned more than R780 000 in prize money.

William Longsword, who had yearlings make up to R750 000 on the recent Cape Racing Premier Yearling Sale Powered By Tattersalls, has four lots on sale at the 2024 Cape Yearling Sale.

Champions Day at the Big T: Centre of the racing universe

The Championships and 4Racing dive into Hong Kong’s World Pool.

by Mike Moon (The Citizen)

The minds and money of millions of punters, in 28 countries around the world, will be focused on Joburg’s Turffontein Racecourse on Saturday 6 April, Champions Day, which has been chosen as a World Pool event by the Hong Kong Jockey Club.

Wagers on the first 10 races on the day’s card will be comingled into gigantic international pools by the HKJC, “generating unprecedented liquidity” and “a multimillion-dollar betting experience” according to Highveld racing operator 4Racing, which unveiled its 2024 The Championships season on Thursday.

Turffontein’s annual autumn feature season has been repackaged as The Championships, with particular marketing emphasis on four major race meetings – Guineas Day this Saturday, Classic Day on 2 March, Champions Day, and the Championships Finale on 27 April.

And the first three meetings also make up the Triple Crown and the Triple Tiara series for top three-year-old horses.

The HKJC has in recent years selected prestigious race meetings around the world for its increasingly popular World Pool initiative, with the Durban July and the Cape Town Met fixtures staging some comingled races.

The HKJC’s partnerships with, and financial support for, South African horseracing has been invaluable to a local industry still recovering from an existential crisis.

Michael Fitzsimons, executive director of wagering products of the HKJC, commented on the tie-up: “We’re delighted to be further strengthening our ties with South African racing this season, with the inclusion of Champions Day from Turffontein as a World Pool event for the first time, which will give customers from 28 countries the chance to bet on South African racing as well as access to unrivalled pools.

“World Pool’s involvement on Champions Day – part of the excellent 4Racing The Championships initiative – also seeks to raise the profile of a key race in the South African calendar and showcase high-quality action from an increasingly important racing jurisdiction.”

Racing CEO Fundi Sithebe said: “We are thrilled to present a season that not only showcases the peak of South African horseracing, but also delivers an unparalleled global experience for punters and racegoers.

“The inclusion of Champions Day as a World Pool event elevates the stakes and is an enticing opportunity for punters to engage like never before. We welcome the Hong Kong Jockey Club to this amazing season and look forward to a spectacular World Pool event.”

At the launch of The Championships at Randjesfontein training centre, a new punter competition was also unveiled, the TAB4Racing Champion of The Championships, with a R100,000 bonus prize for anyone who can top the leaderboard on all four days of the season.

The prize for the overall winner is R10,000, with R5,000 for second and R2,500 for third. To enter this competition, go to https://www.tab4racing.com/tabs/competitions/296

For information on 4Racing’s hospitality offerings, contact 011 681 1796 or email PennyM@4Racing.com

The Championships

Day 1: Guineas Day, 3 February

· Grade 2 TAB Gauteng Guineas (1600m)

· Grade 2 Wilgerbosdrift Gauteng Fillies Guineas (1600m)

Day 2: Classic Day, 2 March

· Grade 1 H F Oppenheimer Horse Chestnut Stakes (1600m)

· Grade 1 SA Classic (1800m)

· Grade 1 Wilgerbosdrift SA Fillies Classic (1800m)

· Grade 3 JJ The Jet Plane Stakes (1000m)

· Listed races: Acacia Stakes (1600m); Storm Bird Stakes(1000m); Ruffian Stakes (1000m)

Day 3: Champions Day, 6 April, World Pool event

· Grade 1 Premier’s Champions Challenge (2000m)

· Grade 1 Empress Club Stakes (1600m)

· Grade 1 SA Derby (2450m)

· Grade 1 Jonsson Workwear Computaform Sprint (1000m)

· Grade 2 races: Wilgerbosdrift SA Oaks (2450m); Hawaii Stakes (1400m); SA Nursery (1160m); SA Fillies Nursery (1160m)

· Listed Caradoc Gold Cup (2850m)

Day 4: The Championships Finale, 27 April

· Grade 2 Senor Santa Stakes (1160m)

· Grade 2 Colorado King Stakes (2000m)

· Grade 2 Camellia Stakes (1160m)

· Graded Igugu Stakes (2000m)

· Grade 3 races: Protea Stakes (1100m); Pretty Polly Stakes (1100m)

· Listed Gold Bowl – The Staying Championship (3200m)

St. Cloud has been selected to win race 7 (Pauline Herman Photography)

By Henk Steenkamp

The second half of the East Cape Racing season starts on Friday with a Fairview Turf meeting where the fillies and mares will be in the spotlight.

There is no feature race but amongst the eight races are some interesting clashes involving very capable fillies and mares.

One of these races is the Racehorse Owners Association (ROA) FM 96 Handicap over 1400m. It is race four at 14:25 and the first leg of the first Jackpot.

It is a smallish field of nine runners but there is quality on display. Pinnacle (Gavin Smith), Definitely Maybe (Alan Greeff) and Rose Of Bayeux should fight it out for the win.

Cheré For Me (Jacques Strydom), Sister Light, Easy Living (both Smith) and Chroniclesofnania (Tara Laing) are all capable of causing the upset and are horses to consider for your wider bets.

The meeting starts with a Maiden Plate for fillies and mares at 12:40. This race over 1000m looks like a little bit of a tricky start to the Bipot.

In the second race at 13:15 the fillies and mares are at it again in a Maiden Plate, this time over 1400m.

The Kelly Mitchley stable has a strong hand here in the first leg of the Place Accumulator with Sea Of Tears and Kitty Mo.

The Pick Six starts with race three at 13:50 with an Open Maiden over 1400m and the race does indeed look very open.

In the first three races ROA bonuses are up for grabs to add more spice to the contests.

They are followed by that first leg of the first Jackpot which could well be the race of the day.

In the first leg of the second Jackpot, race five at 15:00, some very speedy fillies and mares will tackle a FM 78 Handicap over 1000m.

The filly Rose For Trippi (Mitchley) and the mare European Summer (Emmanuel Kaknis) take on the boys over 1000m in the sixth race at 15:40. They must be included in all your bets, although it is a very competitive race.

Race seven is a Classified Stakes over 1900m and again there is a filly, this time St Cloud (Greeff), who has a good chance of beating the boys.

She gets the sex allowance of 2.5kgs and could fight it out for the win with the sixth-year-old gelding Ellis Island (Mitchley).

The eighth and last is always an open race at Fairview but Sequoia (Tara Laing) is a must for your bets.

Baffert has held the Kentucky Derby trophy often (Coady Photography via The Paulick Report)

View From The Eight Pole (Ray Paulick)

If the Churchill Downs ban on Bob Baffert means some of the best 3-year-olds in the country will not be competing in this year’s Kentucky Derby, it may be a hollow victory for the winner

Churchill Downs officials have gone all out to make this year’s 150th running of the Kentucky Derby a special one.

The iconic solid-gold winner’s trophy is all dressed up to commemorate this special renewal with nearly 400 diamonds, rubies and emeralds added to the design.

It’s really something to see.

What’s missing from the Derby trophy is an asterisk.

Bob Baffert, the most successful trainer in the modern era when it comes to the Derby and Triple Crown races, will not be participating for the third consecutive year. For the first time, his owners have opted not to transfer their best 3-year-olds to someone else to train up to the first Saturday in May.

That could mean this year’s Derby may be something of a hollow victory for the winning owner. If you claim to have the best horse, you’ve got to beat the best. That almost certainly won’t be the case if Baffert’s horses sit on the sidelines.

I won’t go into great detail on the long-running drama between Baffert and Churchill Downs Inc. officials that began a week after Medina Spirit won the 2021 Kentucky Derby, giving Baffert – for the moment – his seventh triumph in the race and passing the legendary Ben Jones as all-time leading Derby trainer.

After Medina Spirit tested positive for betamethasone and Baffert went on an ill-advised media tour proclaiming complete innocence, CDI imposed a two-year ban prohibiting the trainer from participating at any of the company’s racetracks. He also received a 90-day regulatory suspension from the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission that was reciprocated in all racing jurisdictions, along with a separate private property ban by the New York Racing Association. Medina Spirit, who would be dead seven months later, was stripped of his Derby victory.

When the CDI banishment was coming to an end, company officials extended it for at least another year, through calendar year 2024.

Meanwhile, Baffert and owner Amr Zedan fought the punishment tooth and nail in the courts. They lost at just about every turn.

At long last, Baffert said “no mas,” throwing in the towel on Jan. 22 with a social media post stating it was time to move on and “positively focus on the present and future that our great sport offers.”

That date, Jan. 22, was exactly one week before horses trained by Baffert would have had to be transferred to another barn in order to be eligible to earn qualifying points and run in the 150th Kentucky Derby. I’m sure the timing wasn’t a coincidence, but more of a Hail Mary pass in hopes that contrition by Baffert might earn a last-minute reprieve from the new rule.

CDI issued a quick response: This changes nothing.

CDI has been moving the goalposts on the punishment, making it more difficult each year for Baffert’s owners to get their horses into the Derby. Essentially, they were told this year, “If you want to run in the Derby, find someone else to train your horses from Jan. 29 until May 4.

The owners all decided to keep their horses with Baffert, and the trainer will undoubtedly be represented by multiple runners in races that offer qualifying points to the Derby for horses not trained by Bob Baffert. If Baffert-trained horses win some of the most important races – the Santa Anita Derby, Arkansas Derby, or Blue Grass Stakes, for example – their absence will diminish the field for this 150th Kentucky Derby.

I don’t have a lot of sympathy for either party. In my mind, Baffert is not a paragon of integrity, and I know that this isn’t the first time CDI has bullied someone.

But unless officials at CDI know something about Baffert the rest of us do not, this ongoing retribution is not a good look for Churchill Downs, the 150th running of America’s most famous horse race, or the sport itself.

That’s my view from the eighth pole.

On 21 July last year Emmanuel Kaknis won the first two races with horses he owns and trains, both ridden by Chase Maujean, and he had another double on September 1 this season (Pauline Herman Photography) 

Chance matings have sometimes produced great racehorses, although the hope of East Cape trainer Emmanuel Kaknis with his stallion Eviction is probably that he just produces competitive horses.

Kaknis bred Eviction, a son of Judpot out of Rich Man’s Gold mare Proud Polly, and he later trained him to win two races at Fairview, a maiden and a MR 82 Handicap for three-year-olds.

However, that is hardly a stallion-producing record.

Nevetheless, Eviction is a registered thoroughbred stallion.

And this Friday at Fairview he has three runners, all making their debuts in the second race, a Maiden Plate over 1000m.

Big Spender is a three-year-old filly out of a National Assembly mare, Carved In Stone is a four-year-old filly out of a Stronghold mare and Five Star Magic is a four-year-old filly out of a Tiger Ridge mare.

Unfortunately, Eviction did not make a good start to his stud career because his first runner Tornado King, who is out of a Silvano mare, finished last over 1000m on debut at the beginning of this month.

All of Eviction’s runners tomorrow are homebreds of Kaknis’ Five Star Stud and he trains all of them.

Eviction does not have a bad pedigree.

His twice-winning dam Proud Polly is a half-sister to two stakes placed horses and he is from the family of the like of Gr 1-winning champions Young Rake and Along Came Polly.

It will be intriguing to see if the experiment works and he produces competitive runners.

The likely aim of the excercise is the avoiding of the normal costs of buying or breeding runners and ending up with horses who are as competitive in a centre where there are plenty of races of a lesser class available.

Picture: The old combination of Muzi Yeni and Fanie Bronkhorst were successful in the last race at Vaal Classic today on Wylie Hall filly Cerulean Dancer and it clinched a double on the day for Bronkhorst (JC Photos)

Trainer Fanie Bronkhorst had a good day at Vaal Classic today with a double and  it was very nearly a treble as another of his runners was caught on the line.

All in all he had six runners today for two wins, a second, a third, a fith and a sixth, a good day at the office.

Bronkorst is on 20 wins for the season achieved at a strike rate of 5.80%.

Deep Impact and his son Contrail (Pictured above) completed the Japan Triple Crown in 2005 and 2022 respectively.