Isivunguvungu winning the Gr 1 Jonsson Workwear Computaform Sprint (Picture: Chase Liebenberg) 

Graham Motion To Train Isivunguvungu – Breeders Cup Is The Target

Make It Snappy On Her Way To Stand At Barnane Stud

Dual Gr 1-winning sprinter Isivunguvungu was on his way to Johannesburg today (Wednesday) and on March 5 leaves for America, where he will be trained for the Hollywood Syndicate by Graham Motion.

Meanwhile, Hollywood’s leased dual Gr 1 winner Make It Snappy has been retired and will be on the same flight as Isivunguvungu, although her eventual destination is the Kieswetter family’s Barnane Stud in Ireland.

The Hollywood Syndicate’s racing manager Anthony Delpech said, “They have to spend two months in quarantine in America. Isivunguvungu will then go to the trainer and start getting his fitness back. The aim is the Breeders Cup and he will have one or two runs before then. We will be able to see what level he is up to. It’s all part of learning.”

The former Peter Muscutt-trained Narrow Creek Stud-bred 130 merit-rated What A Winter gelding will stick to turf for the time being. It is the surface he is used to and it is also easier to beat the Americans on the turf as the competition over there is a lot stronger on the dirt.

Anthony revealed, “Mike de Kock helped us get Graham Motion. Mike has done this same trip before and I asked him for advice. He advised Graham Motion because Motion grew up in England and trains more in the English way. He is not hard on them and is a good turf trainer. The facility where he trains is also kinder on the horses’ legs … he has a very good track track there. All those little bits of advice help, especially when you are going somewhere where you have no idea … Mike’s been there and done that before.”

Graham Motion has had tremendous success in America, including four Breeders Cup wins, all on turf.

However, he has also won the Kentucky Derby and the Dubai World Cup on dirt with Animal Kingdom, a horse owned by Barry Irwin’s Team Valor International syndicate.

Graham operates out of Fair Hill Training Center in Northeast Maryland. He is represented by strings at Palm Meadows Training Center and Tampa Bay Downs in Florida each winter.

Isivunguvungu did not have the opportunity this season to clinch a third Gr 1, which had been his mission in Cape Town, after having to be scratched at the start of the World Pool Cape Flying Championship.

Anthony reveaed what happened in that devastatingly unlucky incident, “Apparently he got a fright from the drone that was behind the stalls and then jumped forward and was obviously going too fast so the handler turned him and he cut himself on the shoulder on the side of the gate. You’re prepared for the race you want to win and just one little thing going wrong as he’s going in and that’s the end of it … can you believe it.”

The Dynasty filly Make It Snappy was leased to Hollywood by her breeders Ridgemont. She gave Hollywood their first ever Gr 1 win last season in the WSB Cape Fillies Guineas and she followed up by winning the Gr 1 Cartier Paddock Stakes.

She was off for a year after running unplaced in the the WSB Met last year and after an unplaced run in the Gr 1 City Of Cape Town Majorca Stakes last month she has now been retired.

The Kieswetter family own both Ridgemont in South Africa and Barnane Stud in Ireland and the plan is to stand Make It Snappy at the latter stud.

Back In Business winning on debut in February last year (JC Photos)

Joe Soma has raised eyebrows before with some of his Gr 1 entries and has gone on to win with a couple of them, so his declaring of William Longsword four-year-old gelding Back In Business in the Gr 1 HF Oppenheimer Horse Chestnut Stakes should not be sneered at.

His most notable shock victory was Lobo’s Legend in the Gr 1 SA Classic over 1800m in 2018 as the horse had never run beyond 1200m before and in five career starts had only won a maiden plate. However, at odds of 36/1 he downed none other than Surcharge, who went on to win the Gr 1 Daily News 2000 and two years later won a Gr 1 in Australia.

Joe recalled, “I always believed Lobo’s Legend was good enough to win it. Wagner also won the Summer Cup … when we entered him everybody told us we were mad.”

Back In Business is merit rated 90 and in his six starts his three wins have been from 1160m to 1200m, so there are shades of Lobo’s Legend in his entry in to Saturday’s Gr 1 weight for age mile event.

Back In Business won his first two starts impressively.

Joe said, “I thought he was given a poor ride in his third start and we then gelded him and he won very well at the Vaal (over 1200m). We then had that incident behind the starting stalls (he bolted back to the parade ring with the jockey still on under controversial circumstances) He lost his confidence after that and I feel his confidence is now back. I had initially had this race as a long term target. So I have stuck to my original plan of going for this race. It is more hope than anything. He has a low merit rating, but I like to rate my own horses and the ability is there. His times (at home) are phenomenal. He is not the soundest of horses and we might as well take our chances now, because we might not get this chance again. If the horse runs well then we know its a good sign and we know how to place him from there and if he runs badly we can always hopefully come back and go to a weaker race. It is my belief in him, but it is hope anyway at the end of the day. But I believe there is no doubt he’s got the ability to compete with the best of them. Obviously Princess Calla is the horse to beat but can a horse keep going like she’s been going for the last three seasons? Take her out the race … there’s Winchester Mansion whose won a July and this is too short. The rest have mostly achieved their ratings from being placed in these big races. So that is the way I’ve read it, I’m not saying we will definitely be right there or not, but it’s just my own rating of him. Hopefully he can show me the ability he’s always shown me … times don’t lie and his times have always been unbelievable. He hasn’t been given great rides in his last few starts, he’s looking for the ground, no doubt, and we hoping for him to not disgrace himself.”

He added, “I train my horses and I don’t really worry about what people have got to say. It is what I see in the mornings and what I know of my horses. So I take my chances.”

He revealed, “At first I was disappointed with his last start, but after watching the replay over and over it showed me he has lost some of his speed, he’s looking for the ground.”

He said, “I’ve made mistakes before but you don’t remember those mistakes you made, you remember the winners you’ve had.”

Joe concluded, “I have always lived by this saying, ‘Faint heart never won fair lady.'”

Small yards go seasons without having a feature runner, but the small Joe Soma yard is an outlier in that they never seem to go a season without having a good horse or two.

Drakenstein’s new Irish-bred stallion A Case Of You is in transit and will be much sort after considering the current lack of top quality specialist sprint stallions.

A Case of You was the champion three-year-old sprinter in Ireland in 2021 and the champion older male sprinter in Ireland in 2022.

He won the Gr 1 Prix de l’Abbaye at Longchamp, a five furlong race which is known to need an ultra fast horse to win it. This race was also won by SA’s late stalwart speed stallion, Var.

A Case Of You also won the Gr 1 Al Quoz Sprint in Dubai, a race won by SA legend J J The Jet Plane.

As a two-year-old he won the Gr 3 Anglesey Stakes over 1300m.

He comes from a very fast sire line which starts with the legendary sire Mr Prospector, who was the top ramked sprinter in the USA in 1974 on the Daily Racing Form’s free handicap; Mr Prospector produced the  top class miler Gone West; who produced Zafonic, who won three Gr 1’s from six furlongs to seven furlongs as a two-year-old before winning the Gr 1 2000 Guineas as a three-year-old; Zafonic produced Iffraaj, who won three Gr 2’s over seven furlongs; Iffraaj produced Hot Streak, who won a Gr 3 at Ascot over five furlongs and a Gr 2 at Haydock over five furlongs.

A Case Of You is by Hot Streak. He stands at 16.2 hands and weighs 580kg.

South Africa has some fine sprinters at stud like What A Winter, Rafeef, Captain of All, Chimichuri Run, Eden Roc and Erik The Red.

However, what they need is a specialist sprint sire like Harry Hotspur or one who can be relied on to produce a plethora of quality speedsters like Var.

A Case Of You has been advertised as a successor to Var, who was a Euroopean Champion Sprinter. Var produced 12 Gr 1 winners and had at least one Gr 1 winner in 8 of his 16 crops.

Neil’s Cape Derby fancy duly arrived (Picture: Wayne Marks)

Colour is such an integral part of thoroughbred horseracing

Neil Andrews (The Citizen) (Written last week)

The colour green gets a bad rap in horseracing.

If racing was a game of Cluedo then Reverend Green would more often than not be guilty of murdering Dr. Black with any combination ranging from the candlestick in the conservatory to the lead piping in the library.

Green is bad luck they say. Whoever “they” might be.

I’m not superstitious so to me the whole suggestion is utter hogwash.

On Saturday I’ll be backing the ruling favourite in the SplashOut Cape Derby fully aware that when he wins all those superstitious souls will be Green With Envy.

Colour is such an integral part of the sport of thoroughbred racing and I remember well the hours and hours I spent as a child tracing and colouring in the racing silks of racehorse owners. Nostalgia led me to think about horses who have had a specific colour in their name and I decided to see how many different colours I could match-up with things associated with horseracing.

I began by considering some celebrated racehorses who had saluted in big races such as the Aintree Grand National steeplechase and the Durban July:

Red Rum (1973,1974 & 1977 Grand National)
Teal (1995 July)
Greys Inn (2004)
Black Cavier (2012 Ascot Diamond Jubilee & unbeaten in 25 career starts)
Silver Charm (1997 Kentucky Derby, 1997 Preakness & 1998 Dubai World Cup)
Gimmethegreenlight (2012 LÓrmarins Queen’s Plate)
Of course many of these champions were bred in the purple.

Although not specific to any given hue (not to be confused with Hugh Bowman), I allowed for the inclusion of Winning Colors (1998 Kentucky Derby and one of only three fillies to have ever won the race) and the South African race filly National Colour (2006 Computaform Sprint).

By now I was having so much fun I widened my poetic licence to allow for some more “colourful” combinations.

Imagine the transcendental trio of stallion Big Brown (2008 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Winner) being ridden by Sherman Brown and trained by either Herman Brown Snr of Jnr, or Gold Onyx being conditioned in Hong Kong by Dougie Whyte and partnered on the flat by Ruby Walsh.

Some of my favourite racehorses from the past obliged on an ever increasing list.

There was Scarlet Lady, Copper Parade (2014 Computaform Sprint) and Orange Parade. The last of which I seem to remember was trained by Ralph Rixon and who may have been a daughter of or related to the mare Lavender Bag.

There was a dead-heat for the crimson candidate between and Graham Beck’s colt Crimson Waves and Warne Rippon’s Crimson Palace.

I was knocking off colours nicely now. Three trainers helped: Buddy Maroun, Noelene Peech and Brian Cherry.

Remembering jockey Leslie Mustard, who won the 1977 Durban July aboard Lightening Shot, was an unexpected bonus.

Godolphin and Larry Nestadt took care of the colour blue while Jehan Malherbe will never forgive me if I don’t make mention of Ken McKenzie’s “Plum with a Green cap”.

I was on 22 colours and need two more to register two-dozen.

To find a meaningful association with velvet I had to revert back 80 years to a 1944 movie about my favourite race. Starring Mickey Rooney, Angela Lansbury and an adolescent Elizabeth Taylor, the film National Velvet won two Oscars and centred around a 12-year-old girl, Velvet Brown, winning The Grand National steeplechase on her own horse called Pie.

To cross the finishing line I employed some lateral thinking and risked a Stewards inquiry by amalgamating two Durban July winners Jamaican Music (1976) and Bush Telegraph (1987) and submitting Bert Amber-crombie.

Your objection is upheld.

In closing, whilst I am really looking forward to watching Green With Envy at Kenilworth on Saturday there’s one negative about being in Cape Town this weekend. My Senior Producer for European and International Football at SuperSport, Marcelle Jacobs, is herself off to greener pastures and I’m sad that I won’t be able to attend her farewell party.

Marcelle and I have worked together for 18 years. She was my producer for Monday Night Football with Terry Paine, Shaun Bartlett and Andre Arendse.

In addition to working together on multiple FIFA World Cups and Euro Championships she was the driving force behind the popular Euro-Connect show which I anchored every Friday with expert analysis from the likes of Rob Palmer (in England), Adriano Del Monte (Italy) and Paco Polit (Spain).

Marcelle is THAT good that she is joining Premier League Productions, IMG in the UK as a senior producer.

The cliche “nobody is irreplaceable” is oft quoted but Marcelle Jacobs leaving SuperSport will put that theory to test. She departs for England with love and best wishes from myself and my wife Hlohlo, accompanied with this short poem I penned.

“There once was a true talent at my work
To create TV magic with this star was a perk
It’s gonna be Hell
Coz we’ll all miss Marcelle
And her absence will drive me bezerk!”

Amber Rock had the dogs barking before her debut but was unfortunate to bump into Lucky Lad and she is ready to burn on  the Highveld after a maiden win in Cape Town (Picture: Wayne Marks)

The Turffontein Inside track hosts an intriguing ten race meeting today and the headliner is a Middle Stakes event over 1200m that forms the last leg of the Pick 6.

Amber Rock is much vaunted and from pole position off a merit rating she gained for a win in the strong centre of Cape Town she has a chance. She is second best in at the weights despite running off an 89 merit rating that she could leave behind in time. Tsar Bomba has a fair draw and has speed and class and is consistent. He is the joint best-weighted male in the line up and is officially just 1kg out with Amber Rock. Mount Pilatus is 2kg out with Amber Rock, but has not been disgraced against two potentially top class speedsters in I Am Giant and Time Fo Orchids in his last two starts. Silver Tudor would not be a surprise winner from a plum draw over an ideal trip. Suryvarman has talent and would have needed his last start. He could be going places, but does have a tough draw. Ice Star is the best weighted and has a good draw and is in fine form, so is another who would not be a surprise winner.

In the second leg of the Pick 6, a MR 90 for fillies and mares over 1600m, the Brett Crawford-trained Francis Ethel won second time out when leading from start to finish and as the runner up was the well regarded Kissing Machine, who won by 3,75 lengths next time out, she could be well handicapped running off an 81 and being just half-a-kilogram under sufferance. She has a fair draw of five out of nine and this Rafeef filly looks to have plenty of scope for improvement. Lady Fallon lacked extra in the closing stages over 1450m and that often means a horse is looking for further. Her best win was over this trip and the form of that race has worked out well, so she could so well from a plum draw. One of the horses who franked her form was Mary’s Greenlight. who won next time out over this trip and has since been tried in a Gr 3 and a Gr2. She has 6,50 lengths to make up on Lady Fallon and is only half-a-kilogram better off but she does now have a plum draw as opposed to a wide one in the latter race. Kwazzi’s Lady has not been in great form but a drop in trip might help. She is three points higher than her last win but is capable of a strong finish. Magical Flight thrashed Lady Fallon the last time they met, over 1600m on the Standside, so has to come into it and that brings Elembee into the race too. It is an open race and the three not mentioned, Bonika, Escape Artist and Gimmealight, are not out of it.

The next race is a MR 84 handicap over over 1800m and Blackberry Breeze is on the up and as he beat the promising Marauding Horde last time by a comfortable two lengths he could continue to progress off an 83 merit rating. He is drawn in pole and being by Silvano out of Woolavington 2000 third-placed Berry Blaze (Danehill Dancer) he should enjoy the step up in trip. Dubai Hills won easily last time when stepped up to this trip and from a fair draw could handle a five point raise because he beat a decent field. Noplacelikehome is a full brother to Zapatillas so could start progressing now after taking a while to win his maiden but he does have a tough draw.

In the seventh over 1800m Donna Mo looks capable of progressing off a 79 opening mark because although she took a while to win her maiden she often bumped good sorts. Her last defeat in the maidens was to Mid Winter Wind, who won off a 92 last time out. Donna Mo does have a tough draw though. Dimako’s Jet also has a tough draw. She caught the eye winning from a handy position last time out and will need some luck. Kudzu and Copper John are well drawn and are better than their last starts. The Inkosana is well drawn and is off a competitive mark.

The eighth over 1000m should see Out The Mist having a chance of following up from pole position. She opened up a big lead over course and distance when easily winning a workriders maiden and now has Piere Strydom up. She starts off a reasonable 77 merit rating. Lady Crusade is knocking hard and should make a bold bid from draw five and watch for another flying finish from In The Ether, although she does have to overcome a four point raise for her last win.

In the first leg of the Pick 6 Tyrconnel’s form has been franked and he should enjoy the step up in trip from a plum draw. Warhawk Bomber has thrived on the Highveld so could have more to come.Jury’s Out has shown promise and Lerena sticks with him. MK’s Dreams is well regarded and as a new recruit having his second run for Tony Peter he should make a bold bid from pole position over a step up in trip he will relish. Pocket Watch, Weather Wizard and Champion Warrior are others to consider.

The first leg of the PA is a classy Progress Plate and House Of Romanov can bounce back after being used as a pacemaker in the Gauteng Guineas last time. Jordan and Pyromaniac have the class to be contenders and Slinky Mapimpi, Home Of The Brave and Gimme A Shot also have class. Billy Bowlegs is proven against top class horses, but needs to bounce back.

Picture: Storm Brasco (JC Photos)

There are a trio of horses in the Hollywoodbets Durban July ante-post betting with the sponsor who look much better cadidates for victory than a lot of shorter priced horses in the market.

The first of them is Pathfork gelding Storm Brasco. He has the distinct advantage of being trained by Sean Tarry, who has won the big race twice and who is known for his expertise in getting horses prepared for big races. Storm Brasco’s sixth place finish in the Gr 2 TAB Gauteng Guineas is a lot better than it looked. He weas caught in the group at the back who were stuck behind Montien, who appeared unable to keep up with the pace, However, Storm Brasco displayed a nice big action in the straight and he stayed on very well. He did eyecatcjhjing late work and only just failed to catch Gimmeanotherchance, who had overtaken him earlier in the straight. Storm Brassco looks likely to relish middle distances and is good value from a good draw at 25’1 for Saturday’s TAB SA Classic.

The second horse is Barbaresco, who is by Gimmethegreenlight and like Storm Brasco is out of a Fort Wood mare. Barbaresco is out of the classy Negroamaro, who finished second in both the Gr 1 SA Fillies Classic and the Gr 1 Woolavington 2000. Barbaresco impressed in his last two starts, when narrowly beaten by Main Defender in a Gr 3 over 1400m when receiving just 2kg and he then easily won a 1600m handicap. He is still learning so has more to come.

The third one is the Fanie Bronkhorst-trained Pure Predator, who caught the eye staying on strongly in the Gr 3 Betway London News Stakes over 1800m on Turffontein Standside. HIs sire New Predator’s best performances were over a mile, but he is by Epsom Derby winner New Approach. Pure Predator’s dam is by Var, but she is out of the Gr 1 SA Fillies Classic winner Bambina Stripes.

Also at quite long odds, and also running in the SA Classic, is William Iron Arm, a long-strider who is on the up and should relish middle distances. He is now 25/1 having shortened in from an initial 50/1.

Another one who caught the eye staying on in the Gauteng Guineas was the Robbie Hill-trained Nvajo Nation. he has a July pedigree being by Galileo sire The United States out of an Ashaawes mare who won up to 2000m. He doesn’t appear in the July ant-post betting.

However, the 3YO who makes most appeal as a winner of the July is the impressive Gr 1 Splashout Cape Derby winner Green With Envy, who is a skinny 7/1.

The first five mentioned above are all running in the Gr 1 TAB SA Classic on Saturday at Turffontein Standside and willl shorten in the July betting if they run well there.

Kathy Kusner leaves the scales after the Rose Tree Ladies Plate in Pennsylvania

The exciting exploits of Rachel Venniker in Saudi Arabia included her competing against the New Zealand legend Lisa Allpress, who was the first woman to ride a winner in Saudia Arabia. This brought back memories to former stalwart trainer Willie Peters of the first  woman to ride a winner on a SA racecourse – his good friend Kathy Kusner and he sent a link to this great article which appeared in the Sporting Post in 2021.

 

Kathy rode at a meeting at Turffontein.

To make sure she had a winner on the day they put her on Full Go a horse trained by J.F. Coetzee. He looked a good thing and won easily.

 

Stewart Ramsay writes in the Sporting Post Mailbag that she then turned that into a double when, leading all the way, she won on a filly called Ten All for Henry Eatwell.

The next weekend she went down to Durban and won on Paddiwax for Hennie Coetzee and in the process broke the Greyville 1000m record.

All her wins in SA were in sprints in which she led all the way.

Her secret was that she sat very still and kept horses perfectly balanced – hence they galloped to their maximum ability.

Your readers may be interested in this feature on Kathy Kusner written by Anne Jamieson.

Kathy Kusner has gone where no woman has gone before. Her successful legal case in 1968 allowed her to become the first licensed woman jockey in the United States, opening up the sport, and many other sports, for all other women. Kathy had been racing in unrecognized flat and timber races since she was 16. Not only was she the first in this country, but she became the first licensed female jockey to ride in Mexico, Germany, Chile, Peru, Panama, South Africa, and what was at the time Rhodesia.

She was the first woman to ride in the Maryland Hunt Cup, known as the toughest timber race in the world, with fences reaching 4’10”, and uneven terrain. ABC TV filmed an award-winning documentary about the event.

In addition, Kathy, along with Mary Mairs Chapot, was the first woman to ride in international competition as a member of the United States show jumping team.

Named Horsewoman of the Year before joining the USET at 21, Kathy represented the United States in three Olympic Games: Tokyo in 1964, Mexico City in 1968, and Munich in 1972 (winning a Team Silver Medal there in Show Jumping aboard Fleet Apple, a descendant of Man O’War).  In addition she was a Pan American team member at both Sao Paulo in 1963, (winning Team Gold) and Winnipeg in 1967 (winning Team Silver on Untouchable).

Besides her victories as a member of the USET Team, Kathy was a consistent winner and leading rider at major national and international horse shows, and on two occasions was the leading international rider at Madison Square Garden. Some of her numerous victories include the Grand Prix of Dublin (twice), the French Championship, in La Baule, France, the Pre-Olympic Grand Prix of Rotterdam in The Netherlands, the Puissance in Aachen, Germany (twice: one year on Untouchable at 6’10” and the following year on Aberali at 7’2”, and in both cases in deep mud), the Grand Prix of Hickstead in England, the Grand Prix of Wiesbaden and of Wulfrath, both in Germany, the Grand Prix of Ostend in Belgium, and the Grand Prix of Lucerne in Switzerland.

Like many of us, Kathy always loved horses.

As a little kid she would search for horses in fields just so she could go in and pet them.

When she finally got her parents to agree to lessons, she began at the same place that would later train Joe Fargis: Jane Marshall Dillon’s Junior Equitation School in Vienna, Virginia. One of Kathy’s parents would drive her to the barn every weekend, where Kathy would receive lessons in exchange for her stable duty. And by learning to groom and braid, Kathy did whatever she could to be at the horse shows.

Although she and Joe weren’t there at the same time, they are now great friends and Kathy feels “It was a good place for both of us to get started.”

Horse dealers at the shows quickly recognized Kathy’s talent and asked her to ride for them. While Kathy got a foundation at Mrs. Dillon’s, she felt that the School of Equitation was “too safe.” Kathy craved more excitement.

She knew she could find it at the racetrack. A horse show in Culpeper, Virginia, included two days of racing along with their show and Kathy seized the opportunity.

The first race Kathy rode in at Culpeper was a “pony race.” She won the race on a “little bag of fur.” The other pony in the race was a small Thoroughbred type and Kathy tried to get the rider of that horse to switch mounts with her, offering him $1. He declined, so Kathy made the best of it and got all she could out of the “bag of fur.” There was “a lot of flailing involved” to get the pony to run, but Kathy’s persistence paid off with the win.

“I loved racehorses and rode in a lot of unrecognized races. I loved all of that.”

Yet she loved riding jumpers for the dealers as well. Riding for them was “rougher,” more of a challenge. Kathy ended up riding for the “best dealer in the country” at that time, Joe Green. Joe’s horses competed at all the top horse shows.

“He had really good horses, and one was the best horse in the country at the time…the jumper Windsor Castle!” Kathy competed on Windsor Castle, and was thrilled to ride such a fantastic horse.

The assignments continued. “The more you rode for people who have good horses, the more people with good horses ask you to ride for them too.

“I love riding that way, you didn’t know what the next day would bring. I rode anything and everything people asked me to ride.” Riding racehorses and jumpers at the same time, Kathy loved every minute of it.

At a show at Culpeper, Kathy was riding jumpers for a dealer named Chuck Ackerman, and one of them was a Thoroughbred named Aniboo. Kathy and Chuck decided to enter him in some races at the next Culpeper show.

“There was one race a day for two days; we entered him in both.” At this bush-league track, “There wasn’t even a starting gate; there was just a place where you lined up and started.”

The Culpeper track was dangerous. Along with roots running right over the track that could send a horse flying, drunk jockeys posed a major threat. “In the first race, a jockey assaulted the starter with a broken bottle; in the second one a jockey threw a brick at him,” Kathy recalls. To avoid the fray, Kathy planned to break on top to stay there as long as possible. It worked; Kathy lived through and won both races.

At the Pimlico Racetrack, Kathy worked approximately 18 horses every morning. Trainers would take them to “The Gap,” where she would be “thrown up on them.” She rode horses which were breezing (running hard for an eighth to a quarter of a mile), and  “workers,” which were running fast for half a mile or further.

Although she loved it, what she really wanted was to ride races in the afternoon. She’d been hoping another woman might get her jockey’s license, sparing Kathy the press attention she knew would accompany the first female jockey.

Yet at the time there was no path for a woman to get a jock’s license, and there were people at the track who never wanted it to happen. Even the girls who galloped the horses in the morning didn’t want her to get her license.

In 1964 the Civil Rights Act was passed, and a path appeared.

Kathy was riding in the mornings at Saratoga for the second year, and she thought, at the time, “If I’m going to do it, I better do it now.”

She told her boyfriend, Joe Aitcheson, “the best steeplechase rider in the country, and a great guy,” her plans. Joe suggested Kathy contact his first wife, lawyer Audrey Melbourne, whom Kathy had once met.

Joe said, “Audrey is a very good lawyer. She got me my divorce from my second wife. And she was my first wife.”

Kathy went to Audrey’s office, and told her “I want to get a jock’s license and I realize I need a lawyer. I have $1500 and I’d love to give it all to you if you would be my attorney.”

Audrey refused to take the money, explaining, “This will be a landmark case.” Kathy did “everything she told me to do, which included not going near the racetrack because something could go wrong, and that would be a problem for the case.’”

Kathy’s first step was to go to Fred Caldwell’s (the head of the Racing Commission) office at Pimlico to give him her application. Audrey had all the press there, including TV news, to record the event.

When Kathy tried to hand Mr. Caldwell the application, he refused to take it. In fact, as she approached him, he backed away from her, and continued to back away as she advanced.

It didn’t matter. Kathy placed the application on his desk, and left.

The whole episode was aired on TV that night.

It was a year later, after three meetings with the Racing Stewards, when Audrey said that it was finally time to go to a court of law. The judge (Judge Loveless) knew why they were there. He said, “Because of the Civil Rights Act, you cannot be denied from having a Jock’s license.”

Pounding his gavel, he said, “You now have a Jock’s license.”

Kathy thought, “Holy Cow! I can now have a jock’s license!

“And then I was actually riding in races at night at Dover Downs, Shenandoah Downs, Penn National, and Charlestown.”

Kathy cannot thank Audrey Melbourne enough for her help. “She was fantastic!” Kathy proclaims.

Kathy had a private pilot’s license at that point, and would rent a small plane to fly to some of the small tracks to compete. “I rode the worst horses and was covered with mud all the time, but I was thrilled to be there!”

In addition to now having her jock’s license, Kathy had been asked to train with the United States Equestrian Team.

Her best (and favorite) jumper was Untouchable, a Thoroughbred that her then boyfriend Ben O’Meara brought in from the Midwest. Untouchable was “an extraordinary jumper and was great! There was no horse better that I ever rode. I rode him in two Olympic Games.

“He was very, very hot but a wonderful horse. The best way to compete with him was to just have him walk lazily on the lunge line in the sun, and then I would get on him  and quietly walk him up to the ring and pick up a gallop, and jump the course. That was the best way to prepare him.

Kathy credits Nelson Pessoa for this warm-up technique. “He used it on Grand Geste; he would go into the ring and have a beautiful round. Nelson Pessoa’s great ride was part of the beauty…and the wins.”

Ben O’Meara’s sales barn became one of the top in the country, and as a result he had to spend a lot of time on planes. Because he didn’t enjoy flying commercially (“He would take a sleeping pill before they took off,” she remembers) he began taking flying lessons.”He enjoyed the lessons more than anything else he’d done,” says Kathy, and he encouraged her to take flying lessons as well, which he paid for.

In her usual style, Kathy went all in, getting her licenses in commercial, sea-plane, gliding, and multi-instrument, and becoming rated in the Lear Jet 23 and 24.

“I loved flying, any kind of flying!” she declares.

Ben was so taken with flying that he purchased his own plane, a P-51 fighter. Tragically, the plane crashed, killing him.

An enthusiastic runner, Kathy has competed in, and finished, 123 marathons and 73 ultramarathons, including 20 races of 50 miles or longer. “I ran over 200 of them,” she said, “and it was really fun!”

She finished the Vermont 100 Mile Endurance Race (for people, not horses) in 27 hours and 37 minutes. In addition she is an experienced scuba diver who has had the opportunity to dive some of the best waters in the world.

Kathy has accumulated an astounding number of awards, including Horsewoman of the Year (AHSA, 1960), being inducted into The Show Jumping Hall of Fame (1990), being named one of the 50 most influential horsemen of the 20th century by the Chronicle of the Horse and the AHSA (2000), being inducted into the Virginia Horse Shows Association Hall of Fame (2000), receiving the Pegasus Medal of Honor (2005) by the USEF, being inducted into the World Sports Humanitarian Hall of Fame (2005), receiving the John Henry “Pop” Lloyd Humanitarian Award (2012), being inducted into the California Professional Horseman’s Association Hall of Fame (2016), being put on the “Wall of Honor” at the Upperville Horse Show along with “High Noon” (2017), being inducted into the Brooklyn Museum (2017), and being inducted into the Washington International Horse Show Hall of Fame (2017).

She accomplished all of those titles without ever having a horse of her own.

For a few years Kathy worked as an equine “expert witness,” providing detailed information and education to judges, juries, and lawyers during all stages of legal proceedings.

She teaches clinics around the world (from France, Italy, and Spain to Zimbabwe, Peru, Iran, and Paraguay) and has been featured in television shows, books, and articles, as well as riding in the long shots for the movie “The Horse in the Grey Flannel Suit.” She and fellow jockey Julie Krone were the subjects in a segment of the Debbie Allen produced series “Cool Women.”

Kathy is founder and chairman of “Horses in the Hood,” a non-profit organization “benefiting the inner-city community by providing lessons that teach skills and values associated with the care and riding of horses.” Simply stated, it “gives people the opportunity to ride (correctly) who would otherwise never get the chance.”

Participants come from the South Central LA region of Watts and Compton, (infamous for the riots of 1965 and 1992). HHLA has so far hosted 1057 kids (the most recent figure) in their five-day horse camps at Mill Creek.

Campers on their first day receive a book, “Happy Horsemanship,” written by…the horse! They are also given a camera so they can take home pictures of their horse camp experience. They learn how to groom, tack up, and the fundamentals of riding, and the pure delight on their faces brings the organization’s motto―to teach and bring joy―to life.

“Horses in the Hood,” was created in response to experiences Kathy had in the schools she attended in segregated Virginia.

She hated it.  “I loved the grooms at the horse shows, they were my favourite people. But when we went to horse shows, they weren’t allowed to go into restaurants sometimes even to take out. A white person had to go in to buy food and bring it out to them.”

She thought to herself, “If there is any way I can say ‘I’m sorry’ to the black community who were treated that way at that time then I’m going to do it.”

When she moved to California, and was no longer competing on the circuit, she got her opportunity, and Horses in the Hood (which welcomes all people) was born.

While Kathy has won innumerable titles and awards, and accomplished many firsts, there is one moment in her life that stands out above the others: attending Barack Obama’s inauguration. That day, that occasion, she says, “was magical.”

Kathy’s life has been one of passionately pursuing her goals and dreams. “Horses have been huge in my life. I love them.”

Richard Fourie clinches his double on the Tienie Prinsloo-trained Red Ray mare Sting Ray (orange cap in the middle), who has now won six races (Candiese Lenferna Photography)

Richard Fourie was the only double scorer at the Hollywoodbets Greyville turf meeting today (Wednesday).

He goes to 192 wins for the season and has done it at a strike rate of 21.43%.

Anton Marcus was aboard the runner up Privilege when London News won the Gr 1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup at Sha Tin in Hong Kong in 1997.