Tarry Bullish Ahead Of Classic Day

Equus Horse Of The Year Princess Calla made it five Gr 1 victories in the Majorca Stakes last time out (Picture: Wayne Marks)

Sean Tarry had a Gr 1 win at the Turffontein Standside Classic meeting last year with Bless My Stars and his best chances of repeating the feat on Saturday is also with a female, Princess Calla.

The Gr 1 HF Oppenheimer Horse Chestnut Stakes has been moved forward this season from the SA Derby meeting to the Classic meeting and Tarry runs the Equus Horse Of The Year Princess Calla and also the live wire Cousin Casey.

He said about the six-year-old Flower Alley mare Princess Calla, , “I’m very happy with her, she’s doing well.”

She travelled up from Cape Town to Randjesfontein straight after winning the Gr 1 City Of Cape Town Majorca Stakes on WSB Cape Town Met day and jumps from draw five here under regular pilot Richard Fourie.

He said about Cousin Casey, who has a tough draw of 14 out of 14, and Grant van Niekerk is back aboard, “He is in good shape.”

About the draw being a concern for Cousin Casey, he said, “Yes and no, because from that draw you know you have to come from off them, it won’t be in between. You never want to be drawn badly, but he wouldn’t have used a good draw to sit up third or fourth because I would like him to come from off them.”

Cousin Casey should be cherry ripe and Tarry confirmed he had likely come on from his last start.

He concluded, “He is a runner, there’s no doubt about it.”

About the dangers to his pair, he said, “I always have healthy respect for the opposition in Gr 1s. Dave The King is having his second run after gelding and ran a great race last time. At My Command is another horse to respect. Main Defender has to prove himself over the distance but is obviously a very good horse. Puerto Manzano may want further.”

Princess Calla is the best in at the weights in the weight for age event, being merit rated the highest (127) and receiving a 2,5kg gender allowance.

She will be going for her sixth career Gr 1.

In the Gr 1 TAB SA Classic over 1800m, Tarry runs Hotarubi from draw seven under S’Manga Khumalo and Storm Brasco from draw four under Richard Fourie.

He said, “If Sandringham Summit sees out the distance then he obviously looks hard to beat, but it is a Gr 1 and my two are well prepared and are there to pick up the pieces if there are any chinks in his armour.”

Hotarubi had the run of the race from pole position in the Gr 2 TAB Gauteng Guineas and stayed on for a three length second to Sandringham Summit. He is by Vercingetorix out of a speedy Var mare who won five times from 1000m to 1400m. However, Sean believes he will stay and pointed out that he had won his maiden comfortably when going to the front over 1700m. However, he does have a much tougher draw than in the Guineas.

Tarry has put a pair of blinkers on Storm Brasco and said. “We have done it to help him focus in the early parts, he has been giving away too much start. He’s doing well, hopefully he is going to be a lot closer (in the running) and I expect him to get a lot closer (in the finish). He moves well, he’s a lovely horse, he’s improving and will probably be a top four-year-old.”

Tarry runs Let’s Go Now in the Gr 1 Wilgerbosdrift SA Fillies Classic over 1800m.

He said, “It’s a similar story … Gimme A Nother looks very hard to beat. Let’s Go Now is also running with blinkers to help her focus. She’s in a very good space and has had a great preparation.”

She is by Gimmethegreenlight out of Silvano mare Star Express, who won a Gr 3 over this trip and won up to 2000m. Tarry expects her to see out the trip.

He runs Silver Hills in the Listed Wilgerbosdrift Acacia Stakes over 1600m and said, “Not a great draw but we can ride her conservatively and she’ll be running on, but we are going to give start to horses who are decent front-runners. She’s well and she’s definitely got a chance, but we have to hope for the best coming from off them.”

In the second race, the Listed Storm Bird Stakes over 1000m, he runs first-timer Rondebosch, who is by Gimmethegreenlight out of Gr 1 Garden Province winner Redberry Lane (Western Winter).

He said, “I don’t know if he is up to it, we are going to find out. He’s a nice enough horse otherwise we wouldn’t have put him in. It’s hard to say he will match Pistol Pete for speed but at least we are getting a chunk of weight.”

He runs Winter In Africa in a Maiden over 1160m. She is a first-timer by What A Winter out of a Horse Chestnut mare who won twice over 1600m and 2400m and who is a half-sister to dual Summer Cup winner Deo Juvente.

Tarry said, “She’s a filly that I like but the penny hasn’t dropped and I think she’s going to come on a lot from the run and she is quite a temperamental horse. She will be thereabouts, I do expect a nice run.”

Hollywood Eye Cheltenham Glory With One Of Mullins Army

Il Etait Temps winning the Gr 1 Goffs Irish Arkle Novice Chase (via Hollywood Meta)

David Mollett

An army of 60 Willie Mullins horses will board the ferry for the annual trip to Cheltenham (March 12-15) and they will include the progressive novice chaser, Il Etait Temps, who will carry the hopes of the Hollywood Syndicate.

Owen Heffer and son, Devin, have had March 12 pencilled in their diaries for a while now and it’s the day their progressive novice chaser, Il Etait Temps, runs in the Arkle Trophy at the Gloucestershire track.

“We were there last year and it was an incredible experience. Being in the parade ring was really special,” enthused Devin this week.
“He’s been a great horse in picking up the pieces when the favourite falters, but we are aware that everyone lines up their charges for Cheltenham.”

“We will be happy for conditions similar to Leopardstown – that will suit and he can show his fighting qualities again.”

Any nerves? “Obviously I’ll be a bit nervous,” concluded the young man who is the Brand & Communications manager of the thriving Hollywood operation.

The other half of the Il Etait Temps ownership is the Kieswetter Bros well known as the owners of Ridgemont Stud in the Cape.

Craig Kieswetter was a top cricketer who played 71 times for England and the 36 year-old has no doubt that the horse is in the safest of hands.

Interviewed by the Sporting Life website in the UK, Craig stressed that Willie Mullins is unquestionably a master of his trade.

He said: “Willie is going to go down as one of the all time greats, but there is still plenty of life in the old dog yet. He’s probably along the lines of a Messi or Ronaldo or Schumacher – he’s a champion.”

“I have read articles questioning if it’s good for the industry that Willie is dominating, but at the end of the day he provides results and this is a results-based sport.”

Pat Mullins is Il Etait Temps (French for “It’s About Time”) regular pilot and he’s bullish about a big performance from his mount.

“I got a great feel out of him at Limerick behind Gaelic Warrior. I think I was going into the Dublin Racing Festival hoping the better ground might bring out some more of him too.”

“He’s quite a small horse so the heavy ground at Limerick made the fences very big but he still jumped very well on the day.”

Nevertheless, Michael O’Sullivan, the rider of the antepost favourite, Marine Nationale, believes he’ll be in the winners box.

“I think the Arkle will suit him. They’ll go a strong gallop, he’ll travel and I wouldn’t swop him for anything.”

The highlight of the meeting is Friday’s Gold Cup with tickets for Day Four of the festival sold out three weeks ago.

Willie Mullins has won three of the last five Gold Cups with Al Boum Photo (2019 and 2020) and Galop des Champs last year.

Galop des Champs is back to defend his title and Mullins is confident of another win. “He’s come out of his race in Leopardstown very well and I’m very happy. It’s going to be a tip-top Gold Cup, I think. We’re in great form.”

His main rival – and the big British hope – is Shishkin who bids to give 73 year-old trainer, Nick Henderson, his third Gold Cup triumph.

Shishkin has got a bit of a “naughty boy” reputation after refusing to start at Ascot and then falling in the King George at Kempton on Boxing Day. But he was back on track with a decisive win in the Denman Chase.

“Everyone knows that Cheltenham is the end of a year’s work really, if you are lucky enough to have those good horses.”

And is their a plan for Shishkin? “You’ve got to have a tactical plan and going into the race we invariarably will have one, but those often go out of the window after a furlong and you have to do something different.”

“We won’t be running Shishkin any different because of Galop des Champs – he’s going to do his thing and we’re going to do ours. I’m sure Willie will have his plan and we’ll have our plan. The jockeys will probably have a completely different plan and not listen to either of us!

Finally, Henderson slipped in a word about Doddiethegreat, a 20-1 chance for the Coral Cup. “He’d be my secret weapon.”

Doddiethegreat is named after Scottish rugby star, Doddie Weir, a household name in Scotland.

**********************************

It’s Classic Day at Turffontein on Saturday and punters are faced with the unusual situation of having odds on favourites in both the colts and fillies races.

Sandringham Summit is 6-10 for the TAB SA Classic and Gimme A Nother is 1-3 for the second leg of the Triple Tiara, the Wilgerbosdrift SA Fillies Classic.

However, I believe a possible way to make a profit is to take the exacta and swinger with Barbaresco in the Classic. Sandringham Summit to win from Barbaresco in the exacta and the swinger as a back-up bet of the two horses.

Barbaresco’s form includes a length second to Main Defender and there’s little doubt this Johan Janse van Vuuren inmate is on the upgrade.

Ryan Munger retains the ride and is drawn on the outside but right next to Sandringham Summit.

Fourie Projected Wins Now 330 - Delpech Comments on Record Bid

Richard Fourie is chasing jockey great Anthony Delpech’s famous record of 334 wins in a season and the pair were pictured in a candid moment at Hollywoodbets Greyville on Tuesday after Hollywood recorded a first ever four-timer with Fourie scoring on three of them (Candiese Lenferna Photography)

Richard Fourie’s projected number of winners for the season if keeping up both his number of rides per calendar-day rate and strike rate for the season has increased dramatically to 330.

This means that in order to reach the magical figure of 335, which will break Anthony Delpech’s record and earn him a million rand bonus from Hollywoodbets, he will just need to increase his strike rate slightly.

If keeping up a his current rides per calendar-day rate of slightly over 4,2, he will need to ride to a strike rate of 22.22% to get the 143 wins that will take him to a new record.

He has currently had 896 rides for 192 wins at a strike rate of 21.43%.

Of course, he could possibly increase his number of rides per calendar day rate in the remaining 153 days of the season to make his task easier.

Keagan de Melo was on 181 wins from 855 rides at this time last year achieved at a strike rate of 21.17%.

His projected number of wins at that stage was 311.

However, he ended up on only 277.

That just shows that with dry spells, injury or illness and suspensions always a possibility, it is hard to keep up the relentless accumulation of wins.

Anthony Delpech is watching the record attempt with interest and commented, “Richard’s going well at the moment. There’s a long way to go but he’s on target and he’s getting the choice of rides in Gqeberha where he is very strong and he’s strong in his home base of Cape Town and in Durban. When you’ve got that strong home base and you go to Gqeberha expecting two or three wins every meeting and two or three in Durban, it makes a huge difference.”

Fourie also goes to the Highveld for the odd meeting.

KZN is Fourie’s most prolific centre, interestingly enough.

His 192 wins have been made up of 64 in KZN at a strike rate of 25.91%, 61 in Gqeberha at 23.55%, 52 in the Western Cape at 19.12% and 15 on the Highveld at 12.71%.

Gimme A Nother Roll Of The Dyce At Turffontein

Picture: Gimme A Nother is on her way to super-stardom (JC Photos)

A few bankers beckon for Turffontein’s R5m Classic day Pick 6

Mike Moon (The Citizen)

There are red-hot favourites and then there’s Gimme A Nother.

Punters might normally be delighted to see their old foes, the bookmakers, fretting over a mere filly, but the problem is that the odds being posted alongside her name ahead of Saturday’s Wilgerbosdrift SA Fillies Guineas make it hardly worth the bother of placing a wager.

But, of course, she makes a handy banker choice for exotic bets, including a Pick 6 with an enticing predicted pool of R5-million.

The unbeaten Mauritzfontein starlet, trained by Mike de Kock, could be backed on Thursday at about 1-3 for the Grade 1 race, one of the marquee events at an action-packed Classic day – the second leg of The Championships series and of the Triples series.

So scared of Gimme A Nother are the pencillers, that they will give you a measly 5-10 on her scooping the Triple Tiara – meaning both the Fillies Classic and Leg 3 of the series, the SA Oaks. That’s odds on for two races, a month apart, against the best three-year-olds the country can muster.

If you think there’s a chance Gimme A Nother won’t pull this off and the Tiara won’t be won, you can place a bet at 11-10.

By comparison, top colt Sandringham Summit is at 14-10 to win the Triple Crown, with “no winner” a rather more conservative 7-20.

Many a Pick 6 player will be isolating both these stars. Fair enough. But there is yet another potential banker in the form of the sprinter Dyce – in the final leg, the TAB J J The Jet Plane Stakes over 1000m.

Trainer Lucky Houdalakis was the man who took the unforgettable “JJ” on his all-conquering campaign abroad. And he’s the man who’ll be saddling Dyce with an eye on serendipity.

After Dyce travelled to Cape Town recently and trounced the locals in the Flying Championship, Lucky was heard to murmur something about taking a gun to a knife fight. That’s how highly he rates this five-year-old, who has won relentlessly and become the country’s top-rated sprinter after overcoming early career injury problems.

Nominally the main event on the card is the Grade 1 Wilgerbosdrift HF Oppenheimer Horse Chestnut Stakes – one of the country’s premier mile contests.

Reigning Horse of the Year Princess Calla tops the boards, and rightly so as she is weighted to win comfortably.

But the mighty mare does take on some handy male rivals – notably Turffontein racecourse supremo Puerto Manzano, Cape raider At My Command and popular three-year-old Main Defender.

Pick 6 selection
1,2,3,8,9 x 3,4,5,7,8,9,10 x 1 x 1.3.10 x 1,2,4,7,11,13,14 x 1 (R735)

Khaya Stables Jockeys vs Workriders Race Is A Laudable Event

Bulelani Thwalani finished third in the Khaya Stables Work Riders and Jockey’s Championship Maiden Plate, but was first workrider home (Picture: Wayne Marks).

Written by Mark van Deventer (Cape Racing)

Lady Christine Laidlaw was obviously thrilled to win the Gr1 SplashOut Derby with hugely talented three-year-old GREEN WITH ENVY, but she also derived special satisfaction from staging and being the winning owner in the Khaya Stables Work Riders and Jockey’s Championship Maiden Plate.

Both her horses were ridden by Craig Zackey, a thoughtful and stylish rider with a penchant for delivering his mounts from off the pace with smooth finishing bursts. He came from way back on GREEN WITH ENVY, who lobbed along in a race run at a slow early pace, before becoming jet-propelled in the final 400m. That come home sectional went in a super-quick 22.45 seconds – quite an acceleration in a 2000m test, run in a drizzle on sticky ground.

Zackey pulled a similar tactical move, albeit at a humbler Maiden level with SPEED RACER. The Brett Crawford trained entry has been showing good speed then folding in the run to the line, so Zackey decided to conserve his energy for a better finish on Saturday.

The experienced William Bambiso (recent winner of the Hollywoodbets Work Rider Series) made a rare error by going too fast upfront on THE US OF A, which teed things up ideally for more patiently ridden rivals.

The US OF A’s premature exertions took their toll and he eventually weakened into fourth place. 25/1 outsider, APPROACH SHOT (Sean Veale) and WISSA’S ON FIRE (Bulelani Thwalani – first in of the Work Riders) also pounced when opportune but could not match SPEED RACER’s dash. The 8/10 odds on favourite, one of many top-of-the- boards runners to get the job done on a punitive day for bookies, drew off to win by a length.

The Work Riders and Jockeys, as well as the Hollywoodbets Work Rider Series, are both laudable initiatives. They give well-deserved exposure to unsung heroes in the racing game: the grooms / work riders who provide devoted care in working long hours with magnificent thoroughbreds.

Nearly all their dedicated efforts go on behind the scenes in the stables and on the training tracks – often under difficult circumstances. So, by giving the Work Riders a chance to shine in the limelight -, and pick up some tidy bonuses in the process – Khaya Stables provides sincere recognition for their pivotal contribution to horse racing.

The Khaya Stables Work Riders and Jockeys Championship Maiden Plate was the final race on the card at the SplashOut Seafood & Jazz Racing Festival at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth on 24 February.

Fourie Set For Double At Fairview

Jack Milner (Tab4Racing)

There look to be two really decent bankers on Friday’s Fairview card, and yes, they are both to be ridden by Richard Fourie.

Punters could do a lot worse than following Fourie these days and his liaison with trainer Alan Greeff has certainly reaped its rewards. In fact, of his 192 winners so far this season, 61 have come at Fairview and the vast majority have been for Greeff.

Today Fourie again has some good rides on the turf track with the best of them probably being Global Ally in Race 5, a MR 96 Handicap over 1400m, and Luna Halo in Race 7, the Listed Breeders Guineas over 1600m.

Fourie has an impressive record on both these animals as he won three times and been runner-up in his four other rides on Global Ally, and an even more impressive six from seven and a runner-up position aboard Luna Halo.

To add insult to injury the only time he has lost aboard Luna Halo was when there was a slipped saddle.

Jack Milner’s selections

Race 1: 8 Gold Quest, 4 Coral Blaze, 6 Eat Prey Love, 10 Million Reasons

Race 2: 16 Princess Hannah, 1 String Of Lights, 3 Sunset Roar, 2 Venetian Moonlight

Race 3: 5 On The Guest List, 6 Trip To Barberton, 4 Lady Writer, 1 Heartsease

Race 4: 5 Alado’s Pride, 4 Reach Forthe Stars, 13 Harold The Duke, 2 Africa’s Rock

Race 5: 2 Global Ally, 6 Slings And Arrows, 7 Transact, 5 The Mauritian

Race 6: 10 Wind Sock, 7 Charlie Malone, 1 Guerra, 4 Single File

Race 7: 1 Luna Halo, 2 Siddeley, 4 Public Benefit, 3 Joy And Peace

Race 8: 18 Holly’s View, 1 Lady Majorca, 3 Red Sash, 2 Global Lady

BEST BET

Race 7 No 1 Luna Halo

VALUE BET

Race 6 No 10 Wind Sock

BEST SWINGER

Race 7 1×2

BIPOT

R216

Leg 1: 4, 6, 8

Leg 2: 1, 16

Leg 3: 4, 5, 6

Leg 4: 2, 4, 5, 13

Leg 5: 2

Leg 6: 1, 7, 10

PLACE ACCUMULATOR

R216

Leg 1: 1, 16

Leg 2: 4, 5, 6

Leg 3: 4, 5, 13

Leg 4: 2

Leg 5: 1, 4, 7, 10

Leg 6: 1

Leg 7: 1, 3, 18

PICK 6

R1470

Leg 1: 1, 2, 4, 5, 6

Leg 2: 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 12, 13

Leg 3: 2

Leg 4: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 10

Leg 5: 1

Leg 6: 1, 2, 3, 15, 16, 18

JACKPOT 1

R49

Leg 1: 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 12, 13

Leg 2: 2

Leg 3: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 10

Leg 4: 1

JACKPOT 2

R42

Leg 1: 2

Leg 2: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 10

Leg 3: 1

Leg 4: 1, 2, 3, 15, 16, 18

Bloodlines: When The Herod Line Was King In America

Picture: Diomed (wikipedia)

Frank Mitchell (Paulick Report Dec 28, 2022)

The great proliferation of gray coloring in the Thoroughbred came through The Tetrarch, bred in Ireland by Edward Kennedy, who reportedly purchased Roi Herode because of a fascination with the Byerley Turk line through Herod.

Although that color line has remained in racing and breeding at the highest level, the Herod male line is now effectively lost. Yet in the 19th century, Herod was a major force in pedigrees in Europe, and in North America, the line was much more than that. The Herod line ruled in America through the first three-quarters of the 19th century and did so because of a single horse: The first winner of the Derby Stakes at Epsom, Diomed.

The chestnut son of Florizel (by Herod 1758) won 11 of his 20 starts and was unbeaten as a 3-year-old; so one of the peculiarities is why Diomed was so little esteemed as a sire in his homeland. Essentially, it was fashion. The horse trained off near the end of his 4-year-old season, did not start at five, and won only a single race at four-mile heats as a 6-year-old. With his great victories years before, Diomed did not prove popular among breeders in England, and in 1798, Sir Charles Bunbury, who had raced the horse, sold Diomed for 50 guineas to a pair of horse traders.

Those sharp lads then resold the old boy, at age 21, to the Virginians Col. John Hoomes and John Tayloe for about 20 times what the savvy buyers had paid and exported him to Virginia. This would be the end of the line for an older stallion, right?

Not for Diomed.

He remade the Herod line in America with one successful racehorse and sire after another, and Diomed was the most celebrated horse in the former colonies when he died 10 years later in 1808 at age 31.

Diomed’s most famous racers included Ball’s Florizel, Stump-the-Dealer, Duroc, Haynie’s Maria, and Sir Archy. The latter, a foal of 1805, was beginning his racing career when his famous sire died, and the bay son became the greatest four-mile heat racer of his day. This latter point may be an indication of why Diomed fared better in America than in England.

The old country had switched its racing program very substantially to “dash” racing, a single run down the course rather than the old-style heats, with the winner being determined by the best two out of three heats on the same afternoon. This was not a game for infants, and heat racers were frequently six, eight, or 10. They had to be hardy and game. And mature.

Here in the States, the fashion for dashes was still decades in the future. The great plantation owners and breeders of racehorses were willing to sift through dozens of colts to come up with the one or two who could stand the training and racing required to stand up to this old-fashioned manner of sport.

Waiting for a colt to grow up and harden off to stand the rigors of this racing was much more acceptable to the riotously wealthy planters of cotton and tobacco than to businessmen thinking of investments and potential return. And it would appear that the Diomed stock suited this program to a startling degree; Diomed himself had scored his final victory at four-mile heats. Despite possessing speed and fairly early maturity, he got stock that matured and improved well. Sir Archy, for instance, did not come to his best form until he was four and racing the long heats.

Then, what a surprise that Sir Archy’s stock could run to form in heats or dashes.

Still, most of the racing remained focused on heats, especially at three and four miles, and one of Sir Archy’s best sons, Timoleon, sired the greatest American heat racer, a bright chestnut horse named Boston.

Inbred to Diomed 3×3 through Sir Archy and broodmare sire Ball’s Florizel, Boston was named for a card game, not the city in Massachusetts, and maybe that was a good thing because Boston was a very bad boy. He was so hard to handle and train early on that one famous recommendation that has been handed down was that Boston should “be either castrated or shot, preferably the latter.”

Had either unfortunate suggestion been followed, it would have changed the course of American racing and breeding for the worse.

Cooler heads and quieter hands prevailed, Boston yielded sufficiently to careful handling, and the red colt became a racer. He lost his debut at three due to greenness, but continued unbeaten thereafter until he was six. Typically, Boston raced up and down the East Coast at courses in New York, New Jersey, Maryland, and Virginia, rarely racing at the same course twice in succession.

At age eight in 1841 and again at nine, Boston began covering mares in the late spring and summer months, while racing in the early spring and fall. Returned to racing at 10 in 1843, Boston won his final start and retired with a record of 40 victories (not heats) from 45 races.

If a tougher racehorse ever lived, I wouldn’t want to eat him.

Boston sired high-class racers from the start, although we don’t see any of his sons and daughters on the lists as winners of America’s classics. None of those races existed yet.

By the late 1840s, Boston had gone blind and had declined significantly in health, quite possibly as a result of his blindness. On Jan. 31, 1850, Boston was found dead in his stall, age 17.

The old champion became the leading sire in America in 1851-53, and in his last crop, foals of 1850, were two sons of the highest merit, Lecompte and Lexington. Boston was elected to the National Museum of Racing’s Hall of Fame at its inception in 1955.

Through the accomplishments of Diomed, his immediate successors, and especially his great-grandson Lexington, the Herod line was the dominant force in American breeding for much of the 19th century.