The Turf Talk Syndicate’s first runner can’t be far off and in keen anticipation of that day they have had their colours designed and put together (see picture above)

The Paul Reeves-trained Querari filly Heritage Ridge had her first gallop at Hollywoodbets Durbanville last Thursday under Gareth Wright, who said she was a bit green around the turn, but thereafter “moved beautifully” and it was “quite natural”, so be believed it to be a “promising gallop.”

Reeves said, “She’s very precocious, shows a lot of speed. Little bit green atround the turn, but it is her first time on the track, so it is to be expected, but down the straight she was an absolute professional, straight as a dye, and put up a very nice piece of work with a nice action.”

Heritage Ridge is out of a one time-winning full sister to Gr 1 Cape Guineas winner Noah From Goa.

The other Turf Talk Syndicate two-year-old with Reeves is the Duke Of Marmalade filly Garden Of Eden, who is out of a one-time winning Var mare. Garden Of Eden is a half-sister to six time winner Chatterton’s Keeper.

She is a strongly built filly, but being by Duke Of Marmalade she  is going to take a bit longer than Heritage Ridge.

Jack Milner (Tab4Racing)

We are just a few days away from Champions Day at Turffontein and a look at the early betting indicates there are a lot of hot favourites on the card.

Almond Sea, Pistol Pete and Gimme A Nother are deep in the red to keep their unbeaten records intact but it is on the latter that most pundits will be focusing. She does seem special and the Mike de Kock-trained daughter of Gimmethegreenlight is fully expected to justify her odds of almost 1-5.

Almond Sea and Pistol Pete, both trained by Tony Peter, are quoted at 1-4 and 3-10 respectively to win the Wilgerbosdrift SA Fillies Nursery and TAB SA Nursery, both over 1160m.

In addition, Silver Sanctuary, also from the De Kock yard, has been priced up at 6-10 to win the Grade 2 Wilgerbosdrift Bridget Oppenheimer SA Oaks over 2450m.

Unfortunately for the daughter of Silvano, she has found one too good in her last three races, touched off in the Grade 1 Cape Fillies Guineas by Beach Bomb and then defeated by stablemate Gimme A Nother in the Grade 2 Wilgerbosdrift Gauteng Fillies Guineas and again in the Grade 1 Wilgerbosdrift SA Fillies Classic over 1800m.

So, without Beach Bomb and Gimme A Nother – the latter is running in the Grade 1 TAB Empress Club Stakes – in the Oaks field, it gives Silver Sanctuary the ideal opportunity to claim a feature race victory.

The question on many people’s lips, though, is: how good is Gimme A Nother compared to the other three-year-olds, especially the fillies?

One person who has the necessary insight to answer that poser is jockey JP van der Merwe. He has ridden all of them – Gimme A Nother, Beach Bomb, Silver Sanctuary, Double Grand Slam and even Snow Pilot, who he rode to victory in the Grade 1 Cape Guineas.

I asked him the question after he had ridden Gimme A Nother to victory in the SA Fillies Classic.

“It’s difficult to compare,” he responded. “This filly (Gimme A Nother) has just been in Joburg while Beach Bomb is running in Cape Town

“But the form line is there. Silver Sanctuary just got touched off by Beach Bomb, but has been well beaten by Gimme A Nother.

“I don’t have to put them on a pedestal, they are all good.”

And then came the coup de grace!

“But I think this filly is probably one of the best I have ever sat on.

“I actually thought she was a specialist miler but after the Classic I will go any distance with her. She’s such good quality, it doesn’t matter.”

Gimme A Nother had been a little “naughty” when going down to the start but Van der Merwe said that with the use of the lead pony in the SA Classic, she was very well behaved.

So, there we have it.

Hopefully on Saturday, we can relish in a seventh victory from this super filly.

Champions Day – betting on Graded races

Wilgerbosdrift SA Fillies Nursery

1-4 Almond Sea

7-1 Little Ballerina

14-1 Mountain High

20-1 and upwards others

TAB SA Nursery

3-10 Pistol Pete

5-1 Proceed

13-1 Fire Attack

15-1 Dantonfromsandton

16-1 Mount Pinatubo

25-1 and upwards others

TAB Hawaii Stakes

13-10 Sandringham Summit

2-1 Lucky Lad

9-1 Unzen

12-1 Texas Red

14-1 At My Command, White Pearl

20-1 and upwards others

Wilgerbosdrift Bridget Oppenheimer SA Oaks

6-10 Silver Sanctuary

5-1 Let’s Go Now

6-1 Frances Ethel

10-1 Beating Wings

14-1 My Soul Mate

25-1 and upwards others

TAB Empress Club Stakes

22-100 Gimme A Nother

7-1 Mrs Geriatrix

8-1 Bavarian Beauty

16-1 Humdinger

25-1 and upwards others

Jonsson Workwear Computaform Sprint

28-10 Dyce

11-2 Golden Sickle

6-1 William Robertson

14-1 Mover And Shaker, Rulership

18-1 Iphiko

20-1 and upwards others

TAB SA Derby

5-2 Purple Pitcher

7-2 Marauding Horde

5-1 Pure Predator

13-2 Hotarubi

12-1 Mondial

14-1 Presley, George Handel, Twenty Drachma’s

25-1 and upwards others

World Pool Premier’s Champions Challenge

11-2 Cousin Casey

6-1 Dave The King, Royal Victory

7-1 Puerto Manzano, Winchester Mansion

9-1 Without Question

10-1 Son Of Raj

14-1 Zeus

15-1 Litigation

18-1 Street Art

20-1 and upwards others

Imperial Destiny (Visionaire) is given a fine front-running ride by Athandiwe Mgudlwa to clinch a treble for the Alyson Wright yard and take them into a three win lead in the KZN Trainers Championship. The win clinched a double for both Mgudlwa and the Hollywood Syndicate on the day (Candiese Lenferna Photography)   

Alyson Wright has had six winners in the last four days, a double on Sunday on the Hollywoodbets Greyville turf, a winner on Monday at Hollywoodbets Scottsville and a treble today (Wednesday) on the Hollywoodbets Greyville poly.

A purple patch would be the most appropriate way to describe her run for more ways than one, because four of the wins were for the Hollywood Syndicate and one of the other two winners was called Purple Flower.

The six-timer has seen Wright go clear in the most intriguing championship race of the season, the KZN Trainers championship.

The championship is decided on number of wins in KZN races.

The standings are now Wright 36 and all of Wendy Whitehead, Garth Puller, Gareth van Zyl and Mike Miller on 33.

Alyson’s husband and assistant trainer Kevin said before Sunday’s meeting that he did not believe the yard had the numbers to win the championship, so getting these wins in the bank would have been most welcome as it puts them in with a shout.

Athandiwe Mgudlwa rode four of the six winners and Rachel Venniker and Richard Fourie rode one apiece.

Platina Princess runs in the highest rated race at the Vaal on Thursday (JC Photos)

There is a nine race meeting on the Vaal straight course on Thursday and the outside rail has not been brought in at all which by trends means the high draws will be favourable.

A MR 92 Handicap for fillies and mares over 1400m is the highest rated race and Platina Princess could be the one to beat. She is drawn ten out of ten and this looks to be an ideal trip. She looked to be going places as a two-year-old when thrashing older horses in a maiden by 6,20 lengths, so she has been a touch disappointing having only won one further race (over 1200m on the Hollywoodbets Greyville poly). However, she has been facing some good sorts and last time over 1200m was beaten just 2,50 lengths in a Gr 3. Her merit rating had come down from a high of 97 to 95 fot that event and she is now down a further two points to 93. Muzi Yeni rides. Alabama Anna would likely have been the choice if not drawn low in the number one gate. She could still be right there as she has pace and her last win was actually over this course and distance from a low draw with the course set up the same as this. Soldier’s Eye has put up some classy performances in the past and ran a better race than her two previous runs last time out when dropped in trip to 1600m. She now has a further drop in trip and is drawn on the potentially favourable side. Elegant Ice was beaten by 4,80 lengths by Soldier’s Eye in the Gr 2 Golden Slipper over this trip and now has to give the latter 1,5kg. However, she has been knocking hard in sprints and is by What A Winter out of a Danehill Dancer mare who’s only win was over 2000m, so on pedigree she should enjoy this step up in trip. Lucy In The Sky showed her talent last time by winning, but has been raised three points. She can be dropped out if kow draws are perceived to be unfavourable, because she often starts slowly. The topweight Cape Lights has plenty of ability and from a favourable draw can bounce back from her last run when widely draw over this trip on Turffontein Standside. Bold Act is down to a competitive merit rating and could earn.

In the first leg of the Pick 6 over 1400m Honorable Member is an interesting runner having been well beaten against top sorts and now racing in ordinary company. Bilingual should be suited to the step up in trip and is a runner. Like A Butterfly ran a well beaten second over 1450m last time, but in this field must have a chance. Villa Samaya is a long tiime maiden but can’t be ignored here. Messalina has not been disgraced against better fields. The first-timer Sneak Preview has been priced up as weak favourite. She is by Fire Away out of a four time-winning Fastnet Rock mare from 1200m to 1400m.

In the third leg of the Pick 6 over 1400m Richard The First has some fine form over this trip category and he has talented 1,5kg claimer Kobeli Lihaba up, although he does have a low draw. Master Christmas showed his suitability to this trip last time out, but was given a three point raise for that second place. The consistent Mount Pilatus has the potentially unfavourable number one draw, but is in fine form and should enjoy the trip. MK’S Dreams is well regarded and should be ideally distance suited and he has the standside draw. Munchkin sneaks into the handicap with the minimum weight and has the form to be right there, although he does have a low draw of two.

In the seventh race over 1400m Empress Game stayed on well for third over 1200m here last time and might enjoy the step up in trip. A low draw might be against her. Miss Hannigan showed talent from day one and having dropped to a 78 merit rating ran a good second last time over 1200m. She wasn’t disgraced in her penultimate start when trying this distance category for the first time. Northern Kitten caught the eye second time out in a workriders maiden over 1200m when flying home with long strides to just get up. On that performance he will relish the step up in trip. AnnwithanE was only six lengths behind Gimme A Nother in her penultinate start over 1600m before not enjoying 2000m next time out. She returns from a short layoff. Que Que Azal had a draw advantage last time when finishing a five length second and has  a potentially good draw again.

In the eighth race over 1000m Kinshin Sha looks to have a good form chance from a draw a nice draw of five out of seven. Amber Rock was much vaunted before her debut so has been disappointing, but off an 83 merit rating and a suitable trip she might be able to show what she is made of. Daring Act has a chance if repeating her last start. Tre Amici is distance suited and has a nice high draw. Inventrix is better than her last three starts but does have a number one draw. Samoa is getting on a bit, but is still capable of a late rattle.

In the ninth over 1800m His Master’s Voice returns to a more suitable trip and has dropped to an attractive 67 merit rating, so could be good value. Copper John is distance suited and well drawn and should be right there with a 4kg claimer up. JP Two Thousand has dropped to an attractive merit rating and wasn’t disgraced in fifth in his first try over this trip last time. Flag Bearer bounced back with a good third over 1600m last time, but a wide draw over 1800m will be tough because he takes a bit of a hold. Summerland could earn if able to overcome a wide draw. Hakas Krakas is down to a competitive merit rating but has a tricky draw.

In the first leg of the bipot Scars Of War is by Heavenly Blue and is a half-sister to talented speedster Swing Upon A Star. Bosum Buddy makes most appeal of those who have run.

In the first leg of the PA  Leeson looks the one to side with having done well in his first try over a staying trip. Nuclear Force and Crepuscolo can also be included.

Picture: Paul Lafferty, who provides a laff a minute in racing circles

Off The Record With Charl Pretorius 

PART 1

This week, some of our prominent racing industry personalities share random, unusual experiences from their careers in an industry from which it is fair to say, the unexpected can be expected.

Above: Neil Andrews

Let’s start with a funny story from Neil Andrews, Supersport presenter, racing anchor and recently also a columnist for The Citizen. Neil recalled an incident from his early days as a race caller in Cape Town.

He said: “One dank and dreary winter’s afternoon in the late 1980s I was calling alongside Jehan Malherbe at Durbanville, high up in the commentary box. In those days it was a cranky wooden structure on top of the old grandstand, reachable only with a vertical ladder. Jehan had had enough halfway through the day. It was windy and unpleasant up there and he left me to call the last few races.

“I would have said, ‘there was a knock on the door’, at some point, but there was no door. A racegoer had come up the ladder and entered the box. He was an older, racecourse regular who had found something near the running rail. ‘Look’, he said, and produced a set of false teeth which appeared to be still fresh from someone’s mouth!”

“He said there was nobody down at the track who appeared in need of teeth, so I announced on the blower that a set of false teeth had been found. I’m not sure if the crowd believed it was a joke, or if the owner of the set of dentures was too shy to collect it, but it was unclaimed that day and for a while after. Eventually I took it home and put it in my pub as a decorative element.”

Above:  Graeme Hawkins

Graeme Hawkins, racing’s veteran all-rounder, remembered the day he made his first appearance on an auctioneer’s podium. He told: “As a ‘wannabe’ auctioneer in 1979, I was roped in at the last minute to assist the late Peter Lovemore and Clive Gardner at Selwyn Simson’s Emeritus Bloodstock sale of yearlings at the Goodwood Showgrounds (now the Grand West Casino Complex) and given just 10 lots to sell.”

“I am happy to say that I made a truly ‘smashing’ debut. I was so nervous that everything became a blur and if it weren’t for the help of Peter and Clive, I would have been a complete failure. Selling my first yearling with shaking hands and non-seeing eyes, I could not pick up a single bid. I merely went along with Peter and Clive’s ‘yips’. At the conclusion of my first sale, I brought the hammer down on a full jug of water, which smashed into tiny little bits of glass with water everywhere, much to the amusement of everyone in attendance. To say I was red-faced would be an understatement!”

For equine behaviourist, Malan du Toit, a single incident stands out and it was not near funny: The moment hot favourite Hawwaam was scratched at the start of the 2019 Durban July. Hawwaam had some problems with his temperament, but Malan had worked with him for a long time, even before he started racing. For this major occasion, everything was done to ensure that he’d behave on the day. He did so, except for the few seconds before the starter pressed his button.

Hawwaam was loaded last of 17 runners, with the massive Greyville crowd holding its collective breath for the always feverishly anticipated start to the famous race. He stepped into his stall gate with no hesitation. But the moment the handler closed the gate he became fractious, kicked out furiously and, on examination, was found to be lame behind. He was withdrawn by the veterinary surgeon to an enormous roar of disappointment.

Malan said: “It was a freak accident. We watched the replay of the starting procedures in slow motion. Hawwaam wasn’t rushed into the gates at all. He walked in fine and relaxed, then suddenly reacted for no apparent reason. We don’t know why he did it. It was the biggest and most unexpected shock I’ve had in racing, and that it happened on such a major race day amplified the moment. My son saw me on TV, he said it looked like I’d been hit by a truck. It felt like that!”

Breeder Marianne Thomson of Ambiance Stud is seldom without a chirp. She said her most unusual recent experience came after the 2023 Grade 1 Summer Cup won by Ambiance-bred, Royal Victory. “I was suddenly being greeted by people who I’d never spoken to before!”

Irishman Eamonn Cullen, who worked as marketing manager for the Thoroughbred Breeders Association (TBA) in a tumultuous time for South African racing and breeding, recalled ‘madness’ in the ranks. “There was one Chief in (the now late) Markus Jooste and a lot of Indians running around with their own agendas. Most were trying to please Markus and push his plan, which was to uproot the TBA and relocate it to Cape Town. I had a number of personal disagreements with some of the TBA’s board members and what shocked me at the time was the unwillingness of some of them to find solutions as a team. Two key members refused to listen to a thing I had to say.”

“I arranged to meet Mr Jooste and gave him a rundown of what was going on, and how I planned to carry out my duties to promote and market South Africa’s thoroughbreds in South Africa and abroad. He said, ‘You will do as I tell you to do!’. I replied, ‘No, I work for all the members of the TBA’. He ended our meeting aggressively, saying: ‘If you don’t do as I say, I will finish you!’ That was a truly unexpected moment. I was pushed out henceforth and things came to a quick end for me at the TBA.”

Above: Candiese Lenferna

Racing photographer Candiese Lenferna was recently asked by an irate on-course punter to start studying her photos as she got a result wrong. He was under the impression that her winning post pics were the ones being used by the judge and that she’d had a say in the final results!

She recalled another unexpected incident and said: “So, often people will ask me for tips after I leave the parade ring. They see you talking to people and assuming you getting the ‘graft’, but meantime we are chatting about everything but who will win. It was during a turf meeting at Hollywoodbets Greyville when I saw this kid, he must have been about 17, carrying a tiny little hand-held camera and standing further down the trackside rail at about the 50m mark, accompanied by some friends.”

“I walked through the gate to my usual spot across the winning post to photograph the race, and the next moment the young lad was behind me. He asked, ‘I’m sorry lady, do you have any tips for me today?’ I said ‘Sorry, my friend, I rarely take a bet’. He replied: ‘No, ma’am, I mean do you have any tips for me, for my camera!’ ”

Racing 240’s Cecil Mthembu remembered a day at the old Bloemfontein racecourse when he was on course and was made aware of an attempted betting coup by a trainer visiting from Johannesburg. This particular stable had entered two runners for a specific race, but things were about to go pear-shaped when the ‘wrong one’ cruised into the lead at the business end of the race, with the ‘right one’ chasing in vain.

Cecil said: “At around the 100m mark, the jockey on the front horse looked back, only to see the companion battling to catch up to him. Risking life and limb, he chose to fall off before the line! Unbelievably, the jockey escaped unscathed, the stable elect won and the coup was landed.” Cecil would not be drawn into revealing any names.

***

‘Laff’ told: “Many years ago, I was contacted by an ‘Inglez’ from Mozambique (that is a conversational term for a Portuguese man trying to speak English). He wanted to buy a horse from Roy Waugh and I. We agreed on the horse and the price. He said that payment was no problem at all. He had the cash sitting in Mozambique at his casino at the famous Polano Hotel on the hill in the capital, Maputo.”

“He said that if we’d pop down to the Polano, he would arrange the two marital suites (on the top floor with ocean views) and he would give us the amount in paper money. Roy said he believed things would be fine. He had had some very good friends in that neck of the woods – ex arms suppliers for the insurgents during the protracted Mozambique civil war that had subsided a few years earlier. We summarily booked two tickets on a cheap flight from Durban to Maputo on the antiquated Airlink service’s 1958 refurbished Dakota. Airlink even provided parachutes back then in case a quick swim in the Indian Ocean was required, mid-flight!”

As fate would have it, the travelling pair’s first mistake was agreeing to fly down on the weekend that the famous cyclone, Leon-Eline, had hit the shores of Maputo. Getting there was going to be a multi-tiered problem.

Laff recounted: “We departed from Virginia Airport in Durban and as we took off, I glanced out of the window to see Durban and what appeared to be part of the outer casing of our main undercarriage tyre falling away into the sugar cane fields below. We dreaded the landing procedure that was to follow and it was predictably scary and rocky. But we made it after performing an unplanned U-turn at the end of the Maputo runway, a tribute to the skills of our Afrikaans speaking pilot.”

Next, a frightening road trip to the Polano.

“We were picked up by one of Roy’s ex-mercenaries. This was a square-shaped, Indian man with the worst case of road rage seen since James Dean overtook on a blind corner on route 46 back in ’55 on his way to an early grave. To top that, our driver was living proof that successful charisma bypass operations can be performed. He must have got that after a fight in Mozambique’s only gay bar. The potholes in the roads were so large that cars morphed out from holes ahead of us like shipwrecks in the night. His diatribe discourse at every other lawless road user had to be heard to be believed – a now defunct Hindi dialect from the original cane cutters a few hundred kilometres to our south.”

Laff recalled that the Polano, a pre-war five star hotel, was using the swimming pool as a makeshift reservoir for their water supply, but the stock at the bar seemed to be from authentic sources.

“We met Roy’s main ‘contact’, a jovial Colombian gent who professed to work for the UN and promised us a great time that evening at his private club. We spruced up, looking forward to a fun evening at one of the top clubs in downtown Maputo. By this time, the weather was not playing ball by any stretch of the imagination. Violent winds had gathered with icy rain pelting down with the odd hailstone the size of a coconut in tow.”

“We took a 10-minute taxi ride to what looked like an unused, industrial warehouse, where we dashed into the relative shelter of the entrance. Our Colombian host ushered us to our table near the front and the stage where bottles of Russian Vodka and Johnny Walker Black were ceremoniously placed in front of us by a scantily clad local lass with breasts that had escaped their minimal enclosure. The first shot poured for me was a ‘Brakpan Single’, hinting not so subtly at what would be a long night.”

“A young black lady with the whitest of ivories plonked herself alongside me and promptly announced with surprising conviction, ‘I Luf You…’. The band was about to start playing, and as the lead guitarist hit his first discord, the room was plunged into abject darkness. Apart from a few sets of gleamingly white teeth floating around, all I could see were the amplifier lights gradually losing their glow. After about half an hour of utter darkness, I suggested we should ‘blow this popsicle stand’ and get back to the relative safety of our hotel. We stumbled out of the club in search of our amiable Colombian host.”

“We found find him in an outside alleyway standing waist-deep in about three feet of water, courtesy of Leon-Eline, and desperately trying to reconnect the power to his club. He had two live cables pointing to a very old looking transformer, possibly manufactured pre-WWI. We had to get out. This was getting dangerous. Across the road, through the torrent of water now engulfing most of Maputo, I spotted a rusty 1973 Capri with a glimmer of a taxi light, perched on what was left of its roof. I hotfooted across the swirling torrent and dove into the back seat.”

“Roy, mistakenly as it turned out, plunged into the passenger side bucket seat which was akin to jumping into a somewhat frigid jacuzzi. It turned out that the taxi had not had a passenger window since the previous decade. Roy almost pirouetted on the gear stick by this stage as the vehicle gingerly pulled off in the swirling river of water. The car crabbed so badly that when I looked out of my window, Roy’s sodden derrière was right in front of me. That was enough adventure for one trip. The next day we collected our cash and surreptitiously flew home with it.”

***

To settle down after those unsettling images from Laff’s treasure trove of strange stories, and to end Part 1 of this column, we asked Racing 240’s COO, Colin Gordon, about his most unexpected moment in racing. He quipped: “It came just this last Monday when it was announced that the EU had officially opened the door to our bloodstock exports. What a pleasant surprise!”

Next week: More unusual racing tales from personalities including Mark van Deventer, Grant Knowles and Nico Kritsiotis.

Double Grand Slam leaves the field trailing in her wake in the Gr 3 Umzimkhulu Stakes (Candiese Lenferna Photography)

Handicapping Ratings Updates

NHA Press Release

Byerley Turk (Grade 3)

MID WINTER WIND has had his rating raised from 96 to 114 following his emphatic win in the Byerley Turk (Grade 3) over 1400m at Hollywoodbets Greville on Sunday. Here it was the ever consistent second placed, GIMMEANOTHERCHANCE, who was used to rate this race and as such, his rating remains unchanged on 111.

Third place finisher, RED BOMBER, was also increased from 104 to 109 after finishing 1.20 lengths (2 points) behind the line horse at level weights. Fourth placed, SNOW PILOT finished 1.5 lengths (3 points) behind the 111 rated line horse GIMMEANOTHERCHANCE while conceding 6 kilograms (12 points) in weight to that rival. This makes him run to a mark of 120 and he was adjusted accordingly.

WINTER GAMES was the sole runner in this race to receive a drop in ratings and goes down to 98 from 101.

Umzimkhulu Stakes (Grade 3)

DOUBLE GRAND SLAM has seen her rating increased from 117 to 118 after impressively winning the Grade 3 Umzimkhulu Stakes over 1400m at Hollywoodbets Greyville on Sunday. The Handicappers were of the view that second placed MIA MOO made for the most suitable line horse and her rating remains unchanged on 103.

MINOGUE, who finished fourth and 0.55 of a length behind the line horse was also increased to 102 from 96. Fifth place finisher, SOVEREIGN GRANT had her rating increased to 98 from 90 in order to ensure that she is at least 1 point higher than the 97 rated BOMBER GIRL, whom she beat at level weights here. Lastly, LE PREMIERE was increased from 81 to 86 to make her equal to last placed MAURITANIA who she beat here on level weight terms in this contest.

There were no drops for any runner in this race.

Enquiries:

The Handicapping Team

Blush Of Dawn (Noble Tune), ridden by Jabu Jacobs, clinches a double on the day for Garth Puller (Candiese Lenferna Photography) 

Alyson Wright had a treble on the Hollywoodbets Greyville poly on Wednesday, two of them ridden by Athandiwe Mgudlwa.

Garth Puller had an individual double.

Wright is now on 36 wins for the season achieved at a strike rate of 11.43%.

Mgudlwa is on 33 wins at 6.96%.

Puller is on 33 wins at 9.22%.

Winner of the Grand National in 1924 (donegalnews.com)  

What were three significant occurrences in the Grand National run 100 years ago in 1924?

1. 1924 was the last year the Grand National would be started from a general riding start, with the now-familiar ‘tape’ introduced at the line the following year.
2. Forty-five cameramen were deployed to capture the race on film, the most to have ever gone to record a sporting event at the time.
3. Post race celebrations took place at Liverpool’s Adelphi Hotel where winning rider, Bob Trudgill treated Lord Airlie’s 1,500 guests to a re-enactment of his victory by leaping a Becher’s Brook made out of 20 Magnums of Champagne.

The 1924 Grand National was the 83rd renewal of the world-famous Grand National horse race that took place at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, England, on 28 March 1924.

A false start caused the race to be delayed by around eight minutes.

Winnal gained an advantage of 20 lengths by the Canal Turn on the second circuit, when he was hampered by a loose horse and refused. The race was won by Master Robert, a 25/1 shot ridden by jockey Bob Trudgill and trained by Aubrey Hastings for owner Lord Airlie, who collected the £5,000 prize for the winner. Fly Mask finished in second place, Silvo in third and Drifter fourth. Thirty horses ran and all returned safely to the stables.

THe following article appeared about the winner Master Robert at the time and was carried a few years ago in donegalnews.com

By Cronan Scanlon
IF HAVING an Olympic gold medalist from the area wasn’t good enough for the people of Castlefinn, it has also emerged they now have their very own Grand National winner.

Last month the Donegal News revealed for the first-time that Castlefinn native William John ‘Bill’ Carr was a member of the USA 8s rowing team that took gold at the 1900 Paris Olympics.

This week we can reveal that the winner of the 1924 Aintree Grand National, ‘Master Robert’, was born, bred and trained just a few miles outside the border town.

He was bred by Mr Robert McKinlay on his farm at Sessiaghmore, on the back road between Castlefinn and Convoy.

Speaking from his home this week, his grandson, Mr Terence McKinlay, said the horse was also used to plough the family farm while his father, Alexander, was away fighting in World War I.

Terence said his father was killed in a horse riding accident nearby four months before he was born.

Terence said Master Robert’s sire (father) was called ‘Moorside II’ and his dam (mother) was called ‘Dodds’, acquired from Robert Patterson of Manorcunningham.

Hanging proudly in the McKinlay family home is a picture of Trudgill on the ‘towering chestnut.’

When the foal was born he was an “enormous size” and, when he was two years-old, he was sent to The Curragh to be trained by Mr Maurice Reidy.

However, Mr Reidy wrote to Mr McKinlay to tell that the horse was “too much overgrown” and although fast, he could not compete with the other horses of the same age.

Mr Reidy advised that the horse be taken back to Castlefinn and to make a “chaser of him.”

As Mr McKinlay was away all the time and his son Alexander was away fighting in the war in France, there was no on around to properly exercise him, so he was used to plough the fields.

Master Robert was trained as a ‘chaser’ by a Mr Anthony in 1919, however, he was returned to Mr McKinlay again as he was deemed to be “no good.”

He also refused to work in chains on the farm and was subsequently sold to Mr JT Elliott of Strabane for £50.

Mr Elliott kept him for around six weeks and, part of that time, he was at grass in a field next to the Donegal Railway line.

“One day, when a train was passing, he took fright, jumped the gates on to the line and galloped along the railway track for about two miles in front of the engine,” Mr McKinlay said.

Mr Elliott then sold the horse on to a Mr Laverty in Dungannon, County Tyrone, who later sold him on to Mr Pat Rodgers in Ratoath, County Meath.

Mr Rodgers used the horse for hunting before he sold the him on to Mr HJ Fordham of Royston, Hertfordshire in England in October, 1921.

Mr Fordham won a number of races with him before selling him on to Major Sidney Green and Lord Airlie and the rest, as they say, is history.

The McKinlay farm was purchased by Mr Seamus Dolan and his wife Maureen in 1982.

According to Mr Dolan, the story of Master Robert was common knowledge locally “years ago”.