Fourie Barometer 384 (updated on 15/07/2024)

Master Redoute And Saartjie In Fine Shape

Master Redoute winning the Gr 3 New Turf Carriers Western Cape Stayers (Picture: Wayne Marks)

The Andre Nel-trained Master Redoute was one of the chief victims in the Hollywoodbets Durban July when Shoemaker bled and dropped back suddenly, but he has fortunately come out of the race well and is on track for a race which will likely suit him better, the Gr 3 World Pool Gold Cup.

The five-year-old Querari gelding was forced way wide for a number of strides after a chain reaction caused by the incident halfway through the July.

However, Summerveld assistant trainer to Nel, Byron Forster, said, “It was one of of those wrong place at the wrong time scenarios. We were pretty happy with where he was and the interference didn’t help him, but also the pace was never going to suit him when they went that slow and turned it into a sprint. But he has come out of the race a hundred percent.”

Master Redoute has landed a plum draw of four out of the 21 entries for the World Pool Gold Cup over 3200m, South Africa’s premier staying event.

Byron said, “It is more of his trip now, I would think. You have to respect Future Pearl on his July run. But in a clean run race I think he will run well. He is drawn inside the first six (as opposed to 14 in the July), so hopefully he can be in a better position this time around. Hopefully it’s a cleaner sort of race too. He does actually like to run through horses a little bit, but you don’t want something like what happened in the July.”

Master Redoute won the Gr 2 New Turf Carriers Western Cape Stayers over 2800m, despite being way under sufferance carrying 59kg off a 102 merit rating. He was consequently raised to 113 and then proved he was up to that mark by running a 1,70 length third in the Gr 2 WSB 1900, despite giving 4kg to the winner Future Swing. That saw him being raised to 115 and in the Gold Cup he will have to give the progressive Future Swing 2kg.

Byron sounded bullish about the chances of Dynasty filly Saartjie in the Gr 2 Riding High Together Gold Bracelet over 2000m.

He said, “She’s doing very well, she’s as well as she was at this time last year and she’s got to just have a good next ten days. She’s got a grass gallop coming up. She had some time off after har last run. We just gave her a week off, because she had those three races close together. We bypassed the Garden Province and this race is tailor made for her. Last year she finished second. It will be interesting how the field cuts up and she’s not drawn too well (15 out of 16 initial entries with three supplementary entries still to be drawn). But she’s well and a good gallop this week and then hopefully smooth sailing after that. She will be ready for the race.”

Saartjie won the Listed KRA East Coast Cup over course and distance on May 11, before running a disappointing 3,90 length ninth in the Gr 1 Woolavington 2000.

However, she bounced back with a fine second, beaten a neck, in the Gr 2 Tabgold Oaks over 2400m.

Like most of Dynasty’s progeny she loves Hollywoodbets Greyville.

Last season she finished a close second in the Gr 2 WSB Fillies Guineas despite being squeezed out at a crucial stage.

She then had no luck in the Gr 1 Woolavington 2000, before finding one better, i.e. the classy Bless My Stars, in the Gold Bracelet, although she was drawn in pole in the latter race last year.

Master Redoute is a Sabine Plattner homebred and she bought the Shadwell Stud-bred Saartjie for R700,000 at the 2021 BSA Nastional Yearling Sale.

Keagan de Melo's Full Book For Snaith On Gold Cup Day

Keagan de Melo won the first race on World Pool Gold Cup day last year on Outlaw King and poses here together with one of his chief supporters during his championship-winning season, Dean Kannemeyer. (Candiese Lenferna Photography)

Former South African champion jockey Keagan de Melo will be flying out from Hong Kong during their off season to ride on World Pool Gold Cup day.

De Melo is booked to ride for Justin Snaith in the Gr 3 World Pool Gold Cup on One Way Traffic, the Gr 1 HKJC Champions Cup on Double Superlative, in the Gr 1 Mercury Sprint on Royal Aussie, in the Gr 1 World Pool Moment Of The Day Champions Cup on Great Plains, in the Gr 2 Umkhomazi Stakes on Impact Investor, in the Gr 2 Debutante on Dark Winter, in the Listed Darley Arabian on Get Impressed and in the Listed Umngeni Handicap on Baltic Secret.

Jonathan Snaith said the rides had been confirmed.

De Melo won the 2022/2023 SA Jockeys Championship with 277 wins.

He has spent this season finding out how tough the Hong Kong circuit is.

It is well documented that on the racing mad island, and apparently in keeping with Chinese culture, the key to success is luck in the sense that jockeys who are viewed as “lucky” jockeys are more in favour.

Although skill must be part of the lucky equation it seems there are other factors too.

De Melo made an eyecatching start on the island and his ability to relax a horse from the off and play his hand late seemed perfect for the tracks over there on which a strong turn of foot is a valuable asset.

However, he was never able to build any momentum because the general quality of horse he was given to ride never improved.

He accumulated a respectable 21 wins, but ended the season with the unwanted statistic of 58 rides since his last win.

However, Hong Kong has huge stakes and his mounts raked in total stakes of HK$39,398,025 (R91,797,398).

A young family man would not want to throw in a job with that type of earnings, so having had his license renewed he will be back grinding away next season.

Richard Fourie, despite having set a SA record for number of wins in a season, has not yet earned half of what De Melo raked in on the island. His earnings for the season currently stand at R42,276,231.25.

Double Grand Slam, Rascova Among Gold Cup Day Supplementaries

Tomorrow (Tuesday, July 16) is the last supplementary stage for all off the big races on World Pool Gold Cup day, but there were already some interesting supplementaries today (Monday).

Justin Snaith has supplemented the crack filly Double Grand Slam in to the Gr 2 R500,000 Gold Bracelet and he has supplemented the Querari gelding Underworld in to the Listed R200,000 Umngeni Handicap.

Double Grand Slam was one of the unluckiest horses on Hollywoodbets Durban July day. She was unwinding a strong run from off the pace in the Gr 1 Ridgemont Garden Province Stakes when squeezed out at about the 300m mark. Despite having to be snatched up and reignited she was beaten only 1,35 lengths into third, so she might well have won that race.

She is untested beyond a mile, but the yard might be viewing this as a good opportunity to test her stamina, considering there is a long gap from now until the Cape Summer Season, and she will also be the highest rated runner in the race.

Undwerworld has not run since a disappointing fifth place finish in the Gr 3 Byerley Turk over 1400m on March 31. However, he has been gelded since and this will be a good opportunity to give him a comeback.

Snaith is just over R1,2 million ahead of Sean Tarry in the national trainers championship and the latter has some good firepower on Gold Cup day, so two extra runners on the day for Snaith will also help his championship cause.

Another interesting supplementary entry in the Gold Bracelet is Double Grand Slam’s fierce rival Rascova.

This Lancaster Bomber filly has also never been tried beyond a mile before and the thinking in the Glen Kotzen camp, with races like the Gr 1 Cartier Paddock Stakes over 1800m available in he Cape Summer, might also be to see this as an opportunity to test her stamina.

Amazingly, Rascova has clashed with Double Grand Slam in every one of her last eight starts and the score is four-four. Another clash between the pair could add another intriguing dimension to the Gold Cup meeting as it will decide which one of the pair emerges on top.

The third supplementary in the Gold Bracelet is the Paul Matchett-trained Special Charm, who finished a close third in the Gr 2 Tabgold Oaks, which saw her raised form an 87 to 104 merit rating.

Also supplemented in to the Listed Umngeni Handicap, interestingly, is the crack Tony Peter-trained two-year-old Pistol Pete. Pistol Pete is also in the Gr 2 Umkhomazi over 1200m, but is better suited to 1000m. and he drew very wide in the Umkhomazi.

Glen Kotzen has supplemented Ripple Effect into the Umngeni.

In the Listed Darley Arabian over 1600m, Brett Crawford has supplemented Pomodoro’s Jet and Dennis Bosch has supplemented Diani.

Nebraas Looks Thrown In Off A 106 In The Gold Cup

Nebraas winning the 2021 Gold Cup as a four-year-old. Can he repeat the feat as a seven-year-old? (Candiese Lenferna Photography)

Former World Pool Gold Cup winner Nebraas looks good value for this year’s renewal.

The seven-year-old Vercingetorix’s win as a four-year-old in 2021 proved he stays the 3200m trip.

A look at his form over marathon distances this season makes interesting reading.

In the Gr 3 Chairman’s Cup over 2500m at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth he carried 60kg and was beaten two lengths into third by Future Swing to whom he gave 8kg. In the Gold Cup he will receive 1kg from Future Swing and yet is 14/1 compared to the latter’s 7/1 price. Future Swing as a four-year-old will have had 1kg of weight for age improvement since that race in January, but is still way out in the Gold Cup with Nebraas on the Chairman’s Cup form.

Furthermore, Nebraas beat Aragosta by 0,30 lengths in the Chairman’s Cup and will be 1kg better off with him in the Gold Cup.

He beat One Way Traffic by 0,35 lengths in the Chairman’s Cup and will be 3kg better off with him in the Gold Cup.

He beat Raiseahallelujah by 4,70 lengths and will be 4,5kg better off with him.

In his next start in the Gr 3 New Turf Carriers Western Cape Stayers over 2850m, Nebraas finished 0,75 lengths behind Master Redoute in fourth place and will now be 3kg better off with him in the Gold Cup.

In that race he was half-a-length behind Aragosta and will be 3kg better off with him.

He beat One Way Traffic by a length and will be 1kg better off.

He beat Raiseahallelujah by 7,25 lengths and will be only 1,5kg worse off.

In Nebraas’s next marathon start in the Caradoc Gold Cup over 2850m at Turffontein Standside he was beaten 10,50 lengths, but the soft going porbably did not suit him that day. However, even then he comes out better at the weights in the Gold Cup with Breeze Over and Raiseahallelujah on the form of that race.

In his next start in the Gr 3 Gold Bowl he was beaten 10,25 lengths. However, it should be noted he did not wear blinkers in this race for the first time in about three-and-a-half years.

He will be very much up against it with Crimson King on the form of that race as the latter won the race and is only 2kg worse off for that 10,25 length beating.

However, Crimson King has not run since then and that was three months ago.

Nebraas is also worse off with Breeze Over from that race but he rectified that with blinkers back on in a subsequent race at Hollywoodbets Greyville.

Nebraas did not fare too well in the Gr 3 Lonsdale Stirrup Cup over 2400m, but that was once again in soft going and he did stay on well from way back.

Those three below par runs, in which he had excuses in every one of them, saw him being dropped six points in all to 106.

Then back to a marathon 3000m he showed what he is made of on decent ground in the Gr 3 DSTV Gold Vase by running on strongly from well of the pace for a 1,90 length third.

He did not receive a merit rated raise for that run.

In the Gold Cup he will be 7kg better off with the winner Madison Valley for a 1,90 length beating, he will be 3kg better off with Shoot The Rapids for a 1,5 length beating, he will be 1kg better off with One Way Traffic despite beating him by 0,30 lengths, he will face Down To Business on the same terms despite beating him by 1,65 lengths, he will face Breeze Over on 1,5kg better terms despite beating him by 3,05 lengths, he will face Indian Ocean on 4,5kg better terms despite beating him by 3,55 lengths and he will face Raiseahallelujah on the same terms despite beating him by 3,65 lengths.

In last year’s Gold Cup Nebraas ran on half-a-kilogram worse terms than weight for age with stablemate Future Pearl and was beaten 2,65 lengths into third. This year Nebraas faces Future Pearl on 4,5kg terms better than weight for age, so on paper he even comes out ahead of the race favourite.

So Nebraas looks well handicapped off a 106 merit rating and he has landed a good draw of seven out of the 21 entries.

Last and certainly not least he is trained by the five-times champion trainer Sean Tarry, whose ability to get horses to their peak for big race days is second to none.

Follow On-Fire Fourie At Fairview

Jack Milner (Tab4Racing)

Any problems Alan Greeff may have been having in his stable which resulted in his having some rare blank days at Fairview have been sorted out in no uncertain terms.

Last Friday on the turf track Greeff came away with five winners on the eight-race card, three-of them ridden by Richard Fourie.

That treble allowed Fourie to reach another milestone in his record-breaking season and that was to equal Greg Cheyne’s record of 116 winners in a season.

That total looks sure to be extended on Tuesday at Fairview when they race on the Polytrack.

Miss Greenlight and The Mauritian are two Greeff-trained runners with Fourie aboard who are expected to win.

Greeff has three of the nine runners carded in Race 7, a Pinnacle Stakes over 1300m, and his star three-year-old colt Fairy Knight, is back as well as his decent Polytrack sprinter Inherit The Rain. So, on the surface it may have come as a bit of a surprise that The Mauritian gets the services of Fourie.

The Mauritian has had six starts for Greeff and has just one win to show for it. That win was his second time on the Polytrack when he won over 1600m.

The Mauritian had previously finished fifth and 6.35 lengths behind Inherit The Rain over 1400m.

The four-year-old gelding is also badly out at the weights with some of his rivals, in particular Prince Of Fire.

Fourie has also been aboard Fairy Knight in all his wins and the Global View gelding is best forgiven for his run in the East Cape Derby as he clearly failed to get the trip.

However, when in Cape Town The Mauritian did race against stronger and he obviously is putting up some good work at home for Fourie to take the ride.

Fourie was aboard recent Greeff recruit Gocekwithlove when a well-backed and very easy winner last month.

Gocekwithlove picked up an eight-point penalty for that win but the manner of that victory suggested there are wins left in her.

She runs in Race 6, a MR 92 handicap for fillies and mares over 1200m, but Fourie is now aboard another recent recruit, Miss Greenlight, who has not won this year but is in good form and is well-drawn.

However, the average merit rating of the race won by Gocekwithlove was 74, Miss Greenlight has been contesting events with an average of 94. This race has an average of 88 and that will favour Miss Greenlight strongly.

She also has the benefit of jumping from No 2 draw.

Jack Milner’s selections

Race 1: 6 Fantasy Girl, 3 Sweet And True, 1 Nikes Ray Of Light, 4 Cape Flower

Race 2: 2 Hat Hot Hat, 1 Consigliere, 6 My True Love, 3 Connection

Race 3: 10 La Pequenita, 5 Potent Captain, 6 Portcullis, 1 Take A Mulligan

Race 4: 4 Catch Your Breath, 6 Reach Forthe Stars, 5 Meetatthewindsor, 10 Adios Amigos

Race 5: 10 Duellona, 3 Global Rush, 2 For All We Know, 6 Metar

Race 6: 4 Miss Greenlight, 6 Gocekwithlove, 10 Red Sash, 1 Golden Pacific

Race 7: 6 The Mauritian, 1 Prince Of Fire, 2 Fairy Knight, 7 Slings And Arrows

Race 8: 11 Kanimambo, 9 Puerto Plata, 3 Euphoric, 7 Heknows

BEST BET

Race 3 No 10 La Pequenita

VALUE BET

Race 5 No 10 Duellona

BEST SWINGER

Race 2 1×2

BIPOT

R288

Leg 1: 1, 3, 4, 6

Leg 2: 1, 2

Leg 3: 10

Leg 4: 4, 5, 6

Leg 5: 2, 3, 6, 10

Leg 6: 4, 6, 10

PLACE ACCUMULATOR

R216

Leg 1: 1, 2

Leg 2: 10

Leg 3: 4, 6

Leg 4: 2, 3, 10

Leg 5: 4, 6

Leg 6: 1, 2, 6

Leg 7: 3, 9, 11

PICK 6

R900

Leg 1: 10

Leg 2: 4, 5, 6, 10

Leg 3: 2, 3, 4, 6, 10

Leg 4: 4, 6, 10

Leg 5: 1, 2, 6

Leg 6: 3, 5, 7, 9, 11

JACKPOT 1

R180

Leg 1: 4, 5, 6, 10

Leg 2: 2, 3, 4, 6, 10

Leg 3: 4, 6, 10

Leg 4: 1, 2, 6

JACKPOT 2

R225

Leg 1: 2, 3, 4, 6, 10

Leg 2: 4, 6, 10

Leg 3: 1, 2, 6

Leg 4: 3, 5, 7, 9, 11

HK Trainers Champs A Last Race Thriller, Purton 6-Timer

Francis Lui celebrates the Hong Kong trainers’ championship (Picture: HKJC)

Francis Lui has staged a magnificent comeback on the final day of the 2023/24 season to claim the Hong Kong trainers’ championship for the first time, sealing victory with a quartet – and a win in the last race of the season – to deny Pierre Ng by one win in a thrilling battle.

After trailing 67-66 at the start of the day, Lui slipped three wins behind his former assistant with only six races left when Ng slotted an early double with Beauty Waves and First Love.

Facing a mountainous task, Lui combined with Zac Purton to reel off a mid-meeting treble to roar back into contention to draw level and then clinched the title in the 831st and final race of the season, 70 wins to 69.

Locked with Ng on 69 wins and 54 second placings heading into the penultimate race – the Class 3 Sight Winner Handicap (1600m) which was won by Jamie Richards-trained Young Achiever – Lui snatched the lead when Holy Lake finished second, narrowly ahead of The Heir and Ng’s fourth-placed I Can.

Lui and Ng’s rollercoaster title race remained in the balance going into the 11th race on the card when Ng needed either a win for outright success or a second to trump his former mentor and claim the title on third placings.

Ng’s aspirations looked very much alive when Prestige Always charged into contention at the 200m mark but those hopes evaporated when Hugh Bowman drove Lui’s Patch Of Theta to a resounding win in the Class 3 All You Wish Handicap (1400m), giving Lui the championship.

“Finally. Racing is full of excitement,” Lui, 65, said of the championship triumph. “In the middle of the season, everybody would think Pierre – he has won so many races – that he would not be easy to catch.

“Lucky, I had a couple of three-year-olds with good quality who can win a race. It was very hard, whenever I got close with Pierre, he ran again. Like today, I thought I had good chances, but Pierre still won two races.”

Asked how he would celebrate, Lui said: “I can take a sleep first.”

Ng led the standings since 5 November, at one stage holding a 16-win lead before Lui briefly claimed the ascendancy last month. Lui is the first homegrown trainer to secure championship glory since Frankie Lor in 2021/22.

And when he skipped three wins after five races today, held a crucial advantage but Lui’s response was withering, first clawing back a win Steps Ahead success in the Class 4 Big Profit Handicap (1400m), reducing the margin to one win with Chancheng Glory’s triumph in the Class 1 Hong Kong Racehorse Owners Association Trophy Handicap (1600m) and then squaring the win ledger with Packing Hermod’s victory in the Class 3 Pingwu Spark Handicap (1200m).

Bowman then coolly iced the championship with Hong Kong International Sale graduate Patch Of Theta as Hong Kong racing celebrated one of the most absorbing days in history.

Lui has been part of Hong Kong racing since the early 1970s when he graduated from the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s Apprentice Jockeys’ School and rode 36 winners as a jockey. He was licensed to train in 1996/97 and is famed for his training deeds with record-breaking miler Golden Sixty. Lui has now trained 935 winners.

Purton was acclaimed as Hong Kong Champion Jockey for the seventh time, matching the feats of Basil Marcus and Gary Moore, after finishing the season with 130 wins and a six-timer at the season finale.

“It’s never easy to win a championship. There are always different obstacles, different challenges but I’ve won it again and that’s all that matters – nice result,” Purton said.

“I’m really happy, it hasn’t been a smooth season. It was really difficult early on with the small fields and wet tracks. I struggled with injuries and the stables I generally rely on weren’t flowing early but once they got momentum and I started to get some treatment, things started to fall into place and it’s been a good back half of the season.”

Purton, 41, previously won the jockeys’ championship in 2013/14, 2017/18, 2018/19, 2019/20, 2021/22 and 2022/23.

Michael Chang-trained Perfect Peach’s success in the Class 5 Miraculous Handicap (1400m) presented Purton with the first of his six victories at the season finale before the Australian combined with Ng and First Love and then Lui’s trio Steps Ahead, Chancheng Glory and Packing Hermod, as well as Young Achiever.

Angus Chung won the Tony Cruz Award for the best-performed homegrown jockey with 46 wins, edging out four-time winner Vincent Ho (41) wins.

“Tony is my mentor and has given me a lot of support and I’m very grateful to win the Tony Cruz Award in my second season in Hong Kong,” Chung, 27, said. “It’s not easy and I’m very fortunate to have the support not only from Tony but also other trainers such as Pierre Ng.

“I’m very happy to win the Tony Cruz Award.”

Super Elite’s victory under Bowman in the Class 5 Mr Award Handicap (1200m) provided David Hall with his 44th win of the campaign, equalling the Australian’s best seasonal haul in Hong Kong before Ricky Yiu notched his 60th winner of the term when Volcanic Spark landed the Class 4 Solar Hei Hei Handicap (1800m) under Karis Teetan as Ho and Dennis Yip combined with Happy Daily to win the Class 4 Medic Kingdom Handicap (1400m).

Ho won the Most Popular Jockey award, while Romantic Warrior was acclaimed as the Most Popular Horse for the season.

Regional - Fairytale £3,500 Tattersalls Purchase Targets More Gr 1s

Regional wins last year’s Gr 1 Haydock Sprint Cup (Picture: Sky Sports)

The fairytale story of the cheap purchase Regional is set to continue as he holds three Gr 1 entries, the York Coolmore Wootton Bassett Nunthorpe over five furlongs (August 23), the Haydock Betfair Sprint Cup Stakes over six furlongs, where he will defend his crown on September 7, and the Curragh Flying Five Stakes over five furlongs on September 15.

This is how the story started of the Gr 1-winning syndicated horse Regional, who was purchased for just 3,500 Guineas, wrote Frankie Foster Of Adiyatracingplus.com lasy year after a visit to trainer Ed Bethell’s yard in Yorkshire.

In short, Regional was purchased by Danny Clark and Byron Hubbard to be syndicated in the UK with their syndicate, My Future Champion Racing. The pair headed to the Tattersalls’ July Sale with a budget in mind, and a shortlist of 10 horses that they liked.

After being outbid on the first nine, Byron reveals they were contemplating leaving early before the final lot they were interested entered the ring because it felt like “a pointless exercise”.

Ed Bethell recalls that he thought; “We will go in pitching and probably get out bid”. Having been disheartened by being repeatedly outbid, they resisted the urge to leave having made the journey to Tattersalls so decided to stick around for the 10th and final horse on their list – Regional. My, how their luck was about to change because, after a day of frustration, the gavel fell at 3,500gns – sold!

To this day, Byron, Danny, and trainer Ed Bethell don’t know how they got him so cheap. Or even why? When the gavel went down and Regional was sold to the duo they didn’t feel like they had just purchased a Group 1 winner, but instead that they had potentially made a mistake as no one else was bidding.

How wrong they were. Regional won on his first start for his new owners at Haydock in a Class 2 handicap worth £13,500 to the winner, covering that modest early outlay with plenty of interest. He then raced three more times in the UK placing on two of those starts before heading to Doha where he finished a respectable runner-up.

The five-year-old didn’t manage to get his nose in front during the summer of 2022, but back from a 225-day break in 2023 events went to a new level for this superstar sprinter. First, he won on his reappearance run at York before winning again next time out securing Listed honours and breaking the five-furlong track record, picking up nearly £30,000 more in prize money for his delighted owners.

At this point, this bargain buy had really turned into a fairytale story for the Future Champions Syndicate, but the dream came true when he won the Group 1 Haydock Sprint Cup. A horse purchased for £3,500 had just won a prestigious Group 1 worth just shy of a quarter of a million pounds to the winner. I am stood chatting to trainer Ed Bethell as he cuddles the completely chilled out Regional in his stable.

“If you’d have told me Regional would have been my first Group 1 winner, then I guess it’s a story made perfect for a film,” he enthuses. Danny tells me about how you would have heard the celebrations coming into the parade ring at Haydock and how he jumped into Ed’s arms: “I just couldn’t hide the excitement!” he recalls.

Although everyone on the track could clearly see the horse had won by a nose, Byron was still turning to everyone and asking if they had won. “It was just too good to be true,” he says with an air of disbelief. The pair were quick to remind me that this is a syndicate horse and themselves and Regional’s owners have really become a team that “all feel united”. I asked them what the best thing about running a syndicate was and they told me that the winning feeling is elevated when you get to share it with others. The celebrations on the day, followed by a trip home from Haydock where family, friends, and fellow owners sent messages and called them, left Danny and Byron feeling totally elated. ENDS

This season Regional has finished second in a Gr 2 at the Curragh and then at the Royal Ascot meeting last month he finished second in the Gr 1 King Charles III stakes over five furlongs.

The first of the two youtube videos below shows Regional’s Gr 1 win at Haydock and the second is one made by vlogger Kerry Whelpdale, who attended Royal Ascot this year and met up with Regional’s owners.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH REGIONAL WINNING THE £242,000 BETFAIR SPRINT CUP

CLICK HERE TO WATCH KERRY WHELPDALE’S ROYAL ASCOT VLOG

Gerald Mosse's Final Ride After 41-Year Career

Gerald Mosse (Sky Sports)

Scott Burton (Racing Post)

In the sometimes fractured world of racing, there are very few people who can draw the same unanimous praise, but Chantilly was of a single voice for one of its own July 14.

Gerald Mosse made the journey up from Marseille as a teenager in the early 1980s, and from early in his riding career people spoke of “the grand Gerald.”

Olympiad

Yes, they were speaking of the 57-year-old’s talent, but also of the ice that ran coldest through his veins when it mattered most. He has been the definition of a big-race jockey for most of his 41 years in the saddle.

After announcing his retirement just ahead of his mount in the July 13 Grand Prix de Paris (G1), there remained one last ride in the big handicap on Bastille Day at Chantilly.

Nor was it chosen by chance: Shannkiyr was bred by his longtime employer the Aga Khan, trained by Mikel Delzangles and numbers Alain de Royer-Dupre among his owners.

And the gang was all here to see Mosse on his way, the words of co-owner Pierre-Yves Lefebvre ringing in his ear as he went to get the leg-up from Delzangles: “For the last time, travel well Gerald.”

As is nearly always the case at the end of a great career Shannkiyr was unable to live up to the moment when finishing 15th of 16, although that hardly seemed to matter as Mosse returned to a gaggle of photographers and well-wishers. And when the jockeys lined up to form a guard of honor, Mosse was able to keep his promise not to cry.

What is obvious when you watch him around his fellow professionals is that Mosse has a real bond with riders from all generations, evident as he joked beforehand with Maxime Guyon and Anthony Crastus, who were 18 months and five years old respectively when their friend won the Arc aboard Saumarez in 1990.

Click Here!

Mosse was full of gratitude for the reception—Royer-Dupre presented him with a bouquet and a framed print of Zainta winning the 1998 Prix de Diane (G1)—but judged by his words, he was already looking to the future and a training career which could start as early as September.

“I was determined to go out as I came into the profession, and that is with a smile on my face,” said Mosse. “The most important thing is that I have a project to pursue which will prolong my involvement with this sport that I am so passionate about.

“I’ve done what’s needed in terms of getting a licence and buying a yard and now I am ready to attack that second career with ambition.”

Mosse added: “I’d be lying if I said the timing wasn’t calculated with a view to the yearling sales. I needed to stop before August so I could spend time meeting potential owners, and with the idea of having my first runners in September.

“I’ve got a beautiful yard that backs on to Les Aigles here in Chantilly—they say it’s all about location, location, location—and the entire property has been renovated, so I couldn’t be in better shape.”

The transition could be almost seamless given how those he has worked for and with speak of Mosse’s instincts in the mornings. Now all he has to do is find a jockey to replace the irreplaceable in the afternoons.

Today’s Question

The picture above is of the question subject (Keeneland Library).

Which 1970s filly won eight straight races and became the only filly in American thoroughbred history to win both the National Triple Tiara (the three feature filly races on thoroughbred racing’s Triple Crown weekend) and the New York Triple Tiara of Thoroughbred Racing?

MidWeek FIELDS

Fairview Poly, Tuesday

Today’s Question Answer

Davona Dale won the national triple tiara by sweeping the Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs, the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes (now the George E. Mitchell Stakes) at Pimlico Race Course and the Acorn Stakes at Belmont Park. Her second triple occurred all at Belmont Park when she won the Acorn Stakes, the Mother Goose Stakes and the Coaching Club American Oaks. Her performances earned her the 1979 Eclipse Award for Outstanding 3-Year-Old Filly.^[3] That season, she also ran in the Travers Stakes against Colts. She finished fourth.

CLICK HERE TO READ ABOUT DAVONA DALE