Dave Mollettt
After Aidan O’Brien runners took the recent York meeting by storm, one UK website suggested that it was “not healthy” for British racing to have the Irish stable so dominant when it came to big races.
To be honest, I could hardly believe what I was reading. As we saw in the Olympics in Paris, sport is all about crowning champions whether it is a male, female or a team.
So what was the website suggesting? A 5lb penalty on any O’Brien runner who crosses the Irish Sea!
Apparently, Tina Turner’s song “Simply The Best” was played over the loudspeaker at York as City Of Troy returned to the winners enclosure. That “best” encompassed the horse, O’Brien and the world’s best jockey, 40 year-old Ryan Moore.
The combination won three Group races on the first day of the Ebor festival – including the Gr 1 Juddmonte Stakes – and added another Gr 1 on the second day just for good measure.
So if Aidan O’Brien is considered too dominant in Europe, perhaps one could say the same about Justin Snaith in South Africa. He received the champion trainer trophy once again saddling 120 winners for over R26,1 million in prize money.
On the last big day of the 2023/24 season – the Gold Cup meeting at Hollywoodbets Greyville – there was much hype in the media that Sean Tarry might overhaul Justin Snaith and claim a sixth title.
Now the editor will correct me if I’m wrong, but my maths that day showed Sean had to win R5 million in prize money and there wasn’t that much to be won in the 10 races.
(Editor – the above stats included the restricted race stats, which do not count for the championship).
Final statistics show that the Snaith stable finished R4,93 million clear of the Tarry outfit – a figure which demonstrated the depth of equine talent at the country’s leading operation.
(Editor- Snaith was R1 492 400 clear on official stats).
There’s an interesting comparison when one looks at the major owners of the O’Brien and Snaith stables. O’Brien regularly tells the media that “the lads” will decide on the route one of his top horses is likely to take.
The “lads” are Michael Tabor, Mike Smith and Coolmore boss, John Magnier, and it has to be said they appear to make very few wrong calls.
One might have expected City Of Troy to head for the Arc in Paris in October, but Magnier is hell bent on winning a Breeders Cup Classic (dirt) in America. This year the meeting is at Del Mar – I’m lucky enough to have been to the track near San Diego where “the surf meets the turf.”
The list of Coolmore’s top horses which have crossed the Atlantic but failed in their Breeders Cup bids is quite amazing. It includes Galileo, Giants Causeway, Hawk Wing, George Washington,
Henrythenavigator, So You Think, Rip Van Winkle and Duke Of Marmalade who stood at stud here.
In contrast, Justin Snaith has a huge pool of owners headed by Gaynor Rupert and Nic Jonsson. He will no doubt consult with these top owners but it’s the advice of his invaluable right-hand man, brother Jonathan, that he is most likely to heed.
While Mike De Kock is our best known trainer, an article on Justin Snaith in Thoroughbred Racing in 2019 was headlined “No wonder so many international owners are succumbing to the charms of South Africa.” The writer added that Justin Snaith was becoming a “Renaissance” man among 21st century trainers.
In early August, Turf Talk stated that Snaith’s total career wins stood at 3397. In the 24 seasons the 48 year-old has been training, he has only failed to reach 100 winners three times.
Sean Tarry’s first season was in 1996/97 and it’s a feather in his cap that – in his 28 campaigns – he has averaged 95 winners per season.
One also has to commend Eastern Cape trainers, Alan Greeff and Gavin Smith. Greeff began his career in 1995/96 and – at the beginning of August – his winning tally stood at 3260 at an average of 112 winners per season.
Gavin Smith, who began his career in 1996/97, has a total of 2893 winners in his 28 seasons at an average of 103 per campaign.
When it comes to dominance in racing, there’s no better example than the jockey ranks with Ryan Moore head and shoulders above his rivals worldwide and Richard Fourie easily top of the class in SA.
Nevertheless, a look at the jockey statistics for 10 years ago is quite revealing. In the 2014/15 season, Fourie didn’t even reach 100 winners – his total of 98 was 122 less than champion, Gavin Lerena.
That same table shows how two of our best jockeys, S’manga Khumalo and Muzi Yeni, have – as the beer advert states – “stood the test of time.”
In 2014/15, Khumalo rode 197 winners from 1242 mounts and Yeni 147 winners from 1263 mounts.
Fast forward to the statistics for the 2023/24 season and the workload for Yeni is even higher with his 191 winners (second place behind Fourie) coming from 1494 mounts. Khumalo was far less busy last term with his 141 winners coming from 981 mounts.
What this all proves is that – while Richard Fourie was dominant with 378 winners – SA has a strong pool of jockeys. A total of 20 riders rode 50 winners or more.
One of the most important aspects of Fourie’s record-breaking achievement is that it actually made the sports pages of some newspapers. To say that the media is lukewarm on horseracing is an understatement – I used to be Racing Editor of the Sunday Times but it no longer carries any racing – yet it was hard for sports editors countrywide not to report on a champion who reached a milestone many of us thought was impossible.
Following a well-deserved break, Fourie returned to action with a treble at Fairview on Tuesday. This begs the question: do punters take the 11-10 on offer with WSB for the 38 year-old to retain his title?
My gut feeling is that the new champ will target big races and give meetings like the Vaal on a Thursday a miss.
I’d rather back either Muzi Yeni (6-1) or Gavin Lerena (15-2). Muzi looks worth a bet as he’s started the new campaign in a winning groove and – with 1494 mounts last term – will again be flying all over the country to try and land his first championship.
