The Glen Kotzen-trained Dynasty gelding King Regent made history on the Fairview polytrack today under regular rider Denis Schwarz (Pauline Herman Photography)
The Glen Kotzen-trained King Regent did not disappoint at Fairview today (Friday) and produced his usual devastating finishing burst under regular rider Denis Schwarz to become the first horse to ever land all three legs of the Nelson Mandela Bay Poly Challenge.
He thus claimed a R250,000 bonus for owners Martin Wickens and Giselle Burg.
The Challenge was inaugurated in 2016 and the previous closest to winning all three legs was in that inaugural year when the Jacques Strydom-trained Gogetthesheriff won the first two legs before finishing a 0.50-length third to Jet Explorer in the final leg.
King Regent’s chief danger today was probably himself due to his issues at the starting stalls.
He would have benefited in his career from being able to jump out of the hood, but that is no longer allowed and it is now a matter of timing to remove the hood just before the starter presses the button.
However, he tends to “bunny hop” out of the stalls.
Today, he lost about a length, but from pole position he was able to stick to the rail and get into fifth place in the seven horse field.
Coming off the false rail the Ridgemont-bred Dynasty gelding was switched to the centre by Schwarz and he took off.
The five-year-old passed the three horses inside of him to win by 1,25 lengths from pacemaker Cherry Ano with Bush Tracker and The Mauritian next best.
His easiest win was in the first leg over 1200m, which he won by 3,25 lengths, and he then produced a devastating finish from last place to win the second leg over 1400m by half-a-length from one of the best horses in the East Cape, Luna Halo.
Every leg of the challenge carried a total stake of R175,000, so he earned R328,125 in first place prize money plus the R250,000 bonus.
It was King Regent’s seventh career win which has come in just 17 starts and his official stakes earnings are now R1,183,187.
Denis Schwarz, who rode him in all three legs of the challenge, said the “not too quick” pace had been suitable for the horse today and he had been confident coming onto the straight.
He added, “The front horse skipped away, I thought he ran a cracker , he stayed up there for very long and it wasn’t easy to peg him back. But King Regent did it!”
Kuyan Kotzen represented his father Gen on course and said, “The King has done it!”
He spoke of the many cogs that had to work to get the wheels turning and thanked the whole Woodhill Racing team, as well as owners Martin Wickens and Giselle Burg, and he thanked Sharon and Greg Kotzen for helping the team while they are in Gqeberha.
