Atticus Finch enjoyed a magnificent preparation for the country’s richest ever Gr 1 race, the R6 million Betway Summer Cup over 2000m at Turffontein Standside on Saturday, and he ran on resolutely to take the first cheque under Calvin Habib. (JC Photos)
The Gr 1 R6 million Betway Summer Cup was the richest Gr 1 event in South African history and the winner of this 2000m race at Turffontein Standside on Saturday, Mater Of My Fate five-year-old gelding Atticus Finch, did not reach his reserve at the BSA National Yearling Sale and was sold in a private deal afterwards to Alec Laird.
Alec recalled, “Varsfontein didn’t get their price so after the sale they asked me if I didn’t want to put it together, because they didn’t want to take him back to the farm to try and sell him at another sale.”
Atticus Finch hadn’t been on Alec’s shortlist and he had not bid for him, but he had trained members of the family before and often buys from Varsfontein Stud , which were a couple of reasons why farm manager Carl De Vos had approached him. Alec agreed to take him for their asking price of R150,000.
The first share in him that Alec sold was easy.
He related, “When Atticus arrived from the sale Lance Clark was at the yard visiting another horse of his who had ended up a very disappointing horse. He was in the box looking at this horse and Atticus arrived and walked into the stable next door and Lance said, ‘What’s that?’ and I replied, “No, he’s a horse who is for sale,’ and he said straight away, ‘I’ll take a share!’ Lance had just come into my yard at the time with a couple of horses and he must have liked something he saw about Atticus. We ended up putting the horse together quickly!”
Funnily enough Atticus’s pedigree was boosted sometime after the sale by a horse who ended up favourite on Saturday for the Summer Cup, Main Defender. The latter, now a four-year-old, was a crack two-year-old and three-year-old and won the Gr 1 Wilgerbosdrift HF Oppenheimer Horse Chestnut Stakes among other stakes events.Main Defender was also bred at Varsfontein Stud and is out of a half-sister to Atticus Finch.
It was a second Summer Cup win for Alec, meaning he has outdone his legendary father Syd in Johannesburg’s most iconic race. Syd raided Johannesburg with some greats like Mazarin and Politician in an effort to win this big race, but his sole win was with The Rutland Arms (Royal Prerogative) in April 1985.
Alec’s first Summer Cup win was with Malteme in November 2006. Malteme was by Rakeen and Atticus Finch is by Rakeen’s grandson Master Of My Fate, who is by Rakeen’s famous seven-times champion sire son Jet Master.
Alec said, “I am so proud of Atticus and so proud of my team and I am really chuffed for a really lovely bunch of owners … they have supported me really well and to be able to pay them back is such a lekker result. It was a great day, it was a wonderful day.”
Gary Basel, Lance Clark and Grant Cornwall were on course and the latter had actually flown up from Durban together with his family. So the only owner not on course was Phil Gregory and that was because he was overseas.
The day had already been made before the Summer Cup when the yard’s three-year-old Fire Away colt Fire Attack finished second in the Gr 2 R650,000 Betway Dingaans, which added to his win of the Gr 2 SA Nursery earlier this year.
Atticus’s Finch’s owners Basel, Clark and Cornwall also own shares in Fire Attack, while Basel and Clark own shares in the yard’s Ideal World colt Parisian Walkway, who ran fourth in the Dingaans.
Alec said about the Summer Cup, “The funny thing is Atticus was favourite last year and this year it was possibly a stronger field. We weren’t well in at the weights but he was well in himself, that was the difference. He ran above his rating.”
Alec added, “The nice thing is it’s come full circle, because Calvin Habib was offered the ride on the winner (Royal Victory) last year (after riding him to victory in the Michaelmas), but he stuck with Atticus. So he has been rewarded a year later … he said after the race he had made amends for last year!”
Alec was asked if Atticus Finch was better in himself than he had been last year and replied, “Oh gosh yes. Last year he had to qualify and still get there in good shape, so after winning the Victory Moon he still had the Summer Cup, so it was a longer road. This year he had a fantastic prep. There were no hiccups in his prep. Each run just brought him on and he peaked at the right time. Also with a bigger spread in the handicap and him being under sufferance he could afford to have a full go in all the races he was prepping in, there was none of that half hoping he wouldn’t win in order to avoid a penalty.”
In other words, Alec was happy his horse had had some hard races in the build up that would have brought him to his absolute peak.
Chief handicapper Lennon Maharaj spoke of his observation shortly before the off that the times for all the races up until then had been slower than average and he thus believed the going was more testing on the day … he wondered whether the grass was perhaps thicker or whether it had been the effect of watering.
Alec said he would have endorsed that observation as it seemed nothing was winning from the front.
He said, “Calvin wanted to be handy, but he got knocked out of the race and going through the turn I said, ‘Well at least they are not winning from the front’. Mind you the horse that ran second (Purple Pitcher) ran a brilliant race from the front.”
He continued, “I made Purple Pitcher a massisve danger to us beforehand. On the turn around in the weights from the Victory Moon I told the owners we can’t beat Purple Pitcher, it is going to be tough. I even told Robyn Klaasen that I had told my owners we’re going to battle to beat your horse and I said the only way your horse will get beat is if I put money on it!”
Alec actually lamented not double floating Atticus Finch and Purple Pitcher in a quartet because it paid a massive R 224,437.50.
Going back to the running, Alec said Atticus Finch had ended up in the right place and he added, “Calvin made the comment before that to win the Summer Cup you need a horse that’s a grinder, not necessarily a finisher but a grinder. And that is what Atticus is.”
Calvin also won the Summer Cup in 2021 on the 25/1 outsider Flying Carpet.
Atticus Finch started at 20/1 odds and beat 14/1 shot Purple Pitcher with 33/1 shot Rule By Force third, the 100/1 chance Madison Valley fourth and the long-time ante-post favourite See It Again, who started at odds of 4/1, being run out of it late and finishing fifth.
Alec is waiting to see what the handicapper does with Atticus Finch before deciding his next step.
The line horse will likely be the 123-rated Purple Pitcher and as five-year-old Atticus received 1,5kg from this four-year-old and beat him by 1,10 lengths it looks likely he will go to 121.
Alec said, “He has always been more of a handicapping horse and he’s now going to move up to another level, so it’s going to be tough, but we’ll see. He has always been on the lighter side, so as a five-year-old he might just improve some more.”
He said Fire Attack would be programmed towards the Gr 2 Gauteng Guineas next year. He was an entry for the Hollywoodbets Cape Guineas, but he said that race was too close to the Dingaans.
Alec said, “You can take a motorbike down to Cape Town for a race two weeks later, but it’s hard to take a horse after a race like that.”
Alec said the Gr 1 SA Classic would give them a chance of seeing whether Fire Attack stayed further than a mile.
He said Parisian Walkway (Ideal World) was an immature horse who would get stronger and said he looked to be a Derby type.
