Turf Talk Newsletter – 20 February, 2025

Zeitz won the Gr 3 Politician Stakes in effortless style under Serino Moodley and stable jockey Corne Orffer, who could not make the weight of 55,5kg in the latter race, now returns. (Picture: Wayne Marks)

The Splashout Cape Derby has highlighted the phenomenon of Vercingetorix, as he has four of the seven runners, which should see him increasing his big lead in the national sires championship to a virtually unassailable one.

At the time of writing he is just under R5 million ahead of reigning champion Gimmethegreenlight.

Vercingetorix has aleady had a Cape Derby winner, the Justin Snaith-trained Pomp And Power, and his four runners on Saturday are The Piet Steyn-trained 97 merit rated Garrix, the Snaith-trained 103-rated Sail The Seas, the Andre Nel-trained 97-rated Zeitz and the Snaith-trained 91-rated Native Ruler.

Zeitz could be the one with the most chance of upsetting the odds on favourite Eight On Eighteen, a Snaith-trained Lancaster Bomber colt whose WSB Met win sees him merit rated 24 points higher than any of the other runners.

Zeitz relaxed superbly in a handy position in the Gr 3 City Of Cape Town Politician Stakes over 1800m. He was loping along in a very comfortable space while a lot of the others were still showing signs of inexperience. In the straight he turned it on effortlessly and won easily. He beat Garrix by 2,75 lengths and was receiving 3kg, so there is not much in it. However, he looked to have plenty still in hand when he crossed the line. His dam is by speed influence Redoute’s Choice and only won once and it was over 1600m, but he is so relaxed he should not have a problem seeing out the trip and the tricky draw of six should not be too much of a concern either.

Sail The Seas could be the one with the most improvement to come. He is still noticeably maturing so will be improving all the time. He came from last in the Politician Stakes, which was run at a slow pace, so did well to finish a 4,55 length fifth. That is especially considering he was carrying topweight and giving weight away all around. He gave the winner 4,5kg so should finish alongside him in the Cape Derby on paper. Sail The Seas won’t have to be dropped out from a wide draw as he was in the Politician. He has the middle draw of four, so should have a few options.

Gavin Lerena rides Native Ruler and he has an eyecacthing pedigree as he is out of the Wilgerbosdrift SA Oaks winner Pine Princess, who has produced two stakes-placed horses to date in Pyromaniac and Passchendaele.  Native Ruler would have come on from his Politician Stakes third. He led most the way and stayed on well. He is not dissimilar in conformation to Pomp And Power and looks the sort who at his peak would relish a resolute gallop for 2000m, which Pomp And Power was able to do behind a fast pace when he won the Cape Derby. However, on paper Native Ruler has a tough task as he is 4,5kg worse off with Sail The Seas for a 1,50 length beating and he is drawn seven of seven.

Garrix is highly regarded and looped the field around the turn in the slow run Politician Stakes, going from joint last to third as they entered the straight, before staying on to be beaten only 2,75 lengths. It did not pan out well there and he could prove better than that result suggests on paper. He is strongly built but on pedigree should have no problem with the trip, so it is going to be fascinating to see what tactics are employed from pole position.

Eight On Eighteen has shown himself to have a fine action and a fine turn of foot and he has plenty of scope for improvement. The Lancaster Bomber colt is proven over course and distance and is unlikely to be troubled by any of the opposition.

Dawn To Dusk is by Trippi and stayed on well from a midfield position on the rail in the Politician Stakes to be beaten 3,55 lengths. He is now 3kg worse off with Sail The Seas for a one length beating. His dam won four times from 1160m to 1450m, but she is by Dynasty so he has a chance of seeing it out.

Express Yourself is a big scopey sort by Trippi and he was never well settled in a handy position in the Politician Stakes and duly faded out in the straight. He is capable of better and his only win was over 2000m, so if it pans out well and he gets good cover behind a faster pace he could perform better. However, it is only a seven horse field and he has the same trainer and ownership as Eight On Eighteen, so from draw five he might be used to ensure a good pace.

It is a small field but an intriguing contest and Eight On Eighteen might be given some cheek by Zeitz, Sail The Seas and Garrix, who are tipped to follow him home in that order with Native Ruler, Dawn Till Dusk and Express Yourself coming home in that order behind them.

The Peter Muscutt-trained Spacebound waltzed in by four lengths on debut over 1000m at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth to become Declarationofpeace’s second winner. His 400m to finish time was the fastest of the day. (Picture: Wayne Marks)

The early pace in the Freshman Sires championship is being set by Declarationofpeace and Erik The Red with two winners apiece.

Declarationofpeace is out to become the second son of War Front in the space of three seasons to land the Freshman championship, with Lancaster Bomber having done it in the 2022/2023 season, while Erik The Red is out to necome the second succesive son of Captain Al to do it, following One World’s record breaking 2023/2024 season.

There is a long way to go but Declarationofpeace’s two winners have come from just three runners, while Erik The Red’s have come from nine runners.

However, Erik The Red is likely to have more runners, being based at Varsfontein Stud whilst Declaratinofpeace is a KZN sire so would likely have had less numbers in his first season.

Hawwaam (Silvano) will likely enter the fray too as he will surely produce some classy progeny and he would have received plenty of support in his first season.

Hawwaam has had one winner from two runners to date.

War Front started out being considered a dirt sire but this all changed.

His stud career has been fascinating, as this summary below depicts.

War Front was retired to stud at Claiborne Farm in Paris, Kentucky. Expectations were initially moderate, and his stud fee dipped to a low of $10,000 in 2011. That same year though, his first crop turned age three and several of them became stakes winners, both in America on dirt and then in Europe on turf. “He started out with more of a reputation as a dirt sire”, said Walker Hancock, president of Claiborne. “It wasn’t until he had two winners at Royal Ascot (Declaration of War and War Command) on the same day that he got dubbed a turf sire.”

Thanks in part to the support of Coolmore Stud, he started attracting better quality mares and his stud fee steadily increased. His stud fee for 2018 and 2019 was $250,000 (increased from $200,000 for 2016 and $150,000 for 2015 and 2014). This was tied for the highest fees in North America for 2019 and is among the highest in the world.

However, by 2025 his standing fee had been lowered from $100,000 to $75,000.

Lancaster Bomber’s son Eight On Eighteen is the hotpot favourite for Saturday’s Gr 1 Splashout Cape Derby. He became Lancaster Bomber’s fourth individual Gr 1 winner when landing the prestigious WSB Met last month.

Lancaster Bomber only had 157 foals so that is a fine return and there could still be more.

Eight On Eighteen is going to take a power of beating in the Splashout Cape Derby. (Picture: Wayne Marks)

There was an excellent panel discussion this week for the Splashout Cape Derby meeting anchored by Vicky Minott and featuring presenter/commentators Alistair Cohen and Brandon Bailey and former stalwart jockey Karl Neisius, who won the Cape Derby six times himself.

Click here to watch the SPLASHOUT CAPE DERBY PANEL DISCUSSION

Malmesbury Missile wins impressively in his third career start. (Picture: Wayne Marks)

A progressive 2yo son of champion sire Gimmethegreenlight will be sold without reserve and in absentia by public auction after the final race at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth on SplashOut Cape Derby day, Saturday 22 February, to dissolve a partnership.

Offered by Woodhill Racing, the athletic Malmesbury Missile was a winner over 1200m at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth at his third start on 5 February after placing at his first two starts.

See the catalogue page – please click here.

Named after Springbok star Pieter-Steph du Toit, Malmesbury Missile fetched R900 000 at the 2024 CRS Cape Premier Yearling Sale.

Malmesbury Missile qualifies to run in the R1,5 million CTS Cape Slipper over 1200m on the Big Cap raceday on 16 March at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth.

Saturday’s auction will be conducted under the auspices of Cape Racing Sales.

Prospective bidders on site, and those utilising Zoom, are requested to ensure that their buyer’s cards are activated by visiting the Cape Racing Sales website.

The final race at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth on Saturday is due off at 16h55.

The auction will be held in the 1881 Lounge shortly after the all-clear is given for the final race.

All enquires in regard to this public auction may be addressed to Cape Racing Sales’ Vicky Minott on email – vicky@caperacing.co.za.

Harry Nyquist poweres home on debut. (JC Photos)

Possibly the most interesting winner over the weekend was the Mike de Kock-trained Harry Nyquist, who is a strongly built chestnut with a fascinating pedigree and he could develop into an exciting sprinter.

Harry Nyquist clocked 67,93s in his debut win over 1160m at Turffontein on Saturday – 0,61s faster than the class average, and made a good impression.

Harry Nyquist is by 2016 Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist out of Go On Mary (Broken Vow), and was bred by Jessica Slack, who said: “Go On Mary is in the USA now and is due next to Game Winner (Candy Ride).”

Go On Mary ran 25 times in the USA for four wins, three seconds and five thirds for stakes earnings of US$225,03 and one of her wins was in a back type race over five furlongs at Del Mar on the turf in March 2018.

Jessica purchased her at the Keeneland Association November Breeding Stock Sale in 2019 for US$110,000.

Broken Vow was the last son of Unbridled standing in Kentucky and this ultra consistent horse’s best win was in the Gr 2 Philip H Iselen Handicap at Monmouth Park (today the Gr 1 Haskell Stakes) over one mile and half-a-furlong on the dirt.

As a stallion Broken Vow sired 80 (6%) black-type winners and another 79 that were stakes placed. His elite runners include 27 graded/group winners of which six were grade/group 1 winners.

The Mike de Kock website wrote the below report about Harry Nyquist:

Harry Nyquist jumped like a pro on Saturday, cruised into the lead, came across from the inside to the standside and won by just over four lengths.

This was one of those rare races where, after 400m, one kind of got the feeling that it was over as a contest. Watch the replay at the end of this review to see how Harry Nyquist has them all off the bit at the 600m. He quickened away, using his beautiful action. “He won a smart race,” said jockey Chase Maujean.

“I didn’t see that one coming,” said a suitably impressed Mike de Kock after the race. Mike said in his preview that he felt this was a beatable field, but the ease of his win came unexpected. Mike also noted that Harry Nyquist had been problematic to train. He and Mathew will be crossing fingers that it’s plain sailing from here, so that he can develop into a decent prospect.

Assistant David Dlamini commented: “Harry Nyquist had niggles and it was a good idea to geld him. (What we saw today) is the type of work he’d showed us in the beginning.”

Harry Nyquist runs in the silks of stalwart owner Henk Leyenaar, in partnership with Chris Haynes, Mike de Kock, George Ragunan and Noeline Malherbe. Leyenaar, who became well-known in SA racing circles as one of the original owners of Ipi Tombe, said from his Harare home: “It’s a pity he had to be gelded, he has a wonderful American pedigree. But we, the ‘mushrooms’, are very pleased and thankful to the De Kock Racing Team”. ‘Mushrooms’, said Henk, was a name suggested by Chris and Jehan Malherbe, because ‘Mike always keeps us in the dark!’

Henk will be celebrating his 79th birthday next Saturday and said: “I still ride my own horse around Borrowdale Park every day of the week!”

Who was the legendary trainer Vincent O’Brien’s first great horse on the flat?

The subject is pictured above.