On Saturday the Hollywoodbets Greyville crowd witnessed a superstar in action as Eight On Eighteen sauntered to a 3,80 length victory in an exceptional time in the Gr 1 Daily News 2000 despite only being ridden hands and heels by Richard Fourie and being eased before the line.
The time was the second fastest the race had seen since the narrowing of the track and was more than two seconds faster than the Woolavington 2000 on the same day.
It was the third time Justin Snaith had won it and the second time owner Nick Jonsson had won it, although he owns Eight On Eighteen in partnership with Johann Rupert.
Drakenstein Stud bred the winner for the second time as they also bred Jonsson’s first Daily News winner, the Michael Roberts-trained See It Again.
Richard Fourie won the Daily News for the second time, his first win having been in 2014 on another superstar, the Drakenstein Stud-owned Legislate.
Eight On Eighteen’s stablemate Makazole, who runs in the same Nick Jonsson colours, did his job superbly on Saturday as he set off at a pace more suited to a sprint.
Parisian Walkway was in second but was trapped wide without cover, while Spumante Dolce sat on the rail in third. The Snaith-trained Jonsson-owned Okavanga was behind Spumante Dolce and Native Ruler was behind Parisian Walkway.
Eight On Eighteen was initially tailed off as he was eased from the widest draw of all to ensure cover behind the field and the pace Makazole set off at thus saw him out of his ground.
However, he was soon on their heels and he rounded the field just before entering the straight.
Such was his phenomenal turn of foot that he had hit the front by the 400m mark and it was just hands and heels from them on.
Spumante Dolce stayed on well to stave off Okavango and Native Ruler, who were beaten 4,05 lengths and 4,30 lengths by the winner respectively.
Okavango and Native Ruler both ran on well although Native Ruler did hang in and had to be straightened when getting close to Spumante Dolce.
Parisian Walkway was beaten over eight lengths and it was a pity he was without cover because whether he stays beyond a mile is probably still unknown.
Makazole was beaten over 13 lengths.
The race emphasised what a loss as a stallion Lancaster Bomber has been. The late stallion has had five individual Gr 1 winners of eight Gr 1 races in just the two crops he produced and has had ten stakes winners overall.
His legacy willl live on through potential stallions like Eight On Eighteen, Snow Pilot and Legend Of Arthur.
The post race comments can be read below:
RICHARD FOURIE : “He’s a beautiful horse. He was just a bit ring rusty last time. He’s tightened up nicely. He’s an absolute pleasure to ride and showcased his true ability. It was a nice even run race. Once I said ‘let’s go home’, he quickened up and I didn’t have to do too much. He needed the run still, which is great news. Fantastic horse. Watch this one!”
JUSTIN SNAITH : “I know how much is still in the tank … that’s the frightening thing … it’s like watching the 100m athletes at the Olympics in the semi-final and they’re all jogging, looking at each other. You get that feel about him. There’s an engine in there … it’s flickering, but it’s not on full yet. Committing to the July … we had a lot of horses go wrong in the race … it’s the most interesting race in South Africa as when the starting stalls open, the jockeys completely lose their heads … and their brains. It’s importance, history … there’s so much as play in a race like that and you also have to think about is well-being. It’s a decision that will be made a little later, but when you have a horse of this ability, it’s very hard not to go for a race like that. We will put it all in and make the call. It was very important to have a horse to insure that there was an honest pace … the last thing for the punters is to see a slow pace and a 4-10 in a group 1 go missing. I thank Nick for making that effort. It’s a privilege and honour to train for Johan and Nick is one of the few owners I have that’s a better horseman than me … so he’s a very easy person to talk to. Well done to Drakenstein on the double.”NICK JONSSON : “He’s a helluva horse. The pressure on Justin with a horse like this is enormous. I’m just lucky enough to own him in partnership with Johann. It’s wonderful fun and why we do it … to win races with horses like this … so it’s a real thrill. I think Okavango ran a really good race. He ran a short head 3rd, which was impressive. Makazole did well in setting the pace. We were really worried about there being not enough pace, so it was clever for Justin and Jonathan to arrange that. If you want to win, you can’t leave a stone unturned. It’s quite straight-forward really. Another Drakenstein-bred. Gaynor keeps churning out these amazing horses and no one deserves to breed good horses more than she does. The effort put in is quite extraordinary. Well done to Richard as it was a wonderful ride … to jump the horse out so slowly … let him enjoy his race and to come around the turn … he went from last to first in a matter of strides. I think he’s probably going to get better than this. He’s a superstar.”