Jet Force could, after all, turn out be a force in the Cape Summer Season (Picture: Wayne Marks)
Equus Champion Sprinter Buffalo Storm Cody and his runner up in the Gr 1 Mercury Sprint, Jet Force, had been earmarked for the Dubai Carnival to be trained by Mike and Mathew de Kock, but the chartered flight that was set to take them over to the EU in December has had to be scrapped due to a lack of numbers.
A Chartered Flight is enormously expensive and is only cost effective if there are enough horses to fill the flight.
The December flight was dependent on eight horses booked by a UAE client confirming that booking.
However, the shipping agency received notice today to not proceed with the eight horses.
David Ferraris had two horses bound for Hong Kong booked on the flight, so he is also effected.
The last flight to go to the EU was on August 5 and among the equine passengers was the Gr 1 World Pool Cape Flying Championship winner Kingdundee, who is currently in the UAE being prepared by trainer Bhupat Seemar for the Dubai Carnival.
The planned flight in September was postponed to November and then to December and has now been scrapped.
The next flight is only in April.
At the heart of the issue lies the exorbitant financial commitments associated with shipping racehorses overseas. It costs between US$45,000 and $USD50,000 (about R820,000) to fly a horse to an overseas destination, provided that there are 18-21 horses on the chartered flight. The cost of flying a single horse or just a few horses is so huge that it is not even considered an option.
Buffalo Storm Cody will likely now be seen in the Gr 1 Cape Flying Championship.
Jet Force won the recent Gr 3 Matchem Stakes over 1400m in his seasonal reappearance, beating Legal Counsel, and he will likely be targeted at the Gr 1 L’Ormarins King’s Plate.
