Back In Business (JC Photos)
Joe Soma was full of praise for the way the NHA handled the Back In Business case, where the promising sprinter arrived at the start having shortened to long odds-on for a race at Turffontein in mid-September, but then bolted to the start under controversial circumstances.
He said, “I was very disappointed with the way the jockey treated our horse. The NHA were very professional with the way they handled this whole story. Unfortunately, and I say unfortunately in both my and the NHA’s view, under the rule the jockey was charged he was only allowed to get a maximum R10,000 fine.”
Soma said the son of William Longsword had been “the most beautifully behaved horse” since being gelded last season.
He had already won one race as a gelding in July last year.
Soma said, “I was looking forward to racing him in a race like the Merchants on Betway Summer Cup day, but the incident set the horse back badly. He was very depressed afterwards. Last Thursday was the first day he had been like his old self back at the track. He is quite a proud horse. However, he had been walking around with his head down and not eating as well as he normally does and this was going on until about one-and-a-half months later. Let alone the horse being so depressed and hurt, it is also about how much it has cost the owner as it is two or three months before the horse runs again.”
The Klawervlei Stud-bred gelding has won three out of four starts.
He should come into his own this season as a four-year-old as the progeny of William Longsword tend to have progressive profiles.
