One of the highlights of Justin Snaith’s 4th national trainers championships was the historic 6th run of Do It Again in the Hollywoodbets Durban July and finishing in the frame for the sixth time. 

The national trainer championship was thought to have been wrapped up a long time ago, because Justin Snaith had a huge lead after a fine Cape Summer season.

However, in the end he snuck in by just R338,468 and was likely breathing a sigh of relief that Sean Tarry’s two runners in the Gr 1 R700,000 Douglas Whyte Stakes ran unplaced.

Snaith deserves the title considering his two best horses, Jet Dark and Captain’s Ransom, were retired after the Cape Summer season.

He won Cape Town’s biggest race, the WSB Met, for only the second time.

However, that turned out to be his only Gr 1 win of the season.

Nevertheless, it was a season which still brought one particularly memorable moment, i.e. the record-breaking sixth appearance of Do It Again in the country’s premier race, the Hollywoodbets Durban July. The legend then made it six runs and six finishes in the frame,  when running on strongly at the age of eight to claim fourth place. His July record of two wins, a third and three fourth place finished is easily the best July record of any horse in history and he was given a fitting farewell at Sunday’s World Pool Gold Cup meeting.  

Tarry had begun Sunday’s big HKJC World Pool Gold Cup meeting  well over R2 million behind Snaith, who endured his worst SA Champions Season in memory with just a single feature race win (the Gr 2 WSB 1900), although to be fair he did arrive in KZN a lot later than usual.

Tarry’s day did not start well with his favourite in the Gr 2 Tabgold Umkhomazi Stakes over 1200m, Tail Of The Comet, ending too far back before finishing strongly for third. 

Then in the next race, the Gr 2 World Pool with Gold Circle Debutante, his one runner was scratched at the start and the other runner only managed sixth place.

However, his roll began in the next race he contested, the Gr 2 Riding High Together Gold Bracelet, as Bless My Stars romped in to land the lion’s share of the R300,000 stake. Snaith’s first runner of the day, Silver Darling, finished unplaced in this race.

Tarry’s favourite in the next race, the Gr 1 R700,000 World Pool Moment Of The Day Champion Stakes, Lucky Lad, finished last after being jostled out of the gate and then ending up running wide. Tarry’s three runners made up the last-placed trifecta in that race, although The Africa House was badly hampered for the second time in his last two runs.

Tarry then finished third with Thunderstruck in the R1 million Gr 1 Mercury Sprint.

However, the picture changed dramatically in the next two races. 

Tarry finished first and third in the Gr 3 R1 million Gold Cup with Future Pearl and Nebraas, with the Snaith pair One Way Traffic and Salvator Mundi, running sixth and second last respectively.

Tarry then won the Gr 1 R1,25 million HKJC World Pool Champions Cup with Princess Calla, while the Snaith-trained Pomp And Power once again fought for his head and was eventually eased out of the race.

Suddenly, Tarry needed to just win the R700,000 Gr 1 Douglas Whyte Stakes to be crowned national champion trainer.

Alas, both of his runners finished unplaced to prevent what would have been one of the most amazing comebacks in history.

Tarry had a dispersal sale of his own racehorses in September last year and it left him with a depleted yard.

Yet, he ended a memorable season winning seven of the 29 Gr 1s on offer in country and he also won a third Gr 3 Gold Cup, tghe country’s premier staying race.

Snaith is nevertheless the champion and will no doubt bounce back from the disappointing campaign in Durban, where his horses were struck down by one of those mysteries that trainers are sometimes unfortunate to experience i.e. most of the runners just seemed to run flat races.