Picture: Justin Snaith holds the HKJC World Pool Champions Cup trophy together with Jet Dark’s owners Nick Jonsson (right) and Tommy Crowe. (Candiese Lenferna).
Justin Snaith had a fine 2021/2022, saddling nine Grade 1 winners.
Furthermore, he will be receiving the Equus Horse Of The Year award with either Jet Dark (Trippi) or Captain’s Ransom (Captain Al).
The archives show his Grade 1 return this season to be well short of the 15 or 16 Grade 1 wins Terrance Millard had in the 1985/1986 season.
However, he could possibly reach double figures this season.
Jet Dark and Captain’s Ransom will be staying in training for the Cape Summer season.
Double Superlative (Twice Over) will be back for that season too.
If Pomp And Power’s (Vercingetorix) racing temperament settles down he will also be a force throughout this season.
Snaith’s other three-year-old Grade 1 winner Silver Darling (Silvano) has plenty of scope for further improvement.
His former champion sprinter Rio Querari (Querari) is back in full work and will be targeting the Grade 1 Pongracz Cape Flying Championship.
There is also the exciting prospect One Way Traffic (Dynasty), who showed what he is capable of when trouncing them by three lengths in the Grade 3 Vodacom 2200.
Not to forget their champion soldier Do It Again, who is not a certainty to run in the Cape Summer, but he will be having “one last dip” at the Hollywoodbets Durban July.
All of those horses are in addition to Snaith’s normally powerful three-year-old string, which has already been bolstered by the purchase into the yard of the impressive We’re Jamming (Duke Of Marmalade).
Snaith won the best two-year-old pointer to the Cape classics, the Grade 3 Langerman Trophy, with Light Speed (Gimmethegreenlight), a race he won the previous season with Pomp And Power.
Snaith’s nine Grade 1 winners in the 2021/2022 season were:
Cape Guineas – Double Superlative (Anton Marcus).
Cartier Paddock Stakes – Captain’s Ransom (Richard Fourie).
L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate – Jet Dark (S’Manga Khumalo).
Schweppes Majorca Stakes – Captain’s Ransom (Richard Fourie).
Jonsson Workwear Cape Derby – Pomp And Power (Richard Fourie).
Woolavington 2000 – Silver Darling (Grant van Niekerk).
SA Fillies Sprint brought to you by The Witness – Captain’s Ransom (Richard Fourie).
Mercury Sprint – Captain’s Ransom (Richard Fourie).
HKJC World Pool Champions Cup – Jet Dark (Richard Fourie).
Snaith’s other memorable feat last season was clean-sweeping the five Graded events at this year’s L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate festival. On top of winning the Queen’s Plate and Paddock Stakes, he won the Grade 2 Cartier Sceptre Stakes with Gimme Dat (Gimmethegreenlight), the Grade 2 Glorious Goodwood Premier Tropy with Hoedspruit (Legislate) and the Grade 3 Okapi Chairman’s Cup with Doublemint (Twice Over).
Terrance Millard’s list of Grade 1 winners and their 15 Grade 1 wins in the 1985/1986 season were:
Voodoo Charm: Gold Cup
Enchanted Garden: Gosforth Park Fillies Guineas, SA Oaks, Sun International, Natal Oaks.
Up The Creek: Paddock stakes
Potomac: Cape Derby, SA Derby, SA 2000.
Bimbina: Lancome Filllies Handicap (Gosforth Park).
Sunera: SA Fillies Sprint, Gilbeys (Golden Horse Sprint).
Fools Holme Clairwood Champion Stakes (Gold Challenge)
Ecurie: Garden Province Stakes
Occult: Durban July
In a Sporting Post profile of Terrance Millard they stated he had won 16 Grade 1’s out of the 30 held in one particular season.
That might be because it is not quite clear whether the two Grade 1s at the end of the Durban Winter season which used to be run in early August, the Gold Cup and the Champion Stakes, counted for the new season or the previous season?
In August 1986 Millard won the Gold Cup with Occult and the Champion Stakes over 2000m at Greyville (Champions Cup) with Fools Holme.
If those two are added and Voodoo Charm’s Gold Cup is subtracted that would make 16 for the 1985/1986 season.
However, the official number is more likely 15.
