Jane Truter leads in the Vaughan Marshall-trained Querari gelding Questioning, bred and owned by Alec and the honourable Gillian Foster, after his win in the Gr 3 Cape Classic on Sunday (Picture: Wayne Marks)
He breeds cattle in the U.K. and said after Tap O’ Noth’s victory, “When you have a very good bull and good cows, you will produce top quality cattle. It is exactly the same in horseracing.”
He continued, “Not only did Tap O’Noth’s champion sire Captain Al win the Cape Guineas, but his dam Wintersweet was by champion sire Western Winter, who has produced two Cape Guineas winners.”
However, a lot is still about chance and Alec said, “Every horse you breed you have a champion in mind, but you can’t dictate whether he will be a champion or a plodder.”
One bit of fate in Alec and Gillian’s favour relates to the fortunes of Alec’s beloved England cricket team.
He is a cricket fanatic and in fact his first visit to South Africa was in 1977 with the Eton Ramblers cricket team and toured with them again in 1981.
When Tap O’ Noth won the Cape Guineas England were on there way to a third successive defeat in an Ashes series, which they went on to lose 4-0.
Currently, England fans are having it even worse, because they are propping up the cricket world cup table!
However, the question is whether Questioning can provide some consolation for Alec just as Tap O’Noth did six years ago.
His win on Saturday under Bernard Fayd’Herbe was eyecatching and he looks to have a progressive profile. Of course his chances of winning the Cape Guineas will be enhanced if the mighty Johannesburg pair, Sandringham Summit and Main Defender, do not make the journey down.
Meanwhile, Wheredowego’s value as a broodmare is set to skyrocket if her son does go on to Guineas glory.
