MJ Odendaal’s reserve runner, Thisiswhatitmeans (What A Winter), got into the New Turf Carriers feature over 1400m on the polytrack at Greyville on Sunday, and properly kicked butt under top weight. This was the four-year-old gelding’s fourth successive win, and the second leg of a hat-trick of wins for Hollywood Racing who, on 120 winners, are now just 5 winners away from eclipsing their all-time winner record of 124, achieved last term.
Thisiswhatitmeans stormed up to win under jockey Marco van Rensburg, getting home by an easy 1.80-lengths from Rosh Kedesh. Odendaal said: “He won really well, he has been doing very well at home. I think I could’ve won on him! ”
Van Rensburg said he was ‘super impressed’ with Thisiswhatitmeans, who has now won six of 15 career starts and is equally effective on turf and the polytrack. “He is full of nonsense, but has lots of character,” added the jockey.
There are fans who would’ve thought that Van Rensburg was referring with those words to the trainer, an old friend whom he has the liberty to joke with, but Odendaal wouldn’t have taken offense anyway. Minutes earlier, Odendaal had to endure the regular interview banter from colleague Paul Lafferty, who described his dress sense as ‘sartorial’.
Odendaal’s partner Taryn Ryan joked: “MJ and I stood behind Mr Lafferty in the parade ring and we thought it was quite evident that he looked like he was going to a funeral. So we had an undertaker and a clown in the interview, and Anita Akal snapped a photo of us standing just behind Laff.”
The Odendaal stable has sent out 28 winners so far this season, up from 19 last season and 13 in the 2021/2. Odendaal started the season last August with a string of 19 horses which increased to 30 in January and has now grown to 53.”
Taryn commented: “We set ourselves a goal of 30 winners for the season. We are privileged to be training for some super owners who support us, and MJ has delivered the results they expected, and more. We give every horse in the stable the same attention, they get fed very well and it helps a lot that MJ is able to ride our runners in work and get a feel for them. Also, we move horses on who are not going to make it, and owners appreciate honesty.”
