Picture: Dean Street (Master Of My Fate). (Wayne Marks)

Young Woodruff Hopes To Celebrate Women’s Month With Feature Win

Her four-year-old, Dean Street, faces the toughest task of his career in Saturday’s R80,000 Racehorse Owners Association Middle Stakes

David Mollett (Business Day)

With Turffontein hosting a meeting last Tuesday to honour women in racing, it would be appropriate if trainer Lucinda Woodruff wins the feature race at Kenilworth on Saturday.

Woodruff hails from one of the most famous families in racing. Her grandfather, Terrance Millard, is one of the sport’s legends and her father Geoff won five trainer’s titles.

Young Woodruff, now in her late twenties, looks like she could have made it as a model, but horses have always been her great love.

Also, with the spotlight on women this month, it’s interesting to recall the message she had for women in the industry in an interview with Sporting Post a year ago. She said: “Be strong, committed and always believe in yourself. No matter what. You can do it.”

Miss Woodruff has certainly “done it” with four-year-old Dean Street, who has reeled off three wins for a quintet of owners who have been steadfastly loyal to the stable.

Dean Street faces the toughest task of his career in Saturday’s R80,000 Racehorse Owners Association Middle Stakes — the sixth race on the card — as the Master Of My Fate gelding is opposed by some useful performers including Major Attraction, Maria Querol and Han Solo.

With Richard Fourie suspended, trainer Justin Snaith has had to shop around for riders for his two runners, Major Attraction and Maria Querol. He has chosen highveld-based riders Ryan Munger and Calvin Habib.

Now one doesn’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to work out that S’manga Khumalo is no longer in favour with the Snaith camp. They had five runners on July day and have 15 on Saturday — no sign of the guy who won the Queen’s Plate on Jet Dark on any of these horses.

Munger will be excited to be riding Major Attraction for the first time as the mare has the highest merit rating and could defy top weight of 60kg. The likeable jockey had a successful 2021/2022 season, riding 87 winners and finishing in 11th place on the national log.

Woodruff will be happy to have secured Khumalo’s services for Dean Street as he was in the saddle when the gelding ran second on his debut at Kenilworth in January.

A fifth career win for Maria Querol would be no surprise and Candice Bass-Robinson’s runner, Sugar Mountain, with bottom weight of 52.5kg, has to be very much in the mix.

A banker bet at the meeting could be the six-year-old mare Academic Gold, running from pole position in the seventh race, a fillies and mares handicap over 1,800m.

A daughter of Vercingetorix, Academic Gold has won two of her past three starts and romped home by five lengths in the hands of Grant van Niekerk on her latest outing.

The chief danger to Corné Orffer’s mount is likely to be another of Vercingetorix’s progeny, five-year-old Perfect Trust representing Eric Sands’ stable.

Orffer also has a shout of winning the fifth race on Bass-Robinson’s four-year-old Silent War. This R300,000 purchase finished a close second last time out and may have most to fear from the Snaith runner, Night Ruler.

KENILWORTH JACKPOT SELECTIONS

4th Race: (1) Air Of Royalty (4) Love Rules (7) Sparkling Crystal (8) Ella’s Delight

5th Race: (1) Silent War (3) Night Ruler (2) Van Hunks (5) Captive Moon

6th Race: (6) Dean Street (1) Major Attraction (4) Han Solo (7) Sugar Mountain

7th Race: (2) Academic Gold (3) Perfect Trust (1) Jasmine (5) Double Check

Picture: Street Outlaw heads the CTS Ready To Run log (Wayne Marks)

The First CTS Ready To Run Log As At 11 August

The first log for the 2022 CTS Ready To Run Stakes has been published.

The R600 000 race will be contested over 1400m at Kenilworth on Sunday, 30 October. It will follow the 2022 CTS Ready To Run and Unbroken Two-Year-Old Sales scheduled for Saturday, 29 October.

The CTS Ready To Run Race is restricted to eligible graduates of the 2021 CTS Ready To Run Sale, and entries will open at 11:00 on Monday, 17 October. Supplementary entries are due by 11:00 on Friday, 21 October, with declarations due by 11:00 on Monday, 24 October.

Vaughan Marshall’s colt Street Outlaw (Master Of My Fate) is at the top of the first log, having been given a merit rating of 96 by the handicapper following his debut success over subsequent G3 stakes winner, We’re Jamming.

Candice Bass-Robinson’s Piroshka (Quasilo) has a win and four places to show from five starts. He finished ahead of Street Outlaw when they were beaten by Dave The King recently and, rated 95, occupies second place on the table ahead of third-placed Royal Aussie (Royal Mo), a fast-improving type from Justin Snaith’s yard, who has already won over the course and distance.

Mike Miller’s G3-placed Sabatini (What A Winter) holds fourth ahead of Captain Peg (Jay Peg), a smart filly and the only two-time winner in the Top 5 so far. Stuart Pettigrew’s runner shares fifth with Franz Lehar (Querari), who has had his form well franked, with no fewer than four winners having come from behind him on his impressive Scottsville debut in June.

More changes and updates will follow as the log changes, and connections of the potential runners and racing fans will be updated regularly.

Below, the Top 20 on the log as it stands on 11 August 2022:

1 STREET OUTLAW 3 C 96 1

2 PIROSHKA 3 C 95 1

3 ROYAL AUSSIE 3 C 94 1

4 SABATINI 3 F 93 1

5 CAPTAIN PEG 3 F 92 2

5 FRANZ LEHAR 3 G 92 1

7 GOOD COUNCIL 3 G 90 1

7 TOTHEMOONANDBACK 3 G 90 1

9 COLLOIDAL GOLD 3 G 88 1

9 SEEKING THE ONE 3 C 88 1

11 HEART STEALER 3 G 87 1

11 RULE OF THUMB 3 G 87 1

13 BIG SLICK 3 C 85 2

14 MASTER JOSH 3 C 84 0

15 CAPITAINE MAURICE 3 G 83 0

15 MUSIC IS LIFE 3 G 83 0

15 PINCH HIT 3 G 83 1

18 ENSUING 3 C 82 0

19 JOHNNY DOGS 3 G 80 1

20 BULLITT 3 C 79 0

Jarred Samuel Enjoying Life As Workrider For Douglas Whyte

Former KZN-based jockey Jarred Samuel is enjoying life as a workrider in Hong Kong where he has been allocated to the yard of fellow South African Douglas Whyte.

He has been out here on holiday and spoke to Turf Talk.

He said, “I initially went over for Mr David Ferraris and when he closed up shop I was transferred to Mr Douglas Whyte. He is another fellow South African, so its good. I’m working with different calibres of horse and working with different people. It’s a very good experience. Mr Douggie Whyte is a very professional guy. He’s only just started his training career but I think he is going to do very well.”

He continued, “It has been a different kind of stint for me, not racing, but its beneficial because rides, especially in season time, were getting a bit scarce out here. Working out there at least you know you have a nice, fair income and the Hong Kong Jockey Club look after you, so I’m really enjoying it and loking forward to next season.”

He said about the general calibre of horse in Hong Kong, “I can’t really compare because the tracks are very light and fast. The horses are all very strong and well built, but at the end of the day our South African horses have been there and taken them on. So I can’t compare but its a different calibre of horse because they come from places like France, England, Australia etc so it’s a good experience for me and as they say in the racing game you’re never too old to learn.”

All of the workriding Jarred does is at Sha Tin racecourse, on both the dirt and turf tracks.

Besides his friendships with ex-pat SA jockeys Lyle Hewitson and Luke Ferraris the gregarious Jarred has made friends with numerous jockeys and industry people from all around the world.

“It’s a great experience meeting new people. Covid was a bit of a strain but since then they have showed me around Hong Kong and I have settled in quite nicely.”

He said about the traditional food, “I said I might as well try it and it’s not bad, I’m getting along nicely with it, so it’s good.”

Being attached to the Whyte yard, Jarred has ridden a lot of the horses that gave Lyle Hewitson his 27 wins last season.

He added, “I give my input and Douglas also works the horses, so he also provides a lot of input, and obviously Lyle rides work too. It a whole team effort.”

Jarred can expect to ride about six or seven horses in the mornings during the peak season, although it decreases in the off season.

Picture: Paul Peter (Michel Bega).

The Horses Know Paul Peter Is A Champion

Mike Moon (The Citizen)

Every one of the 190 horses in the Peter yard, even a lowly maiden, gets treated with respect and love.

Ask Paul Peter to name the best horses in his stable and he gets cagey. Understandably. As he points out, a racehorse trainer with many valued owners must be diplomatic and not put noses out of joint.

He adds, half-jokingly, “Also, there’s the horses themselves. They’ve got feelings, too.” Then, quite earnestly, “I firmly believe horses are much more aware than they get credit for. They pick up what’s going on.”

That’s why every one of the 190 horses in the Peter yard, even a lowly maiden, gets treated with respect and love. This approach is surely a major factor behind the affable Joburg man claiming his first South African champion trainer title.

Peter sealed the 2021/22 championship at the Gold Cup race meeting at Greyville on Saturday, winning the famous old marathon itself with four-year-old gelding Shangani (7-1) and pushing his prizemoney total up to R23.3-million for the season – just over R2-million more than closest rival and defending champ Justin Snaith.

In the process of amassing that winning aggregate, Peter notched up 221 winners – smashing Sean Tarry’s seasonal record of 215 in the process. That Snaith recorded only 165 wins, yet came so close, attests to how Peter won it with numbers not supreme quality.

‘Winning races’

It turns out that’s exactly how he strategised his campaign.

“At the start of the season, me and my team took a hard look at our stock and realised we maybe didn’t have the quality of the other big stables; we didn’t have many obvious Grade 1 candidates but had a lot of good horses, nonetheless.

“So, we went for winning as many races as we could, and if the championship came then all good. And, along the way, there were some Grade 1s,” said Peter this week as he prepared to ship his 24-strong KwaZulu-Natal winter string back to HQ at Turffontein.

KZN racing

Raiding KwaZulu-Natal was a key to the championship.

In his 11 years as a full-fledged trainer, Peter has focused attention on competing on the Highveld – which he describes as “the best place to race, in terms of courses and climate”. He might once have added cash rewards, too – but the region’s operator was forced to slash stakes earlier in 2022.

Peter realised, to maintain his challenge, he’d have to supplement earnings by regular travel to the East Coast. It was the masterstroke, as he plundered Greyville and Scottsville.

The Peter family was always besotted with racing and horses. But it was Paul who stepped back from helping run the family’s paint business, Hyperpaints, to get hands-on with the game. In his 30s, he became an assistant trainer to James Maree, a wise old hand revered in the industry.

In 2010, Peter went on his own, with boxes at the Vaal and then at Turffontein. From the outset, hard work, patience and love of the animals marked him out as a cut above.

His first patrons were his family, brothers Gerrard, Johnny and Dominic, and nephews Joel and Jade – a collective that remains the backbone of the yard. An inexpensive R65,000 purchase, Magico, became an omen of great things to come when he pulled the trainer’s first win out of a hat on Durban July day, no less.

Career influences

From there it was a steady climb to the top. A major boost along the way was when veteran Turffontein trainer Ormond Ferraris retired and some of his best horses transferred to Peter – including super filly Summer Pudding, who went on to land the Triple Tiara and is unquestionably the best horse he has handled to date.

Ferraris was key to the Peter ascent in another way, spending a few years advising the operation and passing on his “incredible expertise in equine fitness”.

Indeed, the new champ credits Ferraris, Maree and KwaZulu-Natal trainer and good friend Dennis Bosch as the greatest influences on his success.

“We took the best of everything we learnt from those three and put it all together.”

He uses the word “we” all the time – referring to his extensive team, which includes his son Tony as an assistant alongside the very experienced and reputable John Vos.

They might have learnt the ropes from the old school, but the Peter team is keen to be at the cutting edge of training techniques – constantly studying world trends and using the very latest equipment. The likes of treadmills and walkers have been installed at Turffontein and special programmes developed to use them as effectively as possible.

It has all paid off. And if the horses really do sense what’s going on in the human world, they’ll know they’re part of a team of champions.

Picture: Lot 205 at the BSA August Sale is Drakenstein Stud-bred Lancaster Bomber colt Battle OfThe Bulge

Drakenstein Offering Relative To Cousin Casey At August 2yo Sale

Drakenstein are sending a draft of eleven to the BSA August Two-year-old Sale (26-27 August).

Among them is a close relative in blood to the country’s most exciting youngster, the Glen Kotzen-trained Cousin Casey.

The Lancaster Bomber colt called Battle Of The Bulge is out of Cash Register (Casey Tibbs), who is a full-sister to Durban July winner Big City Life.

Cousin Casey (Vercingetorix) is out of Bretton Woods, who is also a full-sister to Big City Life.

The blood relation does not end there.

Lancaster Bomber comes from a Danzig sire line and Nijinsky II is close up in the female line of his sire War Front.

Vercingetorix’s dam National Vixen has that same cross, being by Danzig sire National Assembly and her dam Royal Vixen is by Nijinsjky II sire Peacetime.

Picture: Record rainbow caught at Vogel Vlei (Frances Bell).

A New Record At Birch Brothers

The Birch Brothers are the most prolific winners of the SA Breeders Championship in history, winning it more than 40 times, but also like to keep their own list of farm records.

A new record size Rainbow Trout was caught in the healthy, private waters of the famous Vogel Vlei farm this week.

“Well done to Mike on his great catch,” said Colin Birch about the massive 15 pound to 16 pound trophy rainbow which smashed the record from last season of 14 pounds.

Picture: S’Manga Khumalo (Hollywoodbets).

Khumalo/Greeff Mean Business This Season

S’Manga Khumalo clinched an early double for Alan Greeff on the Fairview Poly today to make it eight wins for the combination this season.

Khumalo has only ridden in Gqeberha to date this season and all eight of his winners, at a strike rate of a phenomenal 42%, have been for Greeff.

Greeff has had nine winners at 21.43%.

However, reigning East Cape champion trainer Gavin Smith outdid him today, scoring a treble. He has now had four winners at a lowly 6.06%, which is sure to improve.

Sharon Kotzen ended last season in fine form and has started this season well too, scoring a double today to take her tally for the season to three winners at 15.79%.

Today’s Question

What is meant by Harmonised Screening Limits (HSL’s) and Detection Times (or Withdrawal Times) in horseracing?

Picture: Horse medication injection

Kenilworth Saturday Fields

Hollywoodbets Scottsville Sunday

Today’s Question Answer

Today horseracing regulatory bodies usually distinguish between the control of illicit substances (doping control) and the control of therapeutic substances (medication control).

“Doping” drugs, such as agents that stimulate the central nervous system, can artificially enhance the horse’s physical capacity and its competitive instinct, and there is zero tolerance of these drugs.

However, an anti-doping policy should not impede the use of legitimate veterinary medications and therefore another important philosophy that most regulatory bodies now employ is that a “zero tolerance rule” is not suitable for medication control.

The high level of sensitivity of modern screening methods allows traces of legitimate medications to be detected long after their presence is having any effect.

In the past this has led to some trainers attaining “positives” and being unfairly labeled as “cheats” by the uneducated racing public.

The general racing public do not have the knowledge to differentiate between irrelevant traces and levels that are having a pharmacological effect, or, even worse, to differentiate between therapeutic medicine and “dope.”

Most regulatory bodies have now established the use of harmonised screening limits (HSL) relating to commonly used drugs in equine medication.

The limit is the level of the medication detected in the urine or plasma below which there will be no pharmological effect on the horse.

The HSL’s, which are set according to the regulatory body’s research analysis, are normally kept secret and veterinarians are instead given a list of detection times otherwise known as withdrawal times.

This is the time it will take for the expected detected level of the medication to be below the HSL.

Most veterinarians allow a day or two more than the detection time to be safe, because horse’s have varying metabolisms and in some the medication will take longer to reduce than in others.

In January this year the IFHA (International Federation Of Horseracing Authorities) provided ISL’s (International Screening Limits) and IRL’s (International Residue Limits (to to control certain contaminants and environmental substances) as guidelines.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE IFHA’S ISL’s AND IRL’s

Picture: Blood and urine samples are tested against HSL’s.

Turf Talk Newsletter – 12 August 2022