Message Of Support For Paul Peter by NZ-Bound Kennedy

Warren Kennedy has sent through all the necessary applications and paper work for his pending move to New Zealand and is now just waiting for the visas to come through.

He estimates he will be leaving  around the beginning of October.

He is going to ride in a couple of meetings in KZN before departing in order to keep his fitness up and to provide him with an opportunity to say goodbye.

He has just been on holiday in Greece and arrived home to hear the shock news that his former guv’nor Paul Peter had handed in his license.

Peter made a statement citing health reasons, so has understandably not being taken phone calls in what must be an emotionally stressful time for him and his family.

However, Kennedy said, “I wish him well and will forever be thankful to him and his patrons for everything they have done for my career. I felt like a part of his family  and hope to see him soon and have dinner and a chat. To me he will always be a great trainer and a great human, a good friend whom I will always remember as the champion trainer who helped me with my career.”

KZN Champion Owners Hollywood Ahead Of Schedule –
Imilenzeyokududuma Ultra Promising  

The Hollywood Syndicate were KZN Champion owners last season and were runners up to Drakenstein Stud in the national ownership championship, which is based on stakes.

However, their 102 winners were the most of any owner in the country, 16 clear of Suzette Viljoen’s 86 winners and 26 clear of joint third-placed Drakenstein Stud and Sabine Plattner.

Hollywood have already amassed 16 winners this term, so as the season has only been going for seven weeks they are ahead of schedule if achieving their PB (“personal best”) is their aim.

If they keep this rate up they will have 119 winners by the end of the season.

Their highlight this past weekend would have been the performance over 1600m at Hollywoodbets Scottsville by their Peter Muscutt-trained four-year-old Dynasty gelding Imilenzeyokududuma.

He was the second leg of a quick double for Hollywood after the Alyson Wright-trained Fashionigma (Master Of My Fate) had scored in the previous race.

Imilenzeyokududuma has matured into a fine looking specimen and Tristan Gooden soon had him settled on the rail in the box seat.

He showed a fine turn of foot to hit the front at the 400m mark before galloping clear to win by 3,10 lengths from the hard-knocking Sean Tarry-trained Willow’s Wish (Willow Magic).

Imilenzeyokududuma was running off an 83 merit rating in the MR91 contest and the handicappers have raised him to a 90.

It was only his seventh career start.

He looks headed for feature company, although as he is already a four-year-old Muscutt will not have an easy task placing him.

Shaun Parker’s Stewards Demote Dettori’s Mount In St. Leger 

The up-and-down season of Frankie Dettori continued in such vein at Doncaster yesterday when he rode “carelessly” in the St. Leger on the Ralph Beckett-trained Haskoy (Golden Horn) and it earned him a five day suspension after the filly had been demoted from second to fourth in the placings.

The final British classic of the season was won by the Roger Varian-trained Eldar Eldarov (Dubawi), who gave David Egan a first classic victory.

Dettori was in joint third place entering the long straight and moved towards the centre to follow the pacemaker French Claim.

He thus left the door open for the Marco Botti-trained Giavellotto (Mastercraftsman).

However, Dettori then began continually drifting back to the rail and eventually hampered Giavellotto, who had to be snatched up just as he was beginning to look threatening.

Giavellotto was picked up and was running on strongly at the line.

He finished fourth, beaten a neck by the favourite New London, who was half-a-length behind the second horse home, Haskoy.

The British Horseracing Authority’s (BHA) head of stewarding Shaun Parker, who was the chief steward at the meeting (he was a former chief stipe in KZN), explained the decision to demote Haskoy to fourth place: “The view of the stewards is that Mr Callan has established himself a run against the rail and is steadily making his progress going to the two-furlong marker, at which point he had to take a noticeable check off Mr Dettori’s mount, which shifted towards the rail and has stopped his momentum at that particular stage.

“After the noticeable check, we were of the view that he had lost more ground than the three-quarters of a length he was beaten, and we took the view that if he had been given an uninterrupted run to the line he would have beaten Mr Dettori.”

Neil Callan was visibly angry after dismounting and trainer Marco Botti felt his charge deserved to finish closer than he did.

“I’m pleased because I didn’t think they (stewards) would do anything,” said the Italian.

“I’ve just spoken to Neil Callan and he said he stood his ground. He said he shouted at Frankie and he came across. It’s so obvious the horse should have finished closer than fourth.

“We’re delighted we were promoted in position. The horse deserved to finish a little bit closer and in a way it’s a relief.

“It’s good for the owner as she’s here and bred the horse and was a bit disappointed to be fourth after watching the race. I’m delighted for the owners.”

However, Ralph Beckett announced his intention to appeal the revised result.

He did not agree with it due to  the interference having taken  place some way from home.

Beckett, whose Simple Verse lost the 2015 St Leger on the day, only to get the race back on appeal, said: “The way the rules are written will be the basis for the appeal.”

Speaking prior to the result being amended, he said: “She ran a huge race and there is nothing to say other than we found one too good – that is it really.”

Dettori was suspended for five days for “careless riding as he had allowed his mount to drift left without sufficient and timely correction, causing Giavellotto to be severely checked in its run.”

This is the second ban Dettori has picked up in a little over a week after he was suspended for breaking whip rules in a race in Germany.

Purton Opens Season With A Treble – Teetan Double

Zac Purton’s campaign to win a sixth Hong Kong Jockeys Championship started yesterday with a treble at Sha Tin on the opening day of the new season.

Both Lyle Hewitson and Luke Ferraris had disappointing respective days.

They both had blanks with two third places for Hewitson being the best they could muster between them.

However, Karis Teetan scored a double to take early second place in the championship.

Purton’s perennial rival Joao Moreira did not ride at the meeting and will not ride on Wednesday either.

He returned to Hong Kong late for more treatment on an undisclosed injury.

This will be the tenth season of Purton and Moreira’s intense rivalry.

Purton leads five championships to four.

However, those on the ground in Hong Kong are convinced either Purton or Moreira will decide to leave before the end of season.

The harsh Covid restrictions placed on jockeys last season took its toll.

It will spell the end of an era if either of them do leave.

UK Equestrians Lined Roads To Pay Respects To QEII

UK equestrians on horseback lined the roads to pay respects to QEII as her coffin traveled to Edinborough (picture via Twitter).

“She was unofficial Brown Owl for horse girls everywhere, a role model: tough, durable, game, galloping over fields, competing, handling all her horses. She was one of us.”

Gem King Doing Well At Home

Elbert Steyn, speaking to Troy Finch, said Gem King is building towards the feature races for the season and is in canter work.

Both winners, Let It Snow (William Longsword) and Boundless Bash (Judpot), are owned by Sandy Arundel’s Itssa It & Business Solutions (Pty) Ltd.

Whitehead has had ten winners this season at a 16.67% strike rate.

She briefly took the lead in the KZN Trainers Premiership.

However, Kumaran Naidoo won the last race today to join her on ten winners in KZN for the season.

Habib has had 18 winners this season at an 8.70% strike rate.

National Jockeys log leader Keagan de Melo had a blank today but his three wins over the weekend had taken him to 31 winners for the season, which is currently three clear of Muzi Yeni.

Picture: Calvin Habib wins on the Wendy Whitehead-trained Boundless Bash (Judpot)

Today’s Question

One of the strangest throughbred names registered in history is “Potoooooooo” (pronounced “Potatoes”).

How did he get his name and how influential did he become?

Picture: The above famous horse’s name Potoooooooo’s is more often depicted as Pot8Os (wikipedia).

Hollywoodbets Durbanville Fields

Today’s Question Answer

This 18th-century horse Potoooooooo, bred by Willoughby Bertie, 4th Earl of Abingdon, in 1773, got his unusual name either through a bit of misunderstanding or a bit of mischief. Bertie asked the stable boy to write the horse’s name—Potatoes—on his stall door (or feed bin, depending on the tale). The boy diligently wrote “Pot” followed by “8 o’s.” Bertie was so amused by this failed attempt at spelling phonetically that the horse was registered with the name.

Potoooooooo was sired by the legendary Eclipse and is depicted in most online pedigree enquiry sites as Pot8Os.

However, the general stud book uses Potoooooooo.

Pot8Os won over 30 races and defeated some of the greatest racehorses of his time.

He went on to be an important sire, whose leading runners included Epsom Derby winners Waxy, Champion and Tyrant.

Pot8Os and Waxy are the next in line after Eclipse on the thoroughbred’s current most dominant sire line, the Northern Dancer sire line.

Pot8Os is thus probably found in the pedigrees of just about every thoroughbred on the planet at present.

After Potoooooooo died in November of 1800, he was buried near a tree in Hare Park, the farm where he’d been retired to. His body lay undisturbed for about 200 years, until a storm felled the tree and uprooted his remains. Now, the skeleton is at the National Horseracing Museum in Newmarket, Suffolk, England, in the company of other legendary—though less notably named—equines.