War Of Athena winning the Grade 1 Woolavington 2000 (Picture: Candiese Lenferna).

War Of Athena In Foal To Vercingetorix

Rags-to-riches superstar War Of Athena is in foal to Vercingetorix.

Her owner Dr Rose Waterman-Wentzel said, “She is 100 days in. Dr Marianne Thompson (Ambiance Stud), Dr Helen Tiffin and the team at Maine Chance Farms (where Vercingetorix stands) have been amazing.”

The Summerhill Stud-bred War Of Athena, who is a member of Dynasty stallion Act Of War’s first crop, was purchased for a mere R30,000 at the BSA Ready To Run Sale and went on to famously land the Wilgerbosdrift Triple Tiara.

She ended her three-year-old season with two Grade 1 victories (Wilgerbosdrift SA Classic and Woolavington 2000), three Grade 2s and a Grade 3 and was named Equus Champion three-year-old in a crop which included the like of Captain’s Ransom, Princess Calla and Sparkling Water.

In all she had 20 starts for eleven wins and stakes earnings of R1,908,300.

She was a small filly but had a big action and was known for her exceptional turn of foot and immense courage.

She ran herself into the hearts of the racing public and became known as “the darling of the South African turf.”

Dr Waterman-Wentzel is going to fill in the gaps for Turf Talk tomorrow in a more comprehensive article.

Mvulazana Clinches a double for Nothemba Mlonzi homebreds at Hollywoodbets Greyville on January 18 (Picture: Candiese Lenferna).

Mwetwood Stud Another Bright Star To Hold On To

KZN racing patrons have been through a roller coaster of emotions lately.

A recent letter sent out to Gold Circle members painted a gloomy picture of unsustainable losses.

However, hard on the heels of that letter came the news that bookmakers Hollywoodbets would be injecting a further R10 million in to the KZN racings’ stakes pot in addition to the R7.4 million increase which kicks in on March 1.

Further good news is that South Africa’s only black thoroughbred breeder, Nothemba Mlonzi, whose stud farm is in the KZN midlands, is in the process of commercialising her operation and she clearly has ambitions of becoming a big player.

Mlonzi is the owner of Mwetwood Stud, a previously small private operation, which has recently hired former Summerveld trainer John Fox as manager in their drive to expand into a commercial operation.

Big renovations to farm facilities are under way and shares in various stallions around the country have been bought in addition to their current band of seven broodmares.

Mlonzi bought a farm in the KZN Midlands in the late 1990s, which she first leased before taking over in 2007 and producing such crops as tomatoes and peppers.

She appointed an ex-Cedara student as the farm manager, because she works in Johannesburg as a practicing attorney on top of running her company Econ Oil.

The farm manager one day told Nothemba the kikuya grass in an empty section of the farm would provide good grazing and informed her of neighbour Anton Procter’s success in breeding racehorses.

Procter had soon organised a high level introduction to breeding for Nothemba and this included a trip to watch the Epsom Derby.

Nothemba was impressed by the Derby, but came home still sceptical because she had gathered luck played a big part in breeding.

However, Procter convinced her luck in breeding was usually a product of hard work.

A lot of the place names in the area end in “wood” and the Mwetwood Stud name was formed by using the initials of her parents and adding “wood” on the end.

She had soon purchased two mares, On A Wing (a three-time winner by Tiger Ridge) and Celestial Cloud (a twice-winner by Toreador and half-sister to Grade 1-placed Patchit Up Baby). The resulting progeny were the filly Master Keys and the colt Galaxy Tunes. The pair were sold at the National Yearling Sales and the KZN Yearling Sale for R100,000 and R50,000 respectively.

Master Keys scored on debut for the Nathan Kotzen yard on February 28, 2018, and Galaxy Tunes won fifth time out for Mark Dixon.

The wins drew attention to Nothemba as the first black breeder in the country.

Recognising the responsible position she was now in she began giving her horses Zulu names, such as current Wendy Whitehead-trained Soft Falling Rain filly Mvuluzana, which means “soft falling rain” in Zulu.

Procter groomed Nothemba on the factors to consider when purchasing mares.

The winners have continued to flow, culminating in a double on January 18 this year with the Whitehead-trained pair Mvuluzana and Sky Cafe (Toreador).

Both fillies are homebreds and race in Nothemba’s dark green and gold colours, which were inspired by an old school song she used to sing about “green and gold.”

It was Whitehead who recommended John Fox as farm manager.

Anton Procter’s passing two years ago was keenly felt by Nothemba and the industry, but she remains in contact with Anton’s extremely knowledgeable widow Judy.

Procter’s legacy in KZN racing continues today.

He played cricket for Natal together with his legendary brother Mike. However, he was always destined to be a farmer and horseman.

His importance to the industry was summed up in an article a few years ago written by Gold Circle publishing manager Andrew Harrison.

Procter began following pedigrees in his school days.

Later he became involved in amateur horseracing as an owner and trainer in Donnybrook. He travelled all the way down to Umtata to win his first race, the horse being ridden by a young African who had never ridden in a race before. It felt like winning the July and Procter’s passion grew.

He became secretary of the Richmond Gymkhana Club; later he had a public trainer’s license in Zimbabwe; he spent nine years working for perennial KZN champion breeders Summerhill Stud.

He also had a stint as a bookmaker, purchasing a license in Greytown for R1020.

On Durban July day in 1970 just about the whole town descended on his premises thinking it was a Tote. Fortunately the favourite Naval Escort finished uinplaced and an outsider his wife had dreamed vividly about, Court Day, won. An exhausted Procter arrived home that Saturday with R34,000 in his satchel, three times more than it had cost him to buy the property and build the house where they were staying.

Procter was instrumental in bringing the stallion Rakeen to South Africa.

Owner and breeder Larry Nestadt had given Procter an instruction to find a horse good enough to win a stakes race in South Africa and have a pedigree good enough to stand at stud. Procter, with the help of pedigree fundi Robin Bruss, identified all of the Northern Dancers left in the world and they found Rakeen, a four-year-old trained by John Gosden who had not yet raced.

They approached Sheik Mohammed’s manager Anthony Stroud and he agreed to sell for £100,000. However, a few days later Rakeen won comfortably on debut and the deal was off. Three days later he was beaten as odds on favourite. Stroud did an about turn and and the deal was done for £125,000.

Procter went to watch Rakeen’s next race at Doncaster with Henry Cecil’s assistant and a Sheik Mohammed representative. Under Walter Swinburn he won the ten furlong event by five lengths. Rakeen won four races in South Africa and finished third in the 1991 July.

Procter was working for Aldora Stud in the KZN Midlands when Rakeen stood there. He recalled the late Hugh Jonsson wanting to send his mare Jet Lightning to him but stalling as he was convinced R5,000 for a live foal was too much. Procter, in a session of bartering which lasted about two hours, eventually convinced Jonsson the fee was worth it for such a well bred stallion. The resulting progeny was Jet Master.

Jet Master needs no introduction and fittingly the latest chapter in this racehorse and stallion phenomenon’s legacy is the retirement to stud of his grandson Jet Dark, who is part-owned by Hugh Jonsson’s nephew Nick.

Procter, with the help of veterinarian John McVeigh, also identified the successful stallion Toreador and was instrumental in bringing over the useful late bread-and-butter stallion Crusade.

Justin Vermaak (left) was part of the panel on the Asian Racing Conference’s plenary session that disccused “The Owner” in Melbourne last week (picture: Racing Photos)

Waller And Vermaak Among Speakers Who Tackled Ownership At ARC 2023

Chris Waller Urges Transparency and Engagement to Build Ownership

ARC 2023 press release

Champion trainer Mr. Chris Waller told the 39th Asian Racing Conference in Melbourne on 16 February that transparency and regular communication with owners are the keys to retaining and increasing racehorse ownership.

Mr. Waller, who trained champion mare Winx to 33 consecutive victories and had the world’s highest-rated sprinter Nature Strip racing at Flemington in the G1 Black Caviar Lightning Stakes on Saturday (18 February), said owners would quickly leave racing if they weren’t treated well.

Interviewed by Mr. David Eades during the fourth session – titled ‘The Owner’ – of the 39th ARC’s three-day business programme, Mr Waller emphasised the importance of the quality service and communication with owners.

“It’s the same as any business, if you are not looking after your investor, they won’t reinvest and I am not blessed with having great communication skills or being an outgoing person,” Mr. Waller said.

“If you close the door, it’s hard to reopen it. Always leave the door open and the customer is always right. It’s just the same philosophy that works in any business.

Mr. Waller, who has 240 horses in work across four stables in Australia, said he tried not to give owners unrealistic expectations, while at the same time chasing good results.

He said good boundaries are set with owners by telling them the truth and being transparent with contemporary information.

“It has to be consistent and they need to know the bad news as it happens and I feel they deal better with it that way, other than saying ‘By the way we have sent your horse for a break or it hurt itself last week’,” he said.

Mr. Waller said providing information to a new generation of owners had evolved because of the explosion of social media and the availability of online data.

For all that, connection to the individual remained paramount.

“Understanding people and what they want out of ownership, you can gauge that feeling quickly from their body language and how they talk,” he said. “Just learning how to deal with the person is a big thing.”

He said ownership was similar to the share market with a variety of options from blue chip investments in AUD 1 million horses, to less expensive options with a range of percentage holdings as well speculative shares, but returns on investment would see owners reinvesting.

During her address to the conference, Star Thoroughbreds owner, Ms. Denise Martin, highlighted the importance of finding out what owners wanted from ownership, as many came to the industry without a detailed understanding of the sport.

Mr. Sebastian Hutch, Chief Executive Officer of Inglis Bloodstock, also delivered a presentation in which he highlighted the breadth of ownership across Australia, which he said was driven by not only great prize money but “getting the little things right” in providing a good experience for owners.

A four-person panel – Ms. Martin; Mr. Hutch; OTI Racing Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Terry Henderson and Racing and Bloodstock Executive of Cape Racing, Mr. Justin Vermaak – was then introduced by ARF Executive Council Member and the National Horseracing Authority of Southern Africa Chief Executive, Mr. Vee Moodley, to discuss key ownership issues.

Mr. Moodley said Mr. Waller’s comment on engagement with the owners was critical. He said owners just wanted the truth and transparency.

“The point of attracting owners and retaining owners, my philosophy personally, is that attraction is a function of stakes and retention is a function of return and both have to exist,” Mr. Moodley said.

“I categorise ownership in three forms. You get owners for the passion, fame and fortune.”

Ms. Martin, who has been syndicating horses for three decades with great success, believes people who want to have ownership in a horse were looking for friendship, to go to the races with like-minded people and, while searching for success, were also looking for an environment where they are welcomed, made to feel special and are informed about what’s going on.

“In the 30 years I have had Star (Thoroughbreds), that’s the biggest change in my view in our industry – information and technology have changed communication,” Ms. Martin said.

Mr. Hutch said without the support of owners, there wouldn’t be a sport that everyone enjoys so much.

Mr. Hutch said that, while the next generation was hugely important to the future of racing, “I cannot stress enough to you about the importance of us enhancing the experience of existing owners.

Mr. Henderson, whose company syndicates horses in Australia, France, Ireland, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, indicated his support of micro-ownership in horse syndicates.

“I think it is enhancing racing, making ownership accessible to more people,” he said.

Mr. Vermaak said Cape Racing had injected more money into juvenile races after previously concentrating on a middle-distance classic series.

“I think shortening that ownership cycle to a few months from a year plus has had a profound effect on the ownership journey and it also obviously frees up a lot of funding for owners to go back to the yearling sales,” he said.

Japanese shuttler Maurice at Arrowfield Stud. (Photo by Bronwen Healy)

Arrowfield Legend John Messara talks Maurice, diluting Danehill, and Japan’s influence

The Arrowfield Stud supremo relates his long association with Shadai and extols the qualities that make Japanese horses and their bloodlines such a force in world racing.

David Morgan (Chief Journalist, Asian Racing Report)

John Messara is seated at a table in the corner of the Arrowfield Stud pavilion at the Inglis Classic Sale. The Australian stallion master and former Racing New South Wales chairman – one of several industry roles he has undertaken down the years – is in full flow, recalling the time, 20 years ago, that he offloaded a batch of foals to Katsumi Yoshida and let go a future Group 1 star.

“Fuji Kiseki was a horse that I thought would work here in Australia as a stallion, he was a magnificent horse,” he tells Asian Racing Report. “But he didn’t work well here and we had a bunch of foals by him.

“I was having dinner with Katsumi Yoshida in my home, on one of his annual visits, and I said, ‘Look, the horse hasn’t really worked but I’ve got this bunch of lovely foals by him, would you be interested in buying them as a package?’ That’s how the whole thing happened.”

A ‘friendly agreement’ was reached and Yoshida took the ‘six or eight or ten foals, I can’t remember the exact number,’ and among them was Kinshasa No Kiseki, who went on to win the G1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen two years on the bounce.

“It turned out to be a great investment for him,” Messara adds.

And the good investments have flowed the other way, too. Messara and Arrowfield have benefited, and continue to be rewarded, from a long relationship with the Yoshida family’s Shadai breeding empire that is presently embodied in the Group 1-winning shuttle stallions Maurice and Admire Mars.

Maurice was a superstar on the track and is rising to that same status as a stallion, in Japan and in Australia, while the younger Admire Mars has plenty of promise.

And it is no coincidence that both stallions, during their racing careers, tasted Group 1 success in Hong Kong, in Maurice’s case, three times.

“Maurice was a monster on the track, he was an imposing physical and he was a complete outcross of anything we had,” Messara says. “And I thought, commercially, he’d also be popular, because some people may have missed his Japanese victories but nobody missed his Hong Kong victories. That was key because we do follow Hong Kong racing in Australia. Admire Mars was the same sort of thing, and both horses were milers, we can deal with milers.”

Messara has been bringing mares and stallions to speed-hungry Australia from stamina-admiring Japan for a quarter of a century. In the last decade, he says, the interest among his fellow Australian horsemen and the success of his own endeavours have only increased.

Covid halted the shuttling of Japanese stallion in 2020 but they have returned the past two seasons. Messara says Maurice was ‘very popular’ and served ‘about 165 mares’ at Arrowfield but the number could have been ‘about 300 mares’ without prudent restraint.

That is hardly surprising given that the son of Screen Hero has already produced the Group 1 winners Geraldina and Pixie Knight at home, while from his first crop in Australia, Mazu has won the G1 Doomben 10,000 and Hitotsu the G1 Australian Guineas, G1 Victoria Derby and G1 Australian Derby.

Hitotsu, a dazzling last-to-first winner of the G1 Victoria Derby. (Photo by Reg Ryan)

“The Japanese horses competing externally have done a lot of good,” he says. “They’ve won almost wherever they’ve gone, including Australia, so there’s something of a fashion; they’re sought after now in Australia, people look at a Japanese pedigree and it’s respected.”

But Messara’s considerations go beyond the commercial and on-track triumphs of Maurice and his progeny. He is conscious of the proliferation of Danzig blood in the Australian horses, and, more specifically, Danehill.

“Over 50 percent of horses in training in Australia have Danehill in the first three removes, that’s a lot,” he says. “I think breeders are conscious of that, I certainly am because I brought the horse out here in the first place and I’m more sensitive to it, but I think everyone is now, because it’s almost difficult to breed without Danehill on both sides.

“You look at a horse that’s by a son of Danehill, like a Snitzel, well I’m having to think which of my mares can I actually send to him? A lot of people are sending Danehill on the bottom side and it started off poorly but there are improvements now – we saw that with Lofty Strike winning the Oakleigh Plate trial the other day, he’s by Snitzel out of an Exceed And Excel mare – but I try and avoid it.”

Messara believes the Japanese horses offer a healthy complement to the Danzig blood and add to the Australian gene pool the qualities that have made Japanese racehorses such global stars in the past ten to 15 years.

“Take Maurice, he had a pedigree that was from outer space, we had none of that blood here,” he says. “But also the Maurices seem to be horses with great cardiovascular systems, terrific lungs, his better ones, and they find more at the end of a race: you think they’re exhausted and they sort of start to drop back, they take another breath and they go again. Hitotsu was like that and so was Mazu; at the Everest it looked like they were going to run Mazu down easily and somehow, somehow, he kept going, and the good ones of Maurice, they do.

“The Japanese horses overall are seen as being tough, very tough competitors, and they run fast times. More recently it hasn’t been difficult to promote Japanese sires in Australia but it’s taken 20-odd years of education and slog to get to this point. Breeders here have come to understand that there are far less Group races in Japan than we have: there are about half the number on a per capita basis of black type races, so we know how tough it is to win a Group race in Japan.”

Messara notes that the Japanese racing model has a two-year-old programme that is alien to the Australian way. Juvenile precocity is not of particularly high value in a system that has its two-year-old Group 1 races, three of them, stacked up at the tail end of the year, and staged over a mile or 2000 metres.

“We’re out of sync with the rest of the world in terms of concentration on speed,” he says. “The essence here in Australia is speed and precocity and that’s it, so the winner of the Golden Slipper is a sought-after commodity, the Guineas winner is slightly less, despite the versatility that brings to the table.”

He believes the Australian status quo will not last.

“That’s all going to change with time, I think, and it’s slow-changing. Australians want quick returns, they’re not patient, they’re looking for quicker returns than owners elsewhere.

“But at the end of the day only a small percentage of horses run as two-year-olds: you’ve only got to look at the stats. And only one horse will win the slipper from 12,000 horses that are born. It doesn’t make much sense but it’s the way the market is here.”

Messara also recalls a visit to Paris, to watch the Arc, and, in particular, an unimpressive-looking bay named Deep Impact.

“Someone said we should have a look at this horse to have a go at and I looked at him and said, ‘Not for me thanks’ and he turned out to be a champion stallion,” he says.

“The Japanese are more driven on performance, which is worth thinking about when here we are more concerned with, ‘Oh, it’s not a perfect type,’ you know, and its leg turns out. And they might say, ‘Mate, he won with that leg and he won five Group 1s.’

“Of course, the Japanese farms, they also rely on selling on yearlings; we rely entirely, our cashflow comes from selling yearlings, a good two thirds of it, so we have to produce animals that at least look sound, good limbs and everything has got to be in the right place. But they’re a little bit more forgiving than we are.

“The (Yoshidas) took Sunday Silence that nobody else wanted and look at the legacy they built. Basically, not totally, but basically, they are performance driven.”

So far, the performances of Maurice’s initial offspring have lifted the profile of Japanese bloodlines to a new plane in Australia and Messara is optimistic there will be better yet to come.

“Last year’s book was absolutely exceptional, so I’m expecting a significant uptick in his progeny performance out of the 2022 coverings. We put some proper mares to him, I mean proper, proper,” he says.

It’s probably safe to say Messara won’t be in need of offloading any unwanted Maurice foals back to Japan any time soon.

South African Jockey Academy graduate Karis Teetan in the famous black with a scarlet cap colours of Mary Slack chatting to ex-pat South African trainer Tony Millard before Slack’s Irish-bred Dark Angel gelding Wings Of War made some history at Sha Tin yesterday (Sunday) (Picture: Hkjc)

Another Milestone Moment For Mary Slack

The Hong Kong Jockey Club has recently allowed selected international owners into its membership model and yesterday Mary Slack had her first runner on the island.

The Tony Millard-trained Irish-bred four-year-old Dark Angel gelding Wings Of War arrived on the island with a record of two wins in eleven starts in Europe and those wins included the Group 2 Mill Reef Stakes over six furlongs at Newbury, when trained by Clive Cox and owned by Isa Salman Al Khalifa.

Yesterday he made his Hong Kong debut in a class 3 event over 1200m at Sha Tin and at odds of 25/1 finished 8th from draw 8, beaten 6,50 lengths.

The Greg Ennion-trained Wyag gives Grant van Niekerk a quick double when winning the last race at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth today (Picture: Wayne Marks).

Night Ruler And Wyag Upset The Applecart

Hollywoodbets Kenilworth had two interesting races today featuring a couple of promising three-year-olds and a scopey unexposed four-year-old, but both events would have been disappointing for those who hoped a star could be among them, although the promising Noble City can be forgiven having experienced what the Americans would call “a shocking trip”.

Nevertheless, the first of the races, a MR 90 handicap over 1800m, did not do much for the form of the Grade 3 Politician Stakes which was run over that same course and distance.

The Justin Snaith-trained Innamorare, a colt by Master Of My Fate, had to carry 1,5kg more than Rockpool in the Politician and was beaten six lengths, but that was deemed good enough for the three-time winner to start favourite today.

His market rival, the Piet Botha-trained Louis The King three-year-old gelding Montien took the lead after some early scrapping and travelled within himself.

Innamorare had a perfect position in midfield on the rail from pole position, but found little in the straight and hung outward too.

He probably does not stay, but being beaten 4,75 lengths did not say much for the Politician Stakes form.

Innamorare’s four-year-old stablemate Night Ruler, an 81 merit rated gelding by Kingsbarns, easily got the measure of Montien and won by 1,75 lengths with two more four-year-olds, Sudden Song (Sudden Storm) and Beyondtheboundary (Gimmethegreenlight), in third and fourth places respectively.

Joshwin Solomons gave Night Riuler a good ride as he came from behind Innamorare and dived for the inside rail. Night Ruler looked the winner a long way out.

The last race was eagerly anticipated as it saw two promising sorts in the Brett Crawford-trained Veldskoen, a scopey, unexposed Australian-bred four-year-old colt by Snitzel, facing the Peter Muscutt-trained three-year-old Noble Tune gelding, Noble City, who had impressed on debut with his speed, turn of foot and scope for improvement.

Noble City was shuffled back early and then baulked for a run when they reached the false rail. He produced a strong late run after switching outward and finally seeing daylight, but it was too late and he was pipped for second by the Mike Stewart-trained Fort Red, who was beaten 1,75 lengths by the easy Greg Ennion-trained winner, Wyag. Grant van Niekerk sat in last place on Wyag before diving for the inside rail and the long stride of the three-year-old merit rated 77 gelding by What A Winter did the rest.

Earlier, there was a noteworthy win by the Brett Crawford-trained Canford Cliffs filly Enemy Territory. She is owned by Ridgemont Highlands and was bred by the Kieswetter’s breeding operation in Ireland, Barnane Stud. She was born to Northern Hemisphere time, so is officially five months younger than her SA-bred three-year-old contemporaries.

She broke well under Luyolo Mxothwa in the Maiden Special weights event over 1200m and sauntered clear in the closing stages to win by four lengths in just her second start. That proved to be the first leg of a treble for Mxothwa and Crawford.

Irish-bred Canford Cliffs filly Enemy Territory is out on her own in the second race over 1200m and gave Luyolo Mxothwa and Brett Crawford the first leg of a treble. (Picture: Wayne Marks)

Mxothwa/Crawford Treble, Snaith Treble, Van Niekerk Double

Luyolo “Louis” Mxothwa and Brett Crawford combined for a treble at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth today.

Justin Snaith sent out a treble and Grant van Niekerk rode a double.

Mxothwa is now on 79 wins for the season at 16.53%.

Van NIekerk is on 16 wins at 9.04%.

National trainers log leader Snaith is now on 84 wins at 12.82% and his official stakes earnings of close to R11,5 million is roundabout R4,5 million clear of second-placed Crawford. Snaith’s stakes earnings if including restricted races is R17,718,800 and is more than R10 million clear of Crawford.

Crawford has had 61 wins at a strike rate of 13.77%.

Harry Willson (left) and Laurence Wernars hold the Gold Cup after their horse, the Paul Peter-trained Shangani, had won the Marshalls World Of Sport sponsored renewal last year (Picture: Candiese Lenferna)

Today’s Question

How did South Africa’s most famous staying race come to be called the Gold Cup?

Vaal Classic Fields, Tuesday, CLICK HERE

The Gold Cup, seen above behind the horse statuette, had its 100th anniversary in 2020 when won by the Gareth van Zyl-trained Paths Of Victory (Picture: Candiese Lenferna).

ANSWER TO TODAY’S QUESTION:

A two mile long distance race had become a traditional highlight of the final meeting of the “Great Winter Season” run every August at Greyville and in 1920 the jewellers Randles Bros and Hudson were commissioned to design a gold cup to be presented to the winner.

Turf Talk Newsletter – 20 February 2023