The diminutive Beach Bomb gets up to beat Silver Sanctuary (Picture: Wayne Marks)

Turf Talk

Drakenstein Stud’s 19th individual Gr 1 winner is the Candice Bass-Robinson-trained Beach Bomb.

This homebred’s 0,30 margin of victory in the WSB Cape Fillies Guineas would not have caused any holding of the breath for the peerless stud farm’s proprietors and staff because in second place was another homebred of theirs in the Mike de Kock-trained Silver Sanctuary (Silvano).

There was a yawning three lengths back to the third-placed Glen Kotzen-trained pacemaker, the Gr 2 Western Cape Fillies Championship winner Rascova, and she also had the Drakenstein touch because she, like Beach Bomb, is by their late stallion Lancaster Bomber, who was last season’s champion Freshman sire.

Rascova beat last season’s Equus Champion two-year-old, the Sean Tarry-trained Mrs Geriatrix (Vercingetorix), by a shorthead and the latter was a shorthead ahead of the Harold Crawford and Michelle Rix-trained Secret Identity (Canford Cliffs), who was surprisingly long odds of 100/1 considering the class and good turn of foot she had shown in the KZN Champions Season.

Beach Bomb drifted out alarmingly before the off from 8/1 to 14/1 as a flood of money came for Mrs Geriatrix who shortened from 6/1 to 9/4.

Silver Sanctuary and Rascova were both 8/1 shots.

Beach Bomb was led in after the race by Drakenstein Stud’s racing manager Kevin Sommerville, stud manager Gavin Pickford and stud secretary Kira Pickford, along with trainer Candice Bass-Robinson, in the absence of stud farm owner Gaynor Rupert.

Rupert has converted this farm in the space of just less than twenty years of existence in to the stud operation that sets the standard in South Africa.

Saturday’s Gr 1 exacta saw them rising to within R160,000 of the top of this season’s standings, which is led by Wilgerbosdrift and Mauritzfontein Stud.

Drakenstein are once again well clear in the stakes winners table. Having also bred Saturday’s Gr 2 WSB Green Point Stakes winner See It Again, they now have nine individual stakes winners this season (of nine races).

They are thus well on their way to breaking their own record (which they increased from 18 in 2021/2022 to 20 last season) for a second season in succession.

What apppears to separate them from the rest at a glance is not only the purchase of fine stallions and use of the best outside stallions, but also an apparent policy of breeding with stakes-winning mares or with mares from prevalent black tpe familes, whether they originate from South Africa or from overseas.

Beach Bomb provides a fine example.

Drakenstein must have gone to big numbers to purchase her mother, the five-times Gr 1-winning darling of the SA turf, Beach Beauty, who is by the Horse Of The Year and top stallion Dynasty.

It has paid dividends because three of Beach Beauty’s five runners to date are now Graded winners, another one of them is Graded-placed multiple times, and the other one has won a Non-Black type event so far.

Another example of Drakenstein’s carefully selected breeding stock is provided by See It Again’s dam Supreme Vision. She is a half-sister to the celebrated dual July winner Do It Again and Drakenstein not only purchased her when the latter was in his prime, but then also sent her to Do It Again’s sire, Twice Over. The progeny See It Again was thus a three-parts brother to Do It Again and looks to be every bit as good as him.

Going back to Beach Bomb, the amazing thing about her is how small she is and yet that has not stopped her from inheriting Beach Beauty’s electric burst of speed.

Beach Beauty was often described as “tiny” but Beach Bomb is positively diminutive to the extent that the jockey’s chin ends up almost between the horse’s ears when her head is back and he begins driving forward.

She turned for home one from last in a strung out field of 13 on Saturday and looked to have an impossible task.

A place looked likely at the 200m mark as she was running on well.

Her resolute finish then took her past pacemaker Rascova and suddenly victory was possible.

In a fashion that was typical of Beach Beauty, she then found extra when it counted to get the better of the long-striding Silver Sanctuary, who had stayed on strongly from midfield.

Both the winner and runner up should enjoy the 1800m trip of the Gr 1 Cartier Paddock Stakes.

Rascova has learnt to settle this season, but dictated at a more suitable pace over 1400m in her previous start.

She went a touch too fast on Saturday and found no extra in the closing stages.

Richard Fourie on Mrs Geriatrix possibly made a mistake in restrospect of not following Beach Bomb through a gap, instead switching around the outside horse.

Mrs Geriatrix might otherwise have got third place.

She might also enjoy the Paddock Stakes considering she came from last and was doing her best work late.

Secret Identity stayed on well considering she came from a handy position behind a good pace.

Karel Miedema of raceform was not overly impressed with this race and only awarded 97 Ability Ratings to both Beach Bomb and Silver Sanctuary.

However, this is in fact higher than the 96 AR he awarded Make It Snappy after last year’s renewal  and the latter, of course, went on to win the Paddock Stakes, where she achieved a 101 AR.

Turf Talk readers will be eligible for a discounted rate when making a booking at the Peermont D’Oreale Grande hotel at the Emperors Palace (pictured above).

Turf Talk are pleased to introduce Emperor’s Palace as our official hotel partner.

Emeror’s Palace will also be sponsoring an exciting new competition, the Emperors Palace Ride of the Month!

Further exciting news is that Turf Talk readers will be eligible for a discounted rate when making a booking at the Peermont D’Oreale Grande hotel at the Emperors Palace.

Watch this space for an editorial about the five star star experiences that can be enjoyed at the Doreale Grande and about other associated events.

An explanation about the booking code for Turf Talk readers will also be included in the editorial.

How will the Emperor’s Palace Ride Of The Month competition work?

The competition will commence in January 2024.

On the last Monday of every month, Turf Talk will invite readers to nominate a ride that they deem to be above the ordinary. These nominations must be emailed to editor@turftalk.co.za.

The five best rides will then be selected by the Turf Talk editor.

Voting will then be opened in the Wednesday edition of the Turf Talk newsletter.

A small write up on each ride is accompanied by a youtube link of the respective races.

Votes will be submitted to Editor@turftalk.co.za.

The winner will be announced on the immediate Friday.

Emperors Palace will provide Turf Talk with a list of prizes and each prize will be announced when declaring the winner.

See It Again cruises to a comfortable victory (Picture: Wayne Marks)

Turf Talk

It would be foolish to judge the country’s thoroughbred pecking order on the WSB Green Point Stakes, although looking at the last ten years the Green Point/L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate (King’s Plate) double was done by the great miler Variety Club as well as by Legal Eagle twice and by Vardy.

However, when a horse best suited to middle distances downs a top class field in the Green Point it can be justifiable to rate that horse the best in the country.

The Michael Roberts-trained Twice Over colt See It Again is the horse in question.

He did what his celebrated three-parts brother Do It Again could not do do by winning the Green Point and will now be out to emulate the latter by winning the L’Ormarins King’s Plate as a four-year-old.

On Saturday in the Gr 2 mile event, which See It Again was using as a stepping stone race, he proved too classy for a vintage field that included the pair that vied for Equus Horse Of The Year last season, Charles Dickens and Princess Calla.

However, it must be said See It Again did get the run of the race, while the tactics employed by Charles Dickens in his last two starts will have taught the connections a thing or two.

In his previous start in the Gr 3 Hollywoodbets Matchem Stakes over 1400m, Charles Dickens sat handy without cover in the running. Not having cover did not cause him to overrace and he still found his usual fine turn of foot.

On Saturday holding him up and dropping him out to last did not work because while his stable companion Fire Alley ensured a good pace and was joined by Royal Aussie, they were clear of At My Command and Princess Calla, who went at no more than a steady gallop in joint third place.

See It Again sat behind At My Command and Piere Strydom was able to sit still behind horses for a long time in the straight.

Meanwhile, Charles Dickens had to make up about a length on See It Again at the top of the straight, and after becoming awkawardly placed on Al Muthana’s heels as the field concerina-ed he was forced to switch outward. He thus faced the breeze for the entire length of the straight.

He showed his usual fine turn of foot at the 400m mark and it carried him into the joint lead with Princess Calla.

However, Strydom had bided his time and when he switched outward and took the gap between Princess Calla and Charles Dickens it was clear he had a lot more in the tank than they had.

In fact At My Command towards the inside also stayed on past Charles Dickens and Princess Calla to finish a 1,75 length second.

Charles rallied to be beaten 2,15 lengths and was 0,30 lengths ahead of Calla with Rascallion in fifth place.

Piere “Striker” Strydom had ridden a flawless race from draw two and made more than a few among the public eat their words after they had chosen to criticise the legend from the grandstand for his second-place rides in the Hollywoodbets Durban July and HKJC  Champions Cup.

Piere spoke afterwards of how much See It Again had improved since last season.

See It Again can justfifiably now be called the best horse in the country and it must be remembered that Karel Miedema’s raceform awarded him the highest ability rating last season, a 120 for his Hollywoodbets Durban July second place finish.

Piere Strydom’s words after Saturday’s race are also telling, “Michael Roberts told me not to be hard on him as he’s targeting two other big races this Summer, and I wasn’t – but he still won.”

See It Again has an efficient action and a conservative way of going about things. Couple that with an obviously big engine and you have a horse who will probably never be as flashy in victory as Charles Dickens has been on occasion, but he is going to be a tough nut to crack throughout this season.

Charles Dickens will have his work cut out to reverse form in the King’s Plate.

However, the connections will hope for a better draw and no matter where he is drawn they are likely to place him more handy, even if it means being without cover in the running. It is of course always preferable to have cover, but he did relax well when without cover in the Matchem.

They will have to plan how best to use his chief weapon, his turn of foot, which is probably superior to any horse seen in this country for some time.

However, it stands to reason that this burst of speed can probably only be maintained for about 300 metres before it flattens out and leaves him having to rally.

In the Gr 1 Hollywoodbets Cape Guineas the burst took him clear by the 200m mark and he then just had to maintain the momentum. However, there were no horses of the calibre of See It Again and Princess Calla in that field.

Against the latter class he will likey have to be waited with for as long as possible and preferably behind a horse who can give him a tow in the straight.

Trainer Michael Roberts applauds Piere Strydom and See It Again after tjeir win in the WSB Green Point Stakes (Picture Wayne Marks)

Charles Dickens drifts to the longest odds of his career

Mike Moon (The Citizen)

See It Again has shortened sharply – from 5-2 to 9-10 – in ante-post betting for the 2024 WSB Cape Town Met after his impressive win in the weekend’s Green Point Stakes.

When first entries for Western Cape’s premier horse race – to be staged at Kenilworth in late January – were unveiled last week, the Michael Roberts-trained colt was chalked up as the favourite – with boom horse Charles Dickens next on the list at 7-2.

It didn’t take long for the bookmakers’ assessment to be tested as the duo came together in Saturday’s Grade 2 contest. The 1600m was thought to favour Charles Dickens, who was pegged at 5-10 with See It Again easy to back at 11-2, with the stable even saying this was a preparatory run for the KwaZulu-Natal raider ahead of his primary targets of the Cape summer season – the King’s Plate and the Met.

However, See It Again and jockey Piere Strydom made short work of the Green Point’s high-class field, strolling to a hands-and-heels victory, with Charles Dickens not able to quicken at the crucial moment and having to settle for third place.

The bookmakers quickly got busy on their Met odds boards, slashing See It Again to 9-10 and pushing Charles Dickens out from 7-2 to 5-1.

The latter – once compared to the immortal Sea Cottage after six wins on the trot – hasn’t had odds as long as that in his 12-race career. Punters couldn’t resist the temptation and by Monday afternoon he had come back a tad to 9-2.

Equus Horse of the Year Princess Calla was another who could not go with See It Again’s acceleration on Saturday. She finished fourth and drifted in the early Met betting from 8-1 to 10-1.

Runner-up in the Green Point, 33-1 shot At My Command, from the Brett Crawford yard, tumbled in the Met betting – from 40-1 to 20-1.

Matching that 40s to 20s dive was Mike de Kock-trained Aragosta, who didn’t contest the Green Point but powered to a win in the Listed 2500m Cape Summer Stayers Handicap on the same card.

Popular couple Peter and Jenny Blyth of Clifton Stud collected three awards on Friday night at the KZN Breeders awards and are pictured with the Broodmare Of The Year award (sponsored by Gold Circle), which went to their Kahal mare Velvet Glove, who produced the KZN Breeders Horse Of The Year, Mrs Geriatrix (Candiese Lenferna Photography) 

Turf Talk

The Clifton Stud-bred Vercingetorix filly Mrs Geriatrix claimed the unusual feat of being named an awards ceremony’s horse of the year as a two-year-old.

At The KZN Breeders awards on Friday night she was named KZN Breeders Horse Of The Year.

The Sean Tarry-trained filly was unbeaten in five starts as a two-year-old including winning the Gr 1 Allan Robertson Championship over 1200m by 2,30 lengths as well as winning the Gr 2 Zulu Kingdom Expolorer Golden Slipper by 3,70 lengths and also the Gr 2 WSB SA Nursey and a Listed race.

She was also named KZN Breeders Champion Two-year-old filly.

The Champion Two-year-old male was also bred by Clifton Stud, the Johan Janse van Vuuren-trained Gr 3 Godolphin Barb Stakes winner Cliff Hanger (Canford Cliffs).

The Mike Miller-trained Strawberry Bear (Flying The Flag), bred by BAM Giddy, was champion three-year-old male.

The Champion three-year-old filly was the Mike and Adam Azzie-treained Gimme A Shot (Gimmthegreenlight), who was a homebred of the late Kevin Soal’s.

The Champion Older Male was the Rathmor Stud-bred Justin Snaith-trained Nexus (Dynasty), who achieved this feat as a six-year-old. Nexus was also named Champion Middle Distance Male.

The Champion Oder Female was the Summerhill Stud-bred Sean Tarry-trained Under Your Spell (Capetown Noir). Under Your Spell was also named Champiomn Middle Distance Female.

The Champion Sprinter Male was the Summerhill Stud-bred Roy Magner-trained Rollwiththepunches (Act Of War).

The Champion Sprinter Female was the late Kevin Soal’s homebred Kiss Me Captain (Captain Of All) trained by Mike and Adam Azzie.

Champion Freshman sire was the now late New Predator.

Broodmare of the Year was Mrs Geriatrix’s dam Velvet Glove.

The Breeders Achievement award went to the late Kevin Soal.

Ken Twort won a Lifetime Membership award.

The Anita Akal award went to owner and breeder Lee Scribante.

Picture: Constitution Hill  (Picture: Sporting Life)

In what is seen as a slap in the race for Northern Jumps racing, the Fighting Fifth Hurdle usually run at Newcastle but postponed after inclement weather on Saturday, has been rescheduled to take place at Sandown this Saturday.

Peter Scargill (Racing Post)

The Real Prince is a full-brother and Dean Kannemeyer-trained stablemate to twice Gr 1-winning sprinter Gimme A Prince and looks to have the potential to also follow in his mother Real Princess’s Gr 1-winning footsteps (Picture: Wayne Marks) 

The Pedigree Obsessor Looks Back On The Weekend’s Racing

The Pedigree Obsessor

Racing at Kenilworth on Saturday was another spectacle of top class racing and more than a few results to make one sit up and take note.

The manner in which the Cape born KZN trained SEE IT AGAIN beat CHARLES DICKENS and PRINCESS CALLA was somewhat breathtaking. Then the commanding win by Gauteng’s ARAGOSTA in the stayers race was equally impressive, albeit not as breathtaking. And a barn-storming run by KING OF THE GAULS to hold them off completed a trio of wins for Team Raiders.

Not to be outdone, there were a few mind-blowing performances from the home-breds and trained.

BEACH BOMB lived up to her name and burst in to catch her stablemate at the line with a run of electrifying proportions. Whatever button was engaged with about 150m out certainly lit the fuse of this little bomb to a win that put drew a smile of relief and gratitude from Kevin Sommerville and Candice Bass-Robinson.

Then the Snaith trained KWINTA’s LIGHT (GTGL x Kwinta by Kahal) bulleted through a gap to snatch victory away from the field in the shadow of the post.

However it was the win by first-timer from the Kannemeyer Yard for Lady Laidlaw’s Khaya Stables that seized the eye and had this writer gasping for air.

THE REAL PRINCE (GTGL x Real Princess by Trippi) warmed engines about a furlong out and all it took was one or two smacks from Craig Zackey to employ the jets that smoked the field. Not only does he have that telltale GTGL progeny look of his full brother and cousins, but he confirmed that he has his own lethal set of fuel injectors that many of GTGL progeny possess.

Just a week ago on Summer Cup Day we were treated to a stunning display by an emerging princess in GIMME A NOTHER. who notched up a hatrick of wins, and this Saturday’s twin-turbo double for Gimmethegreenlight confirmed what we already know about his progeny.

With the performances we have been privileged to see recently, we are in for one heck of a season.

Fulke Walwyn first grabbed the headlines when, as an amateur rider, he won the 1936 Grand National on Reynoldstown.

With two fences to go it was the 100-1 outsider Davy Jones who looked a certain winner before his reins broke. Walwyn was having problems of his own after losing his whip at Valentine’s on the first lap and then an iron on the
final circuit. Conceding 23 pounds to the rank outsider, Reynoldstown had to make up 12 lengths on the leader in the closing stages.

With great perseverence and strength from the saddle Reynoldstown was able to triumph at Aintree. A year later his Wrexham-born jockey turned professional. It proved to be a painful transition. A broken arm kept him out for a season and a further fall at Ludlow in 1938 brought his riding career, and almost his life, to an end.

He was unconscious for a month, had to have a metal plate fitted into his head and was told that another fall could prove fatal. He heeded medical advice and took out a trainers licence in 1939.

Over the next 51 years he turned from novice trainer into a legend of the turf, training 2,188 winners and capturing every important jumping race title in the calendar, some of them up to half-a-dozen times.

He was leading trainer for the first time in 1946 and topped the polls on four more occasions. He trained the winners of four Cheltenham Gold Cups, two Champion Hurdles, five King George VI Chases, seven Whitbread Gold Cups, seven Hennessy Gold Cups and a Grand National, in 1964 with Team Spirit. He trained 40 winners at the Cheltenham Festival between 1946 and 1986, a record which stood until 2012.

In 1964, 28 years on from his own success over Aintree, he guided Team Spirit to victory in the Grand National. He carried on training big race winners, more than 2000 in all, until 1990 and died, at the age of 80, a year later.

These days the memories of Fulke Walwyn are kept alive at Cheltenahm every year following the renaming of a race after him at the festival, The Fulke Walwyn Challenge Cup Chase, and he will long be remembered as one of the
greatest national hunt trainers of all-time.

Fulke Walwyn – born in Wrexham on 8 November, 1910; died on 18 February, 1991.