Superbly Named Filly Boosts Blue Sky Thoroughbreds
Shona Kirsty Yves was the first horse to go through every one of the processes that Blue Sky Thoroughbreds have, so it was gratifying for the latter’s owners Bruce le Roux and Tinus Gericke to see her winning at Hollywoodbets Scottsville on Sunday.
Ormond Ferraris’ Autobiography To Be Auctioned For Charity At Sunday’s Sale
Ormond Ferraris (90) the retired master trainer, has penned his autobiography in a 350-page book called ‘Thoroughly!’, with the assistance of racing writer and publisher, Charl Pretorius, and a signed copy will be auctioned at the BSA November two-year-old sale on Sunday with proceeds going to the Trainers Benevolent Fund.
The book is due for release early in December and Pretorius commented: “Mr Ferraris and I spent the best part of the last two years on this project. It required not only many hours of research, but digging into old and almost forgotten photo files. Some of the facts we needed were not readily available so we had to call on the help of Jay August and Natalie Bergh for the tracking down of facts and figures from the 1940s onwards. We’re dealing with a distinguished career of more than 70 years, so you can imagine how far we had to go back to retrieve the correct dates and information to match the actual events described. We covered a lot of ground. Everything you want to know is included, and dealt with in detail.
“We’re almost there, the book is in layout stage and Mr Ferraris will sign it off before we go to print. It’s been an enjoyable experience alongside a legend. Mr Ferraris has the memory of a teenager, he recalled various races, incidents, anecdotes (and fist fights!) almost down to the hour. We shared plenty of laughs too and he warmed to the challenge as memories started flowing back. We are very proud of what we’ve achieved here, it’s a book every racing enthusiast will want to read and if you were around in the racing’s ‘Golden Era’ (1960 -1990), you won’t put it down.”
Racing scribes Mark van Deventer and Andrew Harrison, and media entrepreneur and racing fan Alec Hogg have all had a peep at the pre-press draft and have been unanimous in their praise, Van Deventer describing it as “a cutting account of inspiring or deeply flawed characters… a valuable literary resource for future generations.”
‘Thoroughly!’ is being published by Pretorius’s Wordslingers Publishing Corporation. Signed, pre-sale of a numbered, limited edition will be made available on order before it goes on Sale to the public, initially exclusively at Exclusive Books. Pretorius in 2000 helped Mike de Kock to write and publish Horse Chestnut: The Story Of A Legend and, on his own, wrote The Ten Habits Of Highly Effective Horseplayers (2005), Legends Of The Turf Volume 1 (2010) and Legends Of The Turf Volume 2 (2014).
Lights Go On And Off For Debut Winner Celestial City
Danie Toerien
Picture this: You pay R7-million for a horse. You wait two years before it finally makes its debut. And then it wins! But you don’t see it, because of loadshedding.
That’s exactly what happened to Henning Pretorius today when Celestial City finally made his debut over 1600m on the Turffontein Inside course.
Full-brother to Hawwaam and half-brother to Rainbow Bridge and Golden Ducat, Celestial City finally got into a starting stall after what seemed like forever – and then produced the goods the racing world expected.
“We had loadshedding, so the television was off,” said Pretorius after the race.
“We did try to watch the race on an app on my phone, but as fate would have it, the app went off just before the race.
“When the app eventually restarted, the race was over.
“The app worked perfectly until the moment Celestial City lined up to race, then it died. Can you believe it?
“The worst is that it came back on again just after the race!
“It’s terrible. I would have loved to have been there, but that’s how life sometimes work,” said a surprisingly subdued Pretorius.
“At least I watched the replay shortly afterwards, and the way he ran was very impressive. I am very pleased.”
Celestial City, now in the care of trainer Sean Tarry, produced a phenomenal final burst to beat a very decent field, making it look rather easy with Calvin Habib in the saddle.
“The way Celestial City won, coming from behind to make the victory look easy, was impressive,” said Pretorius.
“It is a great relief after such a long wait.
“I’m extremely pleased with what I saw – even though it was a replay – and I am extremely grateful for the work Sean has done in preparing this horse for his first run.”
A R7-million purchase at the 2020 National Yearling Sale, doubts about Celestial City’s ability had been increasing as time went by.
First sent to trainer Peter Muscutt, it was obvious that Celestial City had issues when he was later returned to Summerhill unraced.
Then in May this year, Pretorius decided that Tarry was the man to get the job done.
“You must know what I paid for him,” said Pretorius, “and I bought him purely on the belief in his dam, Halfway To Heaven.
“She did produce three champions by three different sires. So, I had the world of confidence in her.
“It has been a long wait, and there have been many insecurities along the way.
“But I gave the horse to Sean and told him in no uncertain terms that he must do what it takes.
“I made it abundantly clear that there’s no pressure on him, but that he must try his best to get Celestial City going, no matter how long it takes.
“Sean has done an exceptional job and I am very thankful for his efforts. He is the one who deserves all the credit.”
Heversham Park Stud Sponsoring ‘Best Turned Out’ At Betway Summer Cup Meeting
Gauteng’s Heversham Park Stud will be sponsoring the ‘Best Turned Out’ horse for all of the 10 races on 2022 Betway Summer Cup Day this Saturday, adding to the sponsorships and prizes already on offer. A cash prize of R1,000 will be awarded to the groom of the horse adjudged ‘Best Turned Out’ for every race.
The prizes will be awarded in the parade ring after the saddling and parade procedures, when runners are on their way to the start for every respective race. Trainers are requested to inform their grooms of this incentive to ensure that they listen to announcements on track and be available to receive their prizes should their names be announced.
Kat Riley of Heversham Park commented: “This is a gesture from us to give something back to the grooms who do much of the hard work behind the scenes. It also serves as encouragement to them, to do just that little bit extra to bring their respective runners to the track in tip-top condition for a big day like this. We are proud to be involved with Betway and 4Racing in Johannesburg’s flagship race.”
Money talks; big guns listen and head for Fairest Cape
Justin Vermaak, head of racing operations at Kenilworth, says the money incentives have been key to boosting interest in the summer season
Mike Moon (The Citizen)
Also on Saturday’s card were the R225,000 Sophomore Sprint (Listed) and the R175,000 Summer Bowl, a new event that drew a top-class field of females prepping for bigger things to come as well as the eventual winner, the up and coming three-year-old Make It Snappy.
Strydom’s Last Chance For A Fifth Summer Cup
Top jockey will retire after he reaches the milestone of 5,500 winners, bar one or two further commitments, and is just one short of that total.
50-1 Others
Simons Treble, Two Of Them For Pettigrew
Randall Simons scored a treble at Turffontein Inside today and two of them were for Stuart Pettigrew.
Simons goes to 15 winners for the season and has done it at a strike rate of 12.40%.
Pettigrew has had 19 wins this season and his strike rate of 26.39% is the highest on the entire national log.
Today’s Question
In May 1921 it is claimed the Durban Turf Club lent it’s Greyville racecourse facilities to the organisers of an inaugural event which is now world famous, although whether the offer was ultimately taken up is open to dispute.
Which event?
(Answer at bottom of newsletter).
Hollywoodbets Kenilworth Fields
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Today’s Question Answer
It is claimed in the book The Centenary History Of The Durban Turf Club (1996) that the first Comrades marathon run on Empire Day, May 24, 1921, finished at Greyville racecourse.
It claims that the Durban Turf Club charged an entrance fee for spectators to cheer the runners home and donated 100 pounds towards the organisation of this novel event.
However, in ultrarunninghistory.com it states about the winner Bill Rowan, “Running down West Street in Durban, covered in dust, Rowen led the convoy to the City Hall and crossed the finish line in 8:59:00, beating his prediction by just one minute. Harry Phillips finished second, 41 minutes later.”
The course was tarred only for the final few kilometres in the inaugural event.
Rowan was one of only 34 starters.
