Second again … African Skyline (closest) just fails to get there in the Listed LHKIR In December Umngeni Handicap over 1000m on World Pool Gold Cup day (Candiese Lenferna Photography).

However, each/way punters as well as owners Miss C A E Steele, Messrs G C Kalil, G B Puller & A S Tombe will not be complaining about the Garth Puller-trained African Sky’s  amazing run of seconditis.

In his last eight starts this five-year-old gelding has one win and seven seconds, including a current trot of five seconds in succession.

In his last start on Monday he was a touch unlucky to dead-heat for second with Gladatorian in a Pinnacle event over 1200m on the Hollywoodbets Greyville turf.

They were beaten just 0,30 lengths by the winner, the Peter Muscutt-trained Quasiforsure, who showed his class by winning over a trip sharper than ideal.

That was in fact African Skyline’s second dead-heat for second this year.

Puller said about the Bruce le Roux-bred Mogok gelding African Skyline, “He has been unlucky in a couple of his seconds. On Monday he missed the break slightly and got a position on the rail and as he came into the straight he tried to come out once or twice but he couldn’t get out so he put his run down the inside. In the last three-quarters of a furlong he came through them to win his race by three-quarters of a length on the inside, but there were two horses on the outside he couldn’t compete with. Had he been with them he probably would have beaten them. He’s just such a consistent horse.”

To underline his consistency African Skyline’s career record is 19 starts, 4 wins, 9 seconds, 3 thirds, 2 fourths and just one unplaced run.

Asked about the plans for him, Garth replied, ” I was going to send him to Cape Town but they have to go through quarantine and all that. he can run with the best. He doesn’t know any distance. I put a pair of blinkers on and put him over a 1000m he will run a short-head second, I run him over 16 he runs second, I run him over 14 he runs second, I run him over 12 he runs second. I will just play it by ear and see. If there is something I see maybe I will raid Jo’Burg. In fairness he deserves to go to somebody in Cape Town and finish the season there.”

Garth has lost a lot of horses lately to Cape Town. A few of his owners are Cape-based and they sent horses to him when the stakes in KZN were higher than Cape Town, but now that the latter’s stakes are higher they have sent their horses back there.

Garth is down to about 68 horses in all.

He said, “But things will change. There is an old adage, ‘I started without them, I can finish without them.’ Some doors close, other doors open, and we are open for business any time.”

He was actually offered an opportunity to go back to Cape Town but said, “There are a lot of people already there and those big yards dominate a bit over there.”

Garth was the KZN champion trainer for the second time last season, but he said chasing titles had never interested him.

He added, “I just want to race happily and have a steady turnover, that’s all.”

Cape Racing

Ebrahim Khan, one of South Africa’s leading thoroughbred owners in the early and mid-2000s, has made a welcome return to the sport via purchases at last Sunday’s Ready To Run and Unbroken Two-Year-Old Sale held at Hollywoodbets Durbanville.

Mr Khan attended the sale in person alongside Mark Khan, his long-time friend and associate. The former South African Champion Jockey also rode many of Khan’s prominent runners of the era, including star colt Elusive Fort, the 2006 G1 Derby and Daily News winner; 2005 G2 Gold Bowl and G3 Gold Vase winner Saddlewood and top-level sprinter Safe Structure, who won the G3 Tommy Hotspur.

Mark Khan, who recently joined Grant Maroun as an assistant trainer at his Randjesfontein base, selected three lots at Sunday’s auction. They will be going to the Maroun yard to race in the owner’s famous brown-and-white silks with checked sleeves.

Khan said: “When Mr Khan heard that I became an assistant trainer, his interest in owning horses was revived, and I am proud to bring him back. He never stopped following racing just focused on further developing his family’s formidable furniture concern, based in Stanger, KwaZulu-Natal, and now managed mainly by his sons. I remained close to the family. He is a racing man in blood.”

Whilst still overseeing the furniture business, Ebrahim Khan spends much of his time on his farm on the Cape West Coast. Mark Khan said: “He loves horses and all other animals, so the farm is full of them. He has a nice herd of cattle, which he enjoys farming. Now, his interest in racing is fully rekindled.”

Mark Khan selected Lots 31 (William Longsword colt), Lot 52 (Captain Of All colt) and Lot 69 (Quasillo filly) and said: “They were horses on our shortlist; we wanted them before the auction started and got them, so we are happy. Mizzen Sword (Lot 31) is a close relation of Yard-Arm, on which I won the Met in 2004. The Captain Of All colt (52) is by a decent, winning half-sister to Brave Mary and Quasikat (69) is from the family of Grinkov, a smashing filly, and she galloped very well.”

Khan was also the underbidder on the day’s top seller, Lot 48, and he commented: “He is a stunning One World, and we went to R1.2 million to get him, but I think the winning bidder, Vaughan Marshall, was never going to let go, he got the fall of the hammer at R1,4-million.”

Khan said about his future: “The plan is to take out my licence in due course, with the support of Mr Khan, John Maroun and some other good friends. For now, I am applying what I have learned over many years from horsemen like Mark Watters and Geoff Woodruff. I soaked things up as a young rider with Watters, helped in his yard, and later walked many barns at the auctions with Woodruff. Now, I am learning from Grant Maroun, who is a thorough horseman steeped in racing. His style of mentorship makes me feel more like a trainer and partner than an assistant.

He added: “I love training horses, which is in so many ways different to riding them. You see things from a different perspective; the hours are longer, and the work is harder as it encompasses so many different aspects, but it is very satisfying. We look forward to preparing Mr. Khan’s runners.”

Lot 77, a good looking Fire Away colt (Cape Racing Sales)

The Turf Talk Syndicate invites you to participate in their Fire Away colt syndicate to be trained by  Brett Crawford.  Brett was delighted to secure the colt who extended himself well at the CRS RTR gallops.

The colt was purchased for R160,000.

Shares are available in this colt at an initial cost of R23 000 excl VAT for 10% and includes the following:

• 10% ownership in the colt
• Insurance for 90 days
• Inclusion in the Cape Racing Incentive scheme for licensed syndicates
• Registration fees
• Transport
• Cape Racing Syndicate membership
• 3 months keep ending 31 January 2024

After the three months the shareholders will be invoiced for training fees as per normal ownership.

Brett Crawford is a Category A trainer under Cape Racing’s Syndication Incentive Scheme.

That means the horse qualifies for:

• R20 000 win bonus to the ownership (One win bonus per horse a season)
• R5 000 win bonus to the syndicate manager (One win bonus per horse a season)
• R250 RaceCape fee to the syndicate manager per runner

Pedigree of the horse and his Breeze Up Gallop below that:

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE BREEZE UP GALLOP 

Lyall Cooper (right) chats to Johan Janse van Vuuren  on the occasion of Puerto Manazano’s win in the 2022 Betway Summer Cup (Pic – JC Photos)

In addition to the below Sporting Post article asking industryman to pledge support for one of the country’s most popular presenters and most appreciated tipsters, watch out for a golf day being organised by Grant Knowles.

Lot 1026: Dark Trooper (IRE)

International buyers continued to dominate proceedings on the third day of the Tattersalls Autumn Horses in Training Sale with the leadings lots bound for Australia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United States.

Brown & Wathnan Secure Dark Trooper for 500,000 Guineas  

The top lot on the third day of the Tattersalls Autumn Horses in Training Sale was the Ed Walker trained DARK TROOPER, who was knocked down to Blandford Bloodstock’s Richard Brown for 500,000 guineas on behalf of Wathnan Racing.

“The idea is to buy quality over quantity, that is the message from Qatar to Olly Tait to me and Ali Al Kubaisi, who is working the sale with me,” said Brown. “This horse has been on the radar for most of the year because Al Donald, who bought and managed him, and Ed Walker, who trained him, have been trying to get me to buy him for most of the year, saying there is a lot more to come.

“He won a very competitive Ascot handicap on quick ground and then was unlucky in the Bengough. He is an interesting horse and will go to Qatar and there is a programme with him in that part of the world, but he is the sort of horse who could come back here. He is a gelding so can run on for a number of seasons. He will be trained by Alban de Mieulle and we will see how things go.”

The three-year-old DARK TROOPER has won six of his fourteen starts, including four of his last five, and was consigned with a Timeform rating of 111+.

Explaining the purchase further Brown said: “Wathnan purchased Bolthole at this sale last year – the horse went on to do very well in Qatar and then came back to France, and has won a Listed and finished second in a couple of Group 3 races this summer.”

“He is obviously a Group calibre sprinter, he is very sound, he looks magnificent here so all credit to Ed Walker – the horse is still carrying plenty of condition at the end of a long season. We thought that he would be in that price bracket.”

DARK TROOPER was bought as a yearling by SackvilleDonald’s Alastair Donald for owner Chi Un Fred Ma at Book 2 of the 2021 Tattersalls October Yearling Sale for 60,000 guineas.

Lot 1133: Sea The Casper (IRE)

Sea The Casper Bound for Saudi Cup Meeting at 425,000 Guineas  

Late in the evening a bidding duel between Middle Eastern interests for the Simon & Ed Crisford trained SEA THE CASPER lit up the sale ring and resulted in the four-year-old realising 425,000 guineas. The successful bidder was Mubarak Al-Ruwis after he saw off the determined efforts of the Najd Stud team.

Sat with a group of friends under the back window, a spokesman for Al-Ruwis said: “He will ship straight to Saudi. We have two horses already in Saudi and need good quality horses for the big Saudi Cup meeting. We think this horse could be a champion.”

Bred by Rabbah Bloodstock, the four-year-old SEA THE STARS gelding has won on four occasions and finished second last time out in the Listed Diamond Stakes at Dundalk, beaten just a neck by the Group 3 winner PIZ BADILE who was runner up in the Group 1 Irish Derby behind WESTOVER in 2022.

It is a second horse purchased this week by Al-Ruwis, who spent 105,000 guineas on the 88 rated OUT OF SHADOWS on Monday.

Lot 1081: Halfway Line (GB)

Donohoe Lands Halfway Line for America

The Juddmonte draft is always one of the highlights of the Tattersalls Autumn Horses in Training Sale and this year proved no exception with the fourteen lots realising a total of 1,398,000 guineas, headed by the three-year-old HALFWAY LINE at 320,000 guineas.

The son of ZOFFANY was purchased by BBA Ireland’s Michael Donohoe online and following his purchase he commented: “I have left the sales ground and so it worked well for me to bid online. The horse has been bought in conjunction with Niall Dalton of Stakes Horses to go to California and is for a new client with trainer Phil D’Amato, who has had a good bit of success training European horses.

“Halfway Line was recommended by his former trainer Francis-Henri Graffard as well as Barry Mahon of Juddmonte. He should suit California – he is progressive, he goes on firm, he has a turn of foot, all the attributes you need.”

HALFWAY LINE has won three of his six starts and was third in the Listed Prix Matchem on his most recent start at Saint-Cloud. D’Amato is set to get two sons of ZOFFANY from this week’s sale after OTTOMAN PRINCE, also by the late sire, was bought by Boomer Bloodstock on behalf of D’Amato’s owner Anthony Fanticola. The paternal siblings will be flying over together to join D’Amato’s string in southern California.

Lot 1021: Royal Patronage (FR)

Royal Patronage Attracts Waterhouse & Bott  

Australian buyers continued to be at the fore on the third day of the Autumn Horses in Training Sale including agent Johnny McKeever, bidding on behalf of the training partnership of Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott. McKeever, bidding alongside racing manager Claudia Miller, secured the four-year-old WOOTTON BASSETT colt ROYAL PATRONAGE for 300,000 guineas.

The WH Bloodstock consigned colt won the Group 2 Royal Lodge Stakes and the Group 3 Tattersalls Acomb Stakes as a two-year-old, before finishing second in the Group 2 Dante Stakes at three. He then shipped to the US where he finished fifth in the Grade 1 Belmont Derby Invitational Stakes. He remained in the States with trainer Graham Motion and ran in last year’s Grade 1 Saratoga Derby, before winning an allowance race this spring and running fifth in the Grade 3 Arlington Stakes.

“Not only is he a beautiful type and with the form on the board, he rated very highly for us and I think he will adapt very well to Australia,” said Claudia Miller, Gai Waterhouse’s racing manager. “He had good form as a two-year-old and as a four-year-old, he is very sound for us, very clean. We think he will adapt very well to Australia and we look forward to getting him into the system and getting him going.

“Wootton Bassett is a stallion that we have been looking at for a while as he has been very successful in Europe, and they will start to sell ‘Down Under’ shortly so it’s great to get one in the stable.”

Johnny McKeever added: “We spoke to Graham Motion about the horse and he gave us a very positive report, he just had a few small training issues, nothing to worry about at all. He is an ideal horse to go to Australia and so we were confident that it was the right thing to do. It is hard to find Group form in the sale, he has got a certain quality. We are not guessing here, we know he is a pretty good horse if all goes well for him.”

Raven Black (Master Of My Fate) looked to be a handicapping certainty at the Vaal Classic track today and he scorched home to a 3,25 length victory to give Kabelo Matsunyane and Brett Crawford a double on the day (JC Photos).  

Kabelo Matsunyane rode a double for Brett Crawford at the Vaal Classic track today and S’Manga Khumalo scored an individual double.

Matsunyane goes to 20 wins for the season at a strike rate of 9,66%.

Crawford goes to 17 wins at 10.76%.

Khumalo goes to 32 wins at 15.61%.

The Highveld jockey champoionship is being led by Gavin Lerena on 31 wins. He is being followed by Muzi Yeni on 22 wins and Philasande Mxoli on 20 wins.

The Highveld Trainers championship is being led by Tony Peter with over R2 million in stakes from 23 wins.

The horse in question pictured above (gaminganddestinations.com)

Which horse caused the biggest upset in Breeders Cup history?