Goose Reveling In Being A Gr 1-Winning Trainer
Louis Goosen and Laurence Wernars celebrate Erik Dubois’ Gr 1 victory (Race Coast)
One of the feel good stories of the World Pool Gold Cup meeting was the Gr 1 World Pool Moment Of The Day Champion Stakes victory of the Erik The Red gelding Erik Dubois, who gave Laurence Wernars and family a fifth Gr 1 victory of the season, achieved with four individual horses.
The giant horse secured a first Gr 1 win in 35 years of training for Louis Goosen.
Goosen’s had said in the build up, “He is still a soft, big boy, but he is coming on all the time. You will see the best of him at three, but I think he is a huge, huge runner in the Champion Stakes on Sunday.”
Louis’ hopes soared on course in one particular, surreal moment.
He recalled, “I was standing next to Kurt Felix in the parade ring while my horse Ferrari Flair was going down for the second, when I looked around and saw Erik Dubois standing on his own after being taken off the float. It was almost as if he was an apparition. I said to Kurt, ‘Look at this!’ I could see he had tightened up and I told Kurt, ‘If I ever wanted to peak a horse it is today and I have peaked him!’ Then I knew.”
However, when asked if he was still confident at race time, he quipped, “No, I was taking imodiums and praying!”
He continued, “You have to understand I have had quite a few Gr 1 seconds, thirds and fourths over the years with a small string. The one year we had won the Gr 2 SA Fillies Nursery with Waywest Goddess and came down for the Gr 1 Allan Robertson. We went down to the line and heads up, heads down Chocolicious gets us in the last stride, so on Sunday when Duncan Howell’s horse starts coming back at us I was saying, ‘No, not again!”
Erik Dubois at over 600kg was the second heaviest horse at the meeting, despite being a two-year-old, and everything panned out perfectly for him.
Drawn three, the number two horse was a late scratching leaving the gate on his inside empty, which allowed Lyle Hewitson space to get the big horse settled in the early stages. Hewitson is used to riding without false rails in Hong Kong and stuck to a one wide position. After the field had sorted itself out he found himself in a perfect position, one wide with cover, nothing on his outside and just forward of midfield.
As Louis said, “He was absolutely cantering, he looked like he was on the bottom track here at Summerveld!”
Hewitson switched him out at the top of the straight and after the big bay had gathered himself he began making up ground hand over fist.
He got into a stirring, eyeballing tussle with Kazenoyoni in the last 150m, but to the neutral observer he always had the latter’s measure. His stride is enormous and Hewitson had reserved the whip until he had reached Kazenoyoni. He then got Erik Dubois into full stretch in the closing stages with some left handed smacks and he got up by a cosy 0,30 lengths.
“Unbelievable ride,” said Louis. “and It was a very, very emotional moment.”
Louis was clearly lyrical in the parade ring and close to tears as he thanked Laurence Wernars, but despite the excitement he remembered his duty as a trainer in the lead in.
He said, “I stood back and ensured all the owners had a hand on the lead rope. But the horse then stopped and stood stock still when he heard all the noise from the grandstand. I stepped forward and said to him, ‘It’s ok, boy’. He immediately walked forward after hearing the familiar reassuring voice. But that is what kind of horse he is.”
Louis revealed that he often talks to his horses.
He said, “My horses are lovely to talk to, they don’t argue you know! So I went to talk to Erik last Wednesday evening and I said to Lauren ‘Come and make a video I want to send it to Laurence’. I said on the video, ‘Laurence, this horse is 33/1 but on Sunday I am going to win a Gr 1 for you. But I am going to ask you for three things if I do that .. Number one is a flight on your Lear Jet back to Jo’Burg so I can go and see my son in Pretoria. No. 2 I want to choose where the trophy stands in your box. And three is to send me a horse or two.'”
Louis went on a fishing excursion with Richard Fourie et al last Thursday and he said, “When we got off the boat one of them told me, ‘Your horse has shortened!’ I’m not sure where the money came from!”
Erik Dubois started as short as 14/1.
Louis thought it ironic and most gratifying that a man he has immense respect for, Mike de Kock, was to present him with the trophy.
He recalled, “The day Waywest Goddess was pipped Mike was standing next to me in the parade ring and said, ‘I think you got it, Goose’. But the slow motion replay then showed we’d lost. So it was great Mike was now here again to present the trophy.”
Louis association with Erik Dubois started when he was granted money by Race Coast for their pinhooking scheme. After securing the horse he had most wanted at the Race Coast Sales auction, he asked Race Coast’s Justin Vermaak for another pinhooking grant as he had spotted Erik Dubois.
He recalled, “He looked good and used himself well and got his hocks down.”
He secured Erik Dubois too and after he had done his normal introduction training with him, which he calls “bone density” exercises, he phoned Justin Vermaak, who is the racing manager for Laurence Wernars, and told him this horse looked so good he might be interested.
It turned out Vermaak had also liked Erik Dubois at the Sale.
To cut a long story short Laurence ended up purchasing him from Louis and he kept the latter on as trainer.
Louis would never give a young horse, especially a big one, a holiday in a paddock as it can interrupt the bone density progression. So he will now give Erik Dubois an easy time, but keep him in regular exercise. His possible targets include Highveld Spring season races like the Spring Challenge and Graham Beck.
Paardeberg Land First Gr 1 Win With First Crop
Lyle Hewitson salutes as Erik Dubois gets up (Picture: Race Coast)
On Sunday at Hollywodbets Greyville Erik Dubois not only gave Louis Goosen a first Gr 1 victory in 35 years of training, but also gave Varsfontein-based sire Erik The Red a first Gr 1 winner and he gave Paardeberg Stud, who are the newest stud farm in the country, a first Gr 1 winner with their first crop to race.
The Laurence Wernars family-owned gelding is officially bred by the American racing man Dr Alan Miller.
However, Paardeberg stud manager Sally Bruss explained, “Erik Dubois’ mother Comtesse Dubois was Barry Irwin’s mare, but he gave her to Dr Alan Miller, who is a New York physician. When Barry’s mares moved to me in Tulbagh, Comtesse Dubois came along as well. Later she and Barry’s mares moved with me to Sorrento Stud and then from Sorrento to Paardeberg. However Dr. Alan Miller, having only one mare in South Africa, lost interest and asked me if I would like the mare. I said I would love the mare. She had been a disappointing mare until then and she had this foal at foot, but I took her. The foal at foot was Erik Dubois.”
Sally had made the decision to send Comtesse Du Bois to Erik The Red.
She continued, “We raised Erik Dubois and took him to the Sales (he fetched R375,000 at the 2025 March Yearling Sale). Comtesse Dubois has a United States foal going to the October Cape Sale and she has a very nice Expert Eye colt. Comtesse Dubois was actually a good race filly and should have been a better broodmare.”
Comtesse Dubois is by Count Dubois out of twice-winning Rakeen mare Katherine, who was a half-sister to the top class Count Dubois colt Biarritz. As a raceehorse she won four times, including the Listed Laisserfaire Stakes over 1100m, and she had a Listed place and three Graded places from 1200m up to 1400m.
At stud she has to date had four winners from eight runners and Erik Dubois is her first black type progeny.
Erik Dubois was a November foal and Comtesse Dubois’ next two foals were also latecomers, but after a season’s break it would be no surprise to see Sally sending her back to Erik The Red.
Xander And Corne Spies Become Official Training Partners
Xander and Corne working together at the Sales (Race Coast Sales)
A new father/son training operation will officially begin on Saturday August 1 when Xander and Corne Spies send out their first runners at the Turffontein Standside meeting.
Xander said, “Our first two runners will be a filly called Lady Aarya (Declarationofpeace) and a filly called Northern European (Erik The Red) in the first race.”
Those two don’t inspire much confidence but their other three runners on the day, Trompe L’Oeil, African Pride and Spirit Of Gabz will all have big chances.
The promising Trompe L’Oeil, a Gimmethegreenlight gelding out of Captain Al mare Mirage, has plenty of substance. He duly won on debut and the step up in trip from 1000m to 1160m will suit.
African Pride started favourite for the Listed Umngeni Handicap over 1000m on Sunday at Hollywoodbest Greyville and gave a good kick from the front under Lyle Hewitson to open up a lead in the first part of the straight. However, his run then came to nothing and Xander believes he might have got a fright from the shadows in his first run under the lights. He said he had pulled up as sound as a bell and this impressive, long-striding 110-rated specimen, who was the biggest horse at the Gold Cup meeting in weight terms, will have a big chance in the 1000m Pinnacle Stakes event.
Spirit Of Gabz is a hard-knocking two-year-old who runs in an open handicap from a good draw over a suitable 1400m trip off an 86 rating.
Xander said, “We have 46 horses although there are possibly one or two who will be outgoing, a mare or two who will retire to stud. We have two yards at Randjesfontein with a capacity for 50 horses and we are hoping to reach that number. We will have a strong crop of horses in the season coming. Our four-year-olds will be very strong, we will have a good crop of three-year-olds and we have exciting two-year-olds coming through. We hope to bolster the latter’s numbers at the upcoming Sales.”
Stable stalwart William Robertson will be an eight-year-old this coming season, but is still as sound as a bell. The yard are giving him a break at present, because in the past that has helped him regain his form when he’s undergone a patch of below par form. It will be his last season though and the aim will be to “keep him happy for racing.”
Xander continued, “In the season coming you can watch out for Bisou Bisou, who ran second in the Gr 2 Umkhomazi Stakes on Sunday. You can write off the runs of African Pride and Life In Colour, they are much better than that. Class horses can come back from one or two below par runs. We’ve got a colt called High Fidelity who we think very highly of. He needed gelding badly and he has been gelded. We’ve got a proper long distance horse in Cover Charge, as he ages I think he will become a top class horse. We’ve got a bunch of two-year-olds who I am very excited to see run. Obviously, we’ve got Hazy Dazy too, we will bring her back in October and campaign her in the older fillies races. She will enjoy her break after a long season and I think she will go from strength to strength. So I think we have a strong hand for this upcoming season.”
Xander has been an assistant to Corne since 2020 and was a stable employee before that from 2016. He will remain as chairman of the ROA, but said, “I am very much looking forward to training in partnership with my Dad. It’s been something I have been looking forward to for a long time.”
Xander is a qualified lawyer and practiced for a while, but he said, “I still remain on the NHA’s rules committee as a representative for owners. I practiced law for two years and then decided to return to training horses, maybe not the best decision, but believe me I am much happier here than I was in law. There are lows and highs in racing, so law is a lot more steady, but it is not as exciting … not nearly as exciting.”
Spies racing was started by Corne’s father Tobie, who grew up on a farm in the Free State. As a youngster he took part in informal bush races as a jockey and an effort was made to get him into the Academy, but they turned him down, saying he would grow too tall.
Tobie then took a job in the mines and saved money to follow his dreams. He hence landed a position on a stud farm owned by the Armitage family.
He was the stud manager there for a while and only left after he had got his trainers license.
He then departed for the Vaal Training Centre.
Xander said, “Horses have always been part of his life and in fact the only National Yearling Sale he has missed since the age of 17 was during a year of doing his national service.”
Xander estimated Tobie had won between three and six Gr 1 races and his best horse was likely Yardmaster, who won the Queen’s Plate as well as the Hawaii Stakes, which was a Gr 1 over a mile back in those days.
Tobie famously won two of the four Bloodline Million races that were held. They were the first R1 million races ever run in South Africa and Tobie won the 1200m event for two-year-olds with Fast Gun in 1991 and with Mysterious Hal in 1992.
Corne took over from Tobie at the Vaal in 2000 and trained out of there for many years.
He moved to Randjies in 2019.
Tobie had wanted him to take another path in life, but when Corne did go and study he did a diploma in horses at Pretoria Technicon!
Corne has had seven Gr 1 wins with Rock Opera, War Horse, Van Halen, who won two Gr 1s, Singforafa, William Robertson and Hazy Dazy.
Corne used to be known as an exceptional trainer of two-year-olds, but Xander pointed out this was because he trained for owners with lower budgets and thus bought horses accordingly. He said recently with a higher Sales budget they had swung towards buying classic horses, although there is a still a mixture.
Corne is also known for his love of raiding and could well be the most traveled trainer in the country.
Xander said he and his father had the same approach to training, so enjoyed accompanying each other to the track in the mornings.
Tobie is stlll an assistant trainer to the yard and comes to the track most mornings too.
There are exciting times ahead for the Xander and Corne Spies yard.
Exciting Sires Highlight Cornerstone’s August Draft
Malmoos. Eden Roc. Erik The Red. Heavenly Blue. Danon Platina.
These are just a few of the stallions represented by offspring in Cornerstone Thoroughbred Stud’s draft, offered as Agent, at the 2026 August Two Year Old.
Triple Crown winner Malmoos has made a sensational start to his stud career, with his eye catching first crop headed by unbeaten G2 Douglas Whyte Thekwini Stakes winner Marchland. The son of Captain Al is represented here by a filly (Lot 170), inbred to champion sire Al Mufti, whose dam is a half-sister to classy G2 Selangor Cup winner De Kock.
Var’s G1 Gold Medallion winning son Eden Roc is set to have his first runners this season, and he is the sire of a colt (Lot 246) whose dam, closely related to the stakes winning Silver Bluff, is a half-sister to G2 winner and Mauritian champion, Hard Day’s Night.
Snitzel’s G1 winning son Heavenly Blue remains one of South Africa’s more underrated stallions, and Heavenly Blue is the sire of a filly (Lot 233) out of a winning Rafeef half-sister to the stakes placed Not Liable.
Japanese champion Danon Platina looks to have come up with two more smart performers in the form of Tudor Rose and Kazenoyoni, and he is represented here by a filly (Lot 314) from the family of such top-class females as Athina, Nightingale, Rainbow Lorikeet and Babelicious.
The sire of recent G1 World Pool Moment Of The Day Premiers Champion Stakes hero Erik Dubois, Erik The Red is responsible for a filly (Lot 333) whose dam won five and whose granddam won the Listed East Cape Fillies Nursery.
This draft can be viewed from Block A at the TBA Complex in Germiston.
Fine Families Abound In Henham’s August Sale String
Henham Stud will be offering seven super two-year-olds at the upcoming August Two Year Old Sale, set to take place in Germiston on August 20th and 21st.
With Henham’s draft including two-year-olds by the likes of Digital Age, Eden Roc, Jet Dark, and Malmoos, and hailing from some outstanding families, there is bound to plenty of interest in the offerings from the Karoo farm.
Invincible Spirit’s G1 winning son Digital Age has two members of his eagerly awaited first crop on offer. Nice Move, a winning daughter of G1 Allan Robertson Fillies Championship winner On Her Toes, has a Digital Age filly (Lot 120) on offer, while Sweet Dot Com (Lot 300) is a Digital Age colt out of the speedy four time winner Candy Galore.
Dazzle Me (Lot 47) is a filly from the first crop of multiple Equus Champion Jet Dark, and she is out of a three time winning daughter of Silvano.
Another exciting young sire, Eden Roc, is the sire of Mountain King (Lot 163), a half-brother to six winners whose granddam won the G2 SA Oaks. Mountain King hails from a consistently successful family responsible for recent Listed Milkwood Stakes winner Danish Dynamite among others.
Ivory Flame (Lot 134), a filly by exciting young Triple Crown winner Malmoos, is out of a half-sister to champion Future Pearl and from the family of such standouts as Real Princess, Gimme A Prince, The Real Prince and William Longsword, while Family’s Pride (Lot 21) is a filly by Japanese champion Danon Platina out of a half-sister to G1 SA Fillies Classic winner and proven producer Athina.
This draft can be viewed from Block B at the TBA Complex in Germiston.
Hemel ‘n Aarde Stud Bring Grade One Draft To August Sale
Top-class racemare Asiye Phambili has been a wonderful advertisement for her breeder Hemel ‘N Aarde.
The winner of 11 races (six graded) including the G1 South African Fillies Sprint, the six-year-old once again showed her class when running third in the recent G1 Mercury Sprint.
Hemel ‘N Aarde will be offering buyers the chance to acquire their own Asiye Phambili when they bring a very smart draft to the August Two Year Old Sale. Stallions represented in this consignment include What A Winter (sire of Asiye Phambili), Buffalo Bill Cody, Digital Age, Master Of My Fate, and Pathfork.
Unbeaten Australian galloper Acrobat is also represented here by a filly (Lot 150) out of a three time winning daughter of top sire Mehmas, with this filly hailing from the same family as G1 winning two-year-old Rosdhu Queen.
Champion What A Winter has had another wonderful season, and the four time G1 winner has three lots here, including Mega Max (Lot 5) a full-brother to G3 Pretty Polly Stakes runner up Elegant Ice and half-brother to G3 Tote Godolphin Barb Stakes winner Elegantrix.
Top stallion Master Of My Fate continues to impress and the son of Jet Master is the sire of Star Studded (Lot 67) a full-sister to Master Of My Fate’s classy son Mexican Pete, an impressive winner of his first three starts.
Other exciting two-year-olds on sale include the Real Gone Kid half-sister (Lot 34) to Listed Wolf Power 1600 winner Pomodoro’s Jet, the Buffalo Bill Cody filly (Lot 36) from the family of champion Yard-Arm and South African Triple Crown winner Abashiri, and the Pathfork filly (Lot 187) whose granddam won the G1 Garden Province Stakes.
This draft can be viewed from Block H at the TBA Complex in Germiston.
Lyle Hewitson Masters The Howling Winds At DCC
Last year’s Racing Masters winner Ruan Neethling presents Lyle Hewitson with the Green Jacket
Lyle Hewitson became the fourth jockey to win the Racing Masters at Durban Country Club on Tuesday afternoon.
He had to contend with winds at the iconic layout that reached reported speeds of 54km per hour.
Hewitson scored 69 stableford points over the two days.
He pipped Harry Govender by one point.
Overnight leader Jan Mantel faded into seventh place.
Hewitson’s busman’s tour to SA during the Hong Kong off seaason has proved well worth it as he won a Gr 1 on Sunday at the World Pool Gold Cup meeting and is now the Masters Champion.
The ladies winner was Gill Davies on 72 points, way clear of Nikki Mellis on 47 points.
Hewitson was presented with the famous green jacket by last year’s winner Ruan Neethling.
The jockeys to have previously won the green jacket are Piere Strydom (2000), Anthony Delpech (2017) and Kevin Shea (2019).
The leaderboard for this year’s event an be seen below:
Coast Of The Sun out to prove a point
Andrew Harrison (Race Coast)
Trainer Tienie Prinsloo will have been a tad disappointed that Coast Of The Sun was relegated to reserve runner in both the Gr2 Golden Horseshoe and the Gr1 World Pool Moment of the Day Champion Stakes.
The son of Hawwaam shed his maiden in fine style when beating Benny And Paul who has since franked that form with multiple winners coming out of that formline and arguably unlucky not to have finished closer in the Gr2 World Pool Bet with the Tote Stakes on Sunday.
Prinsloo was lavish in his praise after Coast Of The Sun’s win and although the colt has missed the bus as far as contesting feature races this season, he gets a chance to showcase his ability when he lines up in the Lucky Fish Crazy Time Class 4 at Hollywoodbets Scottsville today.
The form of the opposition is not particularly deep and if Coast Of The Sun is as good as his reputation, he should put them to bed with ease.
He faces a useful handicapper in Alyson Wright’s charge Phutulicious who has the widest draw but seldom puts in a below par performance. He has gone close in his last two over course and distance. The Marquee was touched off over course and distance last time out and is seldom far back and should put in another forward showing. Seasoned trainer Ricky Maingard has had a good spell with his small string of raiders and Klein Karoo paid his way when winning first time out on the poly. The turf holds no fears and from the best of the draw he should be competitive.
Mike and Mathew de Kock can get the ball rolling in the first three races on the card for Hollywood Racing where they have competitive runners.
In the first Scots Wae Hae found solid market support in a promising debut and is relatively unexposed while Dean Kannemeyer’s runner Lennoxx has been knocking at the door for some time. He started as a narrowly beaten favourite last start and has put in two smart efforts on this course but has had his chances. Nautical Fire has shown promise in his first two starts while Rachel’s Boy is way better than his last start in the soft and gets first time blinkers.
The De Kock’s and Kannemeyer face each other again in the second. There was plenty of talk on course about Gimme A Fireball before making his debut and although a well beaten third he should have tightened up a lot from that outing. Year older Scotch Again started favourite on debut on the poly but was all at sea. He does look progressive and can make Gimme A Fireball work for victory along with AMC Roy On Fire was not far back to the promising Benny And Paul on debut and is likely to improve.
Hollywood Racing have had another stellar year and are the leading owners by a country mile, and if the De Kock’s are successful in the first two races, Sparrow Man can add to their tally that last week stood at 175 winners for the current season.
Sparrow Man made a smart sprint debut on this course racing very green. He steps up to a mile which should be more to his liking judged on his pedigree and could prove difficult to beat. A possible threat is Yogas Govender’s Trip To Venus who was narrowly beaten over course and distance last time out with a claiming apprentice aboard and now gets a seasoned rider. The Flat Cat could also be a threat. He has shown recent improvement after being stepped up in trip and the extra furlong should suit. United Tides has not been too far back in a couple of sprints and he too should prefer the step up in trip and is one to watch in the market.
Justin Snaith’s string will be headed back to Cape Town soon but he can still fire a few shots. Hazel Green was disappointing in her local debut but was taking to the poly track for the first time. Her Cape form was promising and she should have a strong chance on that form. Blenheim Palace has been improving with each outing and was close-up over course and distance last time out and should contest the finish. Soho Celebrity made good improvement last run over course and distance and finished just ahead of Blenheim Palace when last they met and her apprentice rider stays aboard.
In the fifth, Sohot Sowhat has run two promising races on the poly and had consistent Cape form on the turf but she could face a tough nut in Snaith’s filly Match That. She tried a mile in the Eastern Cape Fillies Guineas last run but came up against star Anotherdanceforme. She has been rested but back to a sprint in this company she should be competitive. Seven No Trump makes her local debut off useful Cape form over this trip and a light weight while Light Of Gabriel was not far back when lumbered with a big weight on the poly last time out but she is useful and should go well in this line-up.
The last two races are wide open handicaps. In the seventh, Spirit Of Shimla was a beaten favourite on the poly last run in what was a below par effort. She had consistent form prior to that and a return to her best should see her close. Treasure Island is taking time for her second win but goes well over this trip and is seldom far off the winner. From the best of the draw she is a strong contender. Act Of Grace was second best on the poly last start but her most recent win came on this course while Another Dream has dropped two points in the handicap and is also down in class. She carries top weight but is at home over this trip.
Finally, Fort Usher can sign off on the day for Darryl Moore. He made a promising debut behind Benny And Paul before going on to shed his maiden next time out and as mentioned before the Benny And Paul form has worked out well. From the best of the draw can follow up. The filly Christmas Rose has a difficult draw to contend with but was a recent maiden winner over course and distance and she does look progressive and faces modest older opposition. La Maddalena is back over what looks to be a more suitable trip and can feature from a wide draw.
Today's Question
How many King George and Queen Elizabeth Stakes wins did Frankie Dettori score?
The picture is of the subject.
Today’s Question Answer
Dettori won the King George and Queen Elizabeth Stakes seven times, a record he shares with Lester Piggott.
