Vercingetorix filly LadyOfDistinction went for R1,5 million at the BSA November 2YO Sale on Sunday (Picture: BSA) 

Michael “Muis” Roberts was pleased to land the Vercingetorix filly LadyOfDistinction on behalf of the breeding concern Al Khayl Breeders (Pty) Ltd, although he was not expecting to have to go to R1.5 million, which was the only seven figure price on the BSA November 2YO Sale at TBA Gosforth Park on Sunday.

LadyOfDistinction is a full sister to the Stuart Ferrie-trained Gladatorian, who finished second in the Gr 3 New Turf Carriers Merchants over 1160m at Turfffontein on Saturday.

Roberts said, “They were looking for a well bred filly for stud and I thought that was the best one on the sale. The pedigree is good and the specimen is good. She is a good size and she could even get further, you must remember she is out of a Dynasty mare. She is a different type to her brother, she stands over a bit of ground and is scopey. She could get a mile at least. She could be anything to be honest. We always hope and dream!”

 

Lot 121 LadyOfDictinction (see pedigree below):

 

Gladatorian was officially bred by Erasmus Thoroughbreds CC and LadyOfDistinction was sold by Varsfontein as agent.

Michael had a good sale and also clinched a Pomodoro colt, a Futura colt and a Mambo In seattle filly.

He was happy with the prices of those three.

See It Again

Meanwhile, See It Again is being prepared out of Paddy Kruyer’s Milnerton yard for the Gr 2 WSB Greeen Point Stakes over 1600m at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth on Saturday.

Michael said, “I went to see him last week, he looks magnificent. This is a stepping stone race for him. If he wins it will be a big bonus. If he is doing his best work at the end I will be happy. This is Charles Dickens’ best distance, my horse is a 2000m, or even further, horse. We know where we are going and obviously the L’Ormarins’ King’s Plate and the WSB Met are more important.”

Michael concluded by saying he would “not fall off the stand” if See It Again won, but as far as going all out to beat Charles Dickens was concerned he would prefer to wait for the next two races.

Dyce is out on his own at the finish of the Gr 2 New Turf Carriers Merchants over 1160m at Turffontein on Saturday (JC Photos)

Karel Miedema’s raceform awarded the Lucky Houdalakis-trained Willam Longsword five-year-old entire Dyce a 111 Ability Rating (AR) for his impressive victory in the Gr 3 New Turf Carriers Merchants over 1160m at Turffontein  Standside on Saturday.

That can be compared to the 112 he gave Gimme A Prince for his Gr 1 Pongracz Cape Flying Championship win, the 114 he gave Isivunguvungu for his Gr 1 Jonsson Workwear Computaform Sprint win, the 114 he gave Gimme A Prince for his Gr 1 Golden Horse Sprint win and the 103 he gave Isivunguvungu for his Gr 1 Mercury Sprint victory.

The handicappers were just as impressed and raised Dyce 14 points to 130, which means he has joined Isivunguvungu and Gimme A Prince as the top rated sprinter in the country. They both have that exact same merit rating.

Dyce was running off a 116 merit rating on Saturday and had to a carry 59kg, 4kg less than the 124-rated topweight Dave The King.

He had an unfavourable low draw by trends of two, but overcame it by using his natural speed to go to the front.

He then carved out a big lead effortlessly and won easing up by 4,25 lengths from the Gr 2 Post Merchants winner Gladatorian, to whom he gave 1kg.

Dyce has been nurtured back from injury on two occasions by Houdalakis so has only had 12 career starts.

In his latest comeback, from an eight month layoff,  he is unbeaten in three starts and has won all of them easily.

He is sticking to a sprint campaign and it will be interesting to see whether he goes down to Cape Town for the Cape Flying Championship.

The Cape Flying was the only open Gr 1 sprint in SA that eluded Lucky’s great sprinter J J The Jetplane. He only ran in it once after his second overseas campaign and at thst stage he was a seven-year-old and was returning from a ten month layoff, his previous run having been victory in the Gr 2 Al Quoz Sprint in Dubai.

Dyce is still unexposed despite being a five-year-old.

Lucky said after Saturday’s race Dyce had never had the opportunity to peak in his previous campaigns, sustaining injuries just as he was getting going.

Saturday gave an inkling of what he is capable of.

How much more is still to come?

He is without doubt the most exciting sprinter in the country at present.

Sean Veale after winning the Gr 2 Post Merchants on Gladatorian on Hollywoodbets Durban July day (Candiese Lenferna Photography).

Nuggety Sean Veale will be a welcome sight back in the saddle at the Hollywoodbets Scottsville meeting on Wednesday (November 29) this week.

Sean had a horrendous fall at Hollywoodbets Durbanville on October 7 when his right side stirrup leather broke.

He fell to the side and was run over by a horse who was behind him to his outside.

It was a relief for all when he was reported to be sitting up.

He was found to have sustained a fractured upper jaw, which had to be wired, and a broken nose, which was redone.

His arm was also put in a sling to help with soft tissue damage.

He admitted this week he had been lucky to have escaped with just those injuries and was looking forward to being back riding.

He has been back workriding for about two weeks and did have five rides for Wednesday’s meeting, but one of them has been scractched.

Three of his rides are for Stuart Ferrie and one for Garth Puller.

The Ferrie yard is his chief yard and Sean has a fine chance of making a winning comeback for them as his first ride is in the third, a Maiden Plate over 1000m,  on the hardknocking Var gelding Teatime Tipple.

The Ferrie-trained Captain Of All filly Red Roses Too has a fair chance in the last race over 1200m too.

Royal Victory has winner written all over him as he enters the parade ring on Saturday before his triumph in the Gr 1 R5 million Betway Summer Cup (Wayne Marks)

Betway Summer Cup (Grade 1)

ROYAL VICTORY has had his merit rating raised from 111 to 119 following his success in the Betway Summer Cup (Grade 1) (Handicap) over 2000m on the Turffontein standside course on Saturday 25 November 2023.  The Handicappers were of the view that both 2^nd placed SAFE PASSAGE and 3^rd placed BLESS MY STARS made for suitable line horses, which leaves them unchanged on marks of 117 and 119 respectively.  It must be borne in mind that ROYAL VICTORY’s adjustment includes the under-sufferance amount of 3 pounds as this race was benchmarked at 113 = 54kg.

The only other increase in ratings was for ZEUS who was also under sufferance and goes up from 111 to 113.

The following horses were given drops in ratings. SHOEMAKER was dropped from 112 to 111, ARAGOSTA was dropped from 114 to 112, SECOND BASE and ANFIELDS ROCKET were both dropped by 3 pounds each from 117 to 114 and 120 to 117 respectively, while EAST COAST and LADY OF POWER were both dropped by 2 pounds each from 110 to 108 and 107 to 105 respectively.

 

Jonsson Workwear Dingaans (Grade 2)

PURPLE PITCHER had his rating adjusted from 112 to 114 after his win in the Jonsson Workwear Dingaans (Grade 2) over 1600m at Turffontein on Saturday. The Handicappers were of the view that PURPLE PITCHER would not have run below the 114 he achieved when winning a Handicap last time out. Accordingly, the Handicappers used his actual achievement of 114 to rate this race.

GIMMEANOTHERCHANCE who controlled the pace of this race was deemed to have had the run of the race and was only adjusted to a rating of 112, two pounds below PURPLE PITCHER despite his margin of defeat which mathematically works out to 1 pound.

SANDRINGHAM SUMMIT was not considered as a suitable line horse here as the Handicappers felt that he had underperformed after meeting with early interference, which left him with far too much ground to make up in the home straight.

The only other horse that was given an increase was THE AFRICA HOUSE, who was increased from 98 to 106, this makes him higher than the 105 rated GUY GIBSON who he beat here at level weights.

Two horses were given ratings drops of 1 pound each, PURE PREDATOR and FIRE ‘N FLAMES were both dropped from 101 to 100.

 

New Turf Carriers Merchants (Grade 3) 

DYCE saw his merit rating climb from 116 to 130 after he emphatically accounted for his rivals in the New Turf Carriers Merchants (Grade 3) (Handicap) over 1160m at Turffontein on Saturday. Here it was 3^rd placed DANILO DANILOVITCH who was considered to be the most suitable line horse, leaving him unchanged on a rating of 108. In rating the race this way, MOONSHININGTHROUGH runs to a mark of 101, effectively making her a line horse as well.

GLADATORIAN was the only other horse in this event to get a ratings’ increase, he was raised from 114 to 117. While it was noted that GLADATORIAN was a well beaten runner up, he still managed to beat the line horse by 1.5 lengths and in order to give the rest of the runners in this field a chance of being competitive he had to be adjusted upwards.

The following horses were given drops, SWING UPON A STAR was dropped from 106 to 103, DAVE THE KING was dropped from 124 to 122, ULTRA MAGNUS was dropped from 102 to 100 and MERCANTOUR was dropped from 113 to 110.

 

Betway Fillies Mile (Grade 3) 

The unbeaten GIMME A NOTHER had to be capped to a rating of 100 after impressively winning the Betway Fillies Mile (Grade 3) over 1600m at Turffontein on Saturday. The Handicappers were of the opinion that LET’S GO NOW would not have run below her previous performance of 105 which she achieved when 3^rd in the Starling Stakes (Grade 3) and used her to that level when rating the Betway Fillies Mile. LET’S GO NOW’s official rating of 95 was not a reflection of her performance due to the specific conditions that inhibited the Handicappers from adjusting her to the figure of 105 she achieved in the Starling Stakes. The Handicappers saw no reason whatsoever to have her performing below the 105 in a similar class race, given that she again ran into 3^rd place. Here again, LET’S GO NOW is protected from being rated to her true ability due to the specific race conditions that only allow for a 4 pounds increased for placed runners. Accordingly, LET’S GO NOW has been increased from 95 to 99.

The adjustment of GIMME A NOTHER to a rating of 100 is not a reflection of GIMME A NOTHER’s performance due to the specific race conditions that place a cap of 8 pounds on the winner of this Grade 3 event. As a consequence of this cap, GIMME A NOTHER is now rated 9 pounds below WHITE PEARL on a 109 despite easily accounting for this rival at level weights here.

The following horses received rating’s drops, TAMIL TIGRESS was dropped from 90 to 88, LITTLE MIZ SWAGGER was dropped to 84 from a rating of 86 and SOLDIER’S EYE was given a 1-pound drop from 98 to 97.

 

Joburg Tourism Carry On Alice Stakes (Grade 3) – Formerly the Magnolia Handicap (Grade 3) 

MRS BROWNING remains unchanged on a rating of 103 after winning the Joburg Tourism Carry On Alice Stakes (Grade 3) over 1160m at Turffontein. It was MRS BROWNING herself that was considered to be a line horse here and in rating the race this way both COLDSHARDSTARE and ICE STAR run to their official ratings effectively making them line horses as well. Accordingly, their ratings remain unchanged.

The only runner to have received a rating’s increase was TROPPO VELOCE who was raised from a rating of 96 to 98.

A number of horses were given a rating’s drop, MARIGOLD HOTEL was dropped from 106 to 104, BON VIVANT was dropped to 100 from 103, TIME FO ORCHIDS saw her rating cut from 94 to 90, FLOWERBOMB was dropped marginally from 105 to 104, ON CUE was dropped to 81 from 84, GOOD QUEEN BESS was given a 3 pounds drop to 86 from 89, while both FULL VELOCITY and NO FILTER were both dropped significantly from 101 to 97 and 94 to 88 respectively.

 

Cape Punter Cup (Grade 2) 

HLUHLUWE was increased to a rating of 111 from 105 after fluently winning the Cape Punters Cup (Grade 2) over 1600m at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth on Sunday 26 November 2023. The consistent ZOOMIE was considered to be the line horses here leaving him unchanged on a rating of 101.

2^nd Placed, SNOW PILOT and 3^rd Placed GREEN WITH ENVY had their respective ratings increased from 105 to 109 and 101 to 108. This ensures that the pecking order of this field is correct except for QUESTIONING who was deemed to have performed below his victory in the Cape Classic where he easily accounted for SNOW PILOT.

The only other horse to receive a rating’s increase was KING PELLES, who was increased from 93 to 95 which makes him at least equal to GREETING MY MASTER who is also rated 95.

No horses received a rating’s drop in this event.

 

City Of Cape Town Sophomore Sprint (Listed)

FUTURE VARIETY had his rating adjusted from 94 to 99 after his hard-fought win in the City Of Cape Town Sophomore Sprint (Listed) over 1200m at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth. Here it was TENANGO who was deemed to be the most suitable line horse and accordingly, his rating remained unchanged on a rating of 94. Narrowly beaten 2^nd place finisher, CAPTAIN ARROW was adjusted to 98 from 92 and will be rated 1 pound lower than FUTURE VARIETY.

The following horses were given drops, both UNDERWORLD and JERUSALEMA RAIN were given drops of 2 pounds each from 105 to 103 and 109 to 107 respectively, while both MEU CAPITANO and MOJO MAN were given drops from 98 to 95 and 101 to 99 respectively.

The Drakenstein Stud-bred Trippi colt Hluhluwe is given a drink after his win in the Gr 2 Cape Punters Cup (Picture: Wayne Marks)

National Champion breeders Drakenstein Stud scored an exacta in the Gr 2 Cape Punters Cup on Sunday at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth.

They bred the Nick Jonsson-owned Trippi colt Hluhluwe, who won the race, and the runner up Snow Pilot, a Justin Snaith-trained stablemate to Hluhluwe, is a What A Winter Drakenstein homebred colt.

Hluuhluwe became their seventh individual stakes winner of the season.

Drakenstein broke their own record of 18 set two seasons ago when having 20 stakes winners last season.

However, they are currently behind Wilgerbosdrift and Mauritzfontein on the Breeders championship log by about R1,35 million.

Wilgerbosdrift and Mauritzfontein had a fine weekend themselves, winning the Gr 3 Betway Fillies Mile with their unbeaten homebred Gimme A Nother and a Rafeef filly they bred, Mrs Browning, won the Gr 3 Jo’Burg Tourism Carry On Alice Stakes.

Wilgerbosdtrift and Mauritzfontein are now on four individual stakes winners for the season.

Picture: Mike de Kock and Jehan Malherbe in action at the sales 

Off The Record (With Charl Pretorius)

When Mike de Kock and Jehan Malherbe booked a pair of flight tickets to Dublin in September 2012, they had a single objective: to buy the best yearling they could find for international competition. They wanted a superstar.

Their destination was the Goffs Orby Sale in County Kildare, Ireland, the headquarters of Irish racing and the annual point of assembly of Europe’s leading bloodstock vendors. This is where most high-profile buyers from around the globe convene to acquire some of the finest bloodstock money can buy.

Everything was in place. This was a time when Mike had already conquered a good proportion of the racing world with his global exploits, courtesy of a host of horses sourced and bought by Malherbe’s Form Bloodstock. They were well aware of the insider’s warning, ‘when an Irish Horse Trader speaks, he speaks from the corner of his mouth’; they’d done their homework on pedigrees and they had the funds to bid boldly.

This venture required the buying power of a strong partnership and Jehan sealed it with South Africa’s racing doyenne, Mary Slack, and another industry stalwart, Michael Javett. Slack and the reclusive Mr Javett were loosely acquainted, but hadn’t yet owned a horse together.

Lot 377 was the one. Consigned by Tony and Anne O’Callaghan’s Tally-Ho Stud, he was a smashing and physically correct son of Galileo, sire among sires, out of Flames (Blushing Flame), a young mare whose first foal had won the Group 1 EP Taylor Stakes. Malherbe took Coolmore on in a spirited bidding duel and eventually won the battle, securing the colt, Burning Desire, for 800,000 guineas. Salestopper!

Burning Desire went into training at De Kock’s yard at Newmarket, which housed a number of runners at the time, including a few destined for the Dubai Carnival. Expectations were bright, the colt was sound as a bell and in perfect health when he was prepared for his first few canters and gallops from Slack’s Abington Place.

Steven Jell, roving assistant trainer at the time, recalled that his first impressions were that Burning Desire was a slow as an old-model Diesel Tractor. He was a strong plodder, but that was it. De Kock soon confirmed that Burning Desire was decidedly on the very slow side, and from his own recollections this week said that the colt may have been, ‘one of the slowest I’ve ever seen!’

On 15 October 2014, Burning Desire made his debut in a 2000m race at Nottingham Racecourse near the River Trent, the area made famous for its ties to Robin Hood, the heroic outlaw from English folklore. Chris Catlin was booked for the ride.

The Racing Post commented: “Burning Desire was slowly into stride and always behind.” Attempting to stay in touch, Catlin started riding his mount with some vigour fully 1200m out, but to no avail. If there was a pathway from the back straight of the racetrack to Hood’s Sherwood Forest, they would have cut away early to the hidden comfort of the first line of trees!

Godolphin’s runner Flight Officer, the winner of the race, was already near the unsaddling enclosure when Burning Desire crawled across the line, officially beaten just under 40 lengths. With no obvious aches or pains, he confirmed his mesmerising lack of speed and the writing was on the wall.

Not prepared to throw in the towel, the De Kock team decided to geld Burning Desire and give him an extended break. He re-appeared over 2010m at Newbury in July 2015 and ran a place, though his third in a four-horse field was not the stuff of fairytales.

This race was won by Senrima, a colt trained by Brian Meehan and ridden by Richard Hughes and Jell told: “After the race, Richard came around to announce that he was getting his trainers’ licence and whether we were in the market with Burning Desire. He needed a few runners to start with.

‘Hughesy’ got his horse after Burning Desire’s third run, unplaced at Lingfield over 2200m, not too far off but still as slow as a rock rolling uphill.

The gelding left Abington Place following an undisclosed deal and was one of the first runners for the new Hughes yard at Newmarket. Unfortunately, the former UK champion jock experienced similar woes with Burning Desire, who managed four places from 12 more moderate efforts before he was moved to jumps trainer Niki Frost, then to Edward Traneer and later to Deborah Traneer.

Burning Desire’s best ever effort came in April 2017 in a hurdle race over 4000m at a venue named Flete Park in Southwest England. He gave his best for jockey Bryony Frost, plodded into the lead a few jumps from the post but failed to quicken when challenged near the line, losing by three-quarters of a length. He was retired, still a Maiden, after failing to finish a 4800m race at Flete Park in April 2022.

The Burning Desire story has a good ending and Malherbe explained: “One cannot make a slow horse run faster. Burning Desire was an unfortunate disappointment but, on the bright side, he brought Mary and Mr Javett close together as good friends. After Burning Desire’s failure, they bought the terrific G1 winner Alboran Sea and later partnered with G1 winner, Thunderstruck and G2 winner Montreal Mist. They also raced Alboran’s Sea’s son, Marmara Sea, who won 11 races.

Malherbe said: “That Mary and Mr Javett tried again after Burning Desire showed character and cemented their friendship.”

***

Geoff Woodruff and a few partners imported Starlight Explorer (Astronomer) from Australia in the early 2000s. He wasn’t the most expensive horse, but well bred and with high hopes around him.

All the jockeys who rode Starlight Explorer became impatient, as it took unusually long to complete the races he contested. Woodruff and his owners kept the faith, even though he ran collectively 75 lengths behind the winners in his first four starts. He had one fair run, plodding into third in a Maiden Plate at the Vaal, but after 11 outings the partners decided that his 12th run would be his last.

Woodruff had found a particularly weak Workriders Plate in which Starlight Explorer had only five runners to beat, to finish in the money. But again, he was found wanting, trailing in 8th of 10 runners, beaten 16 lengths.

When work rider Goodman Dadamazi returned to unsaddle, Woodruff and the owners awaited some final feedback and Woodruff asked the rider: “Goodman, is he completely useless?”

“No, Mr Woodruff,” replied Dadamazi. “He is not useless, just very, very slow!”

Woodruff said: “I remember that day because Goodman was so diplomatic. I found his comment polite and hilarious at the same time.”

A happy ending again, as Starlight Explorer was given to a showjumping school and proved to be quite good over the jumps. He won his fair share of rosettes.

***

Former jockey Kevin Shea, never shy of cracking jokes, had his own unique way of informing owners and trainers that their horses were on the slow side. He sometimes tried to diffuse the nervous tension after poor runs with a stern face and the news that the slow horse he had just ridden, had made ‘a terrible noise!’. Concerned about unknown breathing problems, the connections would ask, ‘What? No? Is he gone in the wind? Is he bleeding?’

Shea’s reply: “No, not that. The noise was hee-haw, hee-haw, hee-haw!”

***

In the late 1980s, Larry Nestadt and partners imported the Mr Prospector stallion, Krusenstern, for his excellent pedigree and the possibility of a racing career. He was sent to Ormond Ferraris who reported after the first few gallops, ‘Guys, this horse is very slow, he won’t win a race, seriously.’

Jeff Shill of the Tawny Syndicate recalled: “When we took him to stud, unraced, Mr Ferraris said: ‘If Krusenstern sires a winner, I will run around Turffontein naked!’

“Well, Krusenstern was no star at stud, but he did produce a few winners including The Decagon, a G3 placed, multiple winner trained by David Ferraris.

With the 90-year-old master trainer back at Turffontein assisting Weichong Marwing, Shill said: “I think now is the right time to remind Mr Ferraris of his promise!”

Paton’s Tears (Coup De Grace) (far side) ends a drought of over 900 days by edging out her Lucky Houdalakis-trained stable companion What A Honey (JC Photos) 

Lucky Houdalakis sent out a treble at his home course, The Vaal, today (Tuesday) and two of them were ridden by Kabelo Matsunyane. In two of the races Lucky also scored the exacta.
Fabian Habib and Dennis Schwarz had individual doubles.
Houdalakis goes to 19 wins for the season at 16.81%.
Habib is on 19 wins at 14.29%.
Matsunyane is on 28 wins at 9.59%.
Schwarz is on 20 wins at 7.72%.

The outcome of the intended companionship of Airborne and Eastlock was a foal called Flyingbolt, the second highest Timeform rated steeplechaser of all time on 210, second only to his famous Tom Dreaper-trained stablemate Arkle.