The first Global Team Horse Racing series held at Hollywoodbets Greyville on successive Friday nights in 2022 proved an enormous success and won GTH an award for event of the year.

Money Buys The Whisky – GTH

Global Team Horse Racing Leaders Of Innovation

The saying goes, ‘Talk is cheap, but it takes money to buy whisky’. It is often used by sceptics, invites us to reflect on the power of our words and encourages us to back them up with purposeful action. This ultimately defines our character and shapes our future.

After winning ‘Event of the Year’ at the prestigious Hollard Sport Industry Awards following the first GTH Live Series held at Greyville last year, we at Global Team Horse Racing (GTH) secured a next round of funding which takes us a step closer to a second series in 2023. The first series proved that we have something that captures public attention and imagination, breaking through a few long-standing barriers. Now, we’re aiming at improving all facets of our product and taking the next steps to reach our goal of introducing many new fans to the sport.

Before we explain anew what GTH offers, let us remind you that racing in South Africa remains at sensitive crossroads in numerous respects, including operations, financial security and stability, sustainability and, importantly, the commercial marketability of what is generally accepted to be an outdated product offering.

Betting turnovers are down. Many trainers and breeders are battling to make ends meet. Jockeys are leaving the country in numbers. Racehorse ownership, defined in terms of individual colour-holders, has dwindled from near 10,000 at the turn of the century to under 1,000 today. The ‘small owner’ is on the endangered list.

With our model pointing decisively towards introducing additional sources of income, we’ve had margins of resistance from racing’s older generations and a few traditionalists. But we’ve managed to bring the authorities around to consider and support ours, and the popular worldwide view, that racing must embrace novelty and renewal as a matter of urgency to prevent further haemorrhaging of funds. We have to reach and include potentially massive new audiences.

Below, the pillars of our plan for the injection of new money, new fans, and new racehorse owners to racing:

1. Significant innovations of the GTH racing format, includes;

· Short intervals between races A common complaint among first-time racegoers is the length of time between races. They simply get bored, quick. In our first series this issue was successfully addressed and welcomed by most. Fast-paced racing keeps the crowds interested and on their feet. We’re marketing a power-package of high-adrenaline entertainment!

· Team-based, or sponsor-based racing, in different colours Hugely popular in other sports, team-based racing lends itself to a variety of options including different colours or branding for each team. When provinces or regions come into play, things get more exciting and avenues to sponsorships open up. In the GTH format, nothing stops us from having teams sponsored by individuals, breeders, or corporates. The sky is the limit.

· The no-whip rule Racing’s die-hards have made the no-whip rule a serious point of contention but, in the modern world of sport, all comes down to ‘adapt or die’. Animal activists wield an enormous amount of sentimental support, and hence, whether we like it or not, have the power to bring thoroughbred racing to its knees.

2. A drive to source new revenue streams for racing

Significant changes had to be made to reinvigorate numerous other sports, including cricket, football, tennis, basketball, boxing, Formula One motor-racing and others. Sports authorities had to challenge themselves and change their mindsets, but thinking out of the box gave them fresh, widespread support, brought hordes of new fans, and gave them access to major sponsorships. Example: In 2022, the domestic SA20 cricket competition in South Africa secured a huge financial boost from local and international brands. The league signed a new five-year broadcast and sponsorship deal worth R1.5 billion (approximately $103 million). There are many other examples in many other sports, from many other countries. Even minor proportions of these volumes of sponsorship income can save our industry, reward its players handsomely and remove the reliance on gambling as the principal source of revenue.

3. Rewarding racing’s ‘small owner’

In staging high-stakes, low-rated handicaps with certain conditions, we set the stage for more participation by the so-called ‘smaller owner’. Racing has its fairy tales involving moderate-income owners, a shot of sheer luck and a top horse that changes their lives. But those are few and far between. Overall, the best horses generally go to wealthy owners due to their prolific buying, in numbers, at the top end of the bloodstock market. The small owner, or minority shareholders in a single, moderate horse, are left to campaign in low-stakes races with little or no return. They soon disappear from the scene. GTH aims for balancing the playing fields by staging our series using the low-level plate races and handicaps and raising their prize monies to levels never seen before. For the new, youthful market looking for an exciting day out, the quality of a race has little or no meaning. When a handful of low-class runners go hammer-and-tongs to the line in a close finish, the surge of excitement is the same. For the small-time owner, huge financial returns become a reality rather than a dream. They’ll be back for more, with extra purchasing power, in so doing propping up the needed reserves at racing’s base camp.

Trip Of Fortune pulled off a rare Grade 1-winning raid of the Highveld from Cape Town by the Candice Bass-Robinson yard. The Trippi gelding was ridden by cool as a cucumber Aldo Domeyer (Picture: Chase Liebenberg).

Bass-Robinson Keeps It In The Family With Successful Highveld Raid

Trip Of Fortune wins HF Oppenheimer Horse Chestnut Stakes at Turffontein

David Mollett (Business Day)

Retired Cape trainer Mike Bass raided the highveld with considerable success in his career and his daughter, Candice Bass-Robinson, followed in his footsteps when saddling Trip Of Fortune to win Saturday’s HF Oppenheimer Horse Chestnut Stakes at Turffontein.

Bass’ winning raiders included English Garden, Inara and What A Winter — the latter will be represented by 26 of his offspring at April’s National Yearling Sales in Germiston.

Before Saturday’s race, Bass-Robinson had said: “It’s always a gamble coming up from the Cape”, but that gamble resulted in Drakenstein Stud banking the R625,000 first cheque.

Despite a slow start, jockey Aldo Domeyer was soon back in the thick of things in the 1,600m grade 1 race and Trip Of Fortune kicked on strongly to beat MK’s Pride and the fast-finishing SA Classic winner, Anfields Rocket.

“He had a virus before the King’s Plate so you can put a line through that, but he turned in a great effort in the Diadem,” Bass-Robinson said.

Now an eight-time winner, the son of Trippi will bid to add to that total when he travels to KwaZulu-Natal for the forthcoming Champions season.

After a spell in the wilderness, MK’s Pride hinted he is coming back to his best, but Anfields Rocket was never going to win as he was too far back throughout the race. Still, he added R100,000 to his bankroll.

In a slow run WSB SA Derby, Son Of Raj proved too good for his rivals to continue trainer Weiho Marwing’s good form in this 2,450m grade 1 event.

Ridden for the second time by Keagan De Melo, the son of Duke Of Marmalade made it a red-letter day for owner-breeder Steven Chetty, and the gelding has now won four of his past six starts.

Billy Bowlegs filled second spot two lengths behind the winner and it was the same margin back to Piere Strydom’s mount, Rule By Force, who finished third.

The well-backed 4-1 chance Good Council — winner of the 2,400m Aquanaut Handicap — was never seen with a chance. Connections will query why jockey Ryan Munger did not react to the slow pace and take his mount to the front to make the race a test of stamina.

There was joy for followers of this column in the Wilgerbosdrift Bridget Oppenheimer SA Oaks with Lucky Houdalakis’ runner, None Other, winning at odds of 4-1. Owner-breeder Mary Slack was on track to receive the trophy for a race sponsored by her stud.

The expected challenge from the favourite, Bless My Stars, never materialised and the Sean Tarry filly finished fourth about six lengths adrift of the winner. The conclusion has to be that the filly failed to stay in her first attempt at 2,450m.

Interestingly, Bless My Stars has a half-sister (by One World) coming under the hammer on the first day of the National Yearling Sales.

Brett Crawford’s runner Reny filled the runner-up spot and Varsfontein Stud (as agent) will be offering her half-sister by Vercingetorix at the sale.

Son Of Raj provided a milestone moment for the Steven Chetty family (Picture: Candiese Lenferna).

Marwing Cements Reputation As The King Of Staying Races

Weiho Marwing has for a long time been feared when sending a horse over a stamina test and his Grade 1 SA Derby winner Son Of Raj is not the first horse he has turned from a low key handicapper into a top class stayer.

Another example was Hermoso Mundo, who landed SA’s staying triple crown, the Gold Bowl, the Gold Vase and the Gold Cup.

Marwing cemented this reputation on Saturday.

Son Of Raj made his Highveld debut on January 22 off a 71 merit rating and, although it was just his fourth career start and he won the 1800m handicap contest by a length beating the R7 million purchase Celestial City, few would have envisioned him being a Grade 1 winner just over two months later.

On Saturday after the SA Derby victory, Marwing once again thanked his mentor Ormond Ferraris, from whom he learnt how to get a horse super fit.

The race was also a triumph for the Steven Chetty family of Durban as well as for South Africa’s champion jockey elect Keagan de Melo, who proved himself once again the best jockey of the season.

The early pace in the SA Derby was a crawl and it was then taken up by the rank outsider River Romeo but did not hasten up much.

De Melo had brought Son Of Raj into the early leading line from a wide draw and he was then content to sit on River Romeo’s flank.

He had no cover but Son Of Raj neverthless relaxed well despite wearing blinkers, which Marwing had introduced after acquiring this former KZN horse midway through the season.

The favourite Billy Bowlegs was going to rely on his fine turn of foot coupled with his resolute finish, over a trip his pedigree suggested he should get.

Gavin Lerena had dropped him out to last from his wide draw.

However, by the time they had reached the straight there would have been concerns in his camp, because any horse that was going to stay on strongly off the slow pace was going to be hard to catch.

It was no surprise the one who did manage to do so was trained by Marwing.

Son Of Raj’s dam Freudiana is by stamina influence Black Minnaloushe and is a half-sister to Rippling Ring, who finished third in the SA Derby, having earlier won over 2400m and then won the Derby Trial over 2200m. Son Of Raj had only once tried the Derby distance and it did not augur well that he could only manage a 1,40 length fourth in a MR 66 Handicap off a 75 merit rating. However, Marwing had also acquired his full brother Arumugam from KZN and had transformed him into a quality stayer, winning two Listed events on the Highveld over 2400m and 3200m respectively.

De Melo was well aware of the situation and pounced at the top of the straight.

The gelding stayed on resolutely for the entire straight chased initially by Rule By Force.

Billy Bowlegs had an impossible task, having to make up about ten lengths, and did well to run on for a 2,25 length second with Rule By Force next best in a strung out field ahead of Future Pearl and Top Sail.

Keagan de Melo rode Steven Chetty’s first winner and now his first Grade 1 winner.

None Other wins the Grade 2 Wilgerbosdrift Bridget Oppenheimer Oaks comfortably. (Picture: Candiese Lenferna).

Lucky Delivers Oaks With Oaks-bred Horse

The Lucky Houdalakis-trained Wilgerbosdrift Bridget Oppenheimer Oaks winner None Other hails from one of Wilgerbosdrift Stud’s best families as her granddam is the former Equus Horse Of The Year Ilha Da Vitoria.

Furthermore, None Other’s dam is by another Wilgerbosdrift Stud-bred Equus Horse Of The Year, Dynasty.

With credentials like that in the pedigree, the breeder then hopes the horse finds his or her way into a good yard.

However, when the horse is a homebred like None Other, the breeder has the luxury of choosing the yard.

The Houdalakis yard have over the years proved themselves adept at bringing the best out of thoroughbreds because their philosophy has always been to allow the horse to dictate the program, rather than the connections working out a long term program and then trying to stick to it at all costs.

So it is not surprising a horse bred to win the Oaks has won the Oaks out of the Houdalakis yard.

None Other was bred by Wilgerbosdrift and Mauritzfontein and is officially owned by Mary Slack’s Wilgerbosdrift (Pty) Ltd.

She became Ilha da Vitoria’s second SA Oaks-winning decsendant, the first being her daughter Ilha Bela, and she became her fourth stakes-winning descendant, headed by Grade 1 winner Orchid Island, and her 7th black type descendant.

The credentials were there for None Other and Richard Fourie did the rest.

He was aided by a slow pace, which worked in None Other’s favour, being a handy type.

He got None Other into a handy position, while the favourite Bless My Stars, like Billy Bowlegs, was dropped out to last.

The pace was dictated by the fancied Lady Of Power and this long-strider made a bold bid to make all.

However, None Other’s stout constitution saw her producing a strong finish to catch her 150m out and she galloped on to beat Reny by 2,75 lengths.

The latter had pulled early in the Wilgerbosdrift SA Fillies Classic, but still stayed on late. On Saturday she had cover from pole position which helped her settle and stay on.

Bless My Stars’ became the latest Gimmethegreenlight who might have found the Oaks/Derby trip just a touch too far. Her sustained finish petered out late, but she did hold on for fourth from the stoutly-bred Silver Hills.

Ancient Epic’s hair’s breadth win over Sabbatini on Sunday at Hollywoodbets Greyville took Charl Pretorius to the top of the leaderboard and he held on to win the day’s challenge. (Picture: Candiese Lenferna).

Charl Pretorius Uses Value Method To Score In Racing Stars Challenge

Hollywoodbets have generously put on a competition hosted within the Hollywoodbets Punters’ Challenge platform for South Africa’s racing presenters, personalities, commentators and journalists.

Founding Turf Talk editor Charl Pretorius was the winner of the second day of the month long competition which saw him scoop R500.

Some say this competition relies on luck because the punter who finds the biggest outsider often ends up winning.

However, a winning strategy in this game is in fact not far divorced from the methods successful professional punters use.

The professional punter’s aim is to beat the odds.

He or she therefore, rather than trying to back the winner of every race, will back horses whose odds are higher than they should be.

The reason the casino beats the gambler is because the odds are stacked in their favour.

For example, a roulette number pays out odds of 35/1 whereas there are 37 numbers so the actual odds are 36/1.

If a horse punter consistently backs 9/1 shots he or she should win, by the law of averages, every 10 races.

However, if those horses should actually be 7/1 shots the punter should by the law of averages win every 8 races.

Therefore, as he is winning every 8 races with 9/1 shots, he has carved out an advantage for himself over the bookmaker.

Of course betting tax makes the margins thinner.

Charl has approached the competition using this method and was near the bottom on day one and at rock bottom midway through day two – until he found the 33/1 long shot Ancient Epic.

The 44,33 points he scored for that find saw him overtake the entire field and assume the lead.

It was an incredible turn of foot and he managed to stay out in front until the end.

Charl said, “That is what makes it a fair contest. Some of us are wired to look for value in every race, trying to beat the favourites. Others looks at it in more unbiased ways.”

In fact, the competition is providing a valuable lesson in trying to find value, because that is what is going to get one up the leaderboard.

The daily winners to date are shown below and the log at the bottom shows the overall standings for the week:

Day 1:

Day 2:

Day 3:

Overall table after 3 days:

The competition pits the faces and voices of racing against each other, competing in every South African race meeting, covering KZN, Western Cape, Gauteng, and Eastern Cape.

For regular players the Racing Stars are also in position on the daily leaderboard – so it’s a chance for every punter countrywide to pit their individual skills against the professionals!

For the 30 days of April, there is R27 000 up for grabs, with a R500 daily Racing Stars winner takes-it-all prize for each race meeting.

To play the daily competition for free all one has to do is register with Hollywoodbets.

It is worthwhile because not only is there daily fun on every local meeting, but also a few overseas meetings, and big money can be won by selecting every winner for any particular meeting.

To date there have been 5 winners of the massive Jackpot prize:

Rakesh – R2,325,000 (Dec 2021)

Devo – R2,000,000 (Oct 2022)

Alan B – R1,500,000 (Jan 2023)

Blaikes – R1,275,000 (Feb 2023)

Devon P and Nasadu shared R540 000 (March 29)

Strawberry Bear just prevails in the Grade 3 Byerley Turk (Picture: Candiese Lenferna).

Strawberry Bear Proves Himself The Real Deal

The magnificent looking Mike Miller-trained grey by Flying The Flag led from start to finish in the Grade 3 Byerley Turk over 1400m and downed the hotpot favourite Cousin Casey by 0,60 lengths.

It was a first stakes win for jockey Tristan Godden and also a first stakes win for part-owner Tony Jelinski, who owns the three-year-old gelding in partnership with Sterling Miller.

Jelinsky said, “He is a very, very good horse and you can’t give him 6kg.”

Cousin Casey had to give the entire rest of the field 6kg, because his various Graded wins carried penalties under the conditions of the race.

However, Strawberry Bear beat third-placed Erico Verdonese-trained Jimmy Don by 0,65 lengths at level weights and the latter is a top horse, proven by his flying second in the Grade 1 WSB SA Classic, where he came from last.

Trainer Glen Kotzen will likely be unconcerned by Cousin Casey’s defeat and might in fact see it as a good omen.

He came to KZN in 2009 confident he could win the Durban July with Big City Life and the Casey Tibbs colt started off with a second in the Byerley Turk followed by successive wins in the KRA Guineas, the Daily News 2000 and the July.

Cousin Casey, who is by Vercingetorix, is out of a full-sister to Big City Life and will follow exactly the same route.

He has achieved the same result in leg one and Kotzen will obviously be hoping history repeats itself in the next three legs too.

The B.A.M. Giddy-bred Strawberry Bear’s route will provide a bit of a headache for the Miller yard as it will be tougher in weight for age or level weight events and he also has the option of stepping down in trip to sprints or up in trip to a mile.

Labrausco wins on the Hollywoodbets Greyville turf on Sunday (Pic – Candiese Lenferna)

Cornerstone Stud SA’s First Winner

The Grant Maroun-trained three-year-old Louis The King gelding Labrausco won the first race over 1400m on the Hollywoodbets Greyville turf on Sunday to provide a first Cornerstone Stud-bred winner.

Maroun travelled the horse down for what proved to be easier pickings as it was the gelding’s 21st career start and his first away from the Highveld.

Cornerstone Stud SA was created through the passion of Anthon and Liz Hoek “to craft man’s most noble animal”.

They established the Thoroughbred breeding operation in 2017.

They said, “Our aim is to breed sound, athletic horses who can go into their 2nd careers when finish racing. We offer spelling and pre-training and conditioning of young stock for the sales ring. Cornerstone Stud is also home to Cornerstone Equestrian Centre SA, established in 1997, where we nurture equine passion and where horsemanship is key to develop future Human and Equine athletes.”

Cornerstone is situated in Centurion near Pretoria.

Rachel Venniker scores the first leg of a double today on the Paul Matchett-trained Giocatore (Rafeef).

Venniker Double

Rachel Venniker rode a double on the Hollywoodbets Greyville poly and goes to 86 wins for the season at a strike rate of 13.11%.

Prolific owner-breeder Henry Nourse with Peerless.

Today’s Question

What two pieces of Durban July history did the horse Peerless (Pearl Diver) make?

Turffontein Inside Fields, Tuesday

Syd Laird, the July record-breaking trainer with seven wins, was the son of the 1911 July-winning jockey Alec Laird.

ANSWER TO TODAY’S QUESTION:

Peerless became the first female to win the July, which she did as a three-year-old 100 years ago in 1903.

Later she became the first July-winning female to produce a July winner as her son Nobleman (Greatorex) won the 1911 July.

Nobleman, ridden by Syd Laird’s father Alec, is the only two-year-old to have ever won the July.

Turf Talk Newsletter – 3 April 2023