Likeable businessmen going further than the extra mile for racing

DAVID MOLLETT

After a lengthy spell up the proverbial creek without a paddle, two wealthy businessmen, Greg Bortz and Laurence Wernars, are playing vital roles in getting racing’s ship back on an even keel.

Interestingly, both are quite different characters but they do have two things in common. Neither is likely to be in the soup queue anytime soon and both have taken steps to markedly improve the lot of grooms.

It’s remarkable that Greg Bortz – reported to have made his money in private equity investment in the US – has managed to turn around the fortunes of Cape racing in a matter of months.

Bortz’ GMB Investment company has teamed up with Durban-based Hollywoodbets and he’s now the executive chairman of Kenilworth Racing which manages racing in the Western Cape.

There is a comparison to Bortz’ winning over support in the province to that of the early days of J F Kennedy as he tried to unseat the Nixon regime.

In an interview, the livewire businessman made no bones about the fact that Cape racing was a hospital case. “Without intervention, Cape racing would have fallen over” then, adding, “the patient wasn’t critical, the patient was dead.”

So how did Greg Bortz manage to win over Cape owners and trainers who have been in the sport for years?

To answer this question, I turned to Grant Knowles a guy who has worn many hats in racing, but remains someone fully in tune with the sport and respected in many quarters.

He told me: “Greg is a very dynamic personality and has a huge appetite to succeed. He has a no-nonsense approach and loves the sport.”

I got another viewpoint – and a most interesting one – from former trainer James Goodman who also knows the ropes of racing.

“Greg Bortz is first and foremost a businessman and I find his acquisition of a 27,8% stake in Hassan Adams’ Grande Parade Investments most interesting. It’s possible he’s considering putting a casino on the Kenilworth property – imagine Friday night racing followed by the casino. It would have to be a winner.”

Laurence Wernars probably wishes 2022 will never end as the year has seen his star in the ascendancy so that he’s now the leading light in Highveld racing. He has taken over the mantle of Chris Van Niekerk who graced the sport with his enthusiasm and forward-thinking for more than 15 years.

In April, it was reported that Wernars had sold 70% of his company, Studio 88, to Mr Price for $225 million. That’s dollars not rand!

The next month he was caught by surprise – I know because I was there – when he received a special award at the Highveld racing awards from the Owners & Trainers Association. It was a good call because his horses had not only excelled in a number of races, but he had financially backed grooms getting a better deal for their valuable contribution to the sport.

Here there’s another interesting comparison – this time to Coolmore boss, John Magnier. The Irish mogul gives few interviews and they are mainly handled by his trainer, Aidan O’Brien.

Though presenter Lyall Cooper did manage to get Laurence to utter a few words after his Summer Cup triumph, he mainly leaves those duties to his trainer, Johan Janse van Vuuren, and other close associates.

“Gr 1 is the super league but a maiden winner also gives me plenty of pleasure” is his viewpoint on his equine successes.

At the Highveld awards, Laurence stated that government needs to get more involved in the sport pointing to the fact that racing in Hong Kong, Australia and France thrives because of government intervention.

“Government intervention is needed to create more revenue so that owners can buy more horses and thus create more employment.”

Apparently, the businessman is an early riser with his day starting between three and 3.30 am – about three hours after I’ve switched off the latest episode of “Law & Order.”

I guess the mind is fresh that early in the morning and it allows him time to oversee meetings before – around lunchtime – moving on to his great passion of punting.

Unike Greg Bortz who I understand isn’t a punter, Laurence and his friend, Harry Wilson, love nothing more than to tickle up the bookies. This has to put pressure on trainer Johan Janse van Vuuren as many of the punts are horses from his stable though Laurence also likes a dabble on UK racing.

So what lies ahead for Messrs Bortz and Wernars as we approach 2023? The former is one of four nominees for a seat on the Gold Circle board, a natural progression given his tie-up with Hollywoodbets in the Cape.

If he can transform KwaZulu-Natal racing in the same way things are changing in the Cape, the Durban-born businessman would probably be given the keys of the city.

For Laurence Wernars, the likelihood is that he’ll increase his financial support for racing on the Highveld. But he’ll also be checking what won the 3.40 at Kempton!

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If you’re wondering what to buy your dad or uncle for Christmas, look no further than Charl Pretorius’ excellent book “Thoroughly!”.

At the November Two Year-Old Sale at the Gosforth Park complex on Sunday, Bloodstock SA bid R10 000 to secure the first numbered and signed copy of the life and achievements of trainer Ormond Ferraris. It will be donated to the Racing Museum.

Pretorius is SA’s most accredited racing journalist with editorships of Computaform, Racing Express, Freeracer, Racingweb, Turf Talk and mikedekockracing.com. He burnt the midnight oil in producing the book and the end result is a captivating read. Go to www.ormondfbook.com to get one of the Limited Edition copies.

“I’m not sure what ‘underrated’ means” says top trainer Pettigrew

Stuart Pettigrew has saddled 82 runners in the first quarter of the 2022/3 racing season. They’ve won 22 races and placed 38 times. His winning strike rate is 27% – the highest in the land by some way, and with a win/place rate of 73% he also leads the pack.

On Saturday, Betway Summer Cup Day, Pettigrew landed back-to-back G3 winners with Alula’s Star (Magnolia Handicap) and Vars Vicky (G3 Betway Merchants), starting at 14-1 and 33-1 respectively. Both had form that warranted more respect than they received in the betting market and the trainer commented: “The major stables always get the big attention and that suits me. When you’re up against runners trained by the likes of Mike de Kock or Sean Tarry, the bookies invariably price them up short and mine can often sneak in at long odds, under the radar!”

Whether he has lived down the tag of ‘underrated trainer’ we so often hear Pettigrew being referred to, is not known. He told Turf Talk: “I’ve heard this since I won the 2004 G1 Summer Cup with Tyson, but I don’t know what it means. Can anyone tell me? Am I not good enough to be rated? Or am I already rated, but too low? And who is doing the ratings of trainers? The owners? The media? It’s all bollocks!”

Pettigrew doesn’t like the limelight and explains: “I don’t often go the course, I prefer to watch races in my stable office. I don’t like doing interviews, for no other reason than I don’t enjoy them. Just that. I don’t hide things. Let me tell anyone who wants to hear, again – I don’t race my runners in features when I don’t believe they have a fair chance of earning prize money. It’s that simple, my stable is easy to read. I get them fit and ready, I get on with the job of training and I prefer racing in the quiet at my stables, rather than on course.”

He said about Alula’s Star: “She’s a decent sprinting filly, her ability is in her form. “Before Saturday she’d won four from 15, including the Gold Rush Sprint and she was beaten just five lengths by Computaform Sprint winner Master Archie in the G3 Man O’War Stakes, against male runners. She just needed her last run, fourth in a Listed race, and has improved since.”

He praised Philasande Mxoili, who has ridden Alula’s Star in all but one of her races. “Philasande is a good apprentice, as good as any of them riding today, but he doesn’t get the recognition he deserves. The television presenters seem to have a few favourites they stay with.”

Vars Vicky (VAR) he said, had come back to his best in recent weeks following a below-par spell. “He went off the boil after the 2021 G1 Horseshoe, in which he was beaten just a length by Battle Force after being rushed to the front. He defeated a top horse like Bohica in a G2 Sprint, and recently also showed clear signs of a return to his best. Any astute form student would have put him into play,” said Pettigrew.

Alula’s Star is owned by Ian van Schalkwyk, one of the Pettigrew yard’s leading patrons for many years, still with a handful of runners. Vicky Veermootoo owns Vars Vicky (VAR), and a further six runners, and HSH Princess Charlene of Monaco is still active as a buyer.

Pettigrew said: “Princess Charlene still enjoys her racing, her filly Follow Me has already won four races and finished a good fourth the other day. She’ll win again. The Princess is keen to buy a yearling every year, her support has been fantastic.”

Pettigrew’s stable is chock-a-block now, he has 60 stables at Randjesfontein – no empty ones. Not bad for an under-rated horseman.

Corks pop as Alcohol Free sells for 5,4-m gns!

Shortly before 6 p.m. Nov. 29 during the second Sceptre Session, the answer was revealed when Michael Donohoe of BBA Ireland, sitting beside Yuesheng Zhang of Yulong Investments, bid 5,400,000gns ($6,781,077) in front of an awestruck Park Paddocks auditorium.

Coolmore’s M.V. Magnier, standing among the crowd in the packed gangway, filled the role of underbidder as the daughter of No Nay Never – became the second-most expensive Thoroughbred ever sold at auction in Europe.

“She’s been bought for a partnership and she’s going to race on in Australia,” Donohoe said. “She vetted extremely well for a filly who has plenty of miles on the clock; her reports were exemplary. The partners already have horses in training and breeding interests in Australia, and obviously she’ll make a fantastic broodmare at the end of her racing career.

“I think there’s 87 races in Australia worth a million-plus, so the prize money on offer there is big, and she’s that type of filly. She’s won the July Cup over six furlongs, then she stays a mile, too, so there’ll be a lot of options for her. Fair play to (trainer) Andrew Balding and the guys, they did a great job with her.”

Former star race mare Ouija Board dies

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Ouija Board, a global superstar, two-time Eclipse Award winner, and successful broodmare, has died at age 21, Thoroughbred Daily News reports.

The Cape Cross mare spent her last years as a broodmare at Stanley House Stud in Newmarket, England, in service of Edward Stanley, the Earl of Derby.

Trained by Ed Dunlop, Ouija Board competed in seven different countries, and faced Grade or Group 1 competition at each stop.

Her racing career began in her native England, where she took home the Group 1 Epsom Oaks, followed immediately by a trip across the Irish Sea to take the G1 Irish Oaks. Ouija Board was on the move once again for her next start, traveling to France to finish third in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

Ouija Board finished her 3-year-old season with her first of what would be three trips to the U.S. to compete in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf. The event was held at Lone Star Park in 2004, and Ouija Board drew off late to defeat older foes by 1 1/2 lengths as the post time favorite. That effort helped secure her the Eclipse Award as North America’s champion turf female, and she was also named 2004 European Horse of the Year and champion 3-year-old filly.

At four, Ouija Board tallied a win in the English G3 Princess Royal John Doyle Stakes during an abbreviated campaign, then she returned stateside to finish second to Intercontinental in the 2005 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Belmont Park before shipping to Asia to finish fifth against males in the G1 Japan Cup, then win the Hong Kong Vase.

Ouija Board returned to full power in 2006, once again earning European’s Horse of the Year title and champion older horse, along with another Eclipse Award as champion turf female.

That season started in the U.A.E., where she finished fourth in the Dubai Sheema Classic, then it carried on to a third in the G1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup in Hong Kong before returning to her home country for the summer, which included a score in the G1 Prince of Wales’s Stakes during the Royal Ascot meet. She notched a victory in the G1 Nassau Stakes, then shipped to Ireland once again to run second in the G1 Irish Champion Stakes before making a final trip to the U.S. for the Breeders’ Cup.

In the 2006 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf, Ouija Board rallied from five wide to win by 2 1/4 lengths. She then finished her on-track career with a third-place effort in the Japan Cup.

Ouija Board retired with 10 wins in 22 starts for earnings of $6,312,552.

When she was retired to Lord Derby’s broodmare band in 2007, she accumulated a similar amount of success, earning the Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association’s H J Joel Salver Award for Flat Broodmare of the Year in 2014.

Her produce record is highlighted by Australia, a son of Galileo who won the 2014 Epsom and Irish Derbies. He is the only Epsom Derby winner whose sire was himself a Derby winner while his dam was also an Epsom Oaks winner. Australia stands at Coolmore Stud in Ireland.

Other runners of note out of Ouija Board include Group 2 winner Frontiersman and Group 3 winner Voodoo Prince.

The Fabulous Lloyd boys

Today’s Question

Who was the sire of 2011 Summer Cup winner Dancewiththedevil?

Vaal Fields, Thursday

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Fairview Fields, Friday

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Picture: Modus Vivendi (KZN Breeders).