Richard Fourie’s record-breaking 377 wins was the highlight of the 2023/2024 racing season and was an iconic sporting achievement. His record-breaking 335th win on Double Grand Slam was fittingly in a Gr 2 and the winner was part-owned by the SA sporting icon Gary Player and amazingly enough his 377th and final win on Dave The King was in a Gr 1 and the winner was both part-owned and bred by Gary Player.    (Candiese Lenferna Photography)

Interesting Call By Fourie To Remain In SA For Another Season

David Mollett

As he launches his fishing line into the ocean (possibly on a new boat courtesy of Hollywoodbets), new champion, Richard David Fourie, may ponder whether he’s made the right decision to stay in South Africa for another season.

Of course, racing fans will be delighted. They have made money by backing the Gauteng-born rider and saw the previous champion, Warren Kennedy, depart for New Zealand.

Turf Talk have kept us up to date with the Fourie “barometer” and not many could have predicted that he would finish some 50 winners ahead of Anthony Delpech’s record. I was in the camp of Robert Bloomberg in thinking that the Hollywood money was safe, but we failed to factor the importance of his frequent trips to the Eastern Cape.

Fourie has set a new record for that province and he knows he owes a huge vote of thanks to trainer Alan Greeff. You can’t win a championship without the right horses and Greeff has supplied them week after week.

Full marks also to Fourie’s agent, Ken Nicol, who has had health issues, but his studying of form has resulted in a lot of winners.

Fourie presumably follows what’s happening in other sports and he may have read that Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz got R2,7 million pounds (R62m) for winning Wimbledon and that South African Thirston Lawrence banked $876 000 (R16 million) for finishing fourth even in the Open Championship at Royal Troon.

His mounts this term have earned over R44,612,768.75 so – say he gets 10% of that (R4,461,276) – added to his riding fees and the Hollywoodbets R1 million and it means life is sweet for him and his family. Yet he will realise it is miles inferior to what Lawrence earned at one championship.

So what were the alternatives for the next 12 months? Many SA riders go the Hong Kong route and Fourie knows the two tracks there well having ridden 34 winners on his first visit to the former British colony.

Interestingly, in an interview some years ago, Fourie said his aim was “to win the SA championship and ride in Japan.”

The first objective has been achieved and Japan is an interesting call as the prizemoney for jockeys must be good as Ryan Moore is a frequent visitor to the country.

What Fourie has to factor in is his age. He’s 38 years old so 17 years older than tennis star, Carlos Alcaraz, so decisions now are crucial.

Could America – and taking on Frankie Dettori – be a future option? UK jumps jockey, Stephen Mulqueen, decided to relocate there and recently told the Racing Post that “financially, it’s probably a no-brainer.”

In the whole excitement over Fourie’s achievement, one factor bugs me. How on earth did the NHA allow him to take a two-week suspension when it suited him? The ban came a while ago so – even with an appeal – it should have been determined within a week or two.

Turf Talk editor, David Thiselton, pointed out inquiries are heard on the same day as the incident in, for example, New Zealand, and this led to Warren Kennedy missing the big Boxing Day meeting (there is a ten day deferment there and it was probably being used to the SA system that saw him requesting the charge be heard on December 16 instead of the day of the incident as the ten day deferment would then have allowed him to ride in the Boxing day meeting – they did not allow this and went ahead with the hearing on the 15th).

S’manga Khumalo has picked up a two-week suspension for excessive use of the stick in the Hollywoodbets Durban July – he could turn around to the stipendiary board and declare “you know what, gentlemen, I’m fancying a bit of a holiday at Christmas, so I’ll take it then.”

In the more immediate future, Cape Racing will be hosting the Equus Awards on August 15 for the first time and the biggest certainty is a standing ovation for Richard Fourie. As far as “Horse-of-the-Year” is concerned, that award is likely to go to one of two Mike De Kock inmates, Gimme A Nother or Dave The King. Some of their wins were simply awesome and further emphasised the talent of our best-known trainer.

So – if Mr Fourie was the number one success story of the 2023/24 campaign, which was the second most important occurrence in the sport? No doubt about it in my book – the resurgence of the breeding industry. Suddenly there’s a spring in the step of breeders countrywide.

It is worth recalling the figures of the two big BSA sales – the National Yearling Sale in April and the KZN Sale in July.

National Yearling Sale:
2023: Aggregate R154m. Average R442 672
2024: Aggregate R200,1m. Average R581 948

I spoke to BSA’s Michael Holmes prior to the April sale and he felt “nervous” about the outcome. He needn’t have been as he had his excellent team covering all bases to ensure the event was a success.

There is no legislation in SA obliging employers to pay their employees a bonus, but surely the BSA top brass will have recognized that Holmes and his team pulled off a victory similar to Manchester City boss, Pep Guardiola, in the Premier League last season.

KZN Sale:
2023: Aggregate 27,1m. Average R184 354.
2024 Aggregate 39m. Average R214 698

After studying the catalogue – not many well-related lots – I thought this was a sale Holmes had reason to be nervous about. Wow! was I way off the mark. The bids came thick and fast and – like Germiston in April – most breeders were smiling.

The highest price in 2023 was R750 000 but the determination of one of KZN’s best-known owners, Mary Liley, saw that price bettered by R1,15m. She went to R1,9 million to secure the Klawervlei Stud (as agent) offering of the well-named Gimmethegreenlight filly, Lovecomesknocking. Pleasing for this writer as they are the kind sponsors of this column.

I would estimate I have been writing about Mary Liley, co-owner with Robert Bloomberg of Sunday’s winner King Of The Gauls, for more than four decades (we have both been in the game a long time!) and I would describe her as a lady who has the combination of vivaciousness and dignity.

If her purchase comes knocking at the door of a Gr 1 race which hopefully she will, it will be just reward for a lady who has unflinchingly supported the sport for many years.

Candice Bass-Robinson landed a second Graded feature of the Champions Season when Grant van Niekerk brought the Potala Palace filly Red Palace home in the Gr 2 Riding High Together Gold Bracelet over 2000m. (Candiese Lenferna Photography) 

The Bass yard have a proud record of plundering KZN’s big races for close to 50 years and this season Candice Bass-Robinson kept it up despite only contesting five races in the entire Champions Season with just four runners.

She had three fillies at Hollywoodbets Scottsville’s Festival Of Speed meeting and returned a win in the Gr 1 SA Fillies Sprint with October Morn (Trippi), a race in which Winter Cloud (What A Winter) ran sixth, and a 0,40 length third place finish in the Gr 1 Allan Robertson with  Symphony In White (What A Winter).

Then on Sunday at the World Pool Gold Cup meeting her Potala Palace filly Red Palace made up for her unplaced run in the Gr 1 Ridgemont Garden Province Stakes by winnning the Gr 2 Riding High Together Gold Bracelet, although Grant van Niekerk would have given the connections of the Terry and Annabel Andrews homebred filly some anxious moments by dropping his hands before the line.

Bass-Robinson was the 15th highest stakes earner during the Champions Saeson despite having just those five runs.

Her firepower was diminished by the retirement of the superstar colt Charles Dickens after his Gr 1 L’Ormarins King’s Plate victory and the departure of dual Gr 1 winner Beach Bomb as well as Gr 3 winners Distant Winter and Golden Hostess to the USA.

Cape Breeders write that Ridgemont’s G1-winning stallion Potala Palace had a good day at Hollywoodbets Greyville on Sunday because not only did Potala Palace filly Red Palace land the Gold Bracelet, but another daughter of Potala Palace, Frozen Fantasy, ran third in the G1 Douglas Whyte Stakes.

Three-year-old Red Palace was backed down from 7-1 into 5-2 for Sunday’s R500 000 contest and she duly obliged.

Van Niekerk had Red Palace stalking the leader Lady Of Power two lengths off the gallop. Into the home run, Rascova moved past the leader and dashed for glory, with Van Niekerk making his run down the middle.

With her beautiful stride, Red Palace sailed past Rascova and was going away – that’s until Van Niekerk erred, dropping his hands just metres from the line.

Despite the mistake, Red Palace hung on to win by a diminishing neck from the Andre Nel-trained Saartjie.

The Glen Kotzen-trained Rascova made it an eighth Graded placed run this season, added to her two Gr 2 wins, by finishing a 2,40 length third.

None Other was a 5,30 length fourth and Beating Wings finished a 5,55 length fifth, a shorthead in front of Gilded Butterfly.

Runner-up in the G1 Hollywoodbets Cape Guineas and winner of the Listed Stormsvlei Stakes, Red Palace has now won three of 13 starts and has earned R707 637 in stakes.

Bred by Terry Andrews, Red Palace is out of the Jay Peg mare In Limine.

She is owned by Mr & Mrs T D Andrews, Messrs M F Bass & C A F Goncalves & Mr H G & Mrs N S C Breydenbach & Mrs C L Bass-Robinson.

Himself winner of the G1 Premier’s Champion Stakes, Potala Palace is also sire of the smart two-year-old Frozen Fantasy. The latter won on debut and built on that when running a creditable third in Sunday’s G1 Douglas Whyte Stakes.

Frozen Fantasy joins the likes of Bourbon Warrior, Family Law, and Surge Of Power as promising winners for Potala Palace this season.

From the family of Sadler’s Wells, Nureyev and Fairy King, Potala Palace is a son of Singspiel, whose sire In The Wings is also paternal grandsire of Goliath -winner of the 2024 G1 King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Qipco Stakes.

Potala Palace has three lots on offer at the 2024 BSA August Two Year Old Sale.

Gareth van Zyl could only be acknowledged as champion after the very last race of the season, so closely was the championship fought. (Candiese Lenferna Photography)

The KZN Trainers Championship went down to the wire today.

There was just one win separating Gareth van Zyl and Alyson Wright before the eight race poly meeting held on the last day of the racing season.

However, both trainers had blanks meaning Van Zyl regains the title he lost to Garth Puller last season.

Wright had the favourite in the last race, Sweet Julia (What A Winter), and this consistent 1000m specialist delivered a promising looking challenge from a handy position under Rachel Venniker.

However, the Louis Goosen-trained Drive By (Rafeef) had come from last and was going best of all.

Drive By duly got up by half-a-length under 4kg claimer Brevan Plaaitjies.

The title would have been shared had Wright won that race as there is no count out system in place like there is in Hong Kong.

38-year-old Van Zyl took out his own license in 2016, with his first runner on October 28 of that year being a winner, so he has risen meteorically.

That is especially in light of his initial chief owner departing less than a year after he had taken out his license, meaning he had to virtually rebuild from scratch.

The Frankel own-sister to exceptional Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and six-time Group 1 winner Alpinista (pictured above – Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)) will be offered at Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale by Staffordstown Stud

The FRANKEL yearling own sister to the outstanding Arc winner ALPINISTA is to be offered for sale at Book 1 of the forthcoming Tattersalls October Yearling Sale which takes place October 8th – 10th.

Set to be one of the most eagerly anticipated events of the 2024 yearling sales season, the yearling filly will be presented from her breeder Kirsten Rausing’s Staffordstown Stud and will be sold on day one of Europe’s premier yearling sale.

The February 11th foaled FRANKEL filly out of the Listed winning HERNANDO mare ALWILDA is not only the own sister to the truly exceptional six – time Group 1 winning European Champion ALPINISTA, but also a half – sister to the Listed winning KENDARGENT filly ALPENBLUME. The yearling filly hails from Kirsten Rausing’s extraordinary family of Group 1 winners and Champions including ALPINISTA’s grandam ALBANOVA, herself the dam of four Group/Listed winners and the grandam of Classic winner ELDAR ELDAROV, and her great grandam the hugely influential broodmare ALOUETTE whose nine winners include the Group 1 winning duo of ALBORADA (twice winner of the Champion Stakes) and ALBANOVA (three – time Group1 winner), both bred and raced by Kirsten Rausing and trained like ALPINISTA by Sir Mark Prescott.

ALOUETTE’s dam ALRUCCABA also established herself as one of the most remarkable broodmares of recent times producing eight winners, four of which, ALOUETTE, LAST SECOND, JUDE and ALLELUIA, themselves went on to foal Classic or Group 1 winners.

Commenting on the filly, Kirsten Rausing said;

“Lanwades and Staffordstown are proud to present World Champion Alpinista’s own sister at Tattersalls October Book 1. The filly, an exceptional individual whose pedigree speaks for itself, represents the pinnacle of my over 50 years of breeding. As I retain her dam, own sister and two half – sisters, I hope the filly will herself contribute to the fantastic, continuing success of my ‘AL family’.”

Tattersalls Chairman Edmond Mahony added:

“We visited Staffordstown earlier in the year and it was impossible not to be impressed by Alpinista’s yearling sister. She is an exceptional individual with a truly outstanding pedigree and a wonderful tribute to her breeder Kirsten Rausing who has nurtured this family for many generations producing Champion after Champion. There cannot be a thoroughbred breeder anywhere in the world who would not covet this particular yearling and we are honoured to be offering her on behalf of Kirsten Rausing at Book 1 of the 2024 Tattersalls October Yearling Sale.”

Muzi Yeni’s last winner of the season was on the Dennis Bosch-trained William Longsword gelding Heaven’s Will, whom he has ridden twice and won on him both times. (Candiese Lenferna Photography)

Muzi Yeni has been in flying form recently and on the last day of SA’s racing season today on the Hollywoodbets Greyville poly he rode a treble.

He thus ends the season in second place on the national log on 191 wins and he has achieved this at a strike rate of 12.78%.

He will be one of the favourites to land the championship next season.

Hungarian-bred Kincsem won all 54 of her races, a world record, and won the Goodwood Cup against two rivals in 1878.

CLICK HERE TO READ ABOUT KINCSEM