Turf Talk Newsletter – 31 March, 2025

Royal Victory only just failed to defend his crown in the HKJC World Pool Premier’s Champions Challenge. He is pictured with trainer Nathan Kotzen after last year’s race. (Candiese Lenferna Photography).

Nathan Kotzen said his stalwart Pathfork gelding Royal Victory had pulled up well from his run in Saturday’s Gr 1 HKJC World Pool Premier’s Champions Challenge, in which he narrowly failed to defend his title.

Kotzen said, “He is sound and he is eating up, all is good.”

Kotzen will give the five-year-old a break before finding two races for him as a build up into the Gr 1 Hollywoodbets Durban July.

Kotzen felt the outcome of the objection lodged by Muzi Yeni in Saturday’s race had been “unfair”.

He felt Royal Victory had been on the receiving end of two bumps that had cost him momentum.

However, he was philosophical at the same time and said, “The stipendiary stewards decided the bumps were not bad enough and that’s racing.”

Yeni had understandably changed whiphands close to home into the right hand as the normal raceriding tactic would be to drift towards the chief protagonist.

However, he likely did not expect Fire Attack to drift that far across towards him.

Kotzen said that in retrospect Yeni might have been better off keeping Royal Victory on a straight path i.e. either keeping the whip in the left hand or driving the horse out with his hands.

However, the race is over and Fire Attack was a deserving winner as it did not pan out well for him, being caught wide early on.

Royal Victory had jumped from the second highest draw, one inside of Fire Attack, and he had sat at the back in the running where he relaxed beautifully,

He showed his usual fine turn of foot in the straight.

Attention now turns to the handicappers.

Atticus Finch is the current holder of the Summer Cup and might be used as the line horse off his 121 merit rating as that will see Royal Victory being raised one point back to 125, the mark he was given after winning last year’s Premier’s and which he only lost after a below par run at Hollywoodbets Scottsville in February, a run which he likely needed.

In that case Fire Attack will be given 126, which will represent a ten point raise, while Purple Pitcher, who beat Atticus Finch by 0,30 lengths, will probably stay on the 123 rating he has been consistent off.

Picture: Chase Liebenberg.

The are a few who have felt for a long time that jockeys hold too much power in SA racing and have been able to dictate terms, while others have felt that repeat offenders in causing interference in races have not been deterred by standard penalties for offenses and therefore needed to be given cumulative punishment.

Therefore, it could be a pleasing outcome that the jockeys involved in last week’s Hollywoodbets Durbanville meeting have been forced, after absorbing a finely constructed letter by Greg Bortz, to eat humble pie and apologise for their reaction to some stern action by the NHA.

The Sporting Post received the following letter for publication:

The Coastal Jockeys Association, on behalf of all jockeys that participated in the jockey work stoppage action at the Hollywoodbets Durbanville race meeting on Wednesday, 26 March 2025, would like to issue an unreserved apology to all stakeholders for our inappropriate actions, including owners, trainers, grooms and, of course, Cape Racing.

We are especially sorry to all owners who were on-course on the day.

Our actions caused significant embarrassment and harm to a sport we love so much and a sport from which we are fortunate to earn a living.

We also understand and appreciate that our industry is dealing with significant financial challenges, and we cannot and must not take our opportunity for granted.

While our emotions ran high on the day, this is not an excuse. We know better. And commit to doing better going forward. We will learn from this.

We do have issues we wish to resolve, but we realise there are better, more constructive means of doing so. We intend to seek guidance from the support structure around us to ensure we tackle any problems constructively and positively.

We would like to extend our heartfelt appreciation to all those who have supported us and shown us kindness and understanding over the last week, despite our actions.

In particular, we need to extend a special thank you to Greg Bortz, the Chairman of Cape Racing.  He was understandably upset with our actions but has been understanding, available, helpful and supportive throughout.

It is because of this emotional support and understanding, together with the enormous financial support and generosity of Hollywoodbets, enabling us to continue to benefit from this industry, that we are confident in our future. And we, the jockeys, intend to play a positive, constructive role in helping take our sport to the next level going forward.

Thank you.

Coastal Jockeys Association – statement published on Monday 31 March 2025.

Grant van Niekerk accepts the Big Cap trophy. (Picture: Wayne Marks).

Grant van Niekerk was at the centre of last week’s Hollywoodbets Durbanville protest storm, which followed his interview in which he criticised the NHA in the wake of an inquiry which landed him a 21 day suspension and a R50,000 fine for his ride in the Big Cap on winning horse All Out For Six.

Van Niekerk sent the following statement to the Sporting Post a couple of days ago and asked them to publish it.

Without any admission of any wrongdoing or misconduct of any nature by me, I hereby make an unequivocal undertaking that, pending the final conclusion of any inquiry into my statements and/or behavior on 26 March 2025, I will not;

1. Partake in any media pre – and/or post race interviews and/or podcasts
2. Save for the publication of this undertaking and to my legal representatives and in any proceedings conducted by the NHA, make to any other person including any representative of the media, any remarks, comments and/or allegations with regards to the incident that occurred in race 8 on 16 March 2025 or the inquiry that was held on 25 March 2025 as well as the findings thereof and sanctions imposed on me by that inquiry board
3. Make any defamatory and/or unlawful statements of any nature whatsoever regarding the NHA and/or its employees and/or its directors.

Legend Of Arthur becomes Sean Tarry’s fourth Gr 1 SA Derby winner and Lancaster Bomber’s fifth individual Gr 1 winner when getting home under Richard Fourie. (Candiese Lenferna Photography). 

Jack Milner (Tab4Racing)

Champions Day at Turffontein promised to be a meeting of equine stars – current and future – competitive racing and drama.

The meeting turned out to be all of that – and more.

Stars there were aplenty. There were outstanding performances from a number of the two-year-olds in the Grade 2 TAB SA Nursery and the Wilgerbosdrift Fillies Nursery and even those who finished behind the winners showed enough to let us know they will be making their marks in the future.

Competitive it certainly was – five of the Graded races were won by no more than 0.25 lengths as we witnessed these races coming to thrilling conclusions.

And as for drama, well, there was probably a lot more of that than most pundits really wanted as two of the Grade 1 races had to be decided in the boardroom.

The first came up in the Computaform Sprint as gutsy William Robertson (77-100) kept going to beat filly Golden Sickle (8-1) by a neck with Winds Of Change (25-1) the same distance back in third.

Halfway through the interviews the announcement came through that there had been an objection lodged by the connections of the third horse against the winner. Jockey Ryan Munger was stunned by the announcement as was trainer Corne Spies.

The stipendiary board, after giving regard to the evidence presented by the relevant parties, the proximity of the incident to the finish line and the finishing distance of 0.50 lengths between these two horses, could not be comfortably satisfied that the result had been affected by this incident, therefore overruled the objection and allowed the judges result to stand. Their deposit was refunded.

However, the bad news for the connections of William Robertson is that he bled during the race and has been suspended for 60 days. That will put a dampener on their plans for him as his next run was due to be the Grade 2 Drill Hall Stakes at Hollywoodbets Greyville on 3 May.

Munger, who has ridden this six-year-old gelding in his last three starts for three wins, has a massive soft for the son of Rafeef. “I’m going back to Canada on Friday and I would love to take him back with me,” he laughed.

“The race went perfect, I had the gap opening for me at the right time. I might have pulled the trigger a little bit too early but like a top horse does, he gave a hard run to the line and it was just an unbelievable win from him.

“A top horse, he produced a top run and I’m just privileged to be standing here as the jockey.

“Of all the horses who deserve a Grade 1 win, I may be biased, but he was definitely that one.”

If one thought that race was dramatic what happened next in the Grade 1 HKJC World Pool Premier’s Champions Challenge made it look like a light comedy.

Over final 100m it was left to 13-10 favourite Fire Attack and last year’s winner Royal Victory (5-1) to fight out the finish. In the concluding stages Royal Victory, ridden by Muzi Yeni, shifted out away from the crop while Fire Attack with Richard Fourie up, shifted in away from the crop, and the two came together and bumped, and shortly after that bumped again.

At the line it was Alec Laird-trained Fire Attack who won by a neck but shortly after the numbers went up Yeni lodged an objection.

It was clear this decision could go either way but the stipes, after giving regard to the evidence presented by the relevant parties, the movement of both horses which caused the first bump, the proximity of the second contact to the finish line, the distance of 0.25 lengths between these two horses and the manner in which both horses finished the race, “could not be comfortably satisfied that the result had been affected by this incident, therefore overruled the objection and allowed the judges result to stand and the deposit was refunded”.

Third place went to Purple Pitcher with Atticus Finch in fourth.

Legend Of Arthur finished fourth in the Gauteng Guineas and then third in the SA Classic but Sean Tarry’s charge finally had his day with a narrow win in the TAB SA Derby over 2450m. Going off at 4-1, Legend Of Arthur produced a sustained finish to get the better of Lucky Houdalakis-trained Wild Intent by 0.25 lengths with Mark Khan-trained 66-1 shot Solar Sail just 0.20 lengths back in third.

Tarry has always had a high opinion of this Lancaster Bomber and he has always given the impression, based on his manner of racing, he was looking for this distance.

“It’s very rewarding,” admitted Tarry. “He’s not an easy horse to contend with, we had to make some changes which I was not sure about but thank goodness he pulled it out of the flames and got the job done.”

He added that the Hollywoodbets Durban July will be on his radar.

For the record, Munger, who was aboard favourite Immediate Edge, reported that his mount did not handle the going and he should not be written off based on this run.

Cape Fillies Guineas winner Fatal Flaw added a second Grade 1 success to her tally by running out a 1.25-length winner of the Empress Club Stakes. Using her usual front-running tactics, Gavin Lerena had her in the lead shortly after the start and she never let up to hold off Spumante Dolce with White Pearl in third.

The money did not stop pouring onto the Brett and James Crawford-trained filly and the punters were spot on.

“It was always my plan to go to the front but I didn’t want to rush her there because she hadn’t run for a bit and it worked out very well for me.

“She’s so professional and she’s very responsive, so I had to hang on to her for as long as I could and she won well.

“I think she can improve off this run, she’s a really nice filly.”

James Crawford said she would be aimed at the Grade 1 Garden Province Stakes at Greyville in July.

The Mike and Matthew de Kock-trained Drakenstein Stud homebred filly Oxalis Gold beats the boys under Kabelo Matsunyane in the Gr 3 Byerley Turk (Candiese Lenferna Photography).

Andrew Harrison (Gold Circle)

When Mike de Kock and son Mathew decided to give the Gr3 Umzimkhulu Stakes a miss with their filly Oxalis Gold in favour of taking on some useful males in the Gr3 Byerley Turk, it must have rung some warning bells with the opposition and indeed punters alike.

Speaking in his post-race interview, Mathew said a wide barrier draw in the Umzimkhulu had influenced their decision to take on males but in hindsight I think it was a cheap sell given that Oxalis Gold would have been up against Gimme’s Countess and Green Sapphire in the Umzimkhulu.

Whatever the thinking, it was a master stroke as Oxalis Gold made short work of her male opposition and staking a Gr2 Fillies Guineas claim in emphatic fashion.

At no stage in the race did she look under pressure and went to the line under hands and heels from Kabelo Matsunyane with Cats Pajamas running on stoutly under replacement rider Rachel Venniker with O’Tenikwa a gallant third.

Serino Moodley was never able to get O’Tenikwa’s head down and settled as Andre Nel’s runner raced head-up and barely under control in the early exchanges so it was a run best ignored.

Sean Tarry has had a relatively quiet start to the season but things are looking up for the former champion trainer as Legend Of Arthur was given a masterful ride by Richard Fourie to win the Gr1 SA Derby at Turffontein on Saturday and Gavin Lerena was penciled in to ride Green Sapphire in the Gr3 Umzimkhulu Stakes yesterday.

However, Lerena was tied up in an inquiry and S’Manga Khumalo did the honours and rode a superb tactical race. Tarry illuded to post-race that there was no plan to go to the front, but from a good break and all reluctant to go forward, Khumalo had little option but to make the pace and he timed it to perfection.

Green Sapphire kicked smartly at the top of the straight and was never in danger of defeat in spite of favourite Gimme’s Countess making up a lot of ground from off the pace.

It was a good run from both fillies and all going well, the Gr2 Fillies Guineas must be on their radar.

Dean Kannemeyer’s Cape Town contingent arrived in good order last week and they were quick off the mark as Give Me Everything opened up what can be considered Kannemeyer’s start to South Africa’s Champions Season.

Apprentice Jacey Botes aboard the lightly weighted Forward Motion tried his best to pull the sting out of hot favourite Give Me Everything in the opening leg of the Pick 6, but Dean Kannemeyer’s filly has plenty of class. Aiming for four-on-the-trot, Craig Zackey had Give Me Everything well off the pace turning for home but she quickened like a smart filly to collar Paul Lafferty’s charge who stayed on gamely. The now Gr2 Woolavington 2000 looks tailor-made.

Kannemeyer was back in the winner’s box a race later as Teflon Man put in a smart performance to land the KwaZulu-Natal Stakes in spite of casting a shoe in running. Not all went to plan according to rider Craig Zackey as the filly Celtic Beauty, dropping back to a sprint, set the early fractions at a rather pedestrian pace.

Towards the back of the field turning for home, Zackey navigated Teflon Man through the traffic to hit the front and hold off a determined late challenge from African Skyline and stable companion Mister Master Starter.

Catavar finally got the maiden monkey off his back as Tony Rivalland’s charge led from the jump to land the card opener at 17th time of asking. It was not all plain sailing as the gelding didn’t look too keen under pressure as he shifted both ways. Jabu Jacobs was hard pressed to keep him straight but fortunate that they we well clear of second-placed Firelighter.

Now I Got You landed the honours for favourite backers and Nathan Kotzen as apprentice Brevan Plaatjies got a dream split one off the rail to sweep past longtime leader Glamorz to open the bi-pot.

Bevies Delight has added many grey hairs to Peter Muscutt’s thinning crown as she has not been the easiest to train. However, he picked the right replacement rider in Rachel Venniker who handled the filly superbly in the gate and kudos to the starter who pulled the gate at exactly the right time.

Bevies Delight took on leader Convocation over the final furlong but always looked to have the upper hand.

Favourite Shipholia put in a below par performance and was beaten early in the straight.

Two G’s and Colorado Creek were involved in a bruising duel to the line in the eighth with Khumalo extracting maximum out of Gareth van Zyl’s runner to get him over the line ahead of a late charging Colorado Creek who ran a cracked from his outside draw to finish runner-up again.

Apprentice Mxolisi Mbuto rode a cracker to round off the meeting as the 4kg claimer punched Tara’s Star out from a wide barrier to take on the well-drawn Happy Analia, the two making the pace ahead of a big field.

The pair were head-and-head for most of the race with Mbuto staying well off the rail and went for home first, punching out under hands and pinching a slight advantage. The vastly experience Matsunyane waited for a final kick and although Happy Analia responded, Mbuto, without resorting to the sick, kept punching away with Darryl Moore’s filly responding to get home by a narrow margin for her fourth career win.

In terms of the winners by Country of training, out of the 28 editions, which country has won the Dubai World Cup the most times?

Laurel Rivers wins last year’s Dubai World Cup.