Team Tarry won a Gr 2 and a Gr 3 for owner Laurence Wernars (second from left) on Saturday and Wernars also won another Gr 2 with trainer Fanie Bronkhorst. (JC Photos)
Like clockwork the Sean Tarry machine will kick in at some stage during the season and it happened at Turffontein Standside on Saturday where he scored a five-timer.
Last year Justin Snaith looked home and hosed in the national trainers championship but ended up having to fend Tarry off in the last big meeting of July and the outcome actually hinged on just one race, the Gr 1 Douglas Whyte Thekwini Stakes, which was the last Gr 1 of the season.
It is only possible to compare the standings at this time last year on an amount that includes restricted races, whereas the championship is decided on unrestricted race stakes only.
Tarry is closer to Snaith on unrestricted race stakes than he was last year and is almost certainly closer on restricted race stakes than he was last year too.
On Saturday his horses earned R1,048,750 in total and that took him within R2,690,375 of Snaith on the championship log.
Considering Tarry was more than R2 million behind Snaith on the morning of World Pool Gold Cup day last year and ended the day just R338,468 shy of winning the championship, he has a realistic chance of reeling Snaith in this season.
On the other hand Snaith’s two biggest guns, WSB Met winner Jet Dark and Equus Horse Of The Year Captain’s Ranson, were retired halfway through the season last year.
Snaith won the Met again this season and that horse, Double Superlative, has also been retired to stud.
However, Snaith endured his worst Champions Season in living memory last season.
He does not have any superstars in his yard at present, with the possible exception of Double Grand Slam who was enormously impressive in her Champions Season pipe opener, albeit over the in between trip of 1400m.
However, it would be unlikely to see the dynamic trainer having two below par Champions Seasons in succession.
Furthermore, Tarry has lost two stars midway through this season, the Equus Horse Of The Year Princess Calla and the Gr 1 winner Bless My Stars. They departed overseas on an areoplane that also included one Snaith-trained horse, the Listed-placed Hunting Trip whose impact on Champions Season would not have been as big as the Tarry pair’s.
Nevertheless, it is apt with Arsenal at present challenging for the premiership to borrow the immortal words of football commentator Brian Moore and say about the 2023/2024 SA Trainers Championship, “It is up for grabs now!!”
Tarry’s troops are assembling on the escarpment like they do at this time every year and from a season that had looked to be below expectations he is now looking strong in a number of departments.
His team for the Hollywoodbets Scottsville Festival Of Speed meeting is taking shape and the “King Of Scottsville” could well add to his record 18 Gr 1 wins at the Pietermaritzburg course.
Tarry has one and possibly two Gr 1 weight for age mile contenders, an Equus Award-winning sprint-miler filly who is yet to fire, two-year-old Gr 1 sprint and mile contenders, ten entries in the Hollywoodbets Durban July, a dual Gr 1-winning older sprinter, a host of sprinting filles, the two winners of the country’s most prestigious staying race, the Gold Cup etc.
Hollywoodbets still go 33/100 on Snaith to win it and have Tarry at just over 3/1 with Mike de Kock next best on just over 6/1.
