Robert Browning (Canford Cliffs) did not look like a 25/1 shot going down or coming back at the Vaal on Tuesday (JC Photos)
“You can’t keep a good man down” is a saying that definitely applies to one of the country’s most underrated trainers, Tyrone Zackey, who is unlucky to not have the qualifying term “July-winning trainer” ahead of his name.
Tyrone lost one of his biggest owners when he got an elevated TCO2 reading in the early days of the testing and believes he was a victim of the teething problems of the testing as his horse on that occasion only had a reading of 36, whereas the limit is now 38.
He lost 15 horses and was left with virtually an empty yard.
However, this led to him buying some stock on BSA online sales and he has bounced back.
In the last two Highveld meetings Tyrone has had seven runners for three winners and two seconds.
His five-year-old Vercingetorix gelding Chieftan’s Shield provides an example of his expertise as this horse took twenty runs to win his maiden, but on Saturday he made it a hattrick of wins and he is still progressing.
Tyrone’s purchases at the BSA online sales included the exciting little filly Littlemissmillion (Elusive Fort), whom he picked up for his daughter and son-in-law Kevin and Nadine Backos for just R50,000. She won both of her starts as a juvenile in impressive style. Her reappearance is eagerly awaited.
Chieftan’s Shield is also part-ownd by Kevin and Nadine and they are also part-owners of another of his winners in the last two meetings, Zahra Dominia, and they are outright owners of today’s (Tuesday’s) winner Robert Browning.
The Canford Cliffs gelding Robert Browning looked a picture in the pre-race parade today and, despite being the biggest outsider in the field, he led the MR 78 Handicap over 1800m from start to finish and won by 2,20 lengths.
Philasande Mxoli seemed to get the best out of this rangy sort in the first half of his career and this was the first time he had partnered him for nine months, so his presence might have been a factor.
Robert Browning cost Kevin and Nadine R325,000 at the BSA National Yearling Sale and today, having his second career win, the Ridgemont-bred gelding gave the impression he could go on to recoup that cost.
It is more than a decade since Tyrone famously went so close in the 2012 Hollywoodbets Durban July with rank outsider Smanjemanje, who was continuously bumped by the hanging third-placed Chesalon and yet lost to Pomodoro by the narrowest of margins under Grant van Niekerk.
Kevin and Nadine Backos were part-owners of Smanjemanje too and Tyrone called them “the rock of the stable” after Zahra Domina’s win on Saturday.
There should be more people out there who have loyalty to the salt of the earth trainer Tyrone Zackey.
