Following Princess Calla’s win in Sunday’s HKJC Champions Cup at Hollywoodbets Greyville, Des Gonsalves, racing manager for Mario Ferreira, stated “she will go for the Cartier Paddock Stakes and winning that means an invite to the Breeders Cup. Who knows? We have to dream big.”

 

There are so many interesting aspects to an American foray – Sean Tarry (not for the first time taking on the best trainers in the world), jockey Richard Fourie possibly taking on the best riders on the planet and the chance to see where our best are on the pecking order of worldwide top horses.

 

The 2024 Breeders Cup is being held at Del Mar racecourse in California – a course I visited when friends and myself were en route for a holiday in Hawaii (one rand then equalled one dollar!) in 1982.

 

One heads south from Los Angeles on the highway that runs next to the Pacific Ocean and eventually one gets to Del Mar whose advertising slogan is “Where the Turf meets the Surf.” The ocean is only a Gary Player drive away from the starting stalls.

 

Sean Tarry won’t have any objections regarding the mission (ed – provided the export conditions are easy enough to make it feasible on both the cost side and for the well-being of the horse) – he’s been down this road before running Chris Van Niekerk’s horses in the UK and Hong Kong. Thanks to Chris, I was part of the entourage on these trips and it meant South Africans were able to mingle with top overseas trainers and jockeys from the UK and Australia.

 

From a jockey point of view, the race will be an eyeopener for Richard Fourie if he gets the call to partner Princess Calla. He could be taking on the best USA jockeys including Irad Ortiz Jnr, Joel Rosario and possibly Mike Smith.

 

Frankie Dettori will have retired by November next year, but European stars such as William Buick, Oisin Murphy and Christophe Soumillon are likely to be riding at the two-day meeting.

 

It is my feeling that Princess Calla will get the nod over Charles Dickens for Equus “Horse Of The Year” on August 23 but – to use American slang – it is no “Slam Dunk”.

 

It was worrying to see that the public vote – which I stressed in Business Day recently would be important in the award – has only been available for voting this week. What would have been wrong in giving more time – say up to August 16 a week before the awards.

 

Turf Talk editor, David Thiselton, has asked an intriguing question on the topic of Horse-of-the-Year, he writes “Who is the better horse, Princess Calla or Charles Dickens, and how much weight does opinion have over statistics?”

 

One has to say that last Sunday’s final meeting of the season was outstanding. I like to plan a betting strategy beforehand and had earmarked four bets – Ready To Charge (first race), Silvano’s Dasher (third), Sandringham Summit (Champions Stakes) and One Way Traffic each-way in the Gold Cup.

 

Ready To Charge gave his backers a run for their money but both myself and WTW tipster, Daryn Burroughs, will have been shocked by Silvano’s Dasher no show in the Worldpool Twitter Handicap.

 

The big mystery about Sandringham Summit’s authoritative win in the Champion Stakes is how David Nieuwenhizen’s star drifted from a call of 15-4 to start double those odds at 7-1. Did someone spread a rumour that the colt hadn’t travelled well? The market is usually right – but not on this occasion.

 

My longtime media buddy, “Bonski””, was adamant that I had to back Zapatillas in the Champions Cup so – with great respect for See It Again – the right bet was a double Sandringham Summit to win and Zapatillas to place.

 

Apparently, Brett Crawford’s four year-old had been burning up the turf at Randjesfontein and – perfectly placed by Louis Mxothwa – the bet looked nailed-on until 300m from home. Suddenly, rather like a Grand Prix car running out of gas on the final lap, there was nothing to come from last season’s KZN Guineas winner and he trailed in seven lengths behind Princess Calla.

 

Best not to spend any time on my wager on One Way Traffic in the Gold Cup – did Grant van Niekerk think they had to go around again?

 

One final conclusion. A punter suggested to me that Sean Tarry was lucky to be housing talented horses like Princess Calla, Future Pearl and Bless My Stars. My response: “Sean is a guy who makes his own luck.”