Xander and Corne working together at the Sales (Race Coast Sales)
A new father/son training operation will officially begin on Saturday August 1 when Xander and Corne Spies send out their first runners at the Turffontein Standside meeting.
Xander said, “Our first two runners will be a filly called Lady Aarya (Declarationofpeace) and a filly called Northern European (Erik The Red) in the first race.”
Those two don’t inspire much confidence but their other three runners on the day, Trompe L’Oeil, African Pride and Spirit Of Gabz will all have big chances.
The promising Trompe L’Oeil, a Gimmethegreenlight gelding out of Captain Al mare Mirage, has plenty of substance. He duly won on debut and the step up in trip from 1000m to 1160m will suit.
African Pride started favourite for the Listed Umngeni Handicap over 1000m on Sunday at Hollywoodbest Greyville and gave a good kick from the front under Lyle Hewitson to open up a lead in the first part of the straight. However, his run then came to nothing and Xander believes he might have got a fright from the shadows in his first run under the lights. He said he had pulled up as sound as a bell and this impressive, long-striding 110-rated specimen, who was the biggest horse at the Gold Cup meeting in weight terms, will have a big chance in the 1000m Pinnacle Stakes event.
Spirit Of Gabz is a hard-knocking two-year-old who runs in an open handicap from a good draw over a suitable 1400m trip off an 86 rating.
Xander said, “We have 46 horses although there are possibly one or two who will be outgoing, a mare or two who will retire to stud. We have two yards at Randjesfontein with a capacity for 50 horses and we are hoping to reach that number. We will have a strong crop of horses in the season coming. Our four-year-olds will be very strong, we will have a good crop of three-year-olds and we have exciting two-year-olds coming through. We hope to bolster the latter’s numbers at the upcoming Sales.”
Stable stalwart William Robertson will be an eight-year-old this coming season, but is still as sound as a bell. The yard are giving him a break at present, because in the past that has helped him regain his form when he’s undergone a patch of below par form. It will be his last season though and the aim will be to “keep him happy for racing.”
Xander continued, “In the season coming you can watch out for Bisou Bisou, who ran second in the Gr 2 Umkhomazi Stakes on Sunday. You can write off the runs of African Pride and Life In Colour, they are much better than that. Class horses can come back from one or two below par runs. We’ve got a colt called High Fidelity who we think very highly of. He needed gelding badly and he has been gelded. We’ve got a proper long distance horse in Cover Charge, as he ages I think he will become a top class horse. We’ve got a bunch of two-year-olds who I am very excited to see run. Obviously, we’ve got Hazy Dazy too, we will bring her back in October and campaign her in the older fillies races. She will enjoy her break after a long season and I think she will go from strength to strength. So I think we have a strong hand for this upcoming season.”
Xander has been an assistant to Corne since 2020 and was a stable employee before that from 2016. He will remain as chairman of the ROA, but said, “I am very much looking forward to training in partnership with my Dad. It’s been something I have been looking forward to for a long time.”
Xander is a qualified lawyer and practiced for a while, but he said, “I still remain on the NHA’s rules committee as a representative for owners. I practiced law for two years and then decided to return to training horses, maybe not the best decision, but believe me I am much happier here than I was in law. There are lows and highs in racing, so law is a lot more steady, but it is not as exciting … not nearly as exciting.”
Spies racing was started by Corne’s father Tobie, who grew up on a farm in the Free State. As a youngster he took part in informal bush races as a jockey and an effort was made to get him into the Academy, but they turned him down, saying he would grow too tall.
Tobie then took a job in the mines and saved money to follow his dreams. He hence landed a position on a stud farm owned by the Armitage family.
He was the stud manager there for a while and only left after he had got his trainers license.
He then departed for the Vaal Training Centre.
Xander said, “Horses have always been part of his life and in fact the only National Yearling Sale he has missed since the age of 17 was during a year of doing his national service.”
Xander estimated Tobie had won between three and six Gr 1 races and his best horse was likely Yardmaster, who won the Queen’s Plate as well as the Hawaii Stakes, which was a Gr 1 over a mile back in those days.
Tobie famously won two of the four Bloodline Million races that were held. They were the first R1 million races ever run in South Africa and Tobie won the 1200m event for two-year-olds with Fast Gun in 1991 and with Mysterious Hal in 1992.
Corne took over from Tobie at the Vaal in 2000 and trained out of there for many years.
He moved to Randjies in 2019.
Tobie had wanted him to take another path in life, but when Corne did go and study he did a diploma in horses at Pretoria Technicon!
Corne has had seven Gr 1 wins with Rock Opera, War Horse, Van Halen, who won two Gr 1s, Singforafa, William Robertson and Hazy Dazy.
Corne used to be known as an exceptional trainer of two-year-olds, but Xander pointed out this was because he trained for owners with lower budgets and thus bought horses accordingly. He said recently with a higher Sales budget they had swung towards buying classic horses, although there is a still a mixture.
Corne is also known for his love of raiding and could well be the most traveled trainer in the country.
Xander said he and his father had the same approach to training, so enjoyed accompanying each other to the track in the mornings.
Tobie is stlll an assistant trainer to the yard and comes to the track most mornings too.
There are exciting times ahead for the Xander and Corne Spies yard.
