Thrilled part-owner Peter Victor gives Muzi Yeni a deserved hug after he and Royal Victory had clinched an iconic big race Gr 1 double at Turffontein Standside on Saturday (Candiese Lenferna Photography)
Muzi Yeni executed a skillful move just over 200m from home in Saturday’s Gr 1 Premier’s Champions Challenge which got his fancied mount Royal Victory to change legs and that was the key to victory.
The top jockey told trainer Nathan Kotzen he felt he was too far out of his ground turning for home in the R2 million weight for age event.
He had believed last year’s winner Puerto Manzano to be a good horse to follow, but the latter was not himself for the second run in succession and was falling back on Royal Victory just before entering the straight.
Yeni was a bit harsh on himself by saying he felt the horse had pulled him out of trouble.
Nathan knows that Royal Victory enjoys coming from off the pace, so had not been overly concerned.
However, at about the 300m mark Royal Victory, who had made up ground rapidly to be within a length of the dangerous looking Winchester Mansion, looked to be in a spot of bother.
Nathan said, “He began lugging in and wanted to run in behind the other horse. Muzi could not change whip hands to his left hand because the horse was already lugging in. So you will see he stopped riding for one or two strides and pulled the rein out to the left. That got him to change legs. Once he did that he quickened again.”
Royal Victory went on to beat Hollywoodbets Durban July hero Winchester Mansion by half-a-length with Aragosta third (Candiese Lenferna Photography.
Nathan continued, “He is a horse who doesn’t want too much stick. He has been known to hang before and then they said I should put the blinkers on. So I put the blinkers on and he was still hanging and I said ‘you know what this horse doesn’t need blinkers, he just doesn’t need to be hit too much.’. I thought Muz rode him very well.”
Since the blinkers have been removed Royal Victory has won the Michaelmas over 1900m at Hollywoobets Greyville, the Gr 1 Betway Summer Cup and the Gr 1 Premier’s Champions Challenge.
His only other run in that time period was a preparation run in the Non-Black Type Fever Tree Stakes over 1500m at Hollywoodbets Scottsville, where he finished a 1,90 length third giving lumps of weight to the field.
That run prompted Nathan to make the decision to not race him again before the Premier’s.
He said, “A lot of people were saying I only gave him one run, and his last run was seven weeks before the race, so I should have given him another run. I had expected him to need that last run, but he kicked on so well and could have just about won it. So I said ‘he is peaking too quickly, he is just about there’. He also came on so well from that run. I didn’t want him to peak for a second run. So I decided to not give him another run and would instead just work him from home. I was sure I could get him fit enough like that, which I did.”
A gallop on the Hollywoodbets Greyville turf about ten days out put the finishing touches to the Pathfork gelding.
He was transported up to Jo’Burg in Nathan’s client Ted Hughes’ state of the art float, just like he had been done for the Betway Summer Cup. It is this sort of attention to detail that wins big races.
Nathan once again spoke of his gratitude to Ted and said he was a like a second father to him.
Royal Victory was ironically strongly fancied in Saturday’s weight for age event and started bookmakers favourite at 4/1 as opposed to starting at 33/1 when joint bottom weight under the handicap conditions of the Betway Summer Cup.
The advantage of the World Pool was shown in that Royal Victory paid a handsome R13 on the Tote.
Puerto Manzano did the same double last year.
However, Royal Victory became the first raider to ever achieve this double.
In fact he is the only out of province horse to ever win the Champions Challenge, having become just the second out of province horse this millennium to win the Summer Cup, after the Dylan Cunha-trained Strategic News in 2007.
Royal Victory’s class has always been apparent as he had hard-knocking form with the best on the Highveld as a three-year-old.
The Highveld Gr 1 weight for age events are pooh-poohed by some pundits as being below par, but Royal Victory has in fact achieved what could not be done by the celebrated July/Met double hero Kommetdieding.
He is a horse to be taken seriously and as a gelding still has more racing in him, having been expertly looked after by the fine horseman, Nathan Kotzen.
Royal Victory arrived home at Summerveld at two o’ clock in the afternoon on Sunday and has come out of the race well.
He will now be prepared for the Gr 1 Hollywoodbets Durban July.
The handicappers look to have used 3,75 length third-placed Aragosta as the line horse for the Premier’s and have raised Royal Victory six points to 125.
That means, as things stand with See It Again merit rated 132, Royal Victory will carry 56,5kg in the July.
He will be out to become only the second Premier’s winner after the Sean Tarry-trained Silvano gelding Heavy Metal (2013) to win the July.
He will be out to become the first Summer Cup winner to win the July since El Picha (1999 Summer Cup, 2000 July) completed the double at the beginning of the millenium.
He will be attempting to become the first horse to do the Summer Cup, Premier’s and July treble.
A July win will be a dream come true for the man who has always outspokenly believed in his horse, passionate part-owner Peter Victor, as well as for his wife Belinda and also for the less conspicuous part-owners Brandon Wiese and Natasha Sturdy.
Belinda showed her appreciation for Muzi Yeni in a touching moment on TV in the winner’s enclosure on Saturday as she leant down to hug the diminutive jockey and whisper some words of gratitude in his ear.
Peter praised Nathan for having prepared the horse “to the tee” and was full of praise for Muzi too.
However, he reserved the chief accolades for the horse.
Royal Victory made a mockery of his price in the Summer Cup and has has now put those who said that win was a fluke in their place too.
Hollywoodbets reacted by shortening him to 7/1 for the Hollywoodbets Durban July.
Royal Victory was bred by Dr Marianne Thompson of Ambiance Stud.
Meanwhile, Royal Victory has taken Nathan into eleventh place on the national trainers log, whic is decided on stakes earnings.
Royal Victory is also comfortably the highest earning horse this season on an amount of R4,140,250.
His groom Zwinithini Yenge earned a cheque of R1,500 plus 1% of Saturday’s winning stake of Rl,250,000 to add to the roundabout R50,000 he took home after the Summer Cup.
