Buster Barnes became the seventh horse in history to win Zimbabwe’s Triple Crown when winning the Gr 3 Coca Cola Zimbabwe Derby over 2400m by ten lengths (Picture: Racing At Borrowdale Park In Herare)
The Zimbabwean Triple Crown victor Buster Barnes, who went on to win the lucrative Gr 1 OK Grand Challenge over 1800m, will be joining the Mike de Kock yard later this month and KZN-based jockey Deryl Daniels will continue to partner him.
Trainer Debra Swanson is realistic about what the Millstream Farm-bred Erupt gelding has achieved to date, but is hopeful he can prove himself up to South African black type class.
She said, “He’s literally going from kindergarten to university in a few hours! But, we’re very excited that Mike has agreed to train the horse. That will definitely give him the best opportunity to do his best down there. We’re looking at around about the 20th or 21st for his load to be on its way to South Africa. I love the horses I train and they’ve been fantastic and I’m very, very proud of them, but the reality of it is he’s beaten very little here. If you look at two of his stablemates Ideal View and Jet Mirage, they were battling one and two-time winners in Gqerberha but are now multiple winners in Zimbabwe and are rated 101 and 107 respectively. So Buster Barnes is going from a very small pond to a very big pond and he’s just one of the more talented fish in the small pond. But Deryl has ridden some good horses in Durban and he thinks this horse will hold his own. He’s not quite your Durban July cut, but he might be the handicap below. It’s up to Mike but the plan at this point is to start him off with one of the smaller little features there and see what Mike can get out of him. He’s still very immature. He’s going to be a nice four-year-old. There’s not a lot of competition up here, so before his merit rating goes through the roof, let him go down there and see what he’s got in the right divisions and go from there. Let’s see what Mike can do with him and if Mike thinks he’s worth keeping in South Africa, then long may that last. If Mike thinks he’s not quite that grade, then he can come home. So we’ll just take it one day at a time and just let Mike guide us.”
Buster Barnes beat the Castle Tankard winner Raffles by two lengths in the OK Grand Challenge, although he was receiving 10kg. Raffles was merit rated 98 in SA before departing for Zimbabwe so is no slouch.
Furthermore, Buster Barnes won the OK Grand Challenge in effortless fashion.
However, he was then beaten in the Republic Cup over 1900m when getting going too late and being unable to catch Jaeger Moon, who had won eight races in Gqeberha before going to Zim.
Debra said, “In sprints Buster Barnes was traveling quite well, but we taught him to settle on the bend. Obviously, his main agenda at first was the triple crown, so he had to settle to get the full two-four, which he did beautifully. But he got into the habit of relaxing too much on the bend and taking his time to get going, and unfortunately, the other horse got first run on him in the Republic. He was getting going beautifully, but the line came too soon, so he didn’t disgrace himself. He was blowing quite a bit after the OK, but he was actually only just getting going. Deryl actually eased him up as he was getting going. The handicapper clearly thought that he could have won by a lot further, because Deryl obviously put his hands down and started saluting quite a way out.”
The handicappers raised him ten points to 96 after the OK victory.
Debra also trained the previous season’s OK winner, the Mayesh Chetty-trained Wylie Hall gelding Down To Business, who did the OK Grand Challenge/Republic Cup double.
Down To Business proved himself up to South African black type class when winning the Listed Lonsdale Stirrup Cup over 2400m at Hollywoodbets Greyville in his fifth start for Peter Muscutt.
Debra said, “The horse looked amazing with Pete, he had grown into himself. Pete seems to think that he’s an out-and-out stayer and I’ll take his word for it, because he’s probably forgotten more than I’ll ever know. But my gut feeling is that the horse is an 18 to 2000 horse, maybe 2.2 in the right sort of field. I don’t think he is an out-and-out stayer. So I’m hoping Pete will prove me wrong and go from there. He doesn’t show a lot in work, he’s quite one-paced in work, but in his races at the right pace he does have quite a nice, strong finish. I think that’s why Pete’s inclined to think that he’s an out-and-out stayer. Unfortunately, he was scratched from his last start because he had a minor tendon issue. So they gave him box rest and sent him down to the Cape to rehabilitate and then stay on for the Cape season.”
Asked to compare the now four-year-old Buster Barnes with the now five-year-old Down To Business, Debra replied, “I think Buster Barnes has got a lot more speed. I think he’s got a stronger, quicker turn of foot. But Down To Business is a much bigger, stronger sort of horse. They’re completely different animals. Buster Barnes is a smaller horse and is quite short-coupled. He’s got a lovely turn of foot. Down To Business is a big, lanky sort, he’s typical of a Wylie Hall, a big striding horse and he takes a little bit longer to get going. But when he does get going, he eats up the ground. I can’t really compare them. They’re very, very different. But yes, Down To Business has held his own down south nicely and if I had to put my name on the block, I do think Buster probably has got a little bit more scope. So I think Buster should probably be a little bit more competitive than Down To Business has been. If I could have my way, I would have had them on the opposite tracks. I would have had Buster Barnes on the small, Greyville track. I think he could sprint off a lot better, and I’d have Down To Business at Turffontein where he would have that long, open straight to get going. But as fate has turned out, they are on the opposite sort of tracks.”
Meanwhile, Deryl Daniels is very excited about the opportunites that lie ahead with Buster Barnes.
Buster Barnes is owned by the Centaur Syndicate, whose chairman is C John Smith, and considering his words about Deryl it is not surprising he has kept him aboard.
Smith was full of praise for Daniels after the Triple Cown and said, “To win the Triple Crown, the jockey needs to ride his races in three different ways and be able to go to plan B with ease. What does surprise me quite a lot is that the jockey we chose to ride Buster Barnes is not better supported in South Africa. I know there was a period when Deryl Daniels was not riding and for a variety of reasons but he is back now – in full command of himself and I am impressed. His style, his balance, his calmness and his overall riding skills are there in abundance – and he can ride at 53kg. Here is a jockey SA trainers should be using a lot more – but not until Buster Barnes retires!”
Deryl is mindful he does not have too long left in the saddle so, while still workriding and having a few race rides, he has taken on a new role breaking in the young horses at Adam Kethro’s spelling farm in Alverstone. He said his riding would pick up when the Zimbabwe season starts again and he then gets full books of rides every second weekend.
