Newly-crowned national champion trainer Sean Tarry is already looking forward to the Cape Summer Of Champions season and the former top jockey and renowned horseman Felix Coetzee will once again be helping take care of the yard’s Cape Town string.

Coetzee is well versed in the methods of the legendary “horse whisperer” Monty Roberts and also prepares some of Tarry’s “babies” down in Cape Town.

Tarry’s string usually only arrives in Cape Town in about December, but he is planning to move them earlier this season.

Seven of his three-year-olds earned 50% of the yard’s record-breaking stakes earnings of R25,924,950 this past season, so he will obviously be in a strong position to retain the championship, considering the filly Tamaanee is the only one among them to have retired.

Tarry was amused to read a quote yesterday from outgoing champion Justin Snaith which said, “The Ready To Run races knocked the wind out of us last season but they won’t count this time and I am going to have a full go at the title.”

The restricted races indeed will not count towards the Championship this season. However, Tarry’s total earnings from the Ready To Run races this past season were R3,628,000, Championship second-placed Mike De Kock’s were R830,000 and Snaith’s were R280,000. Yet the difference between Tarry at the top and De Kock in second place was R6,308,688 and there was then a further R3,381,274 back to Snaith in third place.

Snaith is always up for some pre-season banter and Tarry jibed, “If he can’t do the math he should just check his phone I’m sure it has a calculator on it!”

Tarry said he would send either one of Legal Eagle or French Navy to Cape Town, but would not like to send both, so it might depend on which one was doing best at the time and on discussions with the owners.

Carry On Alice would be a definite as the course and distance of the Gr 1 Betting World Cape Flying Championships suits her and that race will be one of her big targets for the season. Her biggest sprinting rivals from last season, Captain Of All and Alboran Sea, have both been retired to stud.

Siren’s Call’s owner Peter de Beyer is Cape Town-based, so he would likely want to see his star filly racing down there. If she did go then Trophy Wife would likely stay in Johannesburg, but if there was any change in the former’s plans then the latter would likely travel instead.

Zambezi River appeared to love it down in Cape Town last season and he would also likely be on the float.

Tarry received the Equus Champion Trainer award at the annual ceremony to honour South African racing’s champions at the Emperor’s Palace in Johannesburg on Tuesday night. He thanked his many hard working team members in his speech as well as his loyal chief owner Chris van Niekerk and all of the yard’s other supporters.

His dual Gr 1-winning colt French Navy walked away with the Champion Three-Year-Old Male award, but he there were also some disappointments and he wondered whether it was not time criteria became part of decision making process.

He said, “I am not at all aggrieved and am aware that the awards are based on the subjective opinion of the panel and I think they got it about 80% right. But everybody is always left in the dark on how the decisions are made, sometimes merit ratings count, other times they don’t, sometimes the Johannesburg form counts, other times it doesn’t, sometimes it’s the winners of the most prestigious race that gets it, other times it’s not. I think if there were criteria it would sort out the confusion.”

Tarry was disappointed to see Siren’s Call, who went close to landing the Triple Tiara, and the Mike Bass-trained Inara, who won two Gr 1 races, not even making it on to the nomination list for the Champion Three-year-old Filly award.

He said, “If a horse can receive an award without winning a Gr 1, those that win Gr 1s should at least be nominations, even if they are not going to win it, just as an acknowledgement of their achievements.” He also pointed out that the 120 merit-rated Legal Eagle’s only blemish was in the Vodacom Durban July, where he was hampered in the straight and yet still managed to finish “right on top of them”. He said, “If he is as good as his merit rating suggests, it is a surprise that he comes way from the awards empty handed.”

By David Thiselton

Picture: Sean Tarry (Liesl King)