The Philippi trainer said: “I normally have a stable of 24 but I am now down to 11 and the yard is a mere shadow of what it used to be.
“A lot of people have promised to help me and some have already come to the party. I said to Lionel Adams ‘Please, I need horses’ and he bought this filly out of Dean’s yard. It shows the faith he has in me and he has been rewarded at the first attempt.
“Before this I was very despondent because, if you haven’t got the stock, you can’t produce the goods. You work hard but you don’t get results. This win shows that I just need a bit of support and I will be back to myself.”
The win was also a change of luck for Morne Winnar who had ridden only two previous winners this term. It was the fourth for Van Reenen, 43, who has a string of Graded races to his credit including the Final Fling three times, the Victress, Cape Summer Stayers, Winter Derby and Winter Classic.
Greg Ennion pulled off a remarkable feat in sending out Rhona Beck’s Monsoon Magic (Greg Cheyne’s 80th winner of the season) to win for the second time in her last three starts because the three-year-old filly has loose bone chips in both fetlock joints.
Ennion said: “She chipped the joints in her first start in October. We put her legs in ice for 40 minutes twice a day and she lives on a type of aspirin that is legal. She will have to be operated on but I would like to keep her going until after the Fillies Winter Series.
“Had it not been for the chips I would have stuck my neck out and run her in the Cape Fillies Guineas and the Paddock Stakes. She will go for next year’s Paddock Stakes.”
Grant Behr went to hospital for x-rays yesterday but he is confident that he will be cleared to resume at Kenilworth on Wednesday when he has four rides for Dean Kannemeyer and one for Eric Sands. He was hurt on the way to the start on Steady Beluga in the Macsteel Maiden.
He said: “She stopped dead at the road, reared up twice and smashed me in the face with her head.”
