LEZEANNE FORBES

Racehorse training is a tough and competitive occupation and things are even tougher when you are a woman in a male-dominated industry.

But Lezeanne has overcome the difficult passage of establishing herself as a competitive force in racing in KwaZulu-Natal and has enjoyed one of the most successful months of her relatively short career as a trainer.

Up against some very powerful stables, Lezeanne proved that she has the ability to match it with the boys and saddled five winners and another eight placed horses from a mere 22 runners to finish second on the provincial trainer log.

It was a clear demonstration that she can produce the goods when given the stock and worthy of the monthly award.

Well done Lezeanne.

BYRON FORSTER

The Gold Circle Trainer Award for the month has been bestowed on Assistant Trainer for Andre Nel in KwaZulu-Natal, Byron Forster.

It was an incredibly competitive month with the spoils being spread across a large section of the training community and no stable dominating as has regularly been the case. Five stables each had five winners and another five had four with a further seven saddling three winners.

The usual leading yards were among those in the top group but one of those with four winners was that of the Nel KZN based yard that also managed a further 10 placings to give the stable supporters that invested a R1 win bet on all of the 23 stable winners a R10.90 profit.

Well done to Byron and his team in KwaZulu-Natal.

PAUL LAFFERTY

One of the most energetic members of the racing fraternity, Paul wears many hats including Gold Circle Director, Television Presenter and enthusiastic soccer supporter to a man who is fanatical about racing and a very accomplished racehorse Trainer. Some say racing with Paul is fun and laughter all the way.

In spite of his most challenging recent health problems, Paul remains Paul and with his Summerveld team continues to do his loyal patrons proud.  During the past month he had a great run sending out five winners and another 10 contenders that finished in the placing from just 23 runners – a Win and Place percentage of 65.22% which was outstanding.

Fighting the big C has been the greatest challenge he has faced but in true “Laff” style, as in his racing commitments, he has done it with style.

Well done Paul

DENNIS DRIER

Following in the footsteps of his legendary uncle and mentor, the late great Sydney Laird, Dennis has built a Summerveld operation that has become one of the leading racing stables in the country, acknowledged for its consistency of performance and success.

In the past month, building on his status as the champion trainer in KwaZulu-Natal for the past season, Dennis and his team set the new season off in brilliant fashion with an outstanding 11 winners and an impressive R29.10 return on every R1 win bet struck on all his 39 runners.

His 11 wins equalled the total winners achieved by the next three stables on the log which was an outstanding performance.

Well done Dennis

JOEY RAMSDEN

It has been a remarkable month and a few trainers are worthy of the award. Mike Bass won the final Grade 1 of his career, the Mike & Carol Bass Champions Cup, while Mike de Kock won both main marathon events, the SABC Gold Vase and the eLan Gold Cup, scoring the Quartet in the former.

But Joey Ramsden, who moved into the season later than normal, came, saw and did the business winning two Grade 1 events, the Vodacom Durban July and the Mercury Sprint with The Conglomerate and Red Ray. It was his first success in both events, and making it one of the highlights of his career and a performance worthy of the award.

Well done Joey

Justin Snaith 

The competition among the stables is extremely strong and both Dean Kannemeyer and Dennis Drier have done outstandingly well with Kannemeyer saddling a winner from every four horses he sends out and Drier consistently getting his runners into the money with eight winners and 18 places.

But operating away from your home base is a tough thing and Justin has done well with his Durban string with three wins and a second in graded events. He took the double on Guineas day at Greyville winning the Canon Guineas and the Daisy Fillies Guineas then followed it up with another super win with Bela-Bela in the Grade 1 Woolavington 2000.

With the quality of stock he has brought to Durban expectations are high and we congratulate him and wish him well.

Well done Justin

Dean Kannemeyer

Dean has astounded everyone with the success he has had from his satellite stable at Summerveld to the extent that the popular Cape trainer could well end up as the Champion trainer in KwaZulu-Natal if his horses continue to perform in the same way.

Thousands of kilometres from their home base at Milnerton, Dean’s runners have done him proud at Greyville and Scottsville and during the past month won 10 of the 37 races in which they competed and filled another 13 places at a win-place rate of 62.16%.

The stable got off to a flying start in the new month by winning bother the Listed In Full Flight Handicap and the Poinsettia Stakes at Scottsville.

An outstanding effort and well done Dean

Dennis Drier

Dennis is one of the “elder statesmen” of the training community in KwaZulu-Natal and an “institution” at the Summerveld training establishment. He is also one of the leading and most successful trainers in the country.

Having settled back in after his Cape campaign, Dennis and his team are now preparing for South Africa’s Champion’s Season and their runners are again making their presence felt on the local tracks.

With 55 runners during the month, the yard topped the winner’s table with 10 wins while another 21 of its runners finished in the placings giving notice that the stable will be a force to be reckoned with in the months ahead.

Well done Dennis

GAVIN VAN ZYL

Gavin successfully made the transition from a good jockey to a good trainer and has done a great deal to draw new owners into the sport through Team G Racing which allows for small owners to become part of the team and enjoy the privileges and excitement of racehorse ownership.

Together with his sons he operates yards here in KwaZulu-Natal and on the Highveld and both have proven highly successful.

During the month the local operation was the top winning team with seven winners and another five places from 25 runners and those that followed them would have made a R24.10 profit on a R1 win bet on each runner.

The stable contribution to racing is greatly appreciated and worthy of the monthly award.

Well done Gavin.

DENNIS BOSCH

As a jockey Dennis was undoubtedly one of the leading riders in the country, but the dreaded weight problem dominated the latter years of his career forcing his retirement from the saddle.

Switching to training he encountered the difficulties faced by all new conditions in building a stable string with the high quality of the country’s top trainers drawing most of the owners.
But his talents as a horseman have attracted many loyal patrons that have supported him throughout and he did them proud during the month by winning five races with another eight of his runners finishing in the placings.

His dedication to the sport, his charges and his patrons and his fun character that makes owners really enjoy their racing experience, makes his achievement worthy of the monthly award.

Well done Dennis.