Vaal-based trainer Lucky Houdalakis finds himself in sixth place on the national log after a halcyon month of August in which the yard had ten winners.

The Houdalakis team created a yard record in June, when they had nine winners, and bettering this mark just two months later suggests they are undoubtedly heading in the right direction.

The former Highveld-based jockey is assisted by his wife Natalie, father-in-law Trevor Lange, who was a good trainer in his own right, and Vic Moore and together they are a formidable team.

They yard look to have a few feature race prospects this season.

It is too early to get overly excited but the three-year-old Var filly Speedy Gonvarlez made a big impression when streaking to an eight length victory over 1000m on the Vaal sand on debut. The legendary J J The Jet Plane, who put the Houdalakis yard’s name on the map, also made his debut on the Vaal sand. Interestingly, Speedy Gonvarlez is out of a half-sister to J J.

Houdalakis took two horses down to Greyville for Super Saturday and the gallant Noble Star ran out a 9,25 length winner of a MR 78 Handicap over 2400m before the Right Approach gelding Nephrite ran a three length fifth in the Gr 1 Premier’s Champions Stakes over 1600m.

Interestingly Nephrite, who was born in December of his foaling year, is five months younger than the Champions Stakes winner Rabada, and that sort of age gap is significant among juvenile racehorses.

A week ago the yard’s Antonius Pius filly Firstimesacharm won comfortably on debut over 1200m on the Vaal turf.

Earlier, the three-year-old Tiger Ridge gelding Netflix, an immature sort who took six runs to win his maiden, was impressive over 1700m in first time blinkers, finding plenty in the straight despite over-racing early.

The yard’s four-year-old Count Dubois gelding Counterstroke is described as still being “a big baby”, so is another one to follow as he has won two of his last three starts and has never been out of the first three in seven career outings.

Their four-year-old Dynasty filly Drifting Dusk, who won her debut by 7,25 lengths, bounced back to form recently with a 3,25 length victory over 1160m at Turffontein in a Graduation Plate.

The yard have entered the four-year-old Slew The Red gelding Raise The Red in the R1 million Supreme Cup sponsored by SAP over 1450m on the Vaal sand on September 26. He is unbeaten in two starts over the Supreme Cup course and distance, including winning the last of them by a facile 4,75 lengths as a young three-year-old about a year ago.

Natalie said about some of the yard’s prospects, “Speedy Gonvarlez will run in the Non-Black Type Sophomore 1000 on Supreme Cup day and we will see how she goes. We have sent Nephrite to the farm for two months to allow him to grow and have high hopes for him. Firstimesacharm looks very nice, we don’t know what she was up against, but she is a lovely, big strong filly and won convincingly. Counterstroke is getting better with each run. We have always rated Drifting Dusk and backed off her when she went a bit off. She won convincingly first time back and continues to improve. Noble Star tries his heart out every time he runs and has now won six races (including three out of five starts over staying trips). He particularly enjoys KZN and has won his last two starts down there.”

The Houdalakis’ are full of praise for the Vaal as a training centre. Natalie reckons it has the best training tracks in the country and the string tends to relax in the horse-friendly environment. The results of trainers at The Vaal last season speaks volumes.

Lucky’s career as a jockey ended when a kick by a horse shattered his shin bone.

He was persuaded to take out his trainer’s license in 2006 by Natalie and a friend of his, Coenie Strydom.

Fittingly Coenie was a shareholder in the great J J The Jet Plane and the Houdalakis couple quickly proved what they could do with a top racehorse.

J J, who was bought for a mere R70,000, ended his three-year-old year by winning five Graded races on the trot, the Gr 2 Senor Santa Handicap, the Gr 3 Man O’War Sprint, The Gr 1 Computaform Sprint, the Gr 1 Golden Horse Casino Sprint (with topweight) and the Gr 1 Mercury Sprint (by five lengths in course record time). He then left the yard to campaign overseas where he had some initial success.

However, by the time he had made his way back to the Houdalakis yard he had appeared to have lost his way. He was a forgotten racehorse to the extent that he was allowed to start at odds of 13/2 in his comeback in the Gr 1 Golden Horse Casino Sprint. However, he became the first South African horse to return from an overseas campaign and win a Gr 1 and he did it comfortably. He then sauntered to a 5,5 length win in the Mercury Sprint. The connections were then considered unrealistically optimistic when sending him to run in the Gr 1 Hong Kong Sprint, because he faced a rigorous three-and-a-half month journey, through climates ranging from hot to freezing, and he would only land in Hong Kong eleven days before the race.

However, he famously beat a field studded with international stars under a brilliant ride by Piere Strydom, who rates him the best horse he has ever ridden. J J went on to win the Gr 2 Al Quoz Sprint in Dubai.

J J is still a celebrity at his retirement home Balmoral Stud in the KZN Midlands and is regularly visited by adoring fans. He shares a paddock with a Mary Slack-owned dressage and showing champion Dark Rider and the pair are inseparable.

By David Thiselton

Picture: Lucky Houdalakis (Nkosi Hlophe)

Ice Machine, who has come into his own since joining the Charles Laird yard, will stay in training at the age of seven this season and will be aimed at the L’Ormarin’s Queen’s Plate.

Laird also spoke about the plans of Viva La Var, a classy sprinter, and the progressive Stormy Eclipse, whom he rates.

Ice Machine, a Silvano gelding, appeared to have the Gr 1 Champions Cup over 1800m won on Super Saturday but the subsequently-named Equus Horse Of The Year Futura fought back courageously to deny him on the line.

In his first run for the Laird yard in March, Ice Machine finished a 2,25 length second to subsequent Vodacom Durban July winner Power King over 1400m at Scottsville, despite it being his comeback from a nine-and-a-half month layoff and having to give the winner 1,5kg.

In his next start he powered to an impressive three length win in the Gr 2 IOS Drill Hall Stakes, despite having to give most of the field 1kg.

Then came his unlucky moment of the season when standing on a stone upon arrival at Greyville and having to be scratched from the Gr 1 Rising Sun Gold Challenge.

“I don’t think they would have beaten us that day,” said Laird, when reflecting on the yard’s confidence of Ice Machine beating the like of Legislate and Futura over his probable optimum trip of 1600m.

In his next start Ice Machine cut through the field like a knife through butter in the Vodacom Durban July before the trip and his interrupted preparation told and he ran out of steam in the final 100m to finish seventh.

“I got excited as I thought he was going to maybe run a place,” said Laird. Rider Donovan Dillon remarked afterwards about the outstanding acceleration Ice Machine had shown that day and it was visually highly impressive too.

Ice Machine joined Laird as a 105 merit rated horse but is now rated 117, meaning the country’s biggest races will be his only option.

Laird has won a Gr 1 with an eight-year-old before as the top class sprint-miler Nhlavini landed the Cape Flying Championships at that age having won the race for the first time the previous year as a seven-year-old.

Viva La Var has only had six career outings despite now being a five-year-old. The Var gelding won his first three starts for Dennis Drier before being bought by Alesh Naidoo and he then won first time out for Laird. He then nearly fell to his knees when coming out of the stalls at Scottsville and duly lost his unbeaten record. However, he returned after a seven month layoff to run a good second in the Listed Umgeni Handicap over 1000m on the Greyville polytrack on Super Saturday. He will run in a Pinnacle Stakes event later this month (September) on the poly and his long term aim, if all goes according to plan, will be the Betting World Cape Flying Championships in January.

Laird has always believed the Dynasty gelding Stormy Eclipse would be better this season as a four-year-old and is eyeing the Gr 1 Peermont Emperor’s Palace Charity Mile for him on October 31 at Turffontein. Stormy Eclipse, who has only had eight starts to date, has won four times over 1600m on the Greyville polytrack.

Laird is also sorting out programs for his younger horses, which will likely include tilts at the various lucrative sales races. He won the richest of them last year, the R3,85 million Emperor’s Palace Ready To Run Cup over 1400m at Turffontein, with the aptly named Rich Girl. He did not mention any of his current three-year-olds by name, but his promising Jay Peg filly Exit Here, who is already merit rated 94, is an obvious sales race candidate and qualifies for the CTS Million Dollar race at Kenilworth in January, which is over a suitable trip of 1400m.

Meanwhile, Laird’s sister Therese Mitchley had an eye catching winner at Scottsville on Sunday in the form of the A P Answer filly Whatawonderfulworld. The three-year-old filly showed good cruising speed and a fine turn of foot to win a maiden over 1200m in comfortable fashion under Sean Veale. She looks likely to go further and could be one to keep an eye on.

Mitchley also mentioned a newly acquired horse in her yard, the Var gelding Avaricious, as one who could “be okay”.

Mitchley previously achieved fine results as the Summerveld assistant trainer to the Sabine

Plattner racing operation and is still in the process of building up her own string.

By David Thiselton

Picture: Ice Machine (Nkosi Hlophe)

Maestro Summerveld trainer Dennis Drier was the star of the show at the KZN Awards ceremony at the Elangeni Hotel last Thursday night thanks chiefly to his brilliant sprinter Captain Of All, who won a number of awards including the big one, the KZN Horse Of The Year. Unfortunately, Drier and his wife Gill were away on holiday in France.

Dennis and Gill were also the joint winners of the KZN Racing Personality of the Year award, while Dennis had the most winners in KZN of any trainer so recaptured a title he is familiar with, KZN Trainer Of The Year, beating last year’s winner Duncan Howells by a comfortable margin.

The Drier yard won a phenomenal five Gr 1 races (with three different horses) during the Champions Season. Captain Of All was named KZN Horse Of The Year at the expense of the Equus Horse Of The Year Futura, who won one Gr 1 during the Champions Season, the Gr 1 Champions Cup. Futura did also win both of Cape Town’s most prestigious races, the Gr 1 L’Ormarin’s Queen’s Plate and the Gr 1 J&B Met in Cape Town, but Captain Of All was the only horse during the season to win a Gr 1 Handicap with topweight (the Tsogo Sun Sprint) and he went on to destroy the opposition in the weight for age Gr 1 Mercury Sprint over 1200m, beating Carry On Alice, who had won two Gr 1 sprints before, by close to five lengths. Furthermore, the Riverton Stud-bred Captain Al colt retired with a merit rating of 126, the joint second- highest rating in South African history, and seven points higher than Futura’s. Futura did land the KZN Champion Middle Distance horse award. His fellow Capetonian, the Joey Ramsden-trained Gr 2 Gold Bracelet winner Gallica Rose, won the Champion Older Female award, but KZN horses swept the rest of the table.

Captain Of All was also named KZN Champion Sprinter and KZN Champion Older Male and his groom Goodman Makubalo was named Groom Of The Year.

Drier’s two-year-old Seventh Rock colt Seventh Plain, who won both the Gr 1 Tsogo Sun Gold Medallion and the Gr 1 Durban Golden Horseshoe, was the KZN Champion Two-Year-old Male. However, Drier’s Gr 1 Zulu Kingdom Explorer Golden Slipper winner Chestnuts N Pearls lost out on the Champion Two-year-old filly award to the Mike de Kock-trained Gr 1 Allan Robertson winner Entisaar, who also won the Gr 2 SA Fillies Nursery and the Listed Ruffian Stakes in Johannesburg.

Regarding the Driers’ Personality Of The Year award the night’s master of ceremonies Graeme Hawkins referred to them as a couple who were joined at the hip. He described the great trainer as one who had often been seen to cry in the winner’s enclosure but one who is also often seen laughing in public and also one who is not scared to voice his opinion in public. Gill, who like Dennis hails from a family steeped in racing, has always played a vital part in her husband’s success due to her vast knowledge of the thoroughbred, and she is also known for her big smile as well as her friendly, approachable nature. She is also always willing to talk about the yard’s horses, past and present, and appears to know each of them like one would know a family pet.

Hawkins walked away with an award himself, the annual Anita Akal award, and Akal described him as one who had given his life and soul to racing. Hawkins believed his wife Babette to be in Johannesburg preparing for his daughter’s wedding, so was pleasantly surprised when she appeared on stage.

The Champion Stayer award went to the De Kock-trained Gr 1 eLan Property Group Gold Cup winner Wild One. De Kock was away but owner Sean Phillips was there to receive it together with his wife Jackie and they invited winning jockey Anthony Delpech on to the stage. Delpech was later named KZN Jockey Of The Year to rapturous applause.

Callan Murray won the Apprentice Of The Year award and looks to have a bright future ahead of him.

Duncan Howells didn’t go home empty-handed as his crack three-year-old filly Same Jurisdiction, who won the Gr 1 Jonsson Workwear Garden Province Stakes, won the most competitive category, the Champion Three-year-old filly award, beating some top class members of a vintage crop. She runs in the Drakenstein Stud Colours and the other partners, Larry Vermaak, Marlene Powell, Dr Ralph Katzwinkel and Howells himself were all ecstatic to hear the filly’s name being announced.

The Paul Lafferty-trained Harry’s Son ironically didn’t run in KZN during the season but his stalwart performances in Johannesburg and Cape Town earned him Champion Three-year-old Male title. The connections were all there and the one whose colours he runs in, Roy Moodley, was named KZNOTA Owner of The Year as the KZN-domiciled owner who had won the most stakes money in KZN races.

The KZN Owner Of The Year was open to out of province participants too and was won once again by Markus and Ingrid Jooste. The Joostes own both Seventh Plain and Captain Of All and have a share in Klawervlei Stud, who added the KZN Breeder Of The Year award to their Equus title.

A special award was presented to racecourse judges Warren Eisle and Colin Buckham who have served the industry for 51 and 44 years respectively.

Another special award was presented to John Slade, stud manager of Maine Chance Farms, for the stud’s amazing feat of breeding the one-two-three in the Vodacom Durban July, all three of them sired by Maine Chance’s former champion stallion Silvano. Slade put it down to luck and Silvano.

Gold Circle chairman Robert Mauvis regarded everybody present as winners due to the success of the Champions Season.

By David Thiselton

Picture: Dennis Drier (Nkosi Hlophe)

Durban businessman and longtime racing owner Roy Moodley enjoyed a halcyon 2014/2015 season in which he had 51 winners in all and he will have a chance to reflect on the success at the KZN Awards ceremony to be held at the Elangeni Hotel on Thursday.

Moodley was the sole owner of 47 of his winners and this put him in 6th place on the National Owners log with stakes earnings of R3,778,575. This was his best season to date. All 47 of the wins were in his home province of KZN, where he was 17 winners clear of Markus and Ingrid Jooste. The Joostes earned R4,542,825 in races run in KZN, R764,250 more than Moodley.

However, there are two Owners Awards at this year’s KZN Racing Awards, one for the Overall Owner of the Year and one for the KZN-based Owner Of The Year, both of them decided on stakes, so Moodley looks to be in pole position to win at least one of them.

Moodley also part-owns a few horses and three of them won four races between them. Among these winners was the Paul Lafferty-trained Harry’s Son, who is undoubtedly the best horse currently running in the Moodley colours. This brilliant Australian-bred colt by Haradasun was an Equus Champion two-year-old colt and as a three-year-old last season became renowned for his extraordinary tolerance of travel, winning the Gr 3 Graham Beck stakes and the Gr 2 Betting World Gauteng Guineas, both at Turffontein, finishing second in the Gr 2 Investec Dingaans at Turffontein, second in the Gr 1 Grand Parade Cape Guineas at Kenilworth, and fifth in the Gr 1 SA Classic over 1800m at Turffontein.

He travelled from Summerveld by float for all of the Turffontein raids and was flown to Cape Town for his Kenilworth raid. On the latter occasion he was stranded on the King Shaka airport tarmac for three hours and then had to stop off at Port Elizabeth on the way down, so his runner up finish was remarkable under the circumstances.

Ironically, Harry’s Son did not have a single run in KZN during the season as he had a slight setback before his Intended Champions Season opener in the Gr 2 KRA Guineas and he later set off on the arduous five month journey to Dubai, via Johannesburg, Mauritius and Europe. He is currently doing well in Mauritius and it will certainly be an exciting moment in Moodley’s racing career when the colt carries his colours in Dubai Carnival races early next year.

Another horse who provided some memorable moments for Moodley during the past season was the Paul Gadsby-trained Royal Colours, who on November 2, 2014 clinched his sixth victory in succession, a rare feat, especially for one who took 12 races to win his maiden.

Moodley had no fewer than five meeting doubles in the 2014/2015 season. His green, white and orange colours are seen at every KZN meeting these days and he is usually in attendance together with equally passionate members of his family.

His love for horses began through his father, who owned horses, although not racehorses. Roy then went into racehorse ownership in 1996.

On May 22, 1999, he had his first Gr 1 winner when the West Man gelding Roaring Sands, trained by the late Cyril Naidoo, won the Gold Medallion over 1200m at Scottsville, converting even-money favouritism.

Roy later suggested to his son Selvan that running a stable would be a great way of gaining experience in business. After doing his indentures as assistant to Herman Brown, Selvan took out his own license in 2003/2004 and trained all of his father’s horses. He today runs a successful advertising business, so the exercise paid dividends.

When Selvan left the training game in about 2006, Roy sent his horses to Tony Rivalland and Selvan’s former assistant, Kumaran Naidoo, who took out his own license.

Later, Roy decided to spread his horses between a wide array of trainers, and there is hardly a yard in KZN which does not have a Roy Moodley-owned horse today. In fact, racegoers have often been heard to suggest the fun idea of staging a special race limited to Roy Moodley-owned horses in order to confuse the commentator, because virtually all of his runners have the word “Roy” in their names.

Moodley said about his decision to spread his horses around, “I think a good horse is only a good horse based on its ability so I wanted to spread the risk and give equal opportunity to all trainers and this would also help create employment.”

Harry’s Son was the second Gr 1-winner to run in the Moodley colours, winning the Gr 1 Premier’s Champion Stakes as a two-year-old. Moodley has also had a few other Graded winners and one stalwart running in the orange, green and white has been Royal Zulu Warrior, who caused a sensation when winning his first three starts by a combined margin of close to 25 lengths. Royal Zulu Warrior, who was fondly known by fans as “The Pride Of KZN” in his early days, went on to win the Gr 3 Lebelo Sprint and the Gr 2 Peermont Emperor’s Palace Charity Mile and he is still in training at the age of nine.

Moodley is not only looking forward to an overseas career in owning with the like of Harry’s Son, but has also become a keen breeder.

His Roy Moodley Stud stands two stallions, Al Miqdaam, a son of Danehill whose first runner is the useful sprinter Al Ciberano, and the New Zealand-bred Royal Keeper (Keeper), a well-bred sort who won one race in South Africa. Moodley estimated his mare population to be about 100 and he uses a wide variety of the country’s stallions to cover them.

Moodley is a popular figure in KZN racing and is sure to be given rousing applause if called on to the stage to receive an award or two on Thursday evening.

By David Thiselton

Picture: Roy Moodley (Nkosi Hlophe)

The KZN Racing Awards ceremony will be held at the Elangeni Hotel in Durban on Thursday in celebration of another memorable Champions Season and some big names are among the nominations for the various categories.

Recently awards candidates and other interested parties have begun pointing out the differences in criteria from province to province that pertain to the various provincial racing awards and it is perhaps time to standardise these criteria in order to prevent the unhappiness that is starting to filter through.

For the KZN awards the equine champions are decided by the best performers in races held in KZN. Out-of-province older horses qualify for an award as long as they have run at least two races in KZN during the season, while out-of-province two-year-olds only have to have run in one race in KZN. The Champion Trainer, Jockeys and Apprentice awards are decided simply on the number of wins of races held in KZN, so an out-of-province participant could win it in theory. The Champion Owner award is decided on the amount of stakes gathered in races held in KZN, so could also be won by an out-of-province participant.

For Gauteng’s “RA Feature Season Awards” the performances of participants, local and out-of-province, are considered in stakes races (Gr 1, Gr 2, G 3 and Listed) held on the Highveld from the time of the Emerald Cup (now called the Supreme Cup) at the end of September through to the President’s Champion Challenge at the end of April. A points system based on the results of the stakes in that period is used to calculate the Champion Horses, Champion Trainer, Champion Jockey, Champion Owner and Champion Apprentice, while the Champion Workrider award goes to the winner of the Work Rider’s Challenge series.

The Western Cape Racing Awards do not consider out-of-province participants and a recent change also saw the awards for horses, trainers, jockeys, owners and apprentices being decided on National statistics.  Only horses trained by a Western Cape domiciled trainer and only Western Cape domiciled trainers, jockeys, apprentices and owners qualify for the awards. However, the equine Champions are decided on the performances of the qualifying horses in races throughout the country, while the Champion Trainer/Jockey/Apprentice and owner is decided by the finishing position of the participants on the relevant National log.

In a recent article by Equus Award winning journalist Michael Clower, Western Cape jockeys voiced their disapproval at the awards being based on national statistics rather than Western Cape statistics as it used to be, but Western Province Regional Racing Association director Robert Bloomberg later expressed his disappointment at the jockeys having used the press to state their viewpoint rather than official channels, where they have had ample opportunity to so, and added the Board would certainly consider any requests for change to the current system.

However, perhaps there should also be a wider meeting between the various provincial boards to discuss standardization in the criteria for the provincial awards.

The chief differences at present are that the Highveld and KZN base their awards on results in their home province, but include out of province candidates, while the Cape now base their awards on national results but exclude out of province candidates.

The most glaring example of a candidate suffering due to these differences was in the case of the brilliant mare Beach Beauty, who was the only dual Gr 1 winner during the 2013/2014 Cape Summer Of Champions Seasons, but did not qualify for the Western Cape awards as her trainer Denis Drier is domiciled to KZN. However, then in her home province awards she was ousted from a second successive KZN Horse Of The Year title, despite winning the Gr 2 Drill Hall Stakes and defending her Gr 1 Jonsson Workwear Garden Province Crown as well as finishing second in the Gr 1 Rising Sun Gold Challenge, and this was due to Western Cape-based Legislate’s wins in all of the Gr 2 KRA Guineas, the Gr 1 Daily News 2000 and the Gr 1 Vodacom Durban July.

There also appear to be inconsistences in the awards decision making processes and this could probably best be highlighted by the number of times a different result has been arrived at by two different panels. An example happened this year where Fly By Night was named Western Cape Champion Older Female while Hammie’s Hooker was named Equus Champion Older Female, despite the countrywide performances of both horses having been considered by both panels.   – David Thiselton

The nominees for the 2015 KZN Racing Awards are:

CHAMPION TWO-YEAR OLD – MALE
1. SEVENTH PLAIN
2. RABADA

CHAMPION TWO-YEAR OLD – FEMALE
1. CHESTNUTS N PEARLS
2. ENTISAAR
3. LAUDERDALE

CHAMPION THREE-YEAR OLD – MALE
1. EASY LOVER
2. HARRY’S SON
3. THE CONGLOMERATE (AUS)

CHAMPION THREE-YEAR OLD – FEMALE
1. ALBORAN SEA
2. CARRY ON ALICE
3. MAJMU
4. PINE PRINCESS
5. SAME JURISDICTION

CHAMPION OLDER HORSE – MALE
1. CAPTAIN OF ALL (pictured)
2. FUTURA
3. LEGISLATE
4. POWER KING

CHAMPION OLDER HORSE – FEMALE
1. ASH CLOUD
2. GALLICA ROSE
3. JET BELLE

CHAMPION SPRINTER
1. ALBORAN SEA
2. CAPTAIN OF ALL
3. CARRY ON ALICE

CHAMPION MIDDLE DISTANCE
1. FUTURA
2. LEGISLATE
3. POWER KING

CHAMPION STAYER
1. DISCO AL
2. HEART OF A LION
3. J’S OUTSIDER
4. SOLID SPEED
5. WILD ONE

Princess Royal, second only to Entisaar in the three-year-old filly merit ratings, has the Avontuur Cape Fillies Guineas on December 5 as her target.

Glen Kotzen said: “She is having a break at the moment and then I will prepare her for the Choice Carriers Championship on November 7. After that she goes for the Fillies Guineas.”

The Captain Al filly won first time out at Kenilworth and the East Cape Fillies Nursery at Fairview before finishing a length second to Entisaar in the Allan Robertson. She started favourite for the Golden Slipper on July day but managed only fifth to Chestnuts N Pearls.

At the time Kotzen felt that some of his horses just didn’t kick when asked to quicken but he now takes a different view with this filly, saying: “I don’t think she enjoyed Durban. However she has settled down beautifully after coming home and she has also grown so much.”

Princess Royal is a half-sister to Princess Victoria with whom Kotzen won both the Choice Carriers and the Fillies Guineas in 2011 while the Choice Carriers winner has gone on to take the Kenilworth classic five times in the last ten years.

By Michael Clower

Picture: Glen Kotzen

The National Trainers Championships trophy has found its way back to Gauteng due to the record-breaking stakes earnings that trainer Sean Tarry raked up this past season. The latter’s Highveld colleagues between them also had many moments to savour.

Carry On Alice (Nkosi Hlophe)

Tarry’s strength lay in his three-year-old crop, seven of whom earned about 50% of his total stakes of R25,924,950.
The filly Tamaanee got the ball rolling by finishing third in the hitherto richest race in South African history, The R3,85 million Emperor’s Palace Ready To Run Stakes. Zambezi River then won the R2 million Lanzerac Ready To Run Stakes, while Trip To Heaven beat older horses to win the R450,000 Stonach Group Gr 2 Merchants. Zambezi River was later a disappointing fifth in the Gr 1 Grand Parade Cape Guineas but bounced back with a short-head second in the R1 million CTS Stakes. At the same meeting Tarry’s filly Carry On Alice finished third in the Gr 1 Betting World Cape Flying Championships.

Tarry’s other Cape Summer Of Champions Season highlights were the third and second place finishes of his veteran Gold Onyx in the Gr 1 L’Ormarin’s Queen’s Plate and Gr 1 J&B Met respectively.

At the end of January Mike de Kock led the national log on R9,919,312.50, Tarry was on R9,717,425.00 and defending champion Justin Snaith was on R8,295,662. However, Tarry’s halcyon Johannesburg Autumn season then put the championship race to bed.

Siren’s Call (JC Photo)

His filly Siren’s Call won the R2,5 million CTS Book 2 Graduates Race and followed up with victories in the Gr 2 R500,000 Wilgerbosdrift Gauteng Fillies Guineas and the Gr 1 R1 million Wilgerbosdrift SA Fillies Classic. She narrowly failed to land the Wilgerbosdrift Triple Tiara when caught late in the R1 million Wilgerbosdrift SA Oaks.

Tarry’s filly Trophy Wife finished runner up in both the CTS Book 2 Graduates Race and the Gauteng Fillies Guineas and also in the Gr 1 R1 million Laurie Jaffee Empress Club Stakes, a race in which Tamaanee finished third.

Meanwhile, the yard’s gelding French Navy won the Gr 1 R2 million SA Classic and later finished third to his stablemate Legal Eagle in the Gr 1 R2 million SA Derby. At the end of April Tarry was clear with earnings of R20,684,650 to De Kock’s R16,253,262.50 and Snaith’s R11,121,712.50.

Tarry was duly crowned Highveld Champion trainer. He had effectively sealed the National Championship by early June after winning the Gr 1 City Of Pietermaritzburg Sprint with Carry On Alice and the Gr 1 Daily News 2000 with French Navy. All in all the yard won five Gr 1s, four Gr 2s, four Gr 3s, three Listed races and five Non-Black Type features.

Louis The King (JC Photo)

De Kock was second on the national log with earnings of R19,616,262. He won eight Gr 1s (including the postponed eLan Property Group Gold Cup which officially fell in this season) two Gr 2s, five Gr 3s, three Listed events and two Non-Black Type features.

Geoff Woodruff was seventh on the national log with earnings of R8,519,538. His Triple Crown hero Louis The King’s won the Gr 1 SANSUI Summer Cup and the yard also won a Gr 2, a Gr 3, four Listed races and a Non-Black Type feature.

Alec Laird finished eleventh on the log on earnings of R7,056,775. His filly Smart Call won the Gr 1 Woolavington 2000, while older horse Bezanova won the Gr 2 Peermont Emperor’s Palace Charity Mile and the Non-Black Type KZN Breeders Million Mile, as well as finishing third in the Gr 1 Rising Sun Gold Challenge. The yard also had one other Gr 2 win, one other Non-Black Type win and a Listed win.

Mike Azzie finished 13th on the national log with earnings of R6,625,900. At the postponed Super Saturday meeting his exciting pair Rabada and Abashiri finished first and third respectively in the Gr 1 Premier’s Champion Stakes. The yard also had one Listed and one Non-Black Type victory apiece, while their colt Deputy Jud finished third and second respectively in the Gr 1 SA Classic and Gr 1 SA Derby and their filly Frosted Honey finished second in the Gr 2 SA Fillies Nursery.

Bezanova (Nkosi Hlophe)

Dominic Zaki finished 16th on the national log with earnings of R6,259,275. His colt Arabian Beat won the Gr 1 SA Nursery and then overcame a wide draw to finish just 0,15 lengths back in third in the Gr 1 Durban Golden Horseshoe over 1400m. Zaki also had both Gr 1 third and a Gr 1 second with two-year-old filly Prospect Strike. The yard also won a Gr 3, two Listed races and a Non-Black Type feature.

Weiho Marwing, who officially became a KZN trainer during the season, finished 18th on the national log and won the Gr 1 President’s Champions Challenge with Wylie Hall and he also won a Gr 2, a Gr 3, a Listed race and a Non-Black Type feature.

Johan Janse van Vuuren finished nineteenth on the national log and won the Gr 2 Investec Dingaans with Unparalleled. Janse van Vuuren also won a Gr 3 and two Non-Black Type features.

Wylie Hall (Nkosi Hlophe)

St. John Gray’s gelding Yer-Maan won both the Gr 1 Castle Tankard and the Gr 2 Ok Grand Challenge before failing to become the first horse to land all three of Zimbabwe’s biggest races when finishing third in the Gr 3 Republic Cup.

Stuart Pettigrew and Tyrone Zackey both had one Gr 2 victory apiece. Corné Spies won three Gr 3s, a Listed race and six Non-Black Type features. Louis Goosen won a Gr 3 and two Listed races. Ormond Ferraris and Staneley Ferreira both won a Gr 3 and a Listed race each.

Barend Botes won a Gr 3, Lucky Houdalakis won a Listed race and a Non-Black Type feature, Roy Magner, Leon Erasmus and David Rahilly each won a Listed race apiece and Paul Matchett won a Non-Black Type feature.

By David Thiselton

Outgoing national champion trainer Justin Snaith was crowned Western Cape Champion Trainer again for the 2014/2015 season, having finished third on the national log, and he and his Cape Town colleagues had many memorable moments during the season.

Justin Snaith

Snaith is competitive but has always been magnanimous in defeat and he was the first to congratulate the new National Champion trainer Sean Tarry at the Equus Awards ceremony. Snaith, whose season’s earning were R16,234,988, started the Cape Summer Of Champions Seasons well when Legislate broke the Kenilworth Old Course 1600m record in the Gr 2 Lanzerac le General Green Point Stakes.

However, the superstar colt then ran a shock last in Gr 1 L’Ormarin’s Queen’s Plate and was found to be suffering from a serious lung infection. Instead it was the Brett Crawford-trained Futura who won both the Queen’s Plate and the Gr 1 J&B Met. Futura later joined the Snaith yard after a share in him was sold to Drakenstein Stud.

Legislate’s eventual comeback was in the Gr 1 Rising Sun Gold Challenge and his victory there earned him the Equus Champion Miler award. He later finished third in both the Gr 1 Mercury Sprint and Gr 1 Champions Cup. Futura, fourth in the Gold Challenge, went on to finish fourth with topweight in the Vodacom Durban July before retaining his Champions Cup crown, although the latter event did officially fall in the new season. Futura was named both Equus and Western Cape Horse Of The Year.

On top of those two Gr 1 wins, the Snaith yard won five Gr 2s, seven Gr 3s and nine Listed races.

Mike Bass earned stakes of R12,136,938 for fourth place on the national log. His yard had the highest earnings (over R10 million) in races held in the Western Cape region. The yard’s mare Hammie’s Hooker retained her Gr 2 Tibouchina crown, having earlier won a Gr 3, and she was named Equus Champion Older Female.

Mike Bass (Liesl King)

However, her stablemate Fly By Night was named Western Cape Champion Older Female, as well as Champion Sprinter. The latter won the Gr 2 Tony Taberer Southern Cross Stakes and had a Gr 1 third and fourth and a Gr 2 third. However, the stable star for the season was the three-year-old filly Inara, who won both the Gr 1 Maine Chance Farms Paddock Stakes and the Gr 1 Klawervlei Majorca Stakes, having finished runner up in the Gr 1 Avontuur Estate Cape Fillies Guineas. She had a disappointing Champions Season, but was named Western Cape Champion three-year-old filly. Bass overall won two Gr 1s, four Gr 2s, three Gr 3s and five Listed races (although one of the latter was at the postponed Super Saturday meeting).

Joey Ramsden finished fifth on the national with earnings of R10,825,900. His charges Act Of War and Coltrane were named Western Cape Three-Year-Old Male and Champion Stayer Of The Year respectively. Act Of War won his first three races of the season, the Gr 3 Cape Classic over 1400m, the Gr 2 Selangor Cup and the Gr 1 Grand Parade Cape Guineas. His defeat in the Gr 1 Investec Cape Derby, when below par and possibly not staying the 2000m trip, probably cost him an Equus Award. He later won the Gr 3 Tekkie Town Winter Guineas. Coltrane won four races during the season including two Gr 3 staying events in Cape Town.

Dean Kannemeyer

He was given the award ahead of his stablemate Disco Al, who won a Gr 2 over 2400m as well as a Gr 3 over 2000m. Ramsden’s crack three-year-old filly Cold As Ice unfortunately broke through the stalls and bolted before the Cape Fillies Guineas having previously won the Gr 2 Choice Carriers Championship impressively. She went on to win the Listed Laisserfaire Stakes and the Gr 2 Sceptre Stakes before being touched off in the Majorca. Another Ramsden three-year-old, The Conglomerate, won the Gr 3 Politician Stakes, the Gr 2 KRA Guineas and then finished third in the Gr 1 Daily News 2000 before being unlucky in the July. Overall Ramsden won one Gr 1, six Gr 2s (including one on Super Saturday), nine Gr 3s, three Listed races and one Non-Black Type event.

Dean Kannemeyer finished ninth on the national log with earnings of R7,175,088. The highlight was Power King’s July victory, Kannemeyer’s third win of the country’s premier race. Kannmeyer, whose reopened KZN satellite yard had a tremendous strike rate, also won one a Gr 3, a Listed race and two Non-Black Type events.

Brett Crawford finished tenth on the national log and has cemented himself as a top tier trainer just five seasons after going on his own. Futura provided the highlight by winning Cape Town’s two biggest races, the Queen’s Plate and the Met. Crawford took the subsequent decision by the connections to move Futura in his stride. The yard also won the Gr 1 HF Oppenheimer Horse Chestnut Stakes with Captain America and in KZN Alexis won the Gr 2 KRA Fillies Guineas, while Gulf Storm won a Listed race before finishing runner up in the Gr 1 Tsogo Sun Sprint.

Stan Elley

Glen Kotzen finished 15^th on the log with earnings of R6,375,050 and won three G 3s, three Listed races and two Non-Black Type events. His filly Princess Royal was named Western Cape Two-year-old filly Of The Year.

Vaughan Marshall finished in 22^nd position on the national log with earnings of R4,584,338 and won two Listed races and a Non-Black Type event.

Stan Elley ended his 41 year career as a trainer on a high note, finishing first and third in the Gr 2 Betting World 1900 with Dynastic Power and Punta Arenas, and the latter then went on to win the Gr 3 Cup Trial before finishing a possibly unlucky second in the July. Elley also won a Listed race.

Adam Marcus won a Gr 3 and a Listed race, Glen Puller and Ronnie Sheehan each won a Gr 3, Daryl Hodgson won two Listed races and Eric Sands, Neil Bruss and Paddy Kruyer each won a Listed event apiece.

By David Thiselton

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)

Racegoer writer Michael Clower won the Equus Print media award at the annual ceremony to honour the champions of South African racing in Johannesburg on Tuesday night and was a thoroughly deserving recipient.

Michael admitted to getting just “as much of a kick” out of writing about racing as he did when first starting in Kenya 48 years ago. “I just love going to the racing and talking to people and then writing, I always have.” His newspaper writing reflects his enthusiasm for the game and he always keeps readers well informed with behind the scene news which they would otherwise not be able to gather.

Punters are also always eager to see his headline horse for Cape Town meetings, as he fishes out best bet winners regularly, and his other tips for the day are invariably a good guide. His magazine writing has an entertaining style and at the end of a limited space article about a racing personality the reader will be left knowing not only a lot about the subject’s career but also a bit about their personality, outward demeanour and inner psyche as well as the forces which drive them.

Michael was born and brought up in England and qualified as a chartered accountant, but realised in the first fortnight of doing his Articles that he wasn’t suited to accountancy and would never enjoy it. However, his parents would not allow him to give it up – they were dead set against racing, having lived through the experience of Michael’s grandfather, who was a racehorse trainer, losing a lot of money on horses which Michael’s father often used to ride.

Michael was advised that South Africa was the place to go to practice accountancy. However, in his first job interview the interviewer suggested East Africa. “There was no difference to me, so I went to Kenya.”

In Kenya he owned a few racehorses which he used to ride in flat races. There were no rules disallowing amateurs to ride against professionals and through natural build and “a starvation diet and dehydration” he used to weigh in at 7 stone 11 (about 49kg). He recalled riding three winners in his first six rides and was then never able to get to the line in front again.

However, he jumped at the opportunity to write when the racing correspondent for the main newspaper departed. He then combined accountancy with race writing and recalled loving the latter so much that he couldn’t wait to get to the newsstand in the mornings to read his own articles.

Michael spent six years in East Africa before departing for Ireland in 1973. Kenya had been good to him in more ways than one because he also met his wife Tessa there.  She was working for the Jockey Club, having earlier trained and ridden racehorses in Singapore.

In Ireland he quickly picked up bits and pieces of race writing work and calculated he would be able to leave accountancy behind completely after another two years. However, that eventuality never happened because he was given the sack by his accountancy company, a fortuitous occurrence in the long run. He worked as the full time Irish correspondent for the Sporting Post for 15 years and later worked for both the Racing Post and the Sunday Times.

He wrote three books in his 33 years in Ireland, one about the 13-time Irish Champion Flat Jockey Mick Kinane, another about ten-time Irish National Hunt Champion jockey Charlie Swan and a third about the legendary Aiden O’Brien-trained hurdler Istabraq, who won the Cheltenham Champion Hurdle three-times in succession and the Irish Champion Hurdle four-times in succession (Istabraq was ridden by Swan in all 29 of his races and won 14 Gr 1 races).

There was a special on course presentation for Clower when he left Ireland and he was called “one of the legends of Irish racing” over the public address system, so those moments were one of the highlights of his career.

He had decided upon Cape Town because his wife said to him one day she had spent 30 years in the sun and 30 years in the rain and she would like to spend the last period of their lives back in the sun.

In Cape Town he started the magazine SA Bloodstock News in unison with a magazine company. However, when the company began downsizing the magazine he felt it was starting to give him a bad name, so he discontinued it.

A number of breeders as well as trainer Joey Ramsden then lobbied on his behalf to become editor of Parade Magazine, but after a meeting at Gold Circle it was decided he would write for rather than edit the magazine and that suited him fine due to his love for writing. Later Gold Circle Publishing manager Andrew Harrison asked him to become the Racegoer’s Cape Town newspaper correspondent and he jumped at it.

Michael’s Equus award was the first media award he had received in his long career and he counts it as another highlight. In Ireland there were no media awards, but he did go close in the “Naps Table” on a number of occasions. On one of these occasions he was 10 pounds clear before the final meeting, but the second placed writer tipped a 20-1 winner and he was pipped on the post. “I was devastated for about five minutes and then saw the funny side!”

Michael had made it on to the shortlist of the Equus Print Media Award on a number of occasions so wasn’t expecting much when departing Cape Town on Tuesday with Tessa’s  words of encouragement ringing in his ears. He had always dearly wanted to win it and was humbled by the many words and messages of congratulations he received after being called on to the stage.

His two winning submissions were a Parade Magazine article about the popular owner Marsh Shirtliff and a Monday Racegoer newspaper page with follow up stories about the big races on Vodacom Durban July day.

Michael will be writing his preview for Kenilworth’s Saturday meeting today. His invaluable guide for the meeting can be read tomorrow in the broadsheet morning newspaper’s Racegoer supplement.

By David Thiselton