Dean Kannemeyer said yesterday: “Last year we felt that he wasn’t ready to travel so we kept him at home for the winter triple crown and he almost pulled it off. I am looking at certain feature races with him in Durban, he is the type of horse that can do it and he leaves the following week.”

Breco Seafoods, whose managing director is passionate racehorse owner Etienne Braun,  sponsor the Prix du Cap and will be providing prawns at special low prices.

Kenilworth marketing manager Jenna Adams said: “We will have more working stations this time so there won’t be the huge queues that we had last year.”

The Cape Carnival minstrels will be at the meeting and there will be draws for R70 000 worth of home appliances (including televisions) and a fridge with a R2 000 seafood voucher.

Kevin Wright said that due to the nature of his injury (tendon) he had been “underworked”, while Alyson added that recent rain co-inciding with his intended hard-working days had also affected his preparation.

Kevin said, “There is no way to get him ready for the season in time unless we start him somewhere and after such a long break he will need this run and at least another one before he is back to where he was.”

The yard were therefore not bullish about even his class perhaps bringing him a victory in the Graduation Plate race over 1200m, in which he is well in at the weights.

Alyson added, “Otherwise everything has gone really well in his prep and it will be good to see him back.”

The Wright yard have another interesting runner on the day in the form of the three-year-old Go Deputy filly Alpine Ridge, who runs in the fifth race, a MR 76 Handicap over 1400m for fillies and mares. Alsyon admitted that it was a very competitive field, so hoped Alpine Ridge could run a place. The filly has a tricky draw of nine to overcome, but considering Scottsville is very much a “horses for courses” type of a track, the most interesting statistic in her three run career to date is that she has had one outing at the course for one victory.  She won here on debut over 1200m in “very soft” conditions, despite being palpably outpaced early, so she will definitely prefer the 1400m trip.  Another noticeable detail of her debut was that she had to run around the inside horses that day and finished in the centre of the track. From her draw she will likely have to come down the centre again. A factor in her favour is that the progeny of Go Deputy improve continually with age.

The Wright yard have a colt by Western Winter, Mr Roy owned by Roy Moodley, whom they hope can follow in the footsteps of Kochka. He disappointed after being backed into 28/10 second favourite on Sunday over 1200m up against the promising Mike de Kock-trained winner Baahir and managed only a 7,25 length fourth. However, it was discovered immediately after the race that his nose was streaming mucous. He had shown no sign of ill effects before the race and this virus has apparently been common lately. He should be watched in future starts.

Muhtafal, a strapping chestnut owned by Sheik Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s Shadwell, was the last son of Mr Prospector to stand at stud in South Africa and the most successful in the Southern Hemisphere.

His best progeny included Paris Perfect who finished third in the Gr1 Dubai World Cup, along with Gr 1 winners Outcome, Disappear and Lets Rock ‘n Roll as well as Gr 2 winners Fair Brutus, Veiled Essence, Thunder Key, Arabian Mist, First Again and Here Comes Billy.

Muhtafal will always be remembered for his good looks, powerful physique and the speed he put into his progeny.

However, Paris Pefect’s Dubai World Cup third-place, Outcome’s win in the Gr 1 Garden Province Stakes and Veiled Essence’s win in the Gold Circle Derby over 2400m proved that he was not just about pure speed and could also pass on class.

His home for many years in South Africa was Summerhill Stud, whom he helped win nine consecutive National Breeder’s Championship titles. Summerhill’s owner Mick Goss once famously said, “If I had to go to war I would take Muhtafal.”

Greg Muir has been the long time stallion manager at Summerhill Stud and believed that had Muhtafal not been injured as a two-year-old he might never have made it to South Africa, for he could still have been anything as a three-year-old.

He only had three starts and set two track records over 1200m, including at Keeneland. In his third and last start in a Gr 3 he held the lead over the top class Mr Greeley for almost a mile before injury struck, ending a very promising racing career. Mr Greeley went on to become a sire of international repute.

Muhtafal only covered about 14 mares in his first season in the USA and when first arriving at Sumerhill they were horrified to discover that it took him an average of between two to two-and-a-half hours to cover each mare. It is a tribute to Summerhill and Muir’s dedication that Muhtafal covered books of close to 70 mares in his busiest seasons. They tried a number of tactics to overcome his fussy covering habits, including taking him into the more natural environment of a paddock and they also moved his stable block in amongst the mares to create a herd atmosphere.

However, Muir believed that his fussiness was due to him being more “naturally inclined” in a world where consideration for a thoroughbred’s stallion’s whims are not often considered.

He said, “The smell of estrogen is what attracts a stallion to a mare in the wild and I personally believe that if it didn’t smell right Muhtafal was not going to cover. On some occasions he took as little as ten minutes to cover. In the end if he had not covered within 20 minutes we would send the mare back to the vet to be rechecked.”

Muir added that despite all of his problems, he was very fertile and had a high strike rate of getting his mares in foal.

Muhtafal was a gentleman by nature and doted upon the lady who took care of him at Summerhill, Ollie Duda. His loveable character made him a favourite among most of the other staff.

Muir said that he was typical of a Mr Prospector sire in that he “toed out” on one leg.

However, he added, “There is nothing like a horse to put dirt on your face. A lot of horses are badly conformed but learn to run and will always surprise you. Muhtafal was well bred and had the attributes as a racehorse to make it as a sire.”

Muhtafal spent his latter years at Bruce and Delia le Roux’s Spring Valley Stud. Le Roux retired him last season after just one cover as it had become obvious that he was battling to perform, which caused him much frustration.

After over a year off in the paddocks, his health deteriorated and on top of his aches and pains he suffered a number of “niggling colics.” He had also begun to not want to eat his special diet. His quality of life had become such that eventually a humane decision had to be made.

Richard Lancaster, Shadwell’s Stud Director commented: “It is always sad to lose a stallion, especially one so well loved and influential as Muhtafal. On behalf of Shadwell, I would like to thank the KZN Breeders for their continued support and of course, Bruce and Delia le Roux for their excellent management of Muhtafal in both his professional and retired life”.

Bruce le Roux said, “It was an honour and pleasure to stand Muhtafal for the last few years, rest in peace, Muht.”

Picture supplied by: Sportingpost.co.za

Part of a monstrous five-win haul on the afternoon for Size, Thunder Fantasy’s 23-1 upset over Redkirk Warrior (Joao Moreira) in a desperate finish was the trainer’s third win in the race.

Only Ambitious Dragon and Designs On Rome have collected the Classic Cup on the way to winning the Derby, the race has been a shaky pointer to the Derby winner and this year’s renewal promised more of the same.

For Teetan, the Classic Cup win was his first Hong Kong Group One win and a turnaround in a season which has utterly failed to mirror his great debut year in 2013-14, with the Mauritian winning just his 16th race yesterday.

“A big thank you to Mr Size for believing in me and trusting me with this horse,” he said. “I’m over the moon. The horse settled better in the hood today, and right from day one Mr Size said the further he goes the better he will be. The main thing is he relaxed and gave me a great kick.”

Thunder Fantasy’s win was a local milestone as the son of Lucky Owners became the first Group One winner here to have been sired by a Hong Kong Derby winner, and Size said the horse had done everything right since he landed.

– South China Morning Post

The colt arrived at Gordon’s yard over the weekend. Gordon said, “He is very highly rated and it’s very exciting for us to be sent a horse of this quality.”

Royal Life was the talk of the course on his debut over 1200m at Scottsville on November 30 last year, having shortened from an opening price of 10/1 into 22/10.

However, on that occasion he found the trip too sharp and was unable to catch another promising sort, the Tony Rivalland-trained Highway Explorer, who followed up by beating older horses in a MR 74 handicap over the same course and distance off a merit rating of 81.

In his second start over 1600m at Scottsville, Royal Life came from a handy position and after showing a good turn of foot he galloped clear of the opposition. He got better the further he went and when crossing the line full of running under Stuart Randolph was giving the impression that he still had a couple of gears in reserve. Down the field that day was the Rattray-owned Crevasse, an easy winner of his subsequent start.

Royal Life was bought at the 2013 Bloodstock South Africa National Yearling Sales for R350,000. His first owner was Ray Koedyk, who is well known in racing and has held colours for many years.

Royal Life is out of the six-time winner Time Of My Life, who finished second in the prestigious Gr 1 Paddock Stakes over 1800m.

He was bred by Geoff Armitage, who was a many-time champion breeder of Zimbabwe and now owns Sandown Stud in the Western Cape, which is run by his son James.

Geoff’s brother, the late Volksrust-based breeder Trevor Armitage, bred the amazing Dennis Drier-trained Dynasty mare Beach Beauty.

Gordon is presently the longest standing Summerveld trainer and has been in fine recent form. He is no stranger to top horses, having trained the like of the brilliant sprinter Scarlet Lady as well as Extra Cover and others. Rattray needs no introduction as a doyen of owning and breeding in South Africa.

It will be interesting to see whether Royal Life develops into a Vodacom Durban July prospect, because he certainly gives the impression he will relish the 2200m trip. The July has always been the race Rattray has most wanted to win, but to date it has eluded him, albeit narrowly on a couple of occasions.