Latham has plenty of overseas experience already, having left to ride for Herman Brown in Dubai shortly after graduating from SAJA in 2007 and then riding for three seasons in Ireland for Ger Lyons. He also had a short stint in Mauritius last year.

Latham had a few rides in the UK during his three season stint in Ireland and among them was a win in the Gr 2 Temple Stakes over five furlongs at Haydock in 2011 aboard the remarkable Edward Lynam-trained Sole Power, who as a seven-year-old this year increased his career tally of Gr 1 wins to four after winning both the King’s Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot and the Nunthorpe at York.

The closest Latham has come to thoroughbred Gr 1 glory was when finishing a head back in third on Sole Power in the Gr 1 Prix De L’Abbaye over five furlongs at Longchamp in 2011.

However, he does have a Gr 1 win to his name in purebred Arabian racing, landing the HH The Presidents Cup in Abu Dhabi on a horse called Dynamite in 2008. He made a bit of history in the process as Dynamite became the first locally bred horse to win the prestigious event.

The win in that race attracted the attention of legendary Irish jockey Johnny Murtagh, who then recommended Latham to Lyons.

Latham rode 113 winners in his 2008-2010 stint in Ireland with a high of 44 winners in 2009. He had three winners in the UK in that period.

Latham rode over 100 winners as an apprentice and received a lot of support from Mike de Kock, which brought him a victory in just his second year of race riding in the Gr 2 Gold Vase aboard Wise Son in 2006 and in that same season he also won the Listed Flamboyant Stakes on the top class De Kock-trained Bold Ellinore.

Latham’s other Graded successes in South Africa have been in the Gr 3 King’s Cup on the Glen Kotzen-trained Moscow Rising in 2007, the Gr 2 Senor Santa Handicap in 2012 on the Herman Brown/Frank Robinson-trained Antious and the Gr 2 Post Merchants on the Michael Roberts-trained Mike’s Choice in 2012.

He is hoping to be based around Newmarket in the UK next year. Jockeys ride seven days a week in the UK and spend a lot of time on the road travelling to the many racecourses, so every one of them has an agent. There are more than 35 jockeys’ agents over there and a rider’s success is partly determined by their astuteness in finding competitive rides.

Latham has a British passport as his father Kevin, who now lives in Hillcrest, was born there.

Latham said upon returning from overseas a few years ago that race riding in Ireland and Britain was generally easier than over here, “The horses are bred to handle softer going and are also fitter. They don’t train them faster, but rather further. The average horse that is race fit will have two hard gallops over a mile per week and on the other days will canter over a mile. They are consequently easier rides than the ones over here as they are not as tuned up. Generally the horses train themselves and will let us know when they are ready to race.”

Picture: Keegan Latham (Nkosi Hlophe)

“Those two weekends were never part of her program and she will likely be running in the Diadem and will then run in either the Queen’s Plate or Paddock Stakes and then the mile on Met day.”

The races Bass was referring to were the Gr 2 Khaya Stable Diadem Stakes over 1200m on December 27, the Gr 1 L’Ormarin’s Queen’s Plate over 1600m or the Gr 1 Maine Chance Farms Paddock Stakes over 1800m on January 10, and the Gr 1 Klawervlei Majorca Stakes over 1600m on J&B Met day January 31.

He added that he had deliberately planned a fairly light Cape Summer Of Champions season campaign for Hammie’s Hooker (pictured) in order to keep something “in the tank” for a possible big race campaign in Johannesburg, where he currently has a small satellite yard. The Gr 1 Laurie Jaffee Empress Club Stakes over 1600m on April 11 would be her most obvious target on the Highveld, although races like the Gr 2 Hawaii Stakes over 1400m on February 28 and the Gr 1 HF Oppenheimer Horse Chestnut Stakes over 1600m on March 28 could also be options.

Bernard Fayd’Herbe is the regular rider of Hammie’s Hooker and said recently that she was the horse he was most looking forward to riding this season, an indication of her class. The merit rated 110 mare certainly looks to have a few big races at her mercy now that her nemesis Beach Beauty is retired.

Hammie’s Hooker has only had one race this season to date and finished a fine 0,85 length third to her stablemate Tevez on November 16 in the Gr 2 Cape Merchants over 1200m, despite giving the winner 2,5kg.

Bass has one runner in Saturday’s Gr 2 Vasco Premier Trophy over 1800m, the talented but temperamental Jet Master gelding Heldeberg Blue. He has won his last two starts, both over this distance, in good style and Bass said, “We have done a lot of work with him and he has settled down a lot, he is almost normal. We will see how he shapes on Saturday to see whether he runs in the J&B Met, although I don’t think he can beat a horse like Legislate in the Met. Saturday’s race is not cut and dried, but he is doing well and I think he will run well.”

The yard run the four-year-old Trippi filly Shingwedzi and the three-year-old Australian-bred Authorized filly Lucky Tuesday in the Victress Stakes.

Bass felt that the well-drawn hard-knocking Shigwedzi had a reasonable chance in this race, but said Lucky Tuesday would be “thrown in the deep end”, especially from her wide draw.

Meanwhile another top jockey who is on the sidelines, Kevin Shea, has undergone a back operation and is recovering in hospital.

Marcus(pictured) was substituted by Piere Strydom aboard Act Of War in the Gr 2 Selangor Cup and the horse’s reputation as the best three-year-old male in the country was enhanced after his impressive win in that race.

However, Strydom revealed over the weekend that he will remain loyal to the Paul Lafferty-trained Harry’s Son for the Cape Guineas.

This leaves the ride on Act Of War vacant.

The favourites to fill it are likely to be Bernard Fayd’Herbe and Sean Cormack, both of whom have been called on regularly by the Ramsden yard during the current Cape Summer Of Champions Season.

Shea was looking forward to a good season before being struck down by excruciating back pain at the beginning of September. This turned out to be a “bulged C3 vertebra” which was causing one of the discs to touch a nerve. Fortunately, scans showed no damage to the nerves and after a program of rehabilitation he was back in the saddle on October 12. Despite riding a double on the Greyville polytrack a week later on two classy Charles Laird-trained three-year-olds, Rich Girl and Thirtytwosquadron, he was back on the sidelines less than a week later with the same back pain. This time it was shown to be a bulged vertebra lower down. The cause of these problems is simply due to wear and tear after 37 years in the saddle. Shea was initially confident that he would overcome the setback again through a program of strengthening the core area of the body as well as the ligaments near the vertebra. However, he eventually had to agree to the back operation, which was always going to be the last resort between himself and his sports medicine consultant, the former Sharks team doctor, Craig Springate.

He said from his hospital bed over the weekend Sunday, “I am lucky that we did decide to have the operation as the surgeon said that my back was a mess. There was more damage than the MRI scan and the X-rays had shown. The one vertebra was collapsing and new discs have had to be put in. It is going to be a long way back as there is a big adjustment. I will virtually have to learn to walk again. I have taken one or two steps, but am walking like a new born giraffe! The pain is absolutely excruciating, but one would expect to have to deal with that for a spinal injury in which they have had to cut through the muscles.”

Shea said he would love to return to the saddle, but had not yet discussed his riding future with any medical experts.

The operation was performed by a neurosurgeon and an orthopaedic surgeon and was watched by Springate, so he is in good hands.

He will be in hospital for about another week and concluded, “I am hoping to have a good 2015.”

His riding statistics for the season are 8 wins from just 50 rides for a strike rate of 16% and most race fans will be hoping to see his sublime big race skills as usual in next year’s Champions Season.

Lafferty said: “It’s a real safari by road and we are not going to bu**** around. He is a muscle-bound horse and I don’t want him on a heavy track. We will land in Cape Town early on the morning of the race and fly him back again afterwards.”

Piere Strydom, who has ridden the Australian-bred in his last four starts, will again have the mount. The six-time champion won the race on Pointing North in 2008.

Harry’s Son was beaten four and a quarter lengths by 55-1 shock Unparalleled when starting 16-10 favourite for the Investec Dingaans last time but Lafferty was well satisfied with the performance.

He said: “The heavens opened 40 minutes before the Dingaans and the ground became an absolute bog. I thought they were going to have to cancel racing. Our horse ran his heart out but he couldn’t get near one who loved the going.

“I have great respect for the other horses in the Guineas, especially Joey Ramsden’s Act Of War who I think is a superstar, but we are not going to shirk the challenge. We’ve got to get down there and take them on.”

Generalissimo, who broke the Kenilworth 1 200m record last month but failed to stay when tried over a mile in the Selangor, has not been entered.

Dennis Drier said that there are no definite plans for the colt at this stage, adding: “I will play it by ear, freshen him up and then bring him back sprinting.”

New hold up tactics have paid off for the Kumaran Naidoo-trained five-year-old Albert’s Hall gelding Albert and he finished strongly off his lowest ever merit of 75 to win the 1200m final under Warren Kennedy. The Mike Miller-trained Clear Sailing had looked the winner when striking the front at the 300m mark but had no answer to Albert’s finish. The favourite Varbration led early but was found afterwards to not be striding out on his left hind and faded out. Commodity Strike finished third and was followed by Libertine and Mr Harry. Albert, owned by the Sukhraj family, was bred by Cecil and Gary Baitz, who ironically own Clear Sailing.

The Doug Campbell-trained five-year-old Miesque’s Approval gelding Kentucky Guest looked a picture going down to the start of the 1950m final and after travelling comfortably in midfield throughout he ran on resolutely to win by an easy 1,5 lengths under Donovan Dillon. This horse was battling until stepped up in trip and looks to have a whole new career ahead of him now as he is relishing the extra ground. De La Danza pipped the second favourite Zhivago for second. Delamere and Good Idea were next best. The favourite Buck Shot was unsettled in the preliminaries and overraced badly, so was eventually pulled out of the race.

Kentucky Guest winning at Scottsville yesterday (Nkosi Hlophe)

Kentucky Guest was bred by Campbell and he also owns him in partnership with Raymond and Paula Deacon, BE Miskin, Morgan Pillay and AR Rapp.

The Duncan Howells-trained five-year-old Spectrum gelding Zestful caught the eye going to post in the 1600m final and after being settled well by Stuart Randolph produced a strong run down the inside to win comfortably despite carrying topweight. Sacred Jewel pipped the joint favourite Auction King for second. Translunar and Big Bird were next best. Zestful is owned by Albert Boshoff and Andre Hauptfleisch and was bred by Highlands Farm Stud.

King’s Gold was the highest points earner in the series and earned R28,500 for his trainers Greg and Karin Anthony. Royal Colours and Royalsecuritypower were joint second and earned R10,750 for trainers Paul Gadsby and Kumaran Naidoo respectively.

Mike de Kock completed a fine weekend when his odds-on first-timer by Captain Al, Captain’s Cup, converted stable confidence over 1200m in the second race under Anthony Delpech. On Saturday De Kock not only won the Gr 1 Avontuur Estate Cape Guineas with the brilliant Majmu over, but also the Listed Advance Fire Systems Secretariat Stakes over 1400m at Turffontein with the Australian-bred Northern Meteor colt Mitraad, who just got up under Randall Simons despite carrying topweight. All three of the aforementioned winners were owned by Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum. De Kock added another winner yesterday when his Western Winter gelding Rockaberry Lane won a 1200m handicap under Delpech.

Howells and Randolph also had a double at Scottsville yesterday as King Of Torts won a competitive Pinnacle Stakes event over 1400m.

There were also maiden race wins yesterday for Michael Roberts and Brandon Lerena with Aqaba, Dennis Bosch and Muzi Yeni with Surfing Belle and Tony Rivalland and Athandiwe Mgudlwa with Listen And Learn. The latter caused a major 33/1 upset in the last leg of the Pick 6.