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.

The connections of the Paul Lafferty-trained Equus champion colt have sweated for a long time on his travel plan for the big race.vHowever, the Bidvest Group have come to their rescue and the Australian-bred three-year-old colt by Haradasun is booked on an unscheduled BidAir Cargo 737 flight from Durban to Cape Town on the day before the race. Harry’s Son is one of the most laid back horses in training and took both of his recent return journeys by road to Johannesburg in his stride, so should enjoy the flight.

Strydom will consequently relinquish the ride on the likely favourite for the race, the Joey Ramsden-trained Act Of War. He was forthright and said, “Harry’s Son will be up against. It will be his first time around a left hand turn, while Act Of War has experience of the course. But I have been with him for so much of his career that I feel it is right to stay with.”

Strydom said Harry’s Son had moved up so well in the early part of the straight in last weekend’s Investec Dingaans that he thought he might hit the front too soon. However, the classy colt suddenly became one-paced at the 300m mark and could only plug on gamely for a well beaten second. Strydom was not sure whether this was due to the horse not staying the tough Turffontein mile or due to the sticky conditions.

Strydom replaced the sidelined Anton Marcus on Act Of War for last weekend’s Gr 2 Selangor Cup and the latter is likely to be back aboard as soon as he returns from his thumb injury.

However, the brilliant Dynasty colt will always loom large whenever Strydom’s illustrious career is discussed as his victory in the Selangor gave the great jockey his 5000th career winner. The milestone accomplishment has been accompanied by much fanfare from the racing media, the wider media and the public.

Gold Circle honoured the achievement on Friday night by flying Strydom down for a lavish function at Greyville. It co-incided with a well attended night racemeeting and “Striker” was able to meet and greet his many Durban fans and sign autographs for them.

The six-times champion jockey said, “The 5000th winner was by far the greatest moment of my career, better than winning the July, the Met and the Gr 1 in Hong Kong.”

Picture: Piere Strydom with the Gold Circle Publishing crew. (Left to Right) Warren Lenferna, David Thiselton, Strydom, Andrew Harrison (Nkosi Hlophe)

The arduous five month journey she and the other Dubai bound South African horses took was via Mauritius and England.

Hauptfleisch said, “She took the travel and the quarantine very well and Mike (De Kock) said she is doing well in Dubai. The plan is for her to follow the same route that Shea Shea took. She will have a prep run at the end of January. She will then run on Super Saturday on March 7 and on World Cup night. After that she will go back to England and be aimed at Royal Ascot and other top sprints.”

The races Shea Shea took in were The Dubai Excellence Stakes, followed by Super Saturday’s Listed Meydan Sprint and World Cup night’s Gr 1 Al Quoz Sprint. All of these races are over 1000m on turf. In England he then ran in the Gr 1 King’s Stand Stakes over 1000m at Royal Ascot, the Gr 1 July Cup over 1200m at Newmarket, and the Gr 1 Nunthorpe over 1000m at York.

Hauptfleisch raced Via Africa’s mother, the Qui Danzig mare Bump ‘N Grind, with Noordhoek Beach-based trainer Mike Stewart and she won three races over 1000m. However, she does not have a strong female line on paper and Hauptfleisch consequently bought out his racing partners for breeding purposes. His father Gren owned a share in Var and the rest is history.

The now five-year-old Via Africa, who is part-owned by Albert Boshoff, won three Gr 1s under the care of KZN’s current champion trainer Duncan Howells. She was unlucky to not be named Equus three-year-old Champion Filly, but won the Equus Champion Sprinter Award last season.

Her siblings have not fared well to date and three to have raced have only won one race between them, and that was courtesy of her full-sister Imbolc.

However, Hauptfleisch has a share in Elusive Fort and Bump ‘N Grinds two foals by this stallion give reason for hope. The first of them a Howells-trained colt called Al Wahed gives Hauptfleisch “goose flesh” on looks alone and has had two promising starts, a 3,15 length third to the promising Dreamuponadream and a six length second to the top class Generalissimo, both over 1200m. The second of them is a two-year-old filly who looks remarkably alike Via Africa and she is also with Howells.

Bump ‘N Grind currently has a robust foal by Oratorio and is in foal again to Var.

One characteristic of her foals according to Hauptfleisch is that they all eat up every scrap which is always a bonus for a trainer.

Hauptfleisch and Bishoff were at Scottsville to watch the Howells-trained Spectrum gelding Zestful running in the Gold Circle Witness KZN Summer Challenge and their journey from Cape Town proved worthwhile as the horse won the race in commanding style despite carrying topweight.

Picture: Via Africa (Liesl King)