No Worries, a four-year-old Kahal gelding, stayed on steadily in the Gr 2 Drill Hall Stakes over the too sharp 1 400m at Greyville last Saturday, finishing a 5,4 length seventh. He will have benefitted from the run and will have a chance over the suitable 1 900m trip next Friday as long as the tactics employed are favourable.

His best runs last season were when the blinkers were on and he was held up. On both of those occasions, in the Gr 1 Daily News 2000 and the July respectively, he ran on powerfully.

In the Cape summer he didn’t have it his way in any of his races. He needs to be rousted out of the gates, due to a tardy starting habit he was beginning to develop early in his career, and when he had the blinkers on during that disappointing Cape campaign he took hold of the bit and ended up too handy. However, when they were finally dispensed with for the L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate he was still taken to the front in order to overcome a wide draw.

Things appeared to have gone well for him without blinkers in the running of the J&B Met, but he proved in that race that he produces his best with the blinkers on as he failed to go on with his effort in the straight.

There is no doubting his latent ability and he is due some luck, so should be a big runner in the 1900.

He is drawn nine out of the 39 entries, so looks likely to get a favourable barrier position and the early cover he will need in order to be settled near the back.

Shogunnar, a five-year-old Solskjaer gelding, hurt himself while in Cape Town after he had won his only start this season over 1 600m at Kenilworth on November 3. The yard could not pinpoint what was wrong with him, so chose to rest him.

He has “bounced back” after rehabilitation on the treadmill and has been doing “very nicely” ever since. He finished only 4,65 lengths back in last year’s July and only three lengths back in the Gold Cup. His next intended run after the 1900 will be in the Gr 2 weight for age Betting World Derby over 2 500m at Clairwood, which is now open to all ages. The Gold Cup is likely his main mission of the Champions Season.

Meanwhile, the yard’s now dual Gr 1-winning champion filly Along Came Polly is doing well at Summerveld and has become more relaxed with age, an asset which is always welcomed in horseracing. The Judpot filly was given a bit of an easier program for a few days after her Gr 1 Laurie Jaffee Empress Club Stakes (1 600m) victory, but has never been out of training and was soon back in full work. Her next race will likely be in the Gr 1 Woolavington 2000 at Greyville, where she landed her first career Gr 1 in last season’s Thekwini Stakes over 1600m.

The Gr 1 SA Oaks runner up Mohave Princess, an Australian-bred bred filly by Mount Nelson, has been doing well in Johannesburg and will be coming down for the Woolavington 2000. She was unlucky in the GR 1 SA Classic, when sent for home too soon and only finishing two lengths back in sixth, so will enjoy the Greyville 2 000m trip.

The yard’s promising two-year-old colt Trippi colt Punk Rocker will be running in the Gr 1 Tsogo Sun Medallion over 1 200m at Scottsville on May 24.

He has won two from two and showed tremendous resolve when beating Beckedorf in the Gr 3 Godolphin Barb Stakes over 1 100m last time out. This pair went eyeball to eyeball for 500m in that race but Punk Rocker got the upper hand late despite having to give 2kg to the runner up.

Beckedorf franked the form by winning a Maiden Juvenile Plate by 4,25 lengths next time out. Punk Rocker has the credentials to be a contender in the Medallion as he has good cruising speed together with the ability to kick and then fight on all the way to the line.

The yard’s former sprinting star Franny has been retired, having failed to recapture her excellent two-year-old and three-year-old form on her return from a fetlock injury, although she did finish a close-up third in the Gr 2 Sceptre Stakes over 1 200m at Kenilworth in January.[/expand]

Maybe Yes, a compact daughter of Tiger Ridge, showed an explosive turn of foot and won comfortably, defying her 16-1 odds. However, Crawford is not sure she will stay the 2 000m trip of the Gr 1 Woolavington 2000 on May 31, so is still thinking about her next step.

The Gr 2 Tibouchina over 1 450m at Clairwood on June 7 and the Gr 1 Jonsson Workwear Garden Province Stakes over 1 600m on Vodacom Durban July day are the obvious targets for a miler, while the Gr 2 Gold Bracelet over 1 800m on Gold Cup day could also be an option.

Captain America, a strapping colt by Captain Al, has always had the Gr 1 Daily News 2000 as his main Champions Season target and will likely be at his peak for that race.

It is often said that big horses are not suited to Greyville, but the key to the course is actually a turn of foot and he has shown before in Cape Town that he has that asset in abundance. He did battle to quicken on Saturday, but that likely had more to with needing the outing.

Furthermore, it is interesting to note that Captain America, despite finishing three lengths behind Legislate in the KRA Guineas, still had a considerably quicker time than Maybe Yes’s winning time in the KRA Fillies Guineas, 1,27 seconds quicker to be exact.

Legislate, trained by Justin Snaith, must be some horse and Richard Fourie did say afterwards that this Dynasty colt was one of the best horses he had ever ridden. It was not surprising that he shortened from 14-1 into 9-2 joint favourite for the Vodacom Durban July after his fine performance last Saturday. Captain America is currently a 16-1 shot.

The shortest priced Crawford-trained horse in the Vodacom Durban July betting at this stage is the unexposed three-year-old Dynasty colt Futura, who has won three out of four starts and been particularly impressive in his last two outings, which were both over 1 600m, at Kenilworth and Clairwood respectively. He is 10-1 in the betting.

Crawford has entered Futura for the Betting World 1900. He is currently merit rated only 85, but did beat the likes of KRA Guineas fourth-placed Top Jet at level weights in his last start in a Graduation Plate and also beat Wild One, who ran last year’s July, by 5,5 lengths at level weights in that same race.

The selection process for the big Champions Season’s races doesn’t only go on merit ratings and an exciting prospect like this stands a chance of being included above a higher rated horse.

The yard’s Gr 2 Sceptre Stakes winner Reflective Image is on track for the Gr 1 SA Fillies Sprint.

She ran 6,35 lengths back in the Gr 3 Poinsettia Stakes over 1 200m last time out at Clairwood, which was her first run since finishing tailed off in the Gr 1 Klawervlei Majorca Stakes over 1 600m on J&B Met day. She was outpaced in the Poinsettia before making up plenty of ground and might appreciate the tougher Scottsville 1 200m course.[/expand]

Watson went on to point out that the average racehorse causes more heart ache than it causes joy. “Horses are fragile things, they drop dead, they break down, need long spells and the majority of them are just too slow. So why do we persist? “ Yet there has to be a reason why so many people own racehorses and keep on acquiring them.

According to Watson the answer lies in the horse and in the age old relationship that has existed between man and horse. “We are wired to the beasts”, he explained . They have exercised and inspired our imagination for centuries. An animal that just happens to have a gap between its molars where a bit would fit and with a finely tuned flight instinct honed in age when they were easy prey for sabre tooth tigers. “Of course”, Watson added with a twinkle in his eye, “that’s probably why we have to put blinkers on them, as there is bound to be a sabre tooth tiger lurking in that car park adjacent to the home straight.”

Jokes aside, Watson has probably owned thirty odd horses during his lifetime and he has certainly heard every excuse in the book as to why a particular horse could not win a particular race. “Besides the physical limitations of the horse, you have the added influences of the state of the track, the vigor of the jockey or lack thereof and the trainer, farrier or vet’s ability to keep it fit, sound and healthy. Then there is a gene that kicks in to remind the horse that it is a leader and should fight to the end or that it belongs back in the herd.”

Yet people still want to own horses. Watson points out much of his childhood was spent dreaming of an ordinary horse belonging to his father’s friend, before he switched the focus of his attention to a magnificent chestnut sprinter called Vain. Vain was a champion, but as Watson pointed out, you need to own ordinary horses to understand how freakish the champions are. So are we any closer to figuring out why people would even want to own a horse or follow horseracing?

According to Watson, the one thing that connects racing to the popular culture is a charismatic horse, a champion that is the face of racing. The ones that write themselves into the history books and fire the imagination of ordinary people. Yet racing does very little with is champions, treating them almost as an accessory, he adds and therein lies the cause of some of the disconnect between racing and popular culture.

To conclude, Watson ends with another question, one he came across in a questionnaire once: “What would make owning a racehorse more attractive to you?” The simple answer, according to Watson? Owning a better horse of course!

Bill Barich, lead writer for the TV series Luck agreed, pointing out that when he spent ten weeks on the backstretch of a racetrack, the stories people told him always involved a horse. Racing may be a confined universe, where people’s lives are completely enmeshed, but it is a great leveller, a great democracy and at its centre is the horse. The horse provides that spark of life, the excitement and the noise as it thunders down the home straight. For Barich, who seldom speaks in public, the answer is simple. Make racing more about the horse and you will reconnect with the popular culture.

In closing, Chris Luoni and Gerald Fell, explained why they set up a NZ Hall Of Fame. For Luoni it was very straightforward. “I loved the stories. We had the opportunity to use the digital media to tell the stories of the heroes and their histories to the young people. Phar Lap’s skeleton is on display, but it is a bare sterile bunch of bones. So we put his story on film and it was an instant success .”

These DVD’s have certainly gone some way towards making the horse the centre of the story of racing again as Gerald explains. “We have gone back and made DVD’s of our great horses such as Carbine, Phar Lap and Sunline, and these are regularly used as fillers by our local racing channel.” And enabling people to reconnect with the stars of the past, will hopefully fire their imagination to follow the stars of the future.
– Hong Kong Jockey Club[/expand]

Log as at May 6, 2014

# Horse Trainer MR
1 YORKER Geoff Woodruff 118
2 HILL FIFTY FOUR Vaughan Marshall 112
3 LOUIS THE KING Geoff Woodruff 109
4 LEGISLATE Justin Snaith 109
5 CAPETOWN NOIR Dean Kannemeyer 112
6 ATHINA Joe Soma 101
7 BEACH BEAUTY Dennis Drier 112
8 TELLINA Geoff Woodruff 110
9 POMODORO Sean Tarry 109
10 WYLIE HALL Weiho Marwing 109
11 PUNTA ARENAS Stan Elley 108
12 JET EXPLORER Justin Snaith 109
13 AS YOU LIKE Alec Laird 100
14 CAPTAIN AMERICA Brett Crawford 106
15 WHITELINE FEVER Sean Tarry 110
16 IN THE FAST LANE Justin Snaith 105

17 HALVE THE DEFICIT Sean Tarry 104
18 ROYAL ZULU WARRIOR Kumaran Naidoo 110
19 ESPUMANTI Mike de Kock 105
20 NO WORRIES Gavin van Zyl 107

NEXT 10 IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER
ASTRO NEWS Charles Laird 109
BEZANOVA Alec Laird 102
CAGIVA Sean Tarry 103
HOT TICKET Dean Kannemeyer 108
ICE MACHINE Dean Kannemeyer 108
JET BELLE Glen Kotzen 103
RIO CARNIVAL Charles Laird 112
RUN FOR IT Justin Snaith 109
SHOGUNNAR Gavin van Zyl 104
TRIBAL DANCE Vaughan Marshall 107

Important Dates:
– Tuesday, 13 May 2014: First Supplementary Entries
– Tuesday, 13 May 2014: First Declarations
– Monday, 2 June 2014: Second Declarations
– Monday, 9 June 2014: Final Supplementary Entries
– Tuesday, 10 June 2014: Weights Published
– Monday, 23 June 2014: Declarations close
– Tuesday, 24 June 2014: Final Field and Barrier Draw
– Thursday, 26 June 2014: Gallops at Greyville

Betting: 5-1 Legislate, Louis The King, 9-1 Yorker, 10-1 Beach Beauty, Futura, 16-1 Captain America, 20-1 As You Like, Capetown Noir, Hill Fifty Four, 25-1 Rio Carnival, Tellina, 33-1 Jet Explorer, King Of Pain, Pomodoro, Readytogorightnow, Run For It, Whistle Stop, Whiteline Fever, 40-1 Cagiva, Punta Arenas, 50-1 Athina, Halve The Deficit, Hot Ticket, Jet Belle, Rake`s Chestnut, Silvano`s Jet, Wylie Hall, 66-1 upwards others.[/expand]

Yet London News travelled to Hong Kong directly from Cape Town, after 40 days of quarantine, while Variety Club had to complete five months of quarantine in three countries, highlighting the fact that South Africa now faces greater constraints than it did seventeen years ago.

Hence, Variety Club’s victory could not have come at a better moment as it took place in front of the 800 delegates of the 35th Asian Racing Conference, firmly placing the spotlight on the difficult quarantine demands placed on South African racehorses.

“I think if there is not already an incentive for the Asian Racing Conference to facilitate a better travel situation for South African horses to the great races of the world, then we saw one today,” said Hong Kong Jockey Club CEO Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges at the conclusion of the Champions Mile.

Engelbrecht-Bresges has taken it upon himself to pursue an improvement to the current restrictions. “One of the tasks that is in my area as Deputy Vice-Chairman of the International Horse Racing Federation is the issue of horses travelling and we will definitely have a look at putting it on the agenda to take forward.”

Already on the agenda of the current Asian Racing Conference, currently underway in Hong Kong,was the Plenary Session ‘Movement of Horses’, with Racing South Africa’s Peter Gibson as one of the speakers.

The main topic under discussion was the development of a ‘high health, high performance’ (HHP) concept in order to address the challenges of irregular and excessive health requirements forhorses travelling internationally.

The World Organisation for Animal Health(OIE) project leader, Dr Susanne Münstermann, explained how the OIE is working towards developing international standards for the movement of competition horses, travellingfor the sole purpose of participating in racing or FEI competitions.

Dr Münstermann pointed out that competition horses are closely scrutinised, highly identifiable and traceable and as such pose a low health risk.

Consequently they are a unique subgroup of the global population, which the project has labelled the ‘High Health, High Performance’ subgroup.

Gibson followed on from this, pointing out that not only do the South African racehorses fall in this high performance, high health subgroup, but that African horse sickness is a seasonal disease and hence competition horses can be safely exported during the winter months, from what is arguably the best vector protected quarantine station in the world.

“If the importing countries are willing to consider the true risk of African Horse Sickness, within the current shortcomings of our current system, there is a means of exporting horses from South Africa in a completely safe and professional manner during the winter months,” Gibson explained.

“What is required is a reliable, safe and regular delivery system of South African horses, in order to compete on the International stage.”

Gibson pointed out that possible export solutions could include the upgrading of the current quarantine facilities to provide continuous vector protection, enhanced surveillance of the AHS control area and significant advances in diagnostic testing.[/expand]