Jockey Karl Zechner has matured tremendously in the tough profession he has chosen and the Triple Crown hopeful Abashiri could take this once virtually forgotten about rider to the next level.

Zechner believes there is a still a lot more to come in both his and Abashiri’s career, so it is exciting times.

Zechner said it was the move to Johannesburg half-way through 2012 which helped his career turn around.

However, before that an eight month stint in New Zealand in 2009 riding for the small string of owner John Carter also helped his riding, despite the sojourn only yielding two winners.

He said, “It’s very different out there, it’s very rough, they don’t give an inch and I learnt a lot about placing a horse. It’s wet and the ground is often sticky, so the going becomes very important, you had to know where it was best on the day.”

His tactical nous improved as well as his understanding of racing due to the many people he met from a country passionate about the sport.

In Johannesburg Zechner was given a lot more opportunities. He had a big win on the Saeed Mohideen-trained Zambucca in the Gr 2 Victory Moon Stakes of 2012, a race he was to win again in 2014 aboard the Tyrone Zackey-trained Judicial.

On New Year’s Day 2013 Zechner was reunited with Royal Zulu Warrior, who amazingly returned from a layoff of nearly two years to win the Gr 3 Lebelo Sprint at Turffontein. Zechner had ridden this horse to respective nine length and six length victories over 1200m at Clairwood back in December 2010 and regarded him as the best he had ridden until climbing aboard Abashiri.

Zechner began rising up the National Jockeys log and this was helped further when his travels to Port Elizabeth culminated in a lethal partnership with trainer Dorrie Sham.

From the doldrums of the 2011/2012 season, when riding just nine winners, he broke into the top 20 last season, riding 71 winners and finishing 14th on the log. On top of that his 17 winners at Borrowdale saw him crowned Zimbabwean Champion Jockey. This term he has broken into the top ten in South Africa and is currently in 8th position. He drew level with his record of 71 winners in a season on Friday at Fairview when riding the Yvette Bremner-trained Copper Parade to victory in the Listed East Cape Sprint Cup. His strike rate, with still over four months of the season remaining, has improved to 10.58%.

Zechner, who is known for his strength, has always admired top riders like Piere Strydom, Jeff Lloyd and Anton Marcus and their professionalism has rubbed off on him.

He studies every race he is going to be riding in, so will know which is the horse to follow and where both the pace and the dangers will be coming from. The going is often paramount and he always tries to position himself on the right side as early as possible.

His agent Desmond Zackey and wife Lauren have also played big roles in maintaining his career on an upward curve Zechner is one of three jockeys who could probably count themselves as stable jockey to the ever more powerful yard of Mike Azzie. He said, “I share the rides with JP (van der Merwe) and Callan (Murray). Mr Azzie puts on the riders which suit the horse best.”

Zechner used to help Azzie out on the training tracks at Summerveld during the Champions Season and the favour is now being returned.

Zechner describes the Go Deputy gelding Abashiri as a very professional horse, who can correct minor mistakes made by a jockey. He is a tough horse too and wasn’t phased by the bumps and squeezes he received early in the Gauteng Guineas. The mile is too short for him, so Zechner asked him to unwind early in the straight, not wanting to be caught flat footed. This decision turned out to be spot on.

The giant-striding bay will relish the 1800m trip of the Gr 1 SA Classic and should get the SA Derby trip of 2450m.

Zechner said, “We have a tough couple of weeks in front of us, although he is an easy horse to work with. He wants to get to the track, but once he’s there he relaxes and enjoys his work. Like most good horses he reserves his best for the races.”

Abashiri is fast becoming the darling of the public and Zechner concluded, “He has opened doors for me, these are the horses you want to try and get on. I’m very fortunate, he is very smart and he is young, so is only going to progress.”

By David Thiselton

The Frank Robinson-trained Dynasty filly Olma proved herself the best polytrack horse in the country by winning the Gr 3 Kings Cup over 1600m on Friday night at Greyville in comfortable style under Ian Sturgeon, despite carrying 58kg under handicap conditions against the boys off a merit rating of 101.

However, she is just as good on turf and Robinson is now targeting the Gr 1 Laurie Jaffee Empress Club Stakes over 1600m at Turffontein on April 16.

The Kings Cup was run in the rain and took place shortly after a torrential downpour.

The going on the all weather surface for the last three races was described as “rain affected” but most horses didn’t seem phased.

Sturgeon said he knew virtually from the off it would take a good one to beat the small Dynasty filly as she was “moving so sweetly”.

She came from the box seat on the rail and used her exceptional turn of foot followed by her resolute finish to overtake the brave Alyson Wright-trained pace maker Mumsy’s Jet and win by 2,75 lengths.

The Charles Laird-trained Stormy Eclipse stayed on strongly and was just a short-head further back in third.

The Tote favourite Exit Here was asked to do quite a lot early to find a handy position from a draw of eight and found nothing in the straight, finishing last.

Robinson said the race provided further evidence Olma was improving all the time.  The mile seems to be her best trip too.

Robinson and Sturgeon also combined to win the first race over 1200m with the impressive Horse Chestnut three-year-old gelding Bahamas Woodstar, who ran on powerfully from last to win easily. He had been unlucky on debut last October when hampered, which also caused him to pull up sore. Robinson, because he rates this horse so highly, decided to allow him the time to recover fully, and is not going to rush him into anything too soon.

Later the up and coming Dean Kannemeyer-trained sprinter Captain Alfredo announced his South African Champions Season pretensions with a fine win in a MR 102 handicap over 1000m, wearing down the useful Viva La Var. The Gr 1 Tsogo Sun Sprint is likely to be on his agenda.

Kannemeyer’s Real Princess didn’t enjoy the slow pace of a Conditions Plate over 1400m, where she was 5kg well in, and couldn’t catch Weiho Marwing’s Auatralian-bred filly Sensible Lover. The latter has always been well regarded and is coming into her own.

Dennis Drier added a double to his four-timer the previous Wednesday. Stable jockey Sean Veale rode four of these six winners.

By David Thiselton

Octogenarian Ormond Ferraris is the doyen of South African trainers. Never has he had more than 60 horses in his string yet he has a consistently good strike rate and notched the 2500^th winner of his illustrious career when Romany Prince staked his claim for the Gr1 SA Classic in the Drum Star Handicap at Turffontein yesterday.

With Anthony Delpech injured, Muzi Yeni  did the honours on the only three year old in the race. “The horses in front folded quickly so I just waited until the 200m mark before asking the question,” said Yeni. But by then Romany Prince had built up a winning lead and although Judicial finished with a rattle the race was over a long way out.

Earlier Silver Scooter took Ferraris’s career winning tally to 2499 when outpointing his field in a Pinnacle Stakes event.  Captain America was expected to open his Highveld account before defending his crown in the Gr1 WFA HF Oppenheimer Horse Chestnut Stakes but it started as it did last year – in defeat. Brett Crawford’s runner opened 6-10 on course but the writing was on the wall as he proved friendless and eventually jumped easy to back at 11-10.

Captain America was given every chance by Met winning jockey JP van der Merwe but he was misfiring a long way out and did well to finish third as apprentice Callan Murray eased Silver Scooter through off the false rail to win going away.

If not a record, then it must be pretty close to one. Sean Tarry’s winning streak with two-year-old fillies continued as Touching landed the odds in the second taking Tarry’s unbeaten total to seven. Touching, a daughter of Maine Chance Farms-based Querari and a half-sister to the smart Tellina, made short work of the opposition winning by over two lengths.

By Andrew Harrison

 

 

Richard Fourie will be the focus of much attention at Kenilworth tomorrow when he has his first rides since saying goodbye to Sha Tin and Happy Valley.

Jockeys stepping out of Hong Kong’s steamingly competitive cauldron tend to ride in inspired form – who can forget Karis Teetan’s seven winners from 21 mostly-unfancied mounts in August 2014? – while Fourie himself landed a double on his first day back 12 months earlier.

He will be in action in all eight races with four mounts for his old boss Justin Snaith and four for Adam Marcus with whose father he spent much of his apprenticeship.

Snaith reckons Daring Dave in the OFYT Pinnacle has the best chance of his quartet but says: “This horse’s problem is that he has been left eight lengths in his last two starts but he will be a huge runner if he jumps.

“Alpha Girl (race one) will be better over this five furlongs and she should be in the money. Newcomer Le Harve (an R850 000 Var full brother to Golden Horse Casino winner Normanz) is a nice colt but it’s an extremely strong race and he would have to be very good to win. I am just looking for a good run from Nordic Wind (race five) which I think she will give and she could surprise.”

Marcus rates Gyre (race four) the pick of his Fourie rides, adding: “He has improved a lot and ran on well last time after coming from off the pace. Valerio (race six) runs over 1 000m for the first time and I’m excited to see how he goes. His main issue has been pulling quite hard and he ran a cracker when we brought him back to 1 200m.

“Golden Pass (race three) has to improve but we are going to switch her off and get her to run on while Come On Inn (race eight) is progressively getting better and should be in with a shout if she can continue that progression.”

Alpha Girl has mostly newcomers to contend with in the Birchwood Hotel Maiden but two of Mike Bass’s four juvenile winners this term have been first timers and his Live Life (a R2.5 million Trippi half-sister to Cold As Ice) gets the vote.

Dancer’s experience should prove decisive in the Wallace Trust Maiden and his form has been franked by stable companion Attenborough’s win last Saturday. In addition to Le Harve, newcomers to note include Moonrise Sensation who cost a whopping R4 million and Bass’s Caballo Blanco (a R360 000 Ready To Run purchase).

Peonie Rock made an eye-catching Durbanville debut and could be the one in the Boland Promotions Maiden while Gyre should score for Fourie 35 minutes later. Line Break, like Daring Dave, was unlucky in the Cape Flying and the 3kg he receives can swing things his way in the Pinnacle.

By Michael Clower

The weekend sees a feast of action around the country and the quality meetings at Greyville tonight and at Turffontein tomorrow both include feature events.

The Gr 3 Kings Cup over 1600m is to be run on the poly tonight and this looks to be a good programming change as it is could easily be called the Greyville Poly Championships.

It is an intriguing race, but the class of Exit Here could settle the arguments and he is tipped to beat Olma, Stormy Eclipse, In Other Words and It Is Written, although Marchant and Uncle Tommy are a pair who niggle at the back of the mind as upset material.

Dean Kannemeyer could have yet another good night on the poly. Cape Town horses often arrive in KZN attractively handicapped because the superior class of horse in the Mother City tends to suppress their merit ratings. The talented Kannemeyer-trained sprinter Captain Al Fredo could be such a horse. He has some big fish to fry during the South African Champions Season, so off just a 98 merit rating he could start off on a winning note tonight in the second race, a MR 102 Handicap over 1000m.

Kannemeyer’s classy filly Real Princess is weighted to romp home in the fourth race as she is 4,5kg better off with any other horse according to official merit ratings. Furthermore, she has won over the 1400m course and distance before. She has been reported to have made breathing noises but Kannemeyer was annoyed to learn this and said, “What I see as breathing noises and what they label as breathing noises are two completely different things.”

One of the most interesting runners on the night could be the Gavin van Zyl-trained Chesa in the fifth, a MR 70 Handicap over 2000m. It has for a long time been a practice among punters to regard horses coming off their maiden wins with caution. However, the KZN handicappers definitely seem to be treating maiden winners more leniently these days and cases in point have been seen in the last week through Roy’s Twilight and Desert Fighter, who both won their first handicaps starts. Chesa has been merit rated only 61, but three horses have come out of his maiden win over 2000m and won and another two have come out and finished second. A tongue tie has made all the difference to him and being by Ideal World he is also improving all the time. He has been putting up good work at home and could beat home the like of Selvan’s Jet, from whom he gets 2,5kg.

Variable Pitch should win the first tonight.

The well-bred Gypsy Pirate could fight out the third with the hard-knocking Coastal Spell and the likely improver Enticer.

The seventh is a boat race and Wealthy is fancied to just touch off Koncealed.

The last could see the in form Dennis Drier yard notching up another winner through Delirious Nomad.

On the Turffontein Inside track tomorrow the Listed Drum Star Handicap over 1800m is the headliner and this is always a difficult race to call as some use it as a preparation event. The smashing looking individual Romany Prince might be using the race as a stepping stone to the Gr 1 SA Classic over 1800m, but having run on quite well from last in the Gauteng Guineas after being dropped out from a wide draw, he could win this from pole position under Jockey’s Championship contender Anthony Delpech.

Diesel Jet is an effective frontrunner so could be dangerous on this tight course from a fair draw of six. Judicial’s sustained finishing run from off the pace makes him more suited to the Standside course but his class could pull him into the first three. Master Switch set the pace last time in a handicap over 2000m and destroyed them by 4,5 lengths so could be running off capped merit rating, having been given the maximum eight point raise. He won’t be allowed an easy lead here but is still one to consider. Easy Lover has a good turn of foot from off the pace on his day and should be cherry-ripe, so can’t be ignored. Shea Devon could bounce back over a course and distance he enjoys and Dante’s Legacy should be considered for exotics too.

In the second race the Querari filly Touching, who is a half-sister to the multiple Gr 1-placed Tellina, will attempt to make it seven wins out of seven Juvenile Fillies races contested this season by national champion trainer Sean Tarry. If this amazing streak continues the pundits will be searching through the archives to see if any records have been broken.

By David Thiselton