Charles Laird will travel the brilliant Ice Machine up to Johannesburg late on Friday night to take part in the Gr 2 World Sports Betting Spring Challenge over 1450m on Turffontein’s Inside track.

The evergreen seven-year-old Silvano gelding’s regular rider Anton Marcus is engaged to ride last season’s Cape Champion Three-Year old colt Act Of War in the Gr 3 Kuda Matchem Stakes over 1400m at Durbanville on the same day, so the top class veteran Andrew Fortune, who is currently leading the National Jockeys Championship by two winners from Anthony Delpech, takes over.

Laird believes Fortune will suit the horse. Fortune is known to have a great pair of hands and for his ability to place a horse in the running, so he does indeed look ideal for  Ice machine, who likes to be held up and relaxed in the running before displaying his exhilarating turn of foot in the straight. If anybody can help him overcome his tricky draw of nine in the eleven horse field on the tight course it will be Fortune.

The 117 merit-rated Ice Machine is officially the best in at the weights, being rated at least eight points higher than any other horse, while only have to give them between 0,5kg and 1,5kg.

Laird gave Ice Machine a bit of a break after his narrow defeat to the subsequently named Equus Horse Of The Year Futura in the Gr 1 Champions Cup on Super Saturday and gave him his compulsory African Horse Sickness Vaccinations, but he said the horse had been doing well.

Laid has only trained Ice Machine for four of his 27 career runs, but he is thriving in the yard and his career record shows that he runs well fresh.

This will be his first stepping stone to the L’Ormarin’s Queen’s Plate, for which he will also raid.

Ice Machine faces some classy opposition in the Spring Challenge, not least of whom is the Sean Tarry-trained four-year-old Trippi colt Trip To Heaven, who is the second highest rated horse in the field on 109. In his seasonal reappearance over 1200m on the Inside course in a Graduation Plate he started slowly, possibly by design, and then relaxed beautifully near the back.

However, the most impressive part of the run, in which beat the 101 merit-rated pair Lineker and Forest Fox, was that after making up the ground possibly too quickly with his scintillating turn of foot he was then able to find yet another gear when challenged. This suggests he will be suited to the step up in trip and he should be cherry ripe having his third run after a six month layoff. His stablemate Halve The Deficit, who is a 107 merit-rated seven-year-old, has it tough from draw eleven. However, the Tarry string are coming to hand and he will be suited to this trip running fresh. Tarry’s third runner is the seven-year-old Whiteline Fever, who was at one stage at his most dangerous when making his seasonal reappearance. However he has needed the help of blinkers in his last two starts so this time is likely to have come on from his seasonal reappearance three weeks ago and he could be a threat with Piere Strydom up from draw two over his ideal trip.

Alec Laird’s Bezanova ended last season in fine style and won his seasonal reappearance exactly a year ago over this course and distance, albeit in a Graduation Plate. This big horse has come into his own, but does have a wide draw and the stable elect is likely Bouclette Top, who had a new lease of life when blinkers were applied last season. Bouclette Top now looks ideally suited to this trip and Gavin Lerena up, from a fair draw of six, is a further bonus.

Mike de Kock’s Moofeed is interesting in only his second try beyond sprints as he often does his best work late over 1200m and won his only start over 1400m. However, stable jockey Delpech is aboard Anjaal, who looked to have a fine career ahead of him after his narrow third in the Gr 1 Premiers Champions Stakes over 1600m. Breathing issues ruined his three-year-old feature campaign, but he did bounce back with a couple of decent efforts after a wind operation and could be excused his last run on the poly when striding short and found to be coughing.

Easy Lover has his first run for Stuart Pettigrew and this progressive sort should be ideally suited to the course and distance as he likes to come from off the pace and has a fine turn of foot. He has a plum draw of three with Weichong Marwing up.

The enigmatic Forest Fox is talented but unreliable. However, he did run on well when beaten 1,7 lengths by Trip To Heaven over 1200m last time and is now 1 kg better off.

Light The Way has a tough task at the weights but did finish in front of Whiteline Fever over course and distance last time out, although he is now 2,5kg better off for a one length beating.

It is an intriguing race, but Ice Machine looks the one to beat with Trip To Heaven giving him most to think about and they could be followed home by Easy Lover, Bouclette Top and Halve The Deficit.

By David Thiselton 

Picture: Ice Machine (Nkosi Hlophe)

Persian Silk could be the answer to punters’ prayers in the opening Gold Circle Maiden at Durbanville today.

What everyone is looking for is a horse who is better than the bare form suggests and is available at a better price than it should be – and this filly ticks both boxes.

On her second start, over 1 200m at Kenilworth, she went to the front two furlongs out absolutely cantering. It was quite a way from home to go clear but it looked simply a question of how far. However she weakened in the final 200m to finish third.

Kenilworth three and a half weeks ago was a carbon copy – going easily, leading at the 400m mark only to run out of steam in the closing stages. The only difference was that she finished fourth instead of third.

Clearly the trip was a furlong too far, or she needed to be waited with for a bit longer. This time, though, she runs over a surely ideal 1 000m. Betting World opened her at 22-10 yesterday and that looks generous.

“After the first of those two I said to the jockey that I would put her over five furlongs but he said no,” Glen Kotzen recalls. “Last time I think she didn’t see the two horses on her outside until it was too late but this trip is really going to suit her.”

Kotzen also runs the frustrating Mamselle Al who has started favourite in all her last five starts and is actually a kilo better than Persian Silk on adjusted merit ratings. “I have been trying everything,” says the trainer who took the blinkers off last time. “And now I am running her in cheekpieces.”

Mamselle Al was a 6-1 chance yesterday and the 2-1 favourite was Sandton Rocker who started odds-on here last time but was not suited by being taken on when trying to make it. She is probably better than that last run would suggest but she should not beat Persian Silk

Supercilious’s nine draw will test Donavan Mansour’s talents to the full in race two but she managed third to the talented Icy Fire when drawn just as badly over the same distance at Kenilworth last time and a repeat of that effort would be good enough. However yesterday’s 1-3 is too short considering the draw and punters should only back her if they can get better.

Nebula is drawn eight out of 11 in the Pick 6 Maiden but he stands out after going close on debut when he was backed from 12-1 to 3-1. “I expected him to run well and he did,” says Brett Crawford. “But he ran a bit green and he only got going late. He then had a break but he is doing well.”

Bernard Fayd’Herbe returns after three weeks off and, although he has three rides for Justin Snaith, his best chance is probably on 9-2 chance Exclusive Knight in the 2 000m maiden (race four).  This will be the five-year-old’s 30^th attempt to win a race but he keeps going close.

“He is perfectly genuine but he just keeps finding one too good for him,” says Piet Steyn. “Three Balloons, who beat him a few races back, was second to Hard Day’s Night on his next start last Saturday. Exclusive Knight has won almost R160 000 in stakes and that’s as much as winning four races.”

But 5-2 shot Eastern Charm comes out 1.5kg better and is preferred. Avail is the 22-10 favourite and his good performances here suggest he will also make the frame.

By Michael Clower

Picture: Glen Kotzen  

Jockey Brandon Lerena suffered a fractured vertebra during track work at Summerveld this morning and could be looking at between six to eight weeks on the sidelines.

It was an untimely injury for the KZN-based jockey having successfully worked his way back onto the local scene following a stint in Mauritius. The setback will be particularly frustrating for Lerena considering a solid recent run of form which saw 24 of his last 30 rides earning a stakes cheque.

– Victor Tojeira

Dennis Drier’s formidable string of 26 horses for the Cape Summer Of Champions season arrived safely at Phillippi training centre in Cape Town last Thursday and he looks likely to come home in February with a few more trophies to add to his burgeoning Cape collection.

Heading the list is the four-year-old Seventh Rock gelding Guiness, whose wind operation was shown in no uncertain terms to be successful when he made short work of a decent Graduation Plate field over 1200m at Scottsville recently. Drier rates him highly as a sprinter and his career route could continue to follow that of the yard’s Equus Champion Sprinter and KZN Horse Of The Year Captain Of All. Like Captain Of All, Guiness won the Gr 1 Tsogo Sun Gold Medallion as a two-year-old before having to be laid off after just one start as a three-year-old and all going well his Cape Town campaign will culminate in a tilt at the Gr 1 Betting World Cape Flying Championships over 1000m, a race which Captain Of All lost on the head bob last season.

The Vodacom Durban July runner up Punta Arenas duly joined Drier after Stan Elley’s retirement at the end of last season. The seven-year-old Silvano gelding spent the Champions Season at Drier’s Summerveld yard, where he clearly had a new lease of life. He continues to thrive and will be aimed at the J&B Met, in which he finished third last year and fifth this year.

The four-year-old Triptique, an imposing gelding by Trippi, is highly regarded. Drier believes he could be looking for 1400m to a mile and rates him the dark horse of the string, saying, “He is very talented, we haven’t seen the best of him yet.”

His contemporary Generalissimo, a speedy colt by Var, will be aimed at the big sprint events.

Drier will face no dilemmas with his dual Gr 1-winning three-year-old Seventh Rock colt Seventh Plain as he qualifies for the CTS Million Dollar over 1400m, so the mile question mark that hangs over his head will be left for a later date.

The yard’s Gr 1 Zulu Kingdom Explorer Golden Slipper winner from last season, Chestnuts N Pearls, will be going for the R2,015,000 Bloodstock SA Ready To Run Cup over 1400m at Turffontein on October 31, but she might be taken to the Cape after that.

The impressive Just As Well filly Well In Flight will be aimed at the Gr 1 Avontuur Estate Cape Fillies Guineas, with the Gr 2 Choice Carriers Championship over 1400m providing a stepping stone.

Possibly the most exciting three-year-old filly in the yard is Rock On Baby, a daughter of Seventh Rock, who has been a facile winner of her last two starts over 1000m. Drier said he would keep her to sprints for the time being and take it race by race.

The yard were very disappointed with the last run of the Captain Al filly they rate, Lady Penrhyn, but jockey Sean Cormack believed it might have been due to a dislike of the poly and for that reason she was taken down to Cape Town.

On the other hand the yard’s older sprinter Barbosa clearly absolutely loves the poly and he has duly stayed behind in KZN.

Drier was “very impressed” with the easy 1200m polytrack victory of the three-year-old Count Dubois gelding Seymour in his second career outing and this “smart little horse” could be one of the Cape string’s first runners as he is being aimed at the Gr 3 Magnum Cape Classic over 1400m on October 24. Seymour also qualifies for the CTS Million Dollar.

Drier also travelled a number of “very, very smart” maiden and unraced horses, who will provide summer fun for Cape-based owners. Among them is a Trippi colt who was intended to be named after the Roxy Music star Brian Ferry, but when that name was forbidden he was fittingly called “Ferrie”, the surname of Drier’s loyal assistant Stuart Ferrie, who will as usual be staying home in KZN to run the Summerveld yard. Ferrie made a promising debut over 1200m at Scottsville behind two promising sorts Monte Christo and Unbelievable Chad. An equally promising debut over the too sharp Scottsville 1000m was made by the Speightstown colt Ante Omnia, who at R3 million was one of the Cape Premier Yearling Sales toppers. Drier believes the Fort Wood gelding Whitley Willows should not have lost his second career start over 1200m on the Greyville poly and he adds another string to the three-year-old bow. Both Ferrie and Ante Omnia qualify for the CTS Million Dollar.

The now five-year-old mare Eventual Angel has not been able to fulfil her obvious potential but has recovered from a foot injury and all going well will be aimed at the Gr 1 Maine Chance Farms Paddock Stakes over 1800m and the Gr 1 Klawervlei Majorca Stakes over 1600m.

Her contemporary Gathering Fame is rated just below the best but won the Listed Jamaica Stakes for fillies and mares over 1700m at Kenilworth last season and will likely have similar targets.

KZN’s leading owner Roy Moodley will have an excuse to spend a weekend or two in Cape Town as his two four-year-olds Roy’s Winter Patch and Royal Union Jet will both be campaigning. The former pulled a flank muscles last time out, which explained his below par effort, and Drier believes both of these progressive types by Western Winter and Jet Master respectively will pay their way.

Others who fall into the same category are the lightly raced three-time winning five-year-old from just six starts, Space Launch, who won twice over 1200m at Kenilworth last season, and Sea Fever, a four-year-old three-time winner from just eight starts.

By David Thiselton

Picture: Dennis Drier (Liesl King)

The great former KZN-based Durban July-winning trainer Brian Cherry died on Sunday night having never recovered from a recent stroke.

One of the great characters of the game, Cherry leaves his wife of 64 years, June, as well as six children, 17 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Cherry never had a big string, but was never without good horses.

As well as being a fine horseman, he was renowned for being a shrewd placer of horses.

He started at the old Newmarket stables near the Blue Lagoon.

However, his most successful years were out of Summerveld, which he moved to upon its opening in the 1966/1967 season.

One of the first big horses he trained was Chimboraa, who won the 1968 Durban July under David Payne at odds of 33/1, defeating horses of the like of William Penn and the great Hawaii, although the latter pair did have to concede a lot of weight to the five-year-old Chimboraa.

Among other top horses Cherry trained were Ted’s Ambition, a top class sprinter who was virtually unbeatable at Greyville (winning the Gr 1 Chairman’s Stakes, the Gr 2 Concord Stakes three times and the Gr 3 Durban Merchants twice, among other races); Row To Rio, who won the Gr 1 National Sprint at Gosforth Park and the Gr 1 Gilbeys Sprint (Tsogo Sun Sprint); All Heart, who was one of his favourites and won the Gr 1 Clairwood Winter Handicap and the Gr 1 Kronenbrau 1308 Stakes at Turffontein; Be Noble, a New Zealand-bred winner of the Gr 1 Adminstrator’s Champion Juvenile Stakes and the Gr 1 SA Derby; Kentford, who gave Felix Coetzee, as an apprentice, his first Gr 1 winner in the 1976 Clairwood Winter Handicap; the twice Gr 1 Natal Fillies Sprint winner Mildenhall; the Australian-bred Gr 1 Garden Province Stakes winner Just McKenna; the New Zealand-bred Zamit, who won the Gr 2 John Skeaping Trophy and went close in all of the Gr 2 Dingaans, Gr 1 Administrators Classic, Gr 1 SA Derby and Gr 1 Holiday Inns; the fourteen-time winner Trocadero, who later sired the Champion Three-year-old colt Port Pegasus and the Gr 1-winning Craftsman as well as the like of the useful Cherry-trained Astronaut; Cherry also trained the like of Jungle Palm, Vivorata, Mighty Mandarin, Royal Play, Dougal and Ulterior Motive.

Cherry had an outstanding eye and despite training so many good horses was never a big spender at the sales.

He also ventured to overseas sales and had success with both New Zealand and Australian-breds.

He was always associated with top jockeys, including Payne, Johnny McCreedy and in the 1980s the great Michael “Muis” Roberts.

Cherry loved to recount stories from the old days and one of his favourites was about McCreedy, who was told in the parade ring on one occasion by an owner to have the horse in front. Upon returning to the parade ring, with the horse not having shown throughout the race, the owner asked the jockey why he had not followed the instruction to which McCreedy replied, “I wanted to go to the front but I had to stay with the horse.”

Cherry offered Roberts a position after the latter had lost his job as stable jockey to Fred Rickaby and together they became a formidable partnership.

Roberts described Cherry above all as a man who became a very loyal friend and as one of the characters of the game, “an enigma on his own”.

“We had some lovely times and he was a great man to ride for. He was very fair too and would let me off if I had the possibility of a better ride.”

On one such occasion in 1981 Roberts opted to ride English Statesman in the Gold Cup in preference to Brave Persian, who had been sent to Cherry’s yard for the Winter Season by Highveld trainer Ormond Ferraris, who is described by the Cherry family as probably Brian’s “best friend”. Cherry told Roberts he believed he was making a mistake and Brave Persian duly won with Roberts’ mount unplaced.

Roberts said, “He demanded a good work ethic and we worked as a team, we had a great relationship. He was a natural as a trainer, was very astute and clever, he knew when horses were right and seldom made a mistake.”

One such example happened when Cherry inherited a horse called Royal Play after it had previously had only one start in a sprint. Roberts thought Cherry had gone “off his rocker” when after having had the horse for only about three weeks he told him he was backing it to win a maiden over 1800m at Clairwood. Roberts was aboard and recalled, “He won the race hard held.”

Roberts was advised by Cherry on another occasion when riding the Harry Hotspur first-timer Ulterior Motive to leave his goggles in the parade ring because he would never be behind any horses in the race. Ulterior Motive duly won easily from pillar to post.

Some of Cherry’s biggest owners were Mary Liley, Lou Burnstein, Roy and Gladys Meaker, Aubrey Wicks, Costa Livanos and Ted Hook, who bred his own horses and always began their names with “Ted’s”.

Gladys Meaker recalled, “He was a fabulous trainer, very shrewd. He was an absolutely wonderful father to his six children, had a wonderful marriage and we became great family friends.”

Chimboraa will possibly be the horse most associated with Cherry due to his win in the big one and was the subject of a couple of interesting stories in Jean Jaffee’s book “They Race To Win”. This horse was bought at the 1964 Rand Yearling Sales by Michael Carey and John McKay for their respective wives and Lou Bernstein then bought out a third share for his wife. He won the JG Hollis Memorial Plate as a two-year-old, which was run at 2:30 p.m., but after an objection the stewards deliberated throughout the afternoon and eventually announced at 5 p.m. that they had awarded the race to the objecting horse, Reel Cap.

Chimboraa became unsound at the end of his two-year-old season and was sent to the farm. Trainer Willie Kleb sympathising with Cherry apparently said, “Don’t worry the rest will do him good. You never know he may win the July Handicap.” Chimboraa later beat the Kleb-trained William Pen by half-a-length when winning the July. The Careys and McKays had also decided to sell their shares to the Burnsteins after Chimboraa had returned from his farm rest for his three-year-old campaign, because they lived in Johannesburg and were not getting enough fun out of the horse, so they thereby missed out on leading in a July winner.

Accolades poured in for Cherry throughout yesterday.

His funeral will be held at the Makaranga Lodge, 1 Igwababa Road Kloof at 11 a.m. today (Tuesday).

By David Thiselton

Picture: Brian Cherry