20211222 - Sporting Post Sprint Ver 1.3 Single Pages by Sporting Post

ONLY ROOM FOR 1 SANTA ON SATURDAY! Once upon a time Christmas Day was a huge day for horse racing in the United States. It was the traditional opening day at Santa Anita Park in Southern California.

When California legalized parimutuel betting in 1933, there was a mad dash by the sport’s wealthiest entrepreneurial fans to build racetracks. Many of the investors had trouble raising enough money or finding 4

suitable locations. A successful dentist named Charles H. “Doc” Strub couldn’t find a good location in Northern California, and bigshot movie producer Hal

Roach wanted to reopen the shuttered Santa Anita Park in Southern California but couldn’t raise enough money. Strub and Roach teamed up and formed the Los Angeles Turf Club. They opened the first licensed racetrack in California on Christmas Day 1934. Strub was a successful businessman, but he had lost more than a million dollars in the Great Depression, in the throes of which the United States still found itself that Christmas. Although the Los Angeles Turf Club had the money to build the track and get the doors open, they weren’t flush enough to comfortably book everybody’s wagers. Strub went to the bank and took out a loan to make sure he could fade every bet. The bank was understandably worried about the loan. They attached unusual conditions to the loan. It needed to be repaid that very night, and the bank hired armed guards to

stand watch at the racetrack and make sure the money made it back to the bank. Despite the Great Depression, and despite it being the holiest of holy days, when Strub opened Santa Anita for business that Christmas, more than 30,000 fans streamed through the gates. Among the crowd of punters were some of the day’s biggest celebrities, including Al Jolson, Will Rogers and Clark Gable. They pumped more than a quarter of a million dollars through the betting windows that day. A filly named High Glee won the big race of the day, the $5,000-added Christmas Stakes. The bank was paid back without incident. Santa Anita continued to open its meet on Christmas Day for several years. However, there was some criticism of the idea of horse racing on such an important religious holiday. Strub wrote off the naysayers,

arguing that Christmas shouldn’t be a sombre holiday and instead should be a day of celebration. What better way to celebrate, he figured, than a day at the track? To Strub and thousands of horse racing fans, the two went hand in hand. Eventually Strub and Santa Anita relented. By 1949, Santa Anita moved opening day to 26 December which has remained, with only a handful of exceptions, the traditional opening day ever since. In the end, there simply wasn’t enough room for more than one Santa on Christmas Day. But the tradition continues on Sunday with the meeting at Santa Anita including the Gr1 RUNHAPPY Malibu Stakes, Gr2 San Antonio Stakes, Gr2 San Gabriel Stakes, Gr2 Mathis Brothers Stakes, Gr1 American Oaks and Gr1 La Brea Stakes.

We're Back And Boxing! Today Christmas Day is racing free in South Africa and many parts of the world, where the action starts again on Boxing Day. Hollywoodbets Greyville hosts a nine race programme on Sunday, headed by the Gr3

Flamboyant Stakes and the Listed Christmas Stakes. The latter was run for decades as a handicap, but is now weighted on merit rating bands. The free-to-enter Hollywoodbets Punters’ Challenge, won just weeks 6

ago when a Verulam man banked the R2 325 000 progressive jackpot, will also be a popular feature again, with R1 050 000 up for grabs, as well as the R10 000 must-be-won daily prize.

Superlatives Elude Us! v

Double Superlative charges clear under Anton Marcus

Chase Liebenberg

Justin Snaith and Anton Marcus joined forces at Kenilworth on Saturday to win the R750 000 Gr1 Cape Guineas for the first time since 2010 and 2011 respectively, when the handsome Twice Over colt Double Superlative flew up late in the race to collar his game stablemate, Pomp And Power. The Snaith’s last Cape Guineas win was with Solo Traveller, while Marcus piloted Variety Club to victory for Joey Ramsden in 2011. Racing in the silks of KZN owner Nic Jonsson, Double Superlative came in under the radar in the alternate first leg of the SA Triple Crown on Saturday after just four starts, including a post-maiden fourth in a small field in the Cape Classic. While Pomp And Power was the most proven of the Snaith

trio, there was plenty of talk about Grant van Niekerk’s ride Pacaya, but the son of Trippi was never in the hunt and finished in midfield. “I think it was Jono Snaith who phoned me and asked if I wanted to win the Guineas. I jumped at the chance and must be honest and say that I didn’t do much of the work on him. The pace was reasonable and while the draw was always a concern, it worked out well,” said Marcus, who is now well over his century mark of Gr1 winners. With Mr Master Starter was slow off, it was Pomp And Power who grabbed the early lead ahead of stablemate Double Superlative. Despite the positives of the Kenilworth home straight, and all the opportunities it gives those that come from off the gallop, the top two were in front and that was the way things were to stay, with a late swap.

Pomp And Power continued to gallop powerfully into the home run, with Trip Of Fortune being switched out and running – before he appeared to strike the rail. An inquiry has since been opened into this incident. Marcus had matters under control though and the former champion even grabbed a chance to salute late as Double Superlative (10-1) went past Pomp And Power as he charged home to win the prestigious classic by 1,25 lengths in a time of 99,29 secs. Craig Bantam was a late call-up in the place of Smanga Khumalo on the Concorde Cup winner Pomp And Power (16-1), and the young rider did everything but win the race, as the son of Vercingetorix stayed on resolutely for second.

The Merits DOUBLE SUPERLATIVE has had his merit rating raised from 101 to 113 following his success in the Gr1 Cape Guineas for three-year-olds over 1600m on the Kenilworth summer course on Saturday. The Handicappers were unanimously of the view that 3rd placed COSMIC HIGHWAY made for the most suitable line horse, which leaves him unchanged on a rating of 108.

Second placed POMP AND POWER goes up from 109 to 110, while 4th finisher ZAPATILLAS is up from 104 to 107, 5th placed NEVER ENDING RAIN and 6th finisher UNIVERSAL (who was badly impeded in the running and who should have finished closer than he did) both go up to 105, from 100 and 101, respectively. Also up is PACAYA, who was raised from 9312 to 95, while the only other increase was for 10th placed SURJAY, who

goes from 81 to 87 in order to make him one pound higher than 12TH placed MR MASTER STARTER, who remains unchanged on 86. There were ratings drops for four horses. XAVION is down from 104 to 102, MARIGOLD HOTEL is down to 104 from 107, CHOLLIMA was dropped to 89 from 92, and lastly BUSH TRACKER drops from 99 to 96.

Cosmic Highway (6-1) was the first of the Kannemeyer trio home, with the son of Gimmethegreenlight finishing smartly from his wide for third, just ahead of the even wider drawn Zapaitallas (10-1) who ran fourth. Glen Kotzen enjoyed a race of mixed fortunes with his quartet. Never Ending Rain (100-1) ran a gallant fifth, but his other three filled the bottom ranks.

Described as a horse that is something of a ringer for the stable’s July double winner Do It Again, Double Superlative was bred by Patrica Devine Investments from Klawervlei sire Twice Over (Observatory) out of the Jet Master five-time winner, Come Fly With Me. He has won 2 races with 3 places from his 5 starts for stakes of R539 600.

Owner Nic Jonsson apparently mandated the Snaiths to buy up all the Twice Over progeny as they are generally regarded as undervalued. Twice Over has two sons entered in the 2022 Gr1 Cape Town Met and eight lots on the 2022 Cape Premier Yearling Sale.

Chase Liebenberg

13 Jono Snaith, Nic Jonsson & Justin Snaith - the Guineas brains trust of 2021 have an interesting year ahead

‘Excellence may lie dormant in a family until the right stallion comes along to add a spark to a flame’ v

16 Born last month - Saturday’s Cape Guineas winner’s half-brother by Gimmethegreenlight

Cover Image KZN jockey Serino Moodley captures the festive spirit in this image by Equus winner, Candiese Lenferna

Romi Bettison

PAT & HENRY - NO FLY BY NIGHTS! 17

Gold Circle

Gr1 winner Fly By Night Double Superlative’s victory in last weekend's Cape Guineas broke a seven-year Gr1 drought for breeders Patricia and Henry Devine. The last time the names of these stalwart breeders went up in lights was in 2014 when Fly By Night defeated her male rivals in a poignant final running of the Gr1 Mercury Sprint at Clairwood. A month later, the demolishers moved in to flatten 93 years of history. Suffice to say, the Devines bred the daughter of their

superb champion Jet Master. Trained by Mike Bass, she proved herself a top class sprinter who also won the Southern Cross Stakes and placed in a number of Gr1 races. More importantly, she is an own sister to Come Fly With Me, the dam of Double Superlative. Whereas Fly By Night was sold as a yearling, her younger sibling was retained by the Devines. Both sisters ended up in the Bass stable, and although Come Fly With Me was not in the same league, she was no slouch either. A winner of five races up to a

mile, she twice reached the frame in both the Gr3 Diana and Gr3 Champagne Stakes. Ironically, as the dam of a Gr1 winner with her very first foal, she has outperformed her sister in the paddocks. Double Superlative is a fourth generation Devine-bred and traces to Heaven Help Us, who was purchased from the late Sydney Press. By Drum Beat out of the Masham mare Naughty Nell, she became a regular consort of the Devine's imported stallion Great Brother, to whom she bred the Newmarket Guineas winner and Gr2 Dingaans

runner-up Cardinal Sin as well as Brave The Wind, the third dam of Double Superlative. After scoring once in the Devine silks, Brave The Wind produced five winners, the best of which was the Sportsworld gelding Brave Dominion, who won seven times. Sent to Model Man, Brave The Wind bred the filly Fly The Wind, who like her dam, managed just one win on the track, but in due course produced Fly By Night and Come Fly With Me. Excellence may lie dormant in a family until the right stallion comes along to add a spark to a flame. In this case it is Jet Master, who sired the full sisters more than two decades after Cardinal Sin.

Twice Over was selected as the first mate for Come Fly With Me on the advice of respected bloodstock agent John Freeman. "He manages the stallion and we owned a share," Pat explained. "Do It Again was a first class race horse and he was all the rage at the time. We sent Come Fly With Me to him for her first covering as she needed a big and powerful stallion." Although Henry is now 99 years old, he and Pat still dabble in this great passion of theirs, with their broodmare band totalling 19 choice mares. And while breeding horses is not for the faint-hearted, every dark cloud has a silver lining. Pat elaborates: "This season

19 Pat & Henry Devine – going strong

we lost our Goldmark mare Spirit Ofthe Dance at age 20 due to foaling complications. As fortune would have it, we were offered her stakes winning Jet Master daughter Princess Ofthe Sky, in foal to Rafeef. We shouldn't have bought her, but we did!" As regards Come Fly With Me, her juvenile and yearling are fillies by Silvano and as Pat added: "She foaled a magnificent colt by Gimmethegreenlight in November and has gone back to him. Fingers crossed she is in foal again."

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Chase Liebenberg

Greg Cheyne steers Firealley to an easy win

FIRE COULD SET MET ALIGHT

Candice Bass-Robinson made it three feature winners from four races when the 4yo Firealley finished with a wet sail under his handy galloping weight to win the R200 000 Gr2 Peninsula Handicap at Kenilworth on Saturday. A winner of three of his last four starts, Firealley has come into his own as a 4yo, and was supplemented into the Met on Monday morning after winning in really good

style under Greg Cheyne two days earlier.

(12-1) three quarters of a length away in fourth.

The East Cape Champion jockey had his mount tracking the free-striding Rockin’ Ringo and he was unleashed at the 300m. The two kept the race to themselves as Firealley (8-1) charged away to beat Rocking’ Ringo (25-1) by 2,25 lengths in a time of 110,89 secs.

The disappointment of the race was the 5-2 favourite Hoedspruit, who ran out of the money.

Super Silvano (8-1) came out the pack to run third a length back, with Native Tongue

A Drakenstein Stud-bred son of Flower Alley (Distorted Humor), Firealley is out of the Irish-bred Galileo mare, Fire Spinner. He races in the purple and green of Fiona Carmichael’s

Westward Bloodstock signed the cheque at R275 000 at the Cape Premier Yearling Sale. Firealley has won 4 races with 9 places from 19 starts

for stakes of R375 250.

Premier Trophy route.

Is he up to Met muster? “I don’t think the Met is an ideal option at the weights. It’s a tough decision to make though and maybe we will even go the

That’s on L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate day on 8 January,” Candice told the Sporting Post.

The Merits FIREALLEY has had his rating increased from 98 to 107 following his victory in the Gr2 Peninsula Handicap over 1800m at Kenilworth on Saturday. Here it was 3rd placed SUPER SILVANO who was deemed to make for the best line horse, which leaves him unchanged on a mark of 105. FIREALLEY was three

pounds or 1.5 kgs under sufferance at the weights, which is partially responsible for the 9-pound increase in his rating. The only other increase was for 2nd placed ROCKIN’ RINGO, who is up from 100 to 102. There were however ratings drops for three horses.

NATIVE TONGUE is down slightly from 106 to 105, CAT DADDY was dropped from 101 to 100, and lastly SEVENTH GEAR goes from 100 to 96.

Chase Liebenberg

Marinaresco (Aldo Domeyer in yellow cap) and Rain In Newmarket (Richard Fourie) go hammer and tongs to the line

FINISH OF THE DAY! While Richard Fourie got first run on Rain In Newmarket, Aldo Domeyer produced a magic touch of confidence as he straightened the beaten looking favourite Marina for an unlikely and grandstand victory in the R125 000 Gr3 Victress Stakes at Kenilworth on Saturday. An odds-on versus a 10-1 shot. That was the nose turnaround in the end as the determined Domeyer showed his experience and awareness of what he had under him as he coaxed Met entry Marina up to nab Fourie and the Snaith runner. In the end the Victress Stakes went the way of the popular

banker Marina, with Candice Bass-Robinson enjoying a second feature winner on a hot Cape Summer afternoon. Marina was relaxed some way off as Pretty Betty showed the way. Into the home straight Marina made ground, but Richard Fourie had a plan and the astute rider brought Rain In Newmarket up the outside with a storming run as the daughter of Kingsbarns grabbed a strategic two lengths on her opposition. But despite looking marginally flat-footed late, Marina was lifted by Domeyer and the daughter of Silvano got the verdict by a nose in a time of 111,13 secs.

Veronica Mars (50-1) lost lengths at the gate, but turned it on – albeit in another race – for third and another three lengths off. The winner’s stablemate Chat Ching (16-1) was just behind Veronica Mars in fourth. A classy chestnut winner of 8 races with 3 places from 13 starts for stakes of R383 400, Marina is a full-sister to the stable’s Equus Champion and Vodacom Durban July winner Marinaresco and is by deceased multiple SA Champion sire Silvano (Lomitas) out of the twicewinning Fort Wood mare, Gay Fortuna.

The Merits MARINA remains unchanged on a rating of 108 after she captured the Grade 3 Victress Stakes for fillies and mares over 1800m at Kenilworth on Saturday. It was in fact MARINA who was used as the line horse when assessing this race, hence her unchanged rating.

Runner-up RAIN IN NEWMARKET had her rating raised from 102 to 107, while the only other increase was for 3rd placed VERONICA MARS, who goes up from 96 to 103, in part because she carried 0.5 kg or one pound overweight.

Three runners were given a ratings drop. Fourth placed CHAT CHING was cut from 111 to 107, SCENTED MISTRESS is down from 108 to 100, and lastly CATCHAFALLINGSTAR drops from 95 to 93.

A ROYAL START TO 2022! v

The L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate Festival in January 2022 will be held with limited hospitality available to Owners, Trainers and Sponsors. No race in South Africa can match the rich history of the Queen’s Plate. Named in honour of Queen Victoria after she gifted the South African Turf Club a silver plate and 500 sovereigns for the winner, the race was first run in 1861. In the last 18 years L’Ormarins have fused into that history with their sponsorship, and in doing so, have succeeded in maintaining the regal personality of the event.

The 161st running of the Gr1 R1,5-million Queen’s Plate will take place at Kenilworth on Saturday 8 January 2022 and forms the second leg of the Queen’s Plate Racing Festival.

contested at Weight For Age.

Entries for the L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate close on Tuesday 28 December. Supplementary entries close at 11h00 on Friday 31 December. Declarations by 11h00 on Monday 3 January.

Also run on that day will be the Gr1 Cartier Paddock Stakes for fillies and mares over 1600m.

Racing purists will recall turf legends such as Sea Cottage, Politician, Wolf Power, Empress Club, Jet Master, Free My Heart, Pocket Power, Gimmethegreenlight and Variety Club, among other brilliant performers, as winners of the Queen’s Plate,

Last season’s race was won by Jet Dark and Justin Snaith’s superb miler will be back in action to defend his title.

The opening day of the Festival on Friday 7 January includes the Gr2 Cartier Sceptre Stakes for fillies and mares over 1200m and the Listed Jamaica Handicap for fillies and mares over 2000m. The LQP Festival is an elegant affair. In order to maintain the spirit of the occasion, guests are

required to be suitably attired, adhering to the smart dress code, wearing blue and white. Sneak a peek at ‘L’Ormarins Moments’ on the regularly updated lqp.co.za website, to gain a visual sense of shifting fashions. Covid regulations have become part of our daily lives and people wishing to attend the Festival need to be aware these rules will be strictly applied. All racegoers and staff need to be fully vaccinated to gain admission with vaccination certificates checked on entry. Masks must also be worn. Organisers of the LQP have decided to keep hospitality within the Kenilworth Building,

with the safety and well-being of guests being of primary importance.

Room. The room will accommodate 20 tables seating ten guests at each.

Tables of 10 will be available for sale from Tuesday 21 December. Ticket sales, through Cape Racing, will be open to Owners/Trainers and their guests, plus sponsors of LQP, only. The LQP festival extends over two days with prestigious feature races spread across both meetings.

The Kenilworth Room will be offered to owners and trainers with seating available for up to 100 guests, at 10 tables.

Hospitality Packages

Eager punters and fans can follow the social spectacle and racing action from the Pocket Power Room with great views across the racecourse. Only limited numbers will be permitted though, and advance booking is essential.

On Friday, hospitality packages to the Somerset Room can be secured. On Saturday, when the Queen’s Plate is held, Racing Association members will be hosted in the Somerset

a 31 Justin Snaith and his 2021 LQP winner, Jet Dark

The Peninsula Room for owners/trainers, and around 70 sponsors, will host 17 tables accommodating 170 patrons.

For more information on the festival, you can go to:

Kenilworth Room (Owners and Trainers): R800

reserved to accommodate all connections.

Click to go to the LQP website

Three course set meal plus a cash bar

Friday:

Peninsula Room (Owners and Trainers): R1000

ALL OTHER BOOKINGS: Please email admin@ caperacing.co.za or WhatsApp 063 929 8630 to book your tables.

Somerset Room (RA, Owners and Trainers): R400 Includes starter canapés, main buffet and dessert buffet plus a cash bar Saturday: Somerset Room (RA, Owners and Trainers): R600 Includes canapés, main buffet and dessert buffet plus a cash bar

Three course set meal plus a cash bar Booking details: SOMERSET ROOM/RA MEMBERS: Please email admin@caperacing.co.za or WhatsApp 063 929 8630 to book your tables. Owners with runners in the Gr1’s will receive their invitations on Monday 3 January, space will be

Please confirm your room choice when booking and note that all bookings need to be made in tables of 10. Book via the Cape Racing App – click here

Chase Liebenberg

a Bereave (Craig Zackey) is led in by Hilton Yutar, Darryl Yutar, Adam Marcus, Nick McFall, Anne-marie de Manielle, Chris Dorrington & Val McFall

BEREAVE – A HAPPY WIN! A runner-up in the Gr2 Cape Merchants last month, Adam Marcus’ smart 4yo Bereave is consistency personified and deservedly registered his first stakes success when running out an easy winner of the R110 000 Listed Southeaster Sprint at a sundrenched Kenilworth on Saturday. Always in the firing line in the 1100m dash, Craig Zackey sent the son of Vercingetorix forward at the 250m and always looked to have matters in control. A popular winner, Bereave went off a 2-1 favourite, and beat the evergreen Pleasedtomeetyou by 1,25 lengths in a time 63,86 secs. The quartet slots changed

complexion late, with Resonate popping up at 4-1 to snare third a further 0,20 lengths back, with Safe Return (10-1) the same distance away in fourth. A versatile sort and a winner around the turn earlier on, Bereave is a son of highriding Maine Chance stallion Vercingetorix (Silvano) out of the Cataloochee mare, Jeanre. Bereave is the 16th stakes winner for Vercingetorix -whose son Gallic Chief scored an eye catching win at Turffontein on Saturday. South Africa’s Champion Sire elect for 2021-2022, Vercingetorix’s other flagbearers this season include Chansonette (Gr1 World Sports Betting Cape Fillies Guineas),

Seeking The Stars (Gr2 WSB Club Prive Green Point Stakes, Gr3 #ThisIsRacing Matchem Stakes), Alesian Chief (Gr3 World Sports Betting Merchants) and Pomp And Power (Gr2 Concorde Cup). Bereave has been a model of consistency, earning at every one of his outings, winning 4 races with 5 places from his 9 starts for stakes of R252 775. With no benefit of a carryover boost, the Pick 6 reached a nett pool of 1 072 232. The exotic was paying R2-80 after the popular opening leg.

The Merits BEREAVE has had his rating raised from 103 to 106 after he won the Listed Southeaster Sprint (handicap) over 1100m at Kenilworth on Saturday. Here it was the everconsistent runner-up PLEASEDTOMEETYOU who was considered to make for the ideal line

horse, leaving him unchanged on a mark of 105. In rating the race this way, 4th placed SAFE RETURN runs to his rating of 101, as a consequence of carrying one pound or 0, 5 kgs overweight and essentially becomes a line horse as well. The winner aside, the only other increase was for 3rd finisher RESONATE, who was one

pound or 0,5 kgs under sufferance at the weights and who accordingly goes up from 99 to 100. The only drop was for ELUSIVE TRADER, who finished last in his bid to win this particular race for the third year in succession and who is down from 95 to 92.

Premier Power! The official catalogue for the 2022 CTS Cape Premier Yearling Sale has been published online, on this link. Printed copies were distributed at Kenilworth and Turffontein last weekend. The Cape Premier Yearling Sale, the highly popular auction for future stakes winners, goes into its 12th year of existence, with a splendid 182-lot catalogue, and is scheduled for Sunday, 6 February (the week after the Cape Met), at De Grendel Wine Estate. CTS partnered with De Grendel for the 2021 renewal of the sale last January and the event received rave reviews. The internationally renowned wine farm laid it on for clients with its breath-taking

views over the winelands and its award-winning restaurant, and more of the same can be expected in one of the world’s most exclusive breeding and racing regions.

restrictions last year, and we are aiming higher. It is an association of powerful brands backed by one of the strongest catalogues we have seen at this sale.

The catalogue has the ingredients discerning buyers look for, with progeny from star stallions Gimmethegreenlight, Trippi, Vercingetorix, What A Winter and Twice Over, through to newcomers Canford Cliffs, Danon Platina, Fire Away, Horizon, Heavenly Blue, Gold Standard and Lancaster Bomber, and this season’s freshman stars Rafeef and William Longsword – presented by an outstanding list of vendors.

There is depth and class in the bloodlines on offer, and the presence of a variety of exciting new stallions makes this a sale not to be missed!”

Grant Knowles, MD of CTS, commented: “Our partnership with De Grendel took CPYS to another level, despite covid

For more information, please contact: Grant Knowles: grant@ cthbs.com or 0828829774

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Chase Liebenberg

a Anthony Andrews steers Barzalona to an emphatic win over Intrepid (Richard Fourie) in the opening feature

FEEL THE NEED Candice Bass-Robinson got her Cape Guineas day aspirations off to a flying start when Barzalona, the lesser fancied of her duo, opened the big day feature menu at Kenilworth on Saturday to win the R100 000 non black-type Need For Speed Sprint. Relatively unfancied at 10-1, and a horse tagged by Shaheen Shaw on the A Shaw Thing video/podcast, Barzalanoa produced a sustained finish under

Anthony Andrews to beat the lovely grey Intrepid (4-1) by a length in a time of 58,09 secs for the 1000m straight. Rod The Mod (16-1) set a fiery gallop and only faded later to finish third, a further 0,40 lengths back. The winner’s stablemate and topweighted tote favourite African Rain was run off his feet early and never got a shout in, finishing out of the cash but only 2,35 lengths back.

It was Barzalona’s biggest payday to date with his second win and 6 places from 11 starts for stakes of R183 450. He is a Klawervlei Stud-bred son of Pomodoro (Jet Master) out of the Captain Al four-time winner, Al’s Bonanza. The Place Accumulator was paying R3-50 minimum after the opening leg.

JC Photos v

Mark Khan has Bon Vivant in control

LONGSWORD GRABS THIRD STAKES WINNER When Bon Vivant ran out a front-running winner of Saturday’s Listed Secretariat Stakes at Turffontein, she became the third stakes winner to emerge from the first crop of her Gr1 Cape Guineas winning sire William Longsword.

The smart filly gave the indisposed Raymond Danielson’s substitute, veteran five-times SA Champion Mark Khan, a welcome feature winner when she stayed on strongly at 10-1 to beat Whafeef (12-1) by 1,40 lengths in a time of 87, 4 secs.

Johan Janse van Vuuren runners filled first and third with About To Storm (12-1) a head back in third. Raced and bred by leading owner Laurence Wernars and his family, Bon Vivant is out the Medaglia D’Oro mare,

Society Pages – an unraced daughter of multiple US Gr1 winner Society Selection. A winner of 2 races with 3 places from 6 starts, Bon Vivant has earned close on R170 000 in stakes. She follows Dyce (Gr2 Epol Umkhomazi Stakes), and Hasta Manana (Model Man Mile) as early stakes winners for William Longsword. The latter, who is showing signs of following in his own Cape Guineas winning sire Captain Al’s footsteps, is

currently South Africa’s Leading Second Season Sire by stakes winners and he looks on track for a good career at stud. William Longsword has been in prolific form this month, with the half-brother to G1 winner Real Princess (herself dam of eye-catching maiden winner, Gimme A Prince (Gimmethegreenlight)) responsible for eight winners in December. He has made the perfect start with his second crop of runners, his first twoyear-old runner this season being the eye-catching debut winner, Air Of Mystery.

Interestingly, Bon Vivant is inbred to Sadler’s Wells, through Fort Wood (broodmare sire of William Longsword) and El Prado (whose son Medaglia D’Oro is damsire of Bon Vivant). It seems likely that William Longsword will continue to fare well when mated to mares from the Sadler’s Wells male line with his G2 winning son Dyce out of a mare by Sadler’s Wells’ greatest sire son, Galileo. The imposing William Longsword is not the first

son of Captain Al to make his mark at stud, with Captain Al’s champion son Captain Of All responsible for last season’s dual G1 winner Linebacker as well as fellow graded stakes winners Shango and Springs Of Carmel. William Longsword, pictured above, is a direct, male line descendant of Epsom Derby winner and hugely influential sire of sires, Roberto. The latter left behind a remarkable dynasty of topclass sire sons including Kris S, Silver Hawk, Red Ransom, Lear Fan, Brian’s Time, Dynaformer, Robellino, and former champion South African sire Al Mufti, grandsire of William Longsword. While the Roberto male line is not as powerful as it once was, it still continues to exert a notable influence on major

BON VIVANT has had her rating raised from 85 to 89 following her success in the Listed Secretariat Stakes (handicap) for three-year-olds over 1400m on the standside track at Turffontein on Saturday. Here it was joint 5th placed LITIGATION who was deemed to make for

races around the world. Japan Cup winner of 2014, Epiphaneia, has quickly become one of Japan’s most sought after stallions, while Japanese Horse Of The Year, Maurice, has already made his mark as the sire of G1 winners Hitotsu (Victoria Derby) and Pixie Knight (Sprinters Stakes). (Maurice is also represented in South Africa by the very promising filly, Whoa Whoa Whoa.) While Epiphaneia’s sire, dual Japanese Horse Of The Year, Symboli Kris S, was sired by Roberto’s son, Kris S, Maurice is by Japan Cup winner, Screen Hero, a grandson of Roberto’s underrated son Silver Hawk. Interestingly, Saturday’s Cape Guineas winner, Double Superlative (Twice Over) carries both Roberto and his full-sister Glorious Spring in his pedigree.

The Merits

William Longsword has another well-bred crop of twoyear-olds representing him in 2021-2022, and it should be interesting to follow their progress this season.

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the best line horse when assessing the race, leaving him unchanged on a mark of 88.

raised from 82 to 84 as a consequence of being two pounds or one kg under sufferance at the weights.

Runner-up WHAFEEF, who was two pounds or one kg under sufferance at the weights, was raised from 82 to 84. The same is true also for 3rd finisher ABOUT TO STORM, who is also

There were no other ratings increases, but three runners received a drop. EAGLE STRIKE is down from 82 to 79, IRON WILL drops to 89 from 92, and lastly FISHER KING drops from 91 to 89.

JC Photos

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BAREND! 48

Nobody ever remembers charismatic Vaal trainer Barend Botes’ birthday. So we thought we’d go out of our way this year to make it a special one for the man they call ‘Mr Fixit’ and who came within a heartbeat of winning the WSB Gr1 Gauteng Summer Cup late last month with a 7yo patched up retread – that description said with the utmost respect! Barend turns 52 on Christmas Day, and with a lot more important things going on in most homes, he tends to miss out. “Look, it doesn’t bother me – I’m happy to take a backseat,”he laughs as he says it is no secret that he is a person who prefers the company of horses to people most days, anyway.

trainer Nic van Tonder – has just recently returned from Australia, and the 26 year old is going to be assisting his Dad with marketing and getting his name out there. They are also hoping to secure a sponsorship from Clocking The Gallop, to lift their profile. Barend trains in partnership with Yolandie Vosloo out at the Vaal where their 25 strong string is made up of yearlings and around ten horses who are actually fit and racing. His skills are clearly in the domain of second-hand horses, where personal attention, love and patience gets lengths more out of many of them. “You know, it’s just my personality that I have to make a study out of everything. I

research horse soundness issues, for example. I will spend hours on it and take the care and time myself. Any problems, I get to the bottom of – it’s easy to just pass issues on to a Vet. I prefer to understand everything intimately. Maybe there is a word for the condition,” he laughs. “Barend is a magician,”declared Andre van Schaik, part owner of the 7yo Summer Cup third-placer Golden Pheasant. The raw statistics do not lie – Golden Pheasant has had 5 starts under the Botes banner, which produced 1 win, 3 seconds and a third cheque in the Highveld’s flagship Gr1 race! “I believe Barend deserves JC Photos

“That’s just me – I work and I sleep – and I sleep and I work. My time is with my horses, not making small talk and smiling. My business is getting my horses fit and well and ready to do their best on the racetrack. I will leave the marketing up to the experts,”says the man who joined the SA Jockey Academy in the same vintage intake as Weichong Marwing and Johnny Geroudis. Barend’s son Brandon Nicolas Botes – the Nicolas is after his famous Granddad

Golden Pheasant – the form of his life

much more support than he gets. He can train and nurture nearly any horse,”says a pleased Van Schaik. The Golden Pheasant story in a nutshell is that he started his racing career on 7 June 2017 with trainer Darryl Moore in KZN. On 5 January 2019 he bled and got suspended for 3 months. On 14 April 2019 he had his first run after his suspension for bleeding, and he bled again and got suspended again. They then put him out on a farm, and he started racing for Corne Spies during the period 1 October 2020 until 13 February 2021. He was then sold and transferred to Montana Turner

in Gqeberha. He had 1 start for her on 19 March 2021. Andre van Schaik then bought him and he was moved to Jacques Strydom, where he didn’t race. “I decided to buy Jacques Strydom out and I moved him to Barend Botes, who was then his fifth trainer,”adds the Europe-based owner. The rest as they say is history and per mid-December, Golden Pheasant was South Africa’s seventh highest earning racehorse this season. How does he do it? “Attention, research, love and care. I have never been to the sales and had an open cheque

LAST WEEK TO ENTER

book to flash around. I’m sure anybody can train winners with unlimited budgets and buying the best of blood. My philosophy has to be different but it works for me. I am proud of what we have achieved.” And Golden Pheasant? “He needs plenty of TLC! He is full of enthusiasm for the game still, but we will take him from race to race. If he stands up to it, I think the Vodacom Durban July wouldn’t be a silly race to aim at. Racing is about dreaming big and aiming high. We will see where the journey takes us,”concluded Barend, who wished the industry, his friends and family a happy Christmas.

MURPHY’S LAW Oisin Murphy, Britain’s champion jockey on the Flat for the last three seasons, said on Thursday that he has temporarily relinquished his licence to ‘focus on rehabilitation’ after it emerged that he will face disciplinary charges early in 2022 relating to two racecourse positives for alcohol in 2021, as well as a failure to follow Covid protocols in September 2020. Murphy was stood down from riding at Newmarket in September after failing a pre-race breath test, which was believed at the time to be his second positive for alcohol in just over two years, following a similar incident at Salisbury in June 2019. However, it emerged on Thursday that he also failed a urine test at Chester in May 2021, which means in turn that his failed breath test at Newmarket would be his third positive within 36 months. That would trigger an automatic ban of between 60 and 180 days, with an entry point of a 90-day ban. In addition, the British Horseracing Authority said in a statement on Thursday that Murphy will also face charges of “misleading or attempting to mislead the BHA regarding his true location between 9 and 12 September” last year, “accessing the racecourse in breach of the Covid-19 requirements” and “acting in a manner prejudicial to the proper conduct and good reputation of horse racing”. Murphy was crowned champion again in October after an epic battle with William Buick. The Killarney-born rider looked set for a comfortable defence of his title with a few weeks of the season to go – but a late charge from Buick set up a thrilling finale, with Murphy ultimately coming out on top by 153 winners to 151.

EZRA AGAIN Bloodstock South Africa graduate Ezra saluted at Sha Tin in fine style on Saturday. Trained by Tony Millard, Ezra made it Hong Kong win number three, when he won the Lukfook Jewellery Love Forever Collectio Handicap. Under Ruan Maia, the flashy grey came with a sustained late run to land the 1600m race by a neck. Bred by Wilgerbosdrift & Mauritzfonten, Ezra was a R2 200 000 buy from the 2017 National Yearling Sale, when knocked down to owner William Mocatta. A son of Avontuur Thoroughbred Farm's triple G1 winning sire Oratorio, Ezra is out of former Gr1 Cape Fillies Guineas winner Emerald Beauty, a daughter of Equalize.

CHAD STARTS OVER

After seven years in Hong Kong where he rode over 200 winners, Gr1 WS Cox Plate-winning jockey Chad Schofield is set to make his Australian return to race riding this Thursday where he will partner the John O’Shea-trained 3YO gelding Destiny’s Bounty in the Maiden Plate over 1200m at Gosford. With his wife Hannah expecting their first child and the constantly evolving Covid-19 pandemic, the decision was made to head back to Australia to continue his riding career. “I think he’s resuming at a good time of the year where a lot of the main riders are having a break, so there is a little bit of a [rider] shortage in Sydney at the moment,” Schofield’s manager Mark Van Triet told racing.com. Having recorded elite success aboard the now Rosemont Stud based stallion Shamus Award (Snitzel) when winning the time-honoured Cox Plate as an apprentice, as well as further Gr1 wins aboard Sonntag (Teofilo), Go Indy Go (Bernardini) and Lankan Rupee (Redoute’s Choice), Schofield is just shy of 500 race winners, with the 27-year-old sure to reach that milestone in the coming months.

BEST TO BEST!

Leading South African breeders Ridgemont Highlands proudly tweeted this week that their champion sprinter Run Fox Run (Foxwedge) has been tested in foal to Frankel – ‘excitement is an understatement’ said the ecstatic team. The lightning-fast Australian-bred mare won eight of just 11 starts, never out of the first four, for earnings of R1 140 350. Run Fox Run joined a list of outstanding sprinters when she defeated a superb field to land the 2021 Gr1 Cape Flying Championship. Previous standouts to have won the Cape Flying Championship including the likes of Jet Master, Carry On Alice, Flobayou, Via Africa (dam of the hugely promising Australian colt In The Congo), What A Winter, and Sentinel. The highest rated runner in Timeform history, Frankel went unbeaten in 14 starts (including ten at Gr1 level). His memorable victories including a six-length romp in the 2011 Gr1 Qipco 2000 Guineas, an 11-length demolition job of the 2012 Gr1 Queen Anne Stakes field, and a seventh length score in the 2012 Gr1 Juddmonte International. An unbeaten Gr1 winner at two, three and four, Frankel was Horse Of The Year in Europe in both 2011 and 2012.

A PLEA FOR HELP Former top jockey Charlie van Booma lost one of his eyes in an awful accident, when he was kicked in the face by a horse just over 24 years ago. He’s had a few ocular prosthetics since then. But as time goes on, these custom made prosthetics need replacing due to wear and tear and also because of how the body changes shape over the years. Charlie desperately needs to replace the prosthetic eye that he has now, as soon as possible. Charlie was and still is a hugely respected horseman here in South Africa, but due to his impaired vision, he can no longer ride in races professionally. He does still ride some morning track work for a few trainers at the Vaal Racecourse to keep himself busy and to stay involved in his lifelong passion. Unfortunately Charlie does not have the funds to replace his current prosthetic eye, which is no longer suitable for his needs. He recently went to an ocularist to get a quote for a new ocular prosthetic – the quote is R21 000. Can you help?

Candiese Lenferna

WHO WAS SA RACING’S PERSON OF THE YEAR? In our final issue of 2021 next Wednesday, we will take a look back at the year, the

people and some of the events. Send us your thoughts of a candidate as a newsmaker of 57

the year – please email info@ sportingpost.co.za.

Orbit War (Lucian Africa) gets up to win the 2011 Christmas Handicap in a blur

Boxing Day Tradition

It has been ten years since Orbit War came from well off the pace to spring a surprise in the 2011 Christmas Handicap over run over 1600m at Clairwood. Top weight Black Wing had been contesting some stronger races and went off as the 22/10 favourite in a field of eleven for Clairwood’s traditional Boxing Day headliner.

and Orbit War raced towards the rear. Code Rock worked his way past Bay Route inside the last 100m, but wide out on the track Orbit War was unleashing a strong late run, finishing much too strongly for Code Rock and skating past in the last few strides to win by half-a-length under Lucian Africa, who was partnering his first winner since he had returned to Kwazulu-Natal after a sojourn of over a year in Cape Town.

The pace was respectable from the start, with habitual frontrunner Bay Route quickly going to the head of affairs and showing the way from Black Wing and Danish Silver, with Las Ramblas next in line as Dun Carrer

Those who believe that some horses peak at a certain time of year may have picked up on the fact that Orbit War was winning a race in December for the third season in succession, having won the KZN Chapter Challenge final 60

over 1200m in December 2009 before winning the 1600m leg of that series at the equivalent meeting in 2010. An Argentine-bred five-yearold, Orbit War was owned and trained by Adam Kethro, who was ably assisted by former trainer Gary Rich. Orbit War was bought privately by Adam Kethro not long before winning the 1200m KZN Chapter Final, having started his career in the care of Tony Rivalland. A gelded son of Bernstein out of the Quiet American mare Orangina, Orbit War had won four times from 23 starts overall and earned R426 150 in stakes up to that time.

- Golden Oldies - Golden Oldies - Golden Oldies - Golden Oldies - Golden Oldies - Golden

n Oldies - Golden Oldies - Golden Oldies - Golden Oldies - Golden Oldies - Golden Oldies -

Golden Oldies - Golden Oldies - Golden Oldies - Golden Oldies

Oldies - Golden Oldies - Golden Oldies - Golden Oldies - Golde

Fred Davenport FB

THAT STOP STREET NEVER TURNS GREEN! v

a 62 Sha'Carri Richardson - banned from the Tokyo Olympics for smoking a joint

‘Lethargic’, ‘Goofed’, ‘Sluggish’, ‘Lazy’ … These are just a few of the words that conventionally spring to mind when one thinks about anything that the cannabis plant will do to them. Hungry hippies raiding fridges and best friends sitting at a stop street waiting for it to turn green are connotations embedded in mindsets, which are slowly being transformed into something a little more open minded. Dacha is one of the most open-minded spaces when it comes to cannabis and trying new things, which is why when we hear of athletes using CBD, we get a tingly kind of excitement that no spliff could ever provide. Shannon Smith writes that not only is it being used to help reduce the pain and inflammation after a hard training session, but researchers have also discovered that CBD is anti-

catabolic. This means that CBD helps reduce the breakdown of lean muscle tissue and even helps to build more muscle mass. Some even say that CBD helps them to improve on their focus and intention during training. A far cry from the hazy-eyed picture one would have in their mind of this same person a few years ago. Yes, there are still regulations around professional athletes using cannabis, but the good news is that this is continuously being reviewed and challenged worldwide. Some may be aware of the controversy around Sha'Carri Richardson, who was banned from the Tokyo Olympics for smoking a joint, but there were other professional Olympic Athletes consuming CBD products for pain, inflammation and anxiety with no problems. The difference here is in the THC. The “high” one would feel is a result of the THC. All CBD products you find, including Dacha’s ranges as well as Bush, contain no THC

(Don’t worry Rachel Venniker, you are safe ) - So there’s still no problem here for professionals. We’re happy that Rachel is enjoying our Bush range, among other people who have given their feedback. Remember that you can get yours with a 10% discount by using the SPORTINGPOST code, or you could win! During the festive season we are running a competition on our Instagram where you could win some of our Bush Range, as well as some other cool products from partner brands. Head on over to @ bush_cbd_wellness and get clicking! Competition ends 24 December. Merry Christmas, and may you be feeling lighter and healthier with every use of Bush every day.

Get Your perfect Christmas gift.

Use discount code "SPORTINGPOST" with your order .

Be U - Stay Healthy Holistic health is getting easier, and Bush is bringing it closer to you. 65

@bush_cbd_wellness

BREEDERS – LAST CHANCE TO SEND YOUR STAR! The Sporting Post is once again proud to partner with BUSH to bring you the cream of this season's foal crop – our future stars. Outstanding prizes will again be offered for the final time this month to readers, who are asked to select the foal of the month. We have five lovely foals to showcase this week - a trio boarding at the beautiful Winterbach Stud, and an

impressive pair from the KZNbased Camargue Stud. Boarding at Winterbach Stud, Mr and Mrs Henry Devine bred a strong Royal Mo filly out of the two-time winning Captain Al mare Captain's Darling. Next up is a powerhouse colt by What A Winter bred by Winterbach Stud. This flashy sort showcases his sires topquality and is out of one-time winning Trippi mare Pemba Island.

Our third foal boarding at Winterbach is an outstanding Oratorio filly. Bred by Peter De Lacey, she is out of the seven-time winning Miesque's Approval mare, Sounds Positive. Camargue has two lovely youngsters - the first being a well-balanced colt by Last Winter out of the three-time winning Jet Master mare, Winging It Wild.

Winterbach Stud (c) What A Winter ex Pemba Island – born 10 November

Mr & Mrs Devine (f) Royal Mo ex Captain’s Darling – born 21 August

Camargue Stud (f) Act Of War ex Royal Berkshire – born 10 October

Peter De Lacey (f) Oratorio ex Sounds Positive – born 26 August Next up is an impressive Act Of War colt from Camargue Stud. Out of three-time winning Trippi mare Royal Berkshire, this fella could be one to follow!

With just a week left of the year, breeders are invited to submit pics of their superstars to editor@sportingpost.co.za.

Please detail the date of birth, sex, breeding – and any related news.

Camargue Stud (c) Last Winter ex Winging It Wild – born 1 November

FUTURE STARS PROUDLY SPONSORED BY BUSH v

Winner announced! And more fun facts in the Dacha article, hiliting CBD in women's health

CBD Health for all genders Holistic health is getting easier, and Bush is 69 bringing it closer to you.

HKJC

David Ferraris – surprise decision for many

FERRARIS CALLS IT A DAY David Ferraris will bring a sudden end to his Hong Kong training career after this afternoon’s meeting at Happy Valley. The veteran handler informed Jockey Club officials of his plans on Sunday. “David sent a message this morning that he was going to relinquish his licence this week,” said Jockey Club executive director of racing Andrew Harding. “I was subsequently able to make contact with him and he confirmed that after Wednesday’s race meeting

he will cease training in Hong Kong.” The South China Morning Post has reported that the 58-yearold moved to Hong Kong ahead of the 2003-04 season and has 460 victories to his name in the city, including the 2005 Hong Kong Derby and a string of Gr1’s with superstar galloper Vengeance Of Rain. A four-time champion trainer in his homeland, Ferraris has 30 horses in his stable – with Bear Again the highest rated at 81 – and his string will be dispersed throughout the rest of the Hong Kong training ranks this week. “We are now working with his

assistant trainer to minimise the impact on the owners who have supported David,” Harding added. Ferraris, whose son Luke is a jockey in Hong Kong, has four wins so far in 2021-22, with the most recent of those coming courtesy of Charizard at Happy Valley last month. Charizard is one of five horses Ferraris has entered for the midweek meeting at the city circuit, along with Stoicism, Here Comes Ted, Xiang Bai Qi and Nitro Express.

HKJC

Vengeance Of Rain

HKJC

KIWI JOINS HONG KONG SCRUM 72

With the shock departure of David Ferraris, who saddled his last Hong Kong runners at Happy Valley on Wednesday, the Hong Kong Jockey Club has announced that Jamie Richards will be joining their training ranks for the start of the 2022/23 racing season. “Firstly, I’d just like to say what an honour it is to be licensed by the Licensing Committee for the upcoming season, it’s a very rare opportunity that doesn’t come around very often and something that I have been particularly keen on chasing in recent times,” Richards said via Zoom interview on Friday morning at a media conference at Happy Valley Racecourse. Currently head trainer of Te Akau Racing, Richards has already torn down the record books in New Zealand, setting a new all-time wins record for a single season (160), a new all-time record for domestic Group/Listed Stakes wins in a single season (36), a new all-time tally for Group 1s through a single season, the most prize money earned and the fastest 100 wins for a single New Zealand racing season. “I think Asia and in particular Hong Kong is a very important part of world racing as was showcased last week with the Hong Kong

International Races, it’s some of the most competitive racing in the world with some of the best bred animals and some of the best trainers and jockeys,” Richards outlined. The 32-year-old boasts three training championships in New Zealand while at the helm of Te Akau Racing, twice reaching the top with 101 wins before achieving an astonishing 160 through the 2020/21 season, which also encompassed his record 36 wins at Group or Listed Stakes level. Richards is synonymous with the nurturing of exceptional talents such as Melody Belle, Probabeel, Te Akau Shark, Xtravagant, Gingernuts and Avantage. He guided Melody Belle to a record-breaking 14 Group 1 wins – the most by a New Zealand-trained galloper; she also remains the only horse in history to claim the Hawke’s Bay Triple Crown. Not least, she also claimed successive New Zealand Champion Racehorse of the Year titles (2018/19 & 2019/20) under Richards, as well as a top-level score across the Tasman Sea in Australia, winning the Gr1 Empire Rose Stakes (1600m) at Flemington Racecourse. “It’s a challenge that we’re really looking forward to, it’s a difficult decision to leave New Zealand and as well we’ve enjoyed so much success in

Australia – that was going to be a viable option as well – but I’m really looking forward to the challenge of training in Hong Kong,” Richards said. Probabeel, Richards’ other leading flagbearer, is the only horse to win both agerestricted features at the Karaka Million meeting; she is also a four-time Group 1 winner in Australia. Having achieved a remarkable 50 Group 1 winners across his career, Richards landed the halfcentury milestone when he trained the first four across the line in the 2021 G1 New Zealand 1000 Guineas (1600m) last month, led by The Perfect Pink. In recent times, he has trained five successive winners of the NZ$1 million (approx. HK$5.29 million) 2YO Karaka Million (1200m), with Melody Belle (2017), Avantage (2018), Probabeel (2019), Cool Aza Beel (2020) and On The Bubbles (2021). “My father was a jockey and that’s how I got involved in racing, he also broke in and trained horses and my upbringing was very much focused around riding horses and training horses and being involved in the family business,” Richards said. “I was quite keen to become a jockey but I got too heavy and my parents thought it would be a good idea for me to stay

in school, go off to university and get an education, so in my summer holidays while I was at university I did a bit of travelling. “I worked on the North Island of New Zealand and in Melbourne, I completed a Bachelor of Commerce at the Otago University in Management and Accounting, I also got a diploma in marketing. “One of the biggest things in my career was being awarded the Sunline Scholarship, which is a wonderful scholarship operated by the New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association which involved three ten week stints abroad.” The scholarship harnessed Richards’ love for racing and through it he gained global experience in Great Britain, Ireland and the United States, firstly at Cheveley Park in Newmarket, followed by Coolmore Stud in Ireland before finishing off his trip with yearling preparation at Taylor Made in Lexington, Kentucky. Upon return to New Zealand, Richards worked for New Zealand Bloodstock before joining the team at Waikato Stud and from there he ventured to Te Akau Racing in 2014, firstly as their racing manager. “I was very well versed in the

racing side of things, but didn’t have a lot of knowledge about yearlings or broodmares and stallions, so that was a great learning curve and a fantastic opportunity to work with some of the biggest and most powerful farms in the world,” Richards said. “I met a lot of great people and made some great contacts and I think that was a really important part of my development, then when I returned back to New Zealand I spent a bit of time at Waikato Stud with Mark Chittick and New Zealand Bloodstock with Sir Peter Vella, just to get a bit of an overview of the breeding and how a sales company work, which all in all gave me a pretty good all-round feel for the industry. “At that stage I was approached to go and work for David Ellis as his racing manager which I did for a couple of seasons before being appointed his junior trainer and then I was in a training partnership with Steven Autridge (at Te Akau Racing). “And, now I’ve been training in my own right for the last four seasons and thankfully everything has gone really well, we’ve enjoyed a lot of success and I think we built up a wonderful team of staff and owners, so in a nutshell I think that’s how I’ve ended up here today.”

Richards is currently positioned second with 39 wins (as of 17 December) in the 2021/22 New Zealand trainers’ championship, though he has the most prize money earned (NZ$2.089 million, approx. HK$11.054 million) and is the only handler with over NZ$1 million (approx. HK$5.29 million) banked. “I came up to Hong Kong a couple of years ago, I made my first and only trip to Hong Kong with New Zealand Bloodstock and I spent a bit of time with the International Sale, we went to Sha Tin and went to Happy Valley as well as a morning at trackwork and ever since then it’s been very high on my list of things that I would like to achieve in my life, to train in Hong Kong,” Richards said. Te Akau Racing is based on the North Island of New Zealand, east of Hamilton in Matamata. “Now, thankfully, I have been granted that opportunity by the licensing committee and the Hong Kong Jockey Club who I can’t thank enough for the opportunity,” Richards said.

DREAMING OF A WHITE CHRISTMAS? 78

Kempton Park Racecourse

JC Photos

It could be a White Christmas in the UK this weekend and on Sunday the Gr1 King George VI Chase (17h05) is run at Kempton. First run in 1937, the race was named in honour of the new British monarch and is rated the second most prestigious chase in England after the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Ten entries remain in the Ladbrokes sponsored event and it promises to be a magnificent race. Numerous top steeplechasers have been victorious over the decades, but three champions form part of the history and tradition of this great race. In 1965, arguably the greatest chaser, the mighty Arkle was an easy winner. Rated 212 on official ratings, no other horse has come close to this rating and all future steeplechasers are always measured against the legend. Twenty-two years later in 1987, the front running grey Desert Orchid won the first of three consecutive King Georges for the recently retired trainer David Elsworth. “Dessie” as he was known to his adoring legion of fans was the all-time fifth highest rated chaser (187). His longevity together with his

determination and “guts in the finish” is what this true great will long be remembered for. Kauto Star rated 191 by Timeform recorded five King Georges between 2006 and 2011 for trainer Paul Nicholls and jockey Ruby Walsh. Perhaps his fourth King George success represents the best performance by a jumps horse since the era of Arkle in the 1960s. Kauto Star’s majestic career lasted a decade and he ended up winning 16 Gr1’s, but there's little doubt he was at the peak of his powers on Boxing Day in 2009. Ollie Magern and Nacarat set a ferocious pace which dragged most of the field out of their comfort zone, but Kauto Star was always cruising, and he sauntered into the lead on the turn for home before effortlessly drawing 36 lengths clear in the straight. Paul Nicholls is aiming to extend his record in this race to thirteen on Sunday as he fields defending champion Frodon, dual winner (2019 & 2020) Clan Des Obeaux and Saint Calvados who finished third last season. Bryony Frost will again be on board Frodon with retained stable jockey Harry Cobden declared to ride ante-post

favourite and stablemate Clan Des Obeaux. Paul Nicholls has kept his nine-year-old Clan Des Obeaux fresh by avoiding Haydock’s Betfair Chase last month. He seemed a bit lacking in pace behind stablemate Frodon here last year but that was on the back of a gruelling race at Haydock. He looked a different horse in the spring, winning the Bowl at Aintree and Punchestown Gold Cup and will surely go well here fresh. Frodon returns and has had a couple of months to get over his win at Down Royal where he jumped his rivals into the ground from the front and stayed on gamely to defeat last season's Cheltenham Festival winner Minella Indo. The Ditcheat trio face a formidable Irish challenge headed by Minella Indo for Henry de Bromhead. The eight-year-old’s win over A Plus Tard at Cheltenham reads even better now after his Cheverly Park stablemate’s commanding success in the Gr1 Betfair Chase at Haydock last month. His third behind Frodon at Down Royal on his seasonal reappearance, where he looked as though the race would do him good,

should stand him in good stead here. Champion trainer Willie Mullins sends recent Gr1 John Durkan runner Asterion Forlonge to contest the first prize of £142,375.

The Closutton handler feels the seven-year-old will be suited by the right-handed track and is hoping Bryan Cooper will take the ride.

“He was running a very good race in the John Durkan (until blundering and unseating rider) and he is better going right-handed so that looks like an opportunity to have a crack at a good race.”

results up to: 2021-12-21

TRAINERS Name Mr S J Snaith Mr P A Peter Mr S G Tarry Mr M F de Kock Mr G D Smith

Runs

Wins Win%

561 401 309 187 471

82 75 39 41 52

14.6 18.7 12.6 21.9 11.0

2nd

3rd

73 63 30 31 54

74 43 29 18 48

2nd

3rd

109 58 77 67 48

92 59 66 57 56

Other Places Place %

Win Stake (R)

Total Stakes (R)

117 75 50 37 90

47.1 45.1 35.3 46.0 40.8

4,233,400 4,167,688 3,108,875 2,474,313 2,156,250

6,465,650 6,196,125 4,240,750 3,484,625 3,389,000

Other Places Place %

Win Stake (R)

Total Stakes (R)

131 95 119 70 91

6,208,813 4,262,200 3,705,250 3,129,050 2,594,888

9,240,250 6,087,513 6,122,538 4,764,700 4,289,338

264 181 109 86 192

JOCKEYS Name Mr W B Kennedy Mr S Khumalo Mr M A Yeni Mr R D Fourie Mr K de Melo

Rides Wins Win% 694 488 595 368 399

120 84 73 70 53

17.3 17.2 12.3 19.0 13.3

332 212 262 194 195

47.8 43.4 44.0 52.7 48.9

BREEDERS B.T. B.T. Total Runrs Runs AEPR Wnrs Wins Winrs/ Places Winrs Wins Stakes (R) Rnrs %

Name

Wilgerbosdri� & Mauritzfontein Klawervlei Stud Drakenstein Stud (Nom: Mrs G A Rupert) Maine Chance Farms (Pty) Ltd Summerhill Stud (Pty) Ltd

224 276

721 914

35,855 25,639

79 104 73 89

35.3 306 26.4 350

7 2

7 3

8,031,513 7,076,388

123 113 112

383 366 422

35,974 36,544 28,006

40 40 26

32.5 161 35.4 156 23.2 150

6 2 1

4,424,838 4,129,463 3,136,625

B.T. Wins

Total Stakes (R)

8 5 1 1 0

5,289,150 4,456,563 4,238,788 4,108,900 4,030,525

59 52 33

SIRES Name

Runrs Runs AEPR

Vercingetorix * Silvano (GER) Master Of My Fate What A Winter Querari (GER)

122 127 140 140 146

370 387 482 435 479

43,354 35,091 30,277 29,349 27,606

B.T. Wnrs Wins Winrs/ Places Winrs Rnrs % 51 47 41 46 45

66 58 50 57 53

41.8 37.0 29.3 32.9 30.8

150 163 229 178 196

See all the detailed standings - Click here 83

6 5 1 1 0

A BOXING DAY BASH! 85

17/20 Wolves | 51/20 | Watford 32/10 (14h30)

Sunday 26 December

They pressed with a degree of poise and control, taking the game to Liverpool and standing toe-to-toe with Wolves have been knocking them. Palace will welcome at the door, and that knock is steadily growing. Their defensive the challenge; they’ve been brilliant under Patrick Vieira. showing has been brilliant. You Suddenly, the Eagles are an cannot lose if you keep a clean attacking team, irrespective sheet, but to earn all three of their opponents. I think points, you’ve got to have your both teams to score but do attacking players pulling their yourself a favour and watch weight in front of goal. this game. Watford haven’t managed to The result could go either keep a clean sheet since the 24th of August…so if there was a way, but I think both teams side primed for Wolves to finally to score sees us through our betting slip. Get on at cash in, surely this is the one. 9/10. Back the pack!

1/7 Liverpool | Draw 7/1 | Leeds 14/1 (14h30)

15/20 West Ham | 29/10 | Southampton 33/10 (17h00)

54/10 Norwich | 34/10 | Arsenal 9/20 (17h00)

Ryan Liberty suggests that 14/1 about the away win is generous pricing by Hollywoodbets. Leeds have been taken apart in their last two games and it doesn’t get much better now travelling to Anfield.

Southampton have gone under the radar for all the wrong reasons, they are without a win in their last six, but crucially they just aren’t playing decent football. West Ham are a handful at home. David Moyes has done incredibly well and will have penciled these sorts of games in as their must-wins.

Norwich is still largely inconsistent under their new manager. Against Manchester United they defended with discipline and asked questions going forward…but against Villa they didn’t look as though they deserved to be sharing the field.

The Boxing Day fixtures are always incredibly festive! The English tradition of playing League football the day after Christmas has certainly found a place in the homes of fans around the world and we are all hoping this year is no different! I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and prosperous New Year! Hopefully we can cap off the Christmas weekend with a few more coins in the bank.

I’m not sure if its brilliance or blasphemy but the stubbornness on display at Elland Road is truly something to behold. The Whites just refuse to change! Liverpool struggled (yes, struggled) against Spurs but I think Jurgen Klopp will remain calm here and his side will coast. Back the home side to score in both halves at 5/10.

I can’t see past the Hammers at home here. Get on. 15/20 Tottenham | 26/10 | Crystal Palace 37/10 (17h00) This should be another proper Premier League game of football. In their game against Liverpool, Antonio Conte illustrated exactly what a team under his guidance looks and feels like.

Arsenal is slowly but surely building something impressive under Mikel Arteta, the London club showed loyalty and patience when it mattered, and they are now slowly reaping the rewards. The Gunners still blow hot and cold on the road – but they win this.

1/5 Manchester City | 56/10 | Leicester 11/1 (17h00) Manchester City are reigning supreme now. They look as though they are miles ahead of the rest and they know it. Leicester have been affected by the disruptions quite intensely and haven’t played Premier League football since the 12th of December. I think City win of course, I’m tempted to back both teams to score only because Leicester have the players and if they come back firing, they can certainly get on the scoresheet. You can get about 7/4 on City and both to score. 11/10 Burnley | 51/20 | Everton 9/4 (17h00) Tough game to call, both sides have not come near their season expectations, and neither can afford to drop further points. The pressure is building on Rafa Benitez and the Goodison crowd will not simmer for long. Against Chelsea they looked compact and happy to sit in, something I expect Burnley to do here. I have doubts over Everton’s creativity, so the goal market comes into play for me. Back under 2.5 goals at 13/20.

46/10 Aston Villa | 29/10 | Chelsea 6/10 (19h30) Please see featured game on page 3 19/20 Brighton | 24/10 | Brentford 3/1 (22h00) Interesting game indeed, truly a contrast of styles in the league. Brighton always look to defend well, targeting moments in the game to look at hurting Brentford. The Bees, on the other hand, enjoy having a go – albeit often this usually happens at the Brentford Community Stadium. Brighton is without a win in their last 12 games (in all competition) and whilst this might be a chance to turn that around - I’m not sold.

I’m interested to see them play after a lengthy break, inevitably there would have been training where possible but irrespective of contact, there would have been consistent communication from the boss. They can only get better and with the squad they have I wouldn’t be bowled over should the Red Devils go on a bit of a run. Newcastle under Eddie Howe have themselves seen steady improvement and they will certainly put up a fight at St. James’ Park. I think United win, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Magpies score. Get on at 39/20.

Brentford will make life difficult and look to play at a blistering pace, I think they bully the Seagulls off the pitch. Given the price on offer, Brentford/ Draw at 15/20 remains appealing.

QUAD @ 6/1

Monday 27 December

Arsenal Win 9/20

5/1 Newcastle | 36/10 | Manchester United 9/20 (22h00)

Draw/Brentford 15/20

The change at United since Ralph Rangnick took charge is evident. Yes, there are still questions about their defence, but the style of football and the pace is a breath of fresh air at Old Trafford.

Liverpool to score in both halves (Yes) 5/10 Tottenham vs Palace: BTTS 9/10