Gold Circle Pty (Ltd)

Today's Racing :

Stay on the Snaith train

David Thiselton
The Justin Snaith yard bounced back to form over the weekend with four winners on the trot at Kenilworth and yesterday he opened up on the yards plans as well as discussing important current affairs in the racing industry such as export to Mauritius and the effect the 2010 World Cup will have on our racing.
Starting with Sparkling Gem, Snaith said that her disappointing unplaced run in the Prix du Cap on Saturday was simply due to her being tired. “She’s been involved in one fight too many this season with the likes of Fabiani, River Jetez, Mother Russia and in the Majorca. She still looked great though and we thought she’d be okay, but we were wrong. She’s sound but she was simply tired. We will give her a rest and will have to delay her start to the Durban season.” Snaith admitted that horses with Sparkling Gem’s front-running style usually found it harder to keep on performing and he revealed that he might try and tuck her in for one of her forthcoming races. “She has learnt to settle and her run over 1 800m in the Paddock Stakes was excellent. We believe she might now be able to accelerate from off the pace. We will try it but will warn the public beforehand.” Snaith said that the well-being of his entire string was excellent at present and he advised the public to include all his runners, particularly in the PA. The yard contests five races with 12 horses at Kenilworth tomorrow, Wednesday February 24. He described his two-year-olds as “extremely strong” this season. “We have fast two-year-old’s as well as ones with middle distance potential. New high profile owners have allowed us to buy horses with top pedigrees including some from new stallions.” He said that Maureen De Lago would possibly be the only one of his two-year-olds going to Durban as, due to her high merit rating, her career had “already been decided.” He added that horses going to Durban had to be “superfit and ready”. A minor virus hit the yard at J&B Met time, so he might have to delay his arrival in Durban due to the late start that his runners from J&B Met day will have had and he mentioned that Port Elizabeth could even be an alternative. He spoke of the ludicrous prices of flying and accommodation during the World Cup period that might wreak havoc with the schedules of racing professionals. “The price for a return flight to Durban from Cape Town on semi-final weekend is R12,000. Accommodation in Durban during the World Cup will be three-times more than normal. “It’s going to be near impossible for trainers and jockeys to fly between centres.” He added, though, that he is still looking forward to the winter challenges as usual. The yard is going through a very high rotation of horses at the moment. “Selling horses to Mauritius has become a very important part of our industry,” he continued. “Maidens can be sold for between R50 000 to R100 000 and top division horses for up to R300 000. The Mauritians are very honourable buyers too - the money is in the bank within a day or two. Selling top division horses that are stuck on high merit ratings to Mauritius has been a life-saver for owners.” With our best horses being bought by bigger overseas centres, Snaith reckoned that, due to the increasing rotation of bloodstock in South Africa, there had never been more horses in training in South Africa before. “It is very hard to get stables these days, they are all full. As well as the exports, the merit rating system also allows sub-standard horses to continue running - that is the one good point about it.” Returning to the vital link our racing now has with Mauritius, he said that a downside was that “the powers that be” had recently been making it harder to export horses there.
He was referring to a recent change the Mauritian Veterinarian Authority had made to the import conditions from South Africa.

\| All information on these pages are (©) Copyright Gold Circle Pty (Ltd) 2002 \| site map
(This site is best viewed at 1024 X 768)