Gold Circle Pty (Ltd)

Today's Racing :

NEW YEAR JOY FOR KOTZEN

Lance Benson
Paarl based trainer Glen Kotzen gave his wife Kathi a memorable birthday gift yesterday when he welcomed the talented daughter of Western Winter, Lady Windermere, into the winner’s box after she had comprehensively beaten her thirteen rivals in an impressive display of power galloping in the R200 000 Grade 2 Sceptre Stakes run at a sunny and windless Kenilworth.

What an absolute pleasure it is to watch racing on a true and fair track thanks to the enterprise of Kenilworth course manager Dean Diedericks and the Cape Doctor, who thankfully took an overdue day off. The absence of a howling south easter buffeting those drawn on the inside and Diederick’s revised track configuration, which saw a false rail erected on the outside of the track, meant that no excuses or moans were heard and the best filly emerged victorious on the day. Surely the way it should be!

The fourteen-strong field got away to a level start with Dynamite Casey and Chiquita at each other’s throats early while Greg Cheyne had the 7-2 favourite Lady Windermere tucked in about four lengths off the leaders. At the three hundred meter mark Cheyne gave the speedball her head and it was race over as she scooted away to win unextended from a game Badger’s Cove, while Kotzen’s PE based brother-in-law Mitch Wiese held the family flag high with the six year old mare Favourite Island hanging on for third place.

Glen Kotzen is one of the true gentlemen of the game and has not always enjoyed the success he deserves and one now hopes that the Woodhill Racing Estate team in Agter Paarl will have something special to look forward to in the KZN Champions Season. He thanked his patron Pieter De Beyer, who is holidaying overseas and also Guy Murdoch of Gary Player Stud, who bred Lady Windermere. She has now won two Grade 2’s in her last two outings and is out of top-class Averof mare Ballad Of Reading who was bought by Murdoch from Hymie Maisel’s Hyjo Stud in 2001. The filly went out of the ring unsold at R400 000 at the National Sales and Kotzen explained that he and De Beyer were looking for top-class broodmare candidates and approached Guy Murdoch who agreed to retain a share. “ The blood doesn’t get too much better than this and hell she sure can run,” said an elated Kotzen. He indicated that her next mission would be the Cape Flying Championship. Jockey Greg Cheyne was highly complimentary, saying that she was well on her way to emulating the best sprinting filly he had ever ridden in Joie de Grise: “ She was almost going too well early on but when I pressed the button it was race over. She is really smart,” he said.

Kotzen was also party to celebrations earlier in the day when champagne corks popped as Springbok and veteran Cape Champion jockey Karl Neisius celebrated the birth of his daughter, who was born at Blaauwberg Hospital on New Year’s Eve, by riding his first winner of her young life on the Kotzen winner of the third race, the well backed favourite Diva Dancer. Just after 3 pm on Wednesday afternoon Neisius heard the news that his wife Emma had given birth to a bonny bundle of joy named Abigail, weighing in at just under 3 kgs. The fifty two year-old heavyweight rider had just sunk a beautiful putt on the 15th hole at the Milnerton Golf Club when taking the stork’s call and rushed off to join the pair. According to Neisius’ longstanding agent Rob Champion the delivery date was originally 5 January 2009 but he said that both mom and daughter were doing very well and had settled in to their new routine at their Table View home. The New Year has thus begun very well for both the Neisius and Kotzen families and we wish them well!
.

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