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)