Justin never fails to point out that his success relies on a team effort.
In fact, the setup of the Snaith yard is a model that all ambitious trainers could learn from an aspire to.
Justin’s mother Sue explained how it works.
“Justin does the manual work, the training, the horse care and the stable management. He was virtually born in the stable and has had a rapport with animals his whole life. He loves them and has naturally become an outstanding horseman. He went over to Australia as a youngster where he was assistant to the top trainer David Hayes. That gave him a very good grounding and reference. However, the backbone of the yard is really Jonathon (Justin’s older brother). He is the brains behind it and it takes a lot of brains to put it all together. He has a degree in accountancy, so does all the books and the paper work for the Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Durban yards. His other field of expertise is marketing, so he does all of that, such as the Facebook page, and also takes care of client relations. He always gives 110% and also helps Gaynor Rupert market the L’Ormarin’s Queen’s Plate. Chris and myself fill in the gaps in the yard. We also offer advice and they sometimes take it or sometimes don’t. For the sales, Jonathon, Chris, myself and John Freeman sit down together and select our top 20. We then have them vetted and are hopefully able to buy them. Horses don’t know their cost and the ones we select come at all different prices. In fact Legislate only cost R100,000. Jonathon passed his trainer’s exam exceptionally well, so could be a good trainer in his own right. He has filled in for Justin on occasion. However, the pair of them work together very well as brothers, which is unusual. They get on together like best friends. They have really taken the yard to a new level.”
The Snaiths fell six winners short of the magic 200 mark this past season and four short of their own record of 198 set the previous season.
They will once again be lamenting the harshness of the Cape’s winter weather, for in the previous season a Durbanville meeting was abandoned in the final week and this year the Kenilworth meeting on the last Saturday, for which they had assembled a big team, went the same way.
However, they will no doubt relish the challenge of trying to pass that elusive mark this season and like all champions of their respective professions would not have dwelled on the success of last season for more than a celebratory day or two.
Before the Daily News 2000 meeting at Greyville, Snaith was just over 560,000 clear of his nearest protagonist Geoff Woodruff, and Sean Tarry was hot on their heels.
However, Snaith then won both the Gr 1 Daily News 2000 with Legislate, the Gr 1 Woolavington 2000 with In The Fast Lane and then five weeks later the big one, the Vodacom Durban July, with Legislate.
He ended the season on earnings of R19,490,725, close to R5 million clear of Woodruff.
The yard’s earnings were well short of Mike de Kock’s 2009/2010 season record of R22,191,845.
However, it has traditionally become difficult for non-Highveld based trainers to win the title, as the difficulty of raiding high altitudes means that trainers with Highveld bases tend to have their big money races in the Autumn to themselves.
Justin was recently praised by a colleague in the training ranks for his tremendous capacity for work.
His demeanour at Clairwood during this year’s Champions Season was one of unstinting focus. He was clearly determined to keep the title firmly in his grasp.
Consistently this season he has blamed himself for the disappointing runs of some of his leading horses, and without exception they have bounced back to their best within a run or two.
Like all champions in the sporting world he learns from his mistakes rather than denies them and prefers to accept responsibility rather than make excuses.
Snaith is also able to bounce back from setbacks.
He didn’t dwell for long on the shockingly bad luck his fancied runner Jet Explorer suffered when brought down in the Rising Sun Gold Challenge.
This horse was strongly fancied that day and what made it a lot worse was that it put Snaith’s stable jockey Richard Fourie out for most of the rest of the season, just when it looked possible that he could make a bid for the Jockey’s Championship.
Fourie was a vital party of the Snaith success and, like many South African jockeys before him, matured into the complete rider after a stint in Hong Kong.
He is now truly world class and a sign of his high level of professionalism was that his finely conditioned physique likely prevented any serious long term injury after that shocking fall at Clairwood.
The Snaith’s professional approach could see them gain a grip on the Championship that Mike de Kock, who is concentrating his efforts abroad these days, had over the previous few years and they will be the yard to beat again this season.