Joey Ramsden believes that Ancestry, a close second in both the Golden Horseshoe and Premiers Champion, will be a classic contender this season – “He is very much a Guineas horse and probably even more of a Derby horse.”
However the Milnerton trainer is narked that Bernard Fayd’Herbe did not employ more gamesmanship when Ancestry was beaten half a length by Eyes Wide Open (Richard Fourie) in the Premiers.
He said: “Bernard had the opportunity to keep him out and he let him in. I could have accepted it if he had quickened a bit and kept Richard three wide but this is racing. I don’t get an inch from Brett Crawford or Justin Snaith and nor do I expect it.”
Bernard Fayd’Herbe (Liesl King)
Ramsden’s annoyance is easy to understand. There is a huge difference between first and second in a Grade 1 – several times the stake money involved in the case of a colt or a filly – and often it’s also the difference between ending up with a satisfied owner and a dissatisfied one. Both owner and trainer are entitled to expect their jockey to pull out all the stops.
However there is a certain camaraderie in the jockeys’ room, borne out of both respect for fellow riders and an acknowledgement of the dangers they all face travelling at over 50kph on animals whose steering and controllability are often suspect. The accepted creed is that, while you do everything in your power to win when the race is on in earnest, you don’t endanger your opponents by attempting to stitch them up coming out of the pens.
If you do that, you can expect to be taught a painful lesson in the very near future – and both Andrew Harrison’s report and the Tellytrack replay suggest that Fayd’Herbe’s act of sportsmanship came at the very beginning of the race.
On a less contentious note, Brett Crawford confirms that Champions Cup first and second, Sail South and Captain America, will both stay in training for at least another season. Objectives will include the L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate in which they filled the minor placings behind Legal Eagle in January.
Last year’s Cape Derby winner It’s My Turn, only eighth in the Durban July, has been sent to a farm for a rest and Justin Snaith said: “All my Durban horses are having a break. They went from a hard summer to a hard winter and they are tired.”
Last year’s Scottsville Grade 1 winner Always In Charge is on the way back after pulling a muscle behind in early April and being forced to miss the Tsogo Sun Sprint.
Vaughan Marshall said: “He is back in work and coming right but we are not going to rush him.”
Stable companion The Secret Is Out, who has not been seen since her third to Carry On Alice in the SA Fillies Sprint, stays in training as a four-year-old.
Marshall said: “There were no further races for her in Durban but she will go for the good sprints in Cape Town.”
By Michael Clower
