Cape Town’s newest trainer has had occupations varying from car salesman to spa manager and restaurant owner yet Dan Katz revels in having the bit between his teeth in charge of a racing stable once more.
“Even at school I wanted to be a trainer,” he recalls. “The first I went to work for was Darryl Hodgson when he was at Philadelphia and I then spent quite a while with Guy Rixon before starting on my own at Philippi in 1989.”
Katz, now 52, shakes his head at the memory and at what he clearly regards as a mistake. “I was the youngest trainer in South Africa. I didn’t do badly considering I only had a small stable of moderate horses and I trained some 28 winners in around two and a half years – but I was too young. I didn’t know enough and I decided to get out of the game.”
Dan Katz (SportingPost)
He switched to selling Toyotas and when that paled he moved to Mthatha (then Umtata) where he found work running a spa before deciding to live in Israel. There he switched direction yet again, this time running his own bistro-cum-restaurant in Eilat and finding a wife.
After eight years the pull of South Africa in general, and racing in particular, brought him back. He joined Greg Ennion before becoming assistant to his original boss. With Hodgson switching to more of a racing manager role, Hassen Adams offered Katz the promotion that he had been aiming for ever since his return.
“He and Darryl have given me this huge opportunity,” says Katz feelingly. “”I will be forever grateful and certainly I am grasping it with both hands.”
He doesn’t expect it to be plainly sailing and he is prepared for the knockers. “Cape Town is a difficult centre in which to win races and there is no shortage of detractors. People approach Hassen or Darryl and say: ‘Why are you doing this or that? Are you crazy?’ But I’m ready for them. They, and their comments, only make me work all the harder.”
Lalena, Katz’s first winner in his new role, came home at 25-1 last Saturday with capable but out-of-fashion Jason Smitsdorff in the irons. “The boy is hungry but he is not getting the rides. I told him to come and ride work for me. Then I approached Hassen and Darryl – they gave me a chance and I saw this as an opportunity for me to give him one. I love the underdog in life.”
He is also keen on Lalena. “I like her a lot and another filly called Rocksette who is a half-sister to Gimme Six. I have some useful recently-turned three-year-old colts plus Shadow Warrior who was second on Saturday and Dex Dexter, a Dynasty who won the second of his two starts.
“At least I think they are nice – we will have to see if I’m right. This game tames lions and it can easily bring you down a peg. I just want to keep them sound and win some decent races for Hassen.”
By Michael Clower
