Justin Snaith looks at first sight to be running away with the National Trainers Championships, as he was unofficially R6,777,525 clear of defending champion Sean Tarry at time of going to press and more than R10 million clear of Mike de Kock.
Sean Tarry
However, a look at which stage of the season these three trainers earn their money shows that the championship is in fact still very much alive.
Sean Tarry has earned over R10 million in each of the last three Highveld Autumn seasons and Mike de Kock has earned huge amounts in two of those three Autumn seasons too. This pair could close the gap on Snaith, who has earned between R8 million and R10 million less than Tarry during this phase of the season for the last three years. However, Snaith looks the strongest of the trio for the SA Champions Season and this is outlined by the record amounts he earned during the Cape Summer, so he will still be the firm favourite.
The season can be divided into four segments. Segment 1 is from August up to and including the Sansui Summer Cup meeting (incorporates Highveld Spring Season); Segment 2 is from the beginning of December up to and including the Sun Met meeting (incorporates Cape Summer Season); The third segment runs from February up to and including the country’s richest race meeting, Champions Day at Turffontein (incorporates Highveld Autumn Season); Segment 4 is the remainder of the season (incorporates SA Champions Season).
In 2015 the Gold Cup was run on August 1, so that will be included within the 2014/2015 statistics.
In the tables below the sequential numbers represent segment 1, segment 2, segment 3 and segment 4 figures plus the season total.
Mike de Kock was champion in the 2012/2013 season and the segmental figures for that season were as follows:
De Kock: R4,562,212.50; R2,327,375; R3,734,825; R6,241,900 = R16,866,312.50
Tarry: R4,290,100; R2,018,525; R4,969,825; R5,701,062 = R16,517,350
Snaith: R3,732,585; R2,280,675; R2,229,500; R5,238,900 = R13,943,822.50
Snaith was the champion in the 2013/2014 season.
Snaith: R4,142,275; R4,217,875; R2,406,112.50; R8,724,462.50 = R19,490,725.00
Tarry: R3,363,600.00; R3,106,287.50; R4,665,125; R3,392,650 = R14,527,662.50 (3rd)
De Kock: R3,110,687.50; R1,785,437.50; R3,654,175; R4,620,475 = R13,170,775.00 (4th)
Tarry was the champion in the 2014/2015 season (August 1, 2015 figures included):
Tarry: R5,755,500; R3,961,925; R10,760,575; R5,526,525 = R26,004,525.00
De Kock: R5,330,162.50; R4,589,150; R6,174,075; R4,448,325 = R20,541.712.50
Snaith: R4,751,950; R3,543,712; R2,582,175; R6,174,525 = R17,052,362.50
Tarry was champion in the 2015/2016 season (August 1, 2015, figures excluded):
Tarry: R5,259,812.50; R4,954,525; R12,932,925; R4,772,725 = R27,919,987.50
Snaith: R5,764,025; R4,735,237.50; R2,081,887.50; R5,770,837.50 = R18,351,987.50 (3rd)
De Kock: R4,527,300; R2,453,800; R2,758,175; R3,796,150 = R13,535,425.00 (4th)
Tarry was champion in the 2016/2017 season:
Tarry: R7,741,675; R8,414,525; R10,289,075; R9,598,525 = R36,043,800
Snaith: R6,376,825; R5,513,775; R3,016,825; R6,203,425 = R21,110,850
De Kock: R3,440,775.00; R2,487,550.00; R8,677,250; R1,876,650 = R16,482,225 (5th)
For the first two segments this season the figures read:
Snaith:R5,807,600; R12,167,200 = R17,974,800
Tarry: R5,516,650; R5,165,550 = R10,682,200 (3rd)
De Kock: R4,296,000; R2,329,450 = R6,625,450 (5th)
*Please note that all of these figures include restricted race stakes, which currently are officially not included in the Trainer’s Championship.
By David Thiselton
