Betting World marked out Durban July winner Legislate from evens to 5-2, the same price as Triple Crown winner Louis The King who was a 6-1 chance prior to his second in the Queen’s Plate.
Arion, who returned to winning form in the Glorious Goodwood Peninsula Handicap, has been slashed from 66-1 to 14-1 but Act Of War is on the drift, going out from 7-1 to 10-1. Queen’s Plate third Gold Onyx is now a 40-1 chance from 100-1.
Legislate was thought to be unbeatable having broken the Kenilworth Old Course record in his previous race and started at odds of 9/20. However, he didn’t settle well in the running behind a crawl set by the outsider Ashton Park and just did not have the fuel in the tank to produce his normally devastating finish.
Futura was relaxed in last place in the running and showed no ill effects from his far from ideal preparation, which had seen him missing a race as well as a racecourse gallop due to a bout of coughing.
Ashton Park looked at one stage a possibility to pull off a shock 40/1 victory as he led for much of the straight. Futura finally reeled him in, but then had to repel a late burst by the Triple Crown and Sansui Summer Cup winner Louis The King.
Futura winning the L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate (Liesl King)
Futura won by 0,75 lengths clear, much to the excitement of Fayd’Herbe, who shook his fist with delight. Fayd’Herbe has tasted success in the Queen’s Plate on a number of occasions as he partnered the great Pocket Power to three of his famous four victories in the prestigious weight for age event.
The 33/1 outsider Gold Onyx finished strongly to be only 1,75 lengths behind the winner in third, a head in front of Jet Explorer. Gauteng horses therefore filled the second and third places and also fifth place with Tellina. Ashton Park, Kingvoldt and Paterfamilias were next best. A tired Legislate trailed in last, 5,25 lengths behind the winner.
Crawford had finished second in the last two running of the Queen’s Plate with Jackson and was thrilled to taste victory at last. The Dynasty colt Futura is owned by the passionate racing men Ian Longmore, Jack Mitchell and John Freeman. Mitchell might have had mixed feelings as he also has a share in Legislate.
Futura was bred by Guy Murdoch and was conceived in Colesberg on The Gary Player Stud Farm, born in the KZN Midlands at Yellow Star Stud and raised in Kimberley at Mauritzfontein Stud.
The big race result was a massive disappointment for the owners of sponsors L’Ormarins, Johann and Gaynor Rupert, as Legislate runs in the colours of their Drakenstein Stud. However, they still enjoyed a great day as those Drakenstein blue and white colours had earlier run first and third in the Gr 1 Maine Chance Paddock Stakes with the Mike Bass-trained Inara and the Glen Kotzen-trained Jet Belle respectively. Furthermore, Drakenstein bred Inara, who is by their stalwart stallion Trippi. Trippi had a treble on the day, and one other of them was also owned and bred by Drakenstein Stud.
Gaynor Rupert has done an immense amount of work to transform the Queen’s Plate into one of the top five rated racemeetings in the world, so thoroughly deserved the success. The course was awash with the blue and white colours that have now become tradition for patrons to wear and the crowd was thought to be a record for the meeting.
Inara gave a massive boost to the three-year-old form. She also left pundits asking just how good the mighty Mike de Kock-trained Majmu must be, as the latter had beaten her hands and heels by 2,5 lengths in the Gr 1 Avontuur Estate Cape Fillies Guineas.
Inara was allowed to go off at 20/1 as there was heavy support for Jet Aglow, who was bidding to give Dennis Drier and Sean Cormack a Paddock Stakes hat-trick.
Inara wins the Paddock Stakes (Liesl King)
Van Niekerk did well to tuck Inara into a midfield position from a wide draw and she then settled well. In the straight most of the horses made a bee line for the outside, as was the trend on the day, and Van Niekerk had to switch Inara inward for a run. She finished strongly but had to run all the way to the line to get the better of the Joey Soma-trained Gauteng raider Athina and Jet Belle in a thrilling three-way tussle.
She won by a neck and there was also a neck between Athina and Jet Belle. Another Gauteng raider, the De Kock-trained three-year-old Pine Princess, finished next best ahead of Jet Aglow. It has to be said that Jet Belle was probably an unlucky loser having to be snatched up and eased on two occasions, once down the back straight and then again in the straight.
Justin Snaith, trainer of Legislate, still had a good day with four winners, two of them ridden by his stable jockey Richard Fourie. Snaith and Fourie combined to win the Gr 2 Glorious Goodwood Peninsula Handicap over 1800m with Arion.
Snaith has always rated this four-year-old Silvano colt, not surprisingly as he finished as quickly as Legislate when finishing a 2,75 length 3rd in last year’s Investec Cape Derby and then beat Legislate in a gallop before they were both due to leave for KZN. However, he then chipped a knee, so was off for seven months.
Snaith had him primed for yesterday’s race, his fourth since the layoff. However, he was allowed to go off at 10/1 as the money poured on to the Mike Bass-trained Helderberg Blue, who went off at 15/10, while Power King was also fancied and was backed into 4/1.
Chestnut’s Rocket and Serissa ensured a fair gallop, while Helderberg Blue lay handy in about fourth place with Arion behind him. Power King was in midfield one wide.
Helderberg Blue had every chance but Arion was always travelling better and soon had his measure. Power King had crept up on the outside but the late burst he produced was not enough to catch Arion, who had swept clear and won by 1,25 lengths under a well-timed ride. Fourie saluted one of the owners Greg Bortz, who watched from a box high in the stands, as he passed the line as part of a pre-arranged celebration. Arion was bred by Maine Chance Farms.
The Conglomerate (left) holds off MLJet (Liesl King)
Joey Ramsden had a hattrick on the day. Ramsden’s Australian-bred colt by Lohnro, The Conglomerate, won the Gr 3 Julius Baer Politician Stakes over 1800m under Piere Strydom at odds of 28/10. Derek Brugman represented owner Markus Jooste on course and said that this fine specimen had been bought at a bargain price, as he had been one of the early lots on the sale that Brugman and Ramsden attended.
The favourite MLJet set the fractions and The Conglomerate sat in about sixth place in the field which had cut up to just nine runners. The Conglomerate made his run down the outside and as MLJet had also drifted outward the pair became involved in an exciting tussle on the outward rail. However, Strydom was able to extract the necessary extra from The Conglomerate to win by 0,5 lengths.
MLJet has to go down as one of the season’s disappointments but he did have to concede 3kg to The Conglomerate and was 5,25 lengths clear of the third-placed Arniston.
Snaith and Ramsden’s fourth and third winners respectively came in the tenth race, a Pinnacle Stakes event over 2800m, when Current Event and Coltrane dead-heated. They were ridden by Fourie and Strydom respectively.
Bass and Van Niekerk also had a double together and both Sean Cormack and Karl Neisius rode doubles. The sires Silvano and Lohnro also had doubles.
One interesting result was in the third race, a maiden plate for fillies and mares over 1000m, as the winner Cathy Pacific, a 40/1 first-timer filly by Royal Air Force, was trained by Glen Kotzen, owned by his son Kuyan and bred by his mother-in-law Judy Wintle.
De Kock’s decision to scratch Majmu comes despite the lifting of the recent movement restriction ban on horses stabled at Randjesfontein. He commented: “Under current AHS conditions it has been recommended that we move horses we intend to race in Cape Town to another centre or to Cape Town as soon as possible in case the movement ban is re-instituted, but I don’t want to prepare Majmu elsewhere.
“There are other overriding factors too. Majmu lost weight when she travelled to the Cape and back for the Fillies Guineas last December and had not put it back on after having had a month to do so. Taking another trip to Cape Town for a major race like the Met will be a bit hard on a young filly like her and could affect her Triple Tiara aspirations.
“We’d rather bide our time, the Highveld feature season is around the corner in Gauteng and it makes sense to keep Majmu stabled here in view of the Triple Tiara series. We had to make a decision whether Majmu would travel to Cape Town on Wednesday along with Pine Princess and Alboran Sea and after discussions with Sheikh Hamdan’s Racing Manager, Angus Gold, this evening we considered it to be in Majmu’s best interest to take her out of the J&B Met.”
Pine Princess has been accepted to race in the Gr1 Paddock Stakes at Kenilworth on Saturday (Jan 10). Alboran Sea will be running in the Cape Flying Championship on January 24.
Brett Crawford explained: “He had only just stopped coughing and so he wouldn’t have been ready for a racecourse gallop. I gave him a spin on the sand instead. He is a very athletic type so he doesn’t need a lot.”
Bernard Fayd’Herbe’s mount has, understandably perhaps, eased slightly in the betting and is now 9-2 third favourite (from 4-1). Legislate has hardened to 1-2 with Betting World but Geoff Woodruff’s Sansui Summer Cup and Triple Crown winner Louis The King remains second favourite at 4-1.
Grand Parade Cape Guineas third Kingvoldt, the only three-year-old in the race, continues to drift and is now 12-1 after opening at 8-1.
Outsider Ashton Park (40-1) sprained a joint when nearly brought down in the Diadem Stakes nine days ago but Mike Bass, looking for a seventh Queen’s Plate triumph, is now a little more optimistic. He said: “I wasn’t hopeful of running him at the beginning of last week but I am now. The joint was swollen for most of the last week and I haven’t worked him. He has just been walking. Hopefully I will be able to this week.”
Justin Snaith, successful with Gimmethegreenlight three years ago, said at the weekend that he doesn’t fear any of the opposition, just bad luck in running. He added: “We won’t mind if the gallop is fast or slow. I just want him to have every opportunity and after that, may the best horse win. Indeed I hope they all get a fair chance so that there are no excuses afterwards.
“Legislate was very impressive in his Kenilworth gallop on Wednesday. Obviously it is hard to work out exactly how good he was as he went on his own, but I thought he was super impressive.”
The champion trainer, speaking of the Vodacom Durban July winner’s chance on Saturday, referred back to the four-year-old’s winning return in the Lanzerac Green Point Stakes and said: “He wasn’t fully tuned, just ready enough to run a good race. Yet to blow away a field like that and break the course record was scary.”
Snaith is also expecting a good show from 25-1 shot Jet Explorer and said: “He could be a dark horse for the placings. He will be given a chance and he will be running on at the end. He will do well.”
Joey Ramsden has undertaken to “let everyone know” if any change is made to the provisional plan to run Cape Guineas winner Act Of War in the Julius Baer Politician Stakes and said: “That’s still the plan but I will know more during the week.”
In the J&B Met betting Legislate has shorted from 22-10 to 18-10 and Futura has eased from 7-2 to 4-1. There has been significant support for the Bass-trained Premier Trophy runner-up Helderberg Blue who is now a 16-1 chance after being as big as 40-1 at one stage.
Meanwhile, Justin Snaith is on target to beat his own fastest century and needs just 16 winners in the next 32 days to do it. He landed a treble at Fairview on Friday and, although overshadowed by triple scorer Mike Bass at Kenilworth on Saturday, he had two more to take his total to 84. But the champion trainer is only third – behind Mike de Kock and Sean Tarry – in the trainers’ log and needs to win at least one of Saturday’s two Grade 1 races to regain his early season lead.
Randjesfontein horses have been subjected to a 40 day travel ban as it falls within a 30km radius of a recent positive case of African Horse Sickness (AHS). Sean Tarry is also affected by the ban as he plans to run Carry On Alice in the Cape Flying Championship and Trip To Heaven in the R1 million Cape Thoroughbred Sales Stakes, both on January 24.
Both De Kock and Tarry said today that the efforts to provide the best possible solution for the horses’ transport to the Cape included “legal wrangles.”
According to De Kock the state veterinary authority will grant permission for the horses to be moved to a training centre outside of the 30km radius, in this case The Vaal, where they will only have to stay for 14 days before being allowed to travel to Cape Town. This will enable runners for the Cape Flying Championship and J&B Met to reach Cape Town in time.
However, De Kock added that this alternative would mean a change of training tracks and environment, which was not ideal for a horse, and would also be subject to boxes being available, so he wondered whether it would be worthwhile.
Tarry said that everything was still “up in the air”, but that it was paramount that there was some sort of development “within the next 48 hours”, so that The Vaal option could at least be considered.
Pine Princess’s travel will obviously depend entirely on a solution being found within those 48 hours.
Tarry said there was a “lot going on” in the efforts to find a solution, including the case being “with the lawyers”. The connections of the horses are also awaiting a reply from a letter sent to the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (DAF). Tarry said that it was “alarming” that this letter, sent as a matter of urgency on December 28, had still not been replied to.
The travel ban was made by the state veterinary authority in order to protect the AHS Controlled Area in the Western Cape in line with the export protocol negotiated with the European Union (EU) in 1997.
De Kock, who spoke yesterday from his training centre in Dubai, admitted recently to having become increasingly demoralised by the AHS saga, which has had a severe impact on the racing and trading prospects of the South African thoroughbred as a whole and also on his own international ambitions.
He said recently that South Africa should “stop pandering” to the EU and instead concentrate their efforts on alternative solutions, and he said yesterday that it sent “a poor message” to the rest of the world that “we can’t travel our own horses around our own country.”
The Drakenstein Stud stallion Trippi sired the first three past the post, a continuation of the unstoppable form his progeny have been in this season. Trip Tease was purchased for a mere R70,000 at Bloodstock South Africa’s Emperor’s Palace National Two-Year-Old sale and has now earned R879,575 in stakes.
He won on debut over 1000m on the sand by 8,25 lengths as a young three-year-old, but took four runs to win on the turf. His first win on the turf over 1000m was off a merit rating of 82 and he followed up by winning the Gr 3 Man ‘O War Sprint for three-year-olds over 1100m, also on the turf. After that he rattled off three wins in succession on the sand. A second place on the sand then preceded his win in the Listed Hampton Handicap over 1000m on the sand.
His merit rating had by now rocketed up and he looked to have a mountain to climb returning to turf as the handicapper accorded him a 107 merit rating despite his last win on that surface having been off an 86.
However, he continues to defy the handicapper as he started off his turf campaign on November 1 by winning the Listed Golden Loom Handicap over 1000m. The victory was an emotional one for Goosen as he was a colleague and close friend of the late great Buddy Maroun, trainer of the famously tough and prolific Golden Loom.
On Saturday Trip Tease had to race off a merit rating of 112 under handicap conditions, but such is his reputation now that he was sent off as 5/2 favourite. The classy Sean Tarry-trained three-year-old Trippi colt Trip To Heaven was a 3/1 chance and looked the main danger. Trip To Heaven was slowly away again, just as he was when winning the Gr 2 Merchants over 1160m on Sansui Summer Cup day.
Therefore, Strydom was able to get Trip Tease up against the outside rail, which is usually of help to a horse. The four-year-old Mike de Kock-trained Trippi gelding Tiger Territory was meanwhile making a bold bid from the front and when Trip To Heaven appeared on the scene it looked like those two would fight it out. However, Strydom extracted a withering late burst from Trip Tease to get up by 0,25 lengths. Tiger Territory and Trip To heaven shared second place.
The big weight for age events like the Computaform Sprint look to be the future for Trip Tease and as a horse with the winning habit combined with Goosen’s expertise in priming him for a race he will always be a tough nut to crack.
Picture: Louis Goosen (JC Photos)
The Justin Snaith-trained Dynasty colt smashed the Kenilworth Old Course record in the Gr 2 Green Point Stakes over 1600m last time out and displayed a dominance that will make him difficult to oppose in both the Queen’s Plate and the J&B Met, so he could well capture the Equus Horse Of The Year title for a second year running, despite the latter race likely being his last appearance in the country. He has a plum draw of two on Saturday and Richard Fourie aboard is an added bonus.
The biggest danger could be the Triple Crown and Sansui Summer Cup winner, the Geoff Woodruff-trained Louis The King, as his most impressive performance was in the Gr 2 Gauteng Guineas last season over the Queen’s Plate distance and he also ran a fantastic race from an impossible position in the Peermont Emperor’s Palace Charity Mile in early November. Woodruff came into the Queen’s Plate with the Summer Cup winner Yorker last year and that classy horse benefitted from the run before running a good second in the Met. There are those that feel Louis The King, despite his record over 1600m, will follow in those footsteps.
The Brett Crawford-trained Futura is regarded as a future champion by many, as he has all the credentials including a fantastic turn of foot. However, he has had a slightly interrupted preparation and the impression given is that he would be more comfortable over further.
Tellina is consistently placed at Gr 1 level and is also a former Gauteng Guineas winner, while Grand Parade Cape Guineas runner up Kingvoldt’s performance will give a clue as to how good the three-year-old male crop is.
Jet Explorer was unlucky in last year’s Queen’s Plate and has enjoyed a fine preparation, while Ashton Park has blossomed in his five-year-old year and could build on his surprise Green Point Stakes runner up spot. Gold Onyx and Paterfamilias will likely be better suited to the Met
It is going to be a humdinger of a race, despite Legislate’s presence having led to an unusually small field of nine runners, and the country’s racing fraternity will be glued to the action at 16:40 next Saturday.
Picture: Legislate (Liesl King)
Word has spread that Greyville is the place to be on Friday nights and the atmosphere on course was reminiscent of the heyday of racing as the stands and lawns were full of enthusiastic spectators and the outside rail was lined with people for every race.
KZN’s champion trainer Howells has been in tremendous form on the turf and scored a treble on the night, although one of those winners was on the polytrack. However, Same Jurisdiction was the horse many had come to see and they were not disappointed.
This was just her fifth career start and her first since narrowly winning the Gr 1 Thekwini Stakes for two-year-old fillies over the Flamboyant course and distance on Super Saturday at the end of last season. She fought hard in the Thekwini to get up and beat the classy Carry On Alice, despite having been found later to have bled. The latter issue brought an automatic three-month suspension from racing so Howells has done his usual astutely professional job in bringing her back in fine condition.
Same Jurisdiction looked in a different class to the field when going down to the post majestically. However, Howells had been concerned about her being above herself under the lights, having missed her intended preparation due to inclement weather.
She was indeed above herself and was restless in the stalls before throwing her head up as she jumped. However, Randolph, when conferring later in the winner’s enclosure with her jockey of last season, the recuperating Kevin Shea, agreed that these were just symptoms of her eagerness to race, a trait that most champions possess. She was soon displaying another enviable trait in that she settled well in the running, although the strong pace set by Pearl Emblem suited her down to the ground.
Same Jurisdiction – Flamboyant Stakes 2015 (Nkosi Hlophe)
She has a magnificent action and when Randolph eased her outward from a midfield position at the top of straight it was clear that he was swinging on the bridle. When he let her go the response was instantaneous and she powered clear in effortless fashion to win by four lengths from the Paul Lafferty-trained Goldie Coast, who got the good pace she needs, enabling her to settle in last place before using her fine turn of foot.
The handy Charles Laird-trained Admiral’s Eye stayed on gamely for a 5,25 length third, beating her stablemate Captain’s Daughter by a length, and Supercede ran on well to be 0,5 lengths further back in fifth.
Howells said afterwards that “this is what dreams are made of “ and said that having watched her recent work he realised that he had not trained a horse as good as this since the brilliant champion sprinter Via Africa. Randolph quipped that even the aeroplanes he flew were not as quick, while one of the owners Larry Vermaak said that having owned many “also rans” in racing he felt “really blessed to have stumbled upon a nice horse like this” and was “really, really excited” about her future.
Same Jurisdiction ran in the colours of Drakenstein Stud for the first time as they recently purchased a share in her. The Klawervlei Stud-bred daughter of Mambo In Seattle, who was bought for R270,000 at the Suncoast KZN Yearling Sale, has won her last four races after being beaten on debut and has earned R1,148,425 in stakes.
Besides Howell’s treble, two of them ridden by Randolph, Dennis Drier’s in form KZN yard scored a double, both ridden by stable jockey Sean Cormack, and one of them, the good looking Dynasty filly Art Deco, looks to be a horse worth following.
The presence of the Justin Snaith-trained Legislate and the Geoff Woodruff-trained Louis The King in the Queen’s Plate entry list chased many horses away, but far from detracting from the race as a spectacle it will add to it, as this is a duel that many have been anticipating for a long time.
However, it is by no means a two horse contest. Another of the Gr 1 winners in the field, Futura, is rated by many as a future champion in his own right and runners like Jet Explorer, Tellina, Ashton Park and Kingvoldt will ensure that the top trio will not be able to afford any slip ups.
The world class three-time Gr 1 winner Legislate smashed the course record over this distance on the Kenilworth Old Course last time out in the Gr 2 Green Point Stakes in his seasonal reappearance. He has every weapon in his armour, including pace, stamina, strength, temperament, balance, a fine action and a devastating turn of foot, so will be hard to beat.
Three-time Gr 1 winner Louis The King is probably the most popular horse in the country, due to his rags-to-riches story, immense courage and loveable character. He has been beaten by Legislate over further, but those who remember the phenomenal burst of speed he displayed when annihilating a classy field in last season’s Gauteng Guineas will be predicting a famous victory on January 10 in the hands of the peerless Piere Strydom.
Futura has a fine turn of foot and ran an eye-catching third in his seasonal reappearance in the Green Point Stakes. On the downside, he might prefer a touch further and has also had a slightly interrupted preparation.
Jet Explorer, stablemate to Legislate, would be a fairy-tale winner as he has come back from a smashed jaw caused when brought down in a Gr 1 race last June. He was unlucky in the Queen’s Plate last year when flying up late for third and looks to have enjoyed a perfect preparation.
Tellina, stablemate to Louis The King and also a former Gauteng Guineas winner, finished just 0,7 lengths behind last season’s Queen’s Plate winner Capetown Noir in the wfa Gr 1 HF Oppenheimer Horse Chestnut Stakes over 1600m at Turffontein last March, so has the necessary class.
Ashton Park has blossomed as a five-year-old in the typical fashion of a horse trained by the maestro Mike Bass and proved he can mix it with the best when finishing a surprise second in the Green Point Stakes.
The country’s best three-year-old Act Of War was the most disappointing absentee from the final field, but his stablemate Kingvoldt is only a couple of lengths behind him on form and will ensure that the three-year-old factor adds to the intrigue of the race.
Gold Onyx is a Gr 1 winner over this distance, but is getting on in years. Paterfamilias has only his second run in more than a year and will likely be better suited to the distance and conditions of the J&B Met.
The perennial rivals Hammie’s Hooker and Jet Aglow will clash once more in the Paddock Stakes and now that their nemesis Beach Beauty is retired either of them could finally land the Gr 1 victory they richly deserve.
However, the Gr 1 winner over this 1800m distance, Athina, as well as Jet Belle, who beat Jet Aglow in a Gr 2 over 2000m last season, are among those who will ensure an exciting contest.
Maybe Yes is full of class and should stay this 1800m trip now that she has matured. Jet Supreme and Acrostar have come into their own this season and Shingwedzi can’t be written off either. Ash Cloud is a Gr 1 winner but would probably prefer further.
Inara, Pine Princess and Grey Light will all love the 1800m distance and are worthy representatives of what could prove to be a strong three-year-old fillies crop.
Brett Crawford said: “He was coughing and had to be given medication to nip it in the bud, and the medication meant that he had to be scratched from the Diadem. That race was going to be a gallop so now I will bring him to the course to gallop him.”
Futura remains 7-2 second favourite for the J & B Met with Betting World which has eased Legislate from 2-1 to 22-10. The Vodacom Durban July winner will gallop at Kenilworth on Wednesday and continues to please Justin Snaith who said “he is doing well.”
Act Of War has drifted from 6-1 a week ago to 15-2, presumably because punters are waiting to see whether he will run or instead opt for either Saturday week’s L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate or the Investec Cape Derby on Met day.
Joey Ramsden, speaking from England, said on Saturday: “He came out of the Guineas very nicely and we will freshen him up this week.” Asked whether the colt could go for the Queen’s Plate, Ramsden said: “He could very well run but I will have a chat with Markus Jooste and a longer one with Derek Brugman.”
The handicappers raised Act Of War by 2kg to 117 for his Guineas win, the same merit rating as Legislate and half a kilo higher than Triple Crown winner Louis The King. However, when you take the sex allowance into account, Cape Fillies Guineas winner Majmu (114) is officially the best horse in the country.
Guineas runner-up Harry’s Son was left on an unchanged 114 while third-placed Kingvoldt was upped 3kg to 113. Ramsden said: “He is in a few places but he may well go for the R1 million CTS Book 1 Graduates race on 24 January.”
The Sean Tarry fourth and fifth, Imperial Gold and Zambezi River, were raised 7kg and 5.5kg to 102 and 101 but sixth-placed Arniston was left on 92 – much to his trainer’s relief! Snaith said: “He ran on well in the Guineas and he may now run in the Politician Stakes over 1 800m on Saturday week.”
Both Mljet (eighth) and Light The Lights (ninth) ran below form and will miss the Politician.
Vaughan Marshall said: “The draw is a killer, as we all know. Mljet will go to Jo’burg and run in the Betting World Gauteng Guineas (Feb 28). I am taking 26 horses to Joburg and they will leave in the middle of next month. My assistant Adele Alsop will go up there for the first month and then I will go.”
Glen Kotzen added: “Light The Lights did everything right but never kicked and he pulled up coughing. He goes straight for the Cape Derby.”
Picture: Futura at last season’s July gallops (Nkosi Hlophe)
