His four-year-old son Bezanova, a gelding bred by Clifton Stud and trained by Alec Laird, has developed into a magnificent specimen and showed his class at Turffontein on Saturday when winning the Gr 2 Peermont Emperor’s Palace Charity Mile under Weichong Marwing.

The following day the Paul Gadsby-trained Royal Colours, who is both owned and bred by the man who currently just can’t stay out of the winner’s enclosure, Roy Moodley, won a 2000m handicap on the Greyville polytrack under Sean Cormack and thereby achieved the rare feat of six wins in succession.

Bezanova is a big rangy horse and looked promising from the beginning. He won on debut over 1200m at Clairwood, when backed into 7/2, and followed up by winning over 1600m at Turffontein. He improved consistently in the three-year-old features last season, culminating in a three length third and 1,65 length fifth to the Equus Horse Of The Year Legislate in the Gr 2 KRA Guineas and Gr1 Daily News 2000 respectively.

He has latterly grown into his rangy frame and is now unbeaten in two starts this season. He will relish the 2000m trip of the prestigious Gr 1 Sansui Summer Cup so can’t be written off in that race, although he will likely be given a merit rated raise so will find it tough to beat Louis The King, who was fairly flying at the finish on Saturday despite needing the run.

Royal Colours took twelve starts to win his maiden and after beginning his handicap career on a merit rating of 61, has now risen to 80. He could add another win to his sequence due to his style of running, in which he is produced only in the last 300m. This means he never wins by far, so is never unduly punished by the handicapper.

Trainer Gadsby explained that this horse had always had the ability he is now displaying and there had never been a “turnaround” as such.

He said, “We fancied him strongly in the maiden at Scottsville in February (where he was stepped up in trip to 1950m). He was just touched off by the Mike de Kock-trained Ilitshe, who then went on to win his next two races, so the form was good. If he had happened to win that race he would likely have been given quite a high merit rating and we wouldn’t be in the position we are now in. But that race took a lot out of him, so he needed his next race and was then unlucky in his following start.” Following that, he didn’t have much luck in his tenth and eleventh starts from wide draws.

Anthony Delpech rode him for the first time in his eleventh start and if there was a turnaround with this horse it came due to something this experienced professional noticed next time out when winning his maiden aboard him over 2400m at Scottsville on July 20.

Gadsby said, “Anthony got off and said that at the top of the straight he felt that he had so much horse underneath him he would win by 20 lengths.” Royal Colours plugged on after hitting the front at the 300m mark to win comfortably by 2,25 lengths, but Delpech’s words struck a chord with Sean Cormack when Gadsby recounted them to him. It explains his tactics of waiting for as long as possible on Royal Colours before producing him.

Gadsby admitted that from the stands he always becomes a bundle of nerves when watching Cormack sitting still at the 300m mark. However, a combination of the top class jockey’s fine hands, his judgement and the tactics he has employed have certainly reaped dividends. Cormack’s record on Royal Colours is a perfect five out of five.

Gadsby concluded, “This horse really tries, he once had the reputation of being a brass, but that’s definitely not the case. The Bezrins do have to be entertained though, that’s why you will see Sean sitting patiently on him if he stops and looks at something on the way to the start. You have to be considerate to them.”

Gadsby still has to give Royal Colours his compulsory African Horse Sickness (AHS) vaccinations. However, he will try to get one more run into him in order that he can win Gold Circle’s Summer Challenge prize for gathering the most points before the Challenge finals in December. He won’t be able to run in the finals due to the necessity of doing the vaccinations, which usually puts a horse out of serious action for at least three weeks.

Both Bezanova and Royal Colours are chestnuts with white socks and it is fascinating to discover that a high percentage of Bezrin’s best sons are of similar colouring.

One of his recent most promising horses, Big City Angel, was a chestnut with white socks and the stake performers Thunderflash, All Ablaze, Tandragee, Briar King and Jimmi Choo are all chestnuts. In fact his bay male stake performers number only three, Celtic Fire, Benbow and Coy Boy.

The owner of Bezanova Chris Gerber joked in the winner’s enclosure on Saturday that former CEO of the Thoroughbred Breeders Association Tom Callaghan had told him during the 2012 National Two-Year-Old Sale that the sale was going well as “even the Bezrins were going for R150,000”, not knowing that Gerber had bought one of them himself, Bezanova!

Bezrin has gone backwards and forwards between KZN and the Cape a couple of times, but now stands at Spencer Cook’s Rock Stud in Paarl.

Picture: Royal Colours (Nkosi Hlophe)

EX-patriot South African jockeys Glyn and Chad Schofield made history as the first father and son pair to ride in the big race since 1968, but their outsider mounts could only manage 8th and 21st respectively.

Moore conceded defeat in the British Championship, which he has won three times before, about a week ago when revealing that he would not be taking any more local rides before the last day of the season on November 8, and that left Richard Hughes, who was only five ahead, to take his third successive title.

Protectionist, a four-year-old German-bred colt by Monsun, burst through with a powerful late run and won in commanding fashion by four lengths despite carrying only four pounds less than topweight. It was the first time a German horse had won the Melbourne Cup.

It was Moore’s 15th Gr 1 win of the season and also provided him with a rare Cox Plate-Melbourne Cup double as he had won the former race, which is probably Australia’s second most prestigious thoroughbred event, at Moonee Valley on October 25 aboard the Aiden O’Brien-trained Adelaide.

The Ed Dunlop-trained eight-year-old Red Cadeaux, running in his fourth Melbourne Cup, became the first horse to finish runner up in the great race three times, having also done so last year and in 2011. The race was tinged by tragedy as the topweight Admire Rakti from Japan collapsed and died after finishing the race tailed off.

Picture courtesy of abc.net.au

A suitably impressed Sean Cormack said: “This was the highlight of my day. She got the job done in a procession and I’ve no doubt she will go a bit further.”

How much further is the $64 000 question. The mile of the Avontuur Cape Fillies Guineas? “That’s highly questionable,” answered Joey Ramsden, “although she doesn’t work like a five or six furlong horse.”

But he has no reservations about asking her to turn her out again for a Grade 2 in only nine days’ time – “Why not? I would have galloped her anyway.”

Richard Fourie, race-riding for the first time for three months, had to be content with a fourth and an unplaced – and dreams of glory.

The last came earlier in the day when he was reunited with Vodacom Durban July winner Legislate in a racecourse work-out and described the four-year-old’s performance as “phenomenal.”  The colt galloped 1 200m with Lion’s Roar (Robert Khathi) and they went a really good clip.

Justin Snaith said: “It was a very good gallop – Lion’s Roar is a good 1 200m horse – and I think they probably broke the course record! Everything was positive.”

Act Of War has gone rocketing up the merit ratings after successfully conceding 4.5kg to Mljet in last Saturday’s Cape Classic and is now officially the joint third-best three-year-old in the country.

The handicappers raised the Ramsden-trained colt by 15 points- or 7.5kg – to 110, the same mark as the Durban Golden Horseshoe winner Afrikaburn and below only Majmu and Guiness who are both on 114. The handicappers left Mljet unchanged on 108 and they also saw no reason to change third-placed Heartland’s 89 rating.

Picture: Liesl King

Triple Crown hero and second topweight Louis The King returned sore from his run in the Vodacom Durban July after nearly being brought down, but x-rays showed it to just be a sprain and he is fully recovered.

Woodruff said, “He is very well and has put up two very nice grass gallops at Randjes. His aim is the Summer Cup and he will strip fitter for that race. However, he is fit enough to be competitive and is there to win, but it will be very difficult from his wide draw.”

Woodruff said about the topweight Tellina, “The same applies to Tellina as Louis The King, the Summer Cup is his aim.”

Killua Castle carries 57,5kg and receives 2,5kg from Tellina and 2kg from Louis The King. Woodruff said, “He is fitter than the others and is coming off a good run in the Emerald Cup. He is well drawn and course and distance suited. It has all been going very much according to plan, it is just a question of whether he is good enough.”

Rake’s Chestnut also runs with 57,5kg and Woodruff said, “A line can be drawn through his last run as he returned with a snotty nose. He is now fit and in good shape. His main mission is also the Summer Cup, but he has a lot of class and I will be looking for him to sit in midfield and run on.”

Lockheed Jetstar carries 56,5kg and hasn’t run since winning the Listed Thukela Handicap over 1600m on Vodacom Durban July day. However Woodruff said, “He is an aggressive worker so usually runs well after a layoff. He will be pretty fit and is ideally course and distance suited so from an inside draw has a fair chance.”

Tellina (pictured) will be ridden by Bernard Fayd’Herbe from draw seven, Louis The King has Piere Strydom up from draw 17, Killua Castle has Akash Auchuruz aboard from draw three, Rake’s Chestnut is reunited with Anton Marcus from draw ten and Francois Herholdt rides Lockheed Jetstar from draw two.

The NHRA came to my stables in September and proceeded to search my stables. They turned the place upside down searching through my stables including my feed and car. They took away many bags of feed samples, feed supplements routinely fed to horses by most trainers as well as medications commonly utilized in racing stables.

I was duly notified that an inquiry would be opened because they found an empty paste tube of Nitrotain. The tube had expired in 2011 and had been used 6 years ago to treat a horse with Laminitis. They found that it had contained an anabolic steroid and fined me R30000. In mitigation, I argued that, firstly it had expired over three years ago, was empty and was lying in the cupboard. Secondly, I have a clean record having never transgressed in my twenty eight years as a trainer and, thirdly, had never had a positive specimen taken from any of my horses.

The rule concerning steroids only changed in June this year, long after the paste had expired. All anabolic steroids were banned from racing in June, only after a recommendation by the Trainers Association’s to the NHA to have it classified as such. Prior to this, anabolic steroids were regularly prescribed by vets to improve appetite and general well being of racehorses and commonly utilized in racing stables. The NHA were never going to ban the use of steroids prior to the meetings initiated by trainers, who wanted a more uniform approach to be adopted when dealing with all drug classifications and the penalties attached thereto. The idea was that a more rational approach to fines around prohibited substances was imperative as ANY and ALL medication present in a horses system when presented for racing is illegal – including Antibiotics’.

Anabolic steroids are not illegal when prescribed by a veterinarian, and would be recommended by any practising vet if a horse was being rehabilitated after illness or life threatening surgery or bout of laminitis, which has a very high mortality rate in horses. Nitrotain is still the drug of choice in Australia today because it is the only steroid demonstrated to improve peripheral blood flow, vital for a successful rehabilitation in the case of laminitis and permitted in terms of the NHA rules in these type of circumstances when prescribed and administered by a vet.

I knew steroids had been banned from racing and it was purely an oversight that I did not do a thorough clean out of my medicine room post the introduction of this rule. I did not realize that this SIX YEAR OLD EMPTY EXPIRED PASTE TUBE was present in my cupboard. If I was cheating I would have been hiding it in an obscure place where it could never be found. This substance was not present in a sample taken from any horses in my stables either in or out of competition testing.

I have often been an outspoken critic of the NHA and believe that this amounted to nothing more than a witch hunt.  Under the circumstances I honestly believe that a reprimand would be the order of the day and was amazed at the severity of the penalty.

I have lodged a notice to appeal with the NHRA.

Paul Lafferty.

In the R3,85 million Emperor’s Palace Ready To Run Cup he has the second highest rated horses in the race, the 92 merit rated Go Deputy colt Pioneer Spirit, and also runs the 90 merit rated Brave Tin Soldier colt Iwo Jima.

Van Zyl said, “I was very happy with Pioneer Spirit’s preparation run over 1200m in which he came from off them and ran all the way to the line. He has come through his preparation very well and has been working well throughout the week. We respect Rich Girl, who has proven she’s top class, but we definitely feel we are in the race with a chance and expect him to be in the first three.”

He continued, “We would have appreciated a better draw for Iwo Jima, but I was happy with his prep in the same 1200m race as he finished well and also ran all the way to the line. He will prefer 1400m but will be even better suited to a mile as he is a half-brother to Smanjemanje. He will be doing his best work late and could finish in the money.”

Pioneer Spirit has stable jockey Keagan de Melo up from draw five and Iwo Jima will be ridden by Stuart Randolph from draw 13.

Van Zyl is bullish about the chances of his Gr 2 Peermont Emperor’s Palace Charity Mile runner No Worries (pictured) despite his wide draw. Upon hearing that the five-year-old Kahal gelding had opened at 20-1 said, “I think that must have been a printing error. They must have put a zero on the end of the two by mistake! He carried 63kg at Scottsville when needing the run in his penultimate and it didn’t bother him as he finished well, so the 59,5kg he has to carry on Saturday doesn’t frighten us. He has earned his merit rating and is getting better as he gets older. I would be disappointed if he doesn’t finish in the first three based on the way he has improved physically as an individual, on his trackwork and on the way he won last time. He is a horse who is on the up.”

De Melo rides from the widest draw of all in the 16 horse field.

The yard’s Go Deputy filly Kileigh finished like a train over the too sharp 1400m last time to record her third win on the trot and looks to be very promising. She runs in the Gr 3 Starling Stakes over 1400m from draw eleven with De Melo up.

Van Zyl said, “Majmu is the stand out horse and Kileigh wants further but there was nothing else that could be used as a prep for the Fillies Mile on Summer Cup day, so we are taking our chances. She is getting 2kg from Majmu, but that might not be enough over this trip and she has a wide draw too. But she is all heart, never gives up, so could find a place and is not out of it at all.”

Van Zyl is hoping the yard can start the day with a winner in race 2, the HSH Prince Charlene maiden plate over 1600m, with the Ideal World gelding Spekboom.  Ideal World’s appear to improve all the time and Van Zyl said, “He had a bad draw last time and despite running without cover still ran a very good race to run third, so he will be very competitive.”  De Melo is up from draw 8.

The yard might have their best runner of the day in race 4, a maiden over 1600m where they run two Fort Wood fillies, Withbatedbreath and Princess Milo.

Van Zyl said, “Withbatedbreath ran an excellent second on the poly last time considering she didn’t like the kickback and ran wide. She’s a very nice filly and is working well so from her good draw we expect her to take a lot of beating.  Princess Limo came all the way from last to run fourth last time. A bad draw doesn’t help here. However, with a bit of luck we expect her to be in the hunt.”

Withbatedbreath is drawn three with De Melo Up and Princess Milo is drawn widest of all in the 15 horse field with Marthinus Mienie aboard.

The yard run the Way West colt Out My Way in the last, a MR 72 handicap over 1160m, from draw eleven with De Melo up and Van Zyl said, “He was very impressive last time (when winning a maiden over 1200m on the inside track by 4,75 lengths), but this is a jump in class and we will have to see how he is going to perform.”

Picture: Nkosi Hlophe

He will join James Doyle (captain) and Adam Kirby of England, Martin Harley of Ireland, Germany’s Andreas Helfenbein and Selim Kaya of Turkey.

These six will compete against S’manga Khumalo (Captain), Piere Strydom, Richard Fourie, Muzi Yeni,  Anthony Delpech and Bernard Fayd’Herbe.

Rispoli rode in the 2010 Challenge and was the victor ladorum in the second leg at Kenilworth, where he rode one winner, a third, a fourth and an eighth place. However this was not enough to secure his team victory.

Rispoli set an Italian record of 245 winners in a season in 2009, breaking the record of 229 set in 1982 by Frankie Dettori’s father Gianfranco.

The 25-year-old made his race riding debut in 2005 with a second place on 5 February 2005 and waited just 14 days to taste his first victory.

He has had a few stints in Hong Kong where his biggest success was aboard Rulership in the 2012 Gr 1 QE II Cup.  He had eleven wins from 128 rides in Hong Kong last season and has been granted a license to ride there again during the winter from November 15 to January 15, so will likely be taking in the Jockeys Challenge on his way to the island nation.

Rispoli has ridden in France for the last three summers and autumns and had a Gr 1 win in each of 2012 and 2013. He rode in Japan in early 2011 and also recorded a Gr 1 victory there. He has had two Gr 1 victories in Italy.

Rispoli has also ridden in races in the UK and Mauritius.

Picture: HongKongJockeyClub

Meanwhile, the ongoing relationship between Korean and South African racing is set to step up another gear after continuing negotiations and the Korean Racing Authority (KRA) have also announced that they have opened their doors to foreign owners, which provides an opportunity to race for the third highest prize money in the world .

Rice, by all accounts, became the first trainer in Korean history to have a winner with his first runner on January 24 this year and currently, after a double on October 15 from just two runners, he stands on 23 winners. However that has come from just 102 runners and has been achieved at a fantastic strike rate of 22,5%. After the October 15 meeting Rice was in 11th place on the Busan trainer’s log. However, his strike rate in this major racing centre is the third highest behind only the top two on the log, Kim Young Kwan and Peter Michael Wolsley. Rice has also had ten second places and four thirds.

The on course attendance figures in Korea are absolutely phenomenal and for example the average Sunday meeting attendance in 2010 was 192,999, although this dropped to 175,122 in 2011.

Fanatical racegoers have learnt that when a Rice horse is turned out it will be fit and well and ready to win. Rice’s success has caused the powers that be to sit up and take notice and the KRA have now requested that a South African jockey relocate on a permanent basis, although the criteria includes that he or she must have a winning percentage of at least 8%.

Furthermore, the KRA recently announced that they have opened their doors to foreign owners, meaning that South African owners would be able to buy and race horses there. However, the application in this regard is only open for a limited period and apparently closes in about two weeks time.

Korea has a Tote Monopoly and their prizemoney ranks third in the world behind only Hong Kong and Dubai. In 2012 they boasted a US$7.4-billion industry, and to put that into perspective an average weekend’s take at their three racetracks equaled that of all tracks in the United States over the same period.

The system of ownership in Korea is virtually flawless and prevents a problem trainers in South Africa face of non-paying clients. The KRA travel to foreign countries like Australia to buy horses that they believe will improve their stud book and then put them on auction in Korea. Owners that have been granted the right to race can buy these horses, but quickly lose this right if they fall behind in their payments to trainers.

South African racing and the KRA currently have a “twinning” agreement, which manifests in such events as the KRA Guineas meeting held in honour of South Korean racing at Greyville every year at the beginning the Champions Season. Opportunities have also been provided for jockeys and apprentices to be hosted on a reciprocal basis in both countries.

Vidrik Thurling, the former chairman of Gold Circle and now a director of Kenilworth Racing, was largely responsible for the forming of the bond with the KRA and for its continual strengthening.

He has revealed that there are currently ongoing negotiations between South African racing and Korean racing at the highest level that have revolved around such aspects as the swapping of television pictures with accompanying betting and paying of royalties. Further down the line there is the potential for co-mingling and there have even been discussions about the possibility of positive changes to the export protocols. Hyun Myung Kwan, who is both Chairman and CEO of the KRA, is due to attend this year’s J&B Met.  These negotiations are all part of Korea’s efforts to internationalise as they evolve as a horseracing nation.

Rice’s venture was made possible when the KRA asked for a South African trainer a few years ago in order to uplift the overall quality of horsemanship among their ranks. Thurling discussed the matter with Gold Circle’s current Racing and Marketing Executive Graeme Hawkins and they identified Rice as a candidate that ticked all the boxes.

Rice’s horsemanship skills as both a trainer and an equestrian sportsman were not in question. Despite never being able to attract owners with significant buying power after relocating from Zimbabwe to South Africa in about 2005, he was able to still have winners with small strings of unfashionably bred horses.

Rice was approached by Thurling and after his positive response was flown to Korea by the KRA. Thereafter he was promised accommodation for two years plus 20 horses to start with. Gold Circle facilitated the move throughout as the red tape involved meant mountains of correspondence was required. They also helped Rice pay the deposit for the visa and work permit requirements, which was refunded by the Korean authorities after about three months.

Rice has not only had success on the race track in Korea, but has drawn further attention due to his high degree of professionalism. He is one of the only trainers in the country to have his own website. Gold Circle have followed his progress keenly and are not only delighted and proud to see the strides he is making, but also pleased that it has helped foster further potential in the relationship between South African and Korean racing.

Therefore, the owners of the eligible horses have not surprisingly been on tenterhooks for the last few weeks in the approach to the publishing of today’s final field and declarations.

The decision on who will run rests with Gold Circle’s Racing and Marketing Executive Graeme Hawkins and Phumelela’s racing Executive Patrick Davis, who accept input from the chief handicapper Roger Smith.

A log has been published continuously over the last few weeks. However, it looks likely that the only hope for owners of horses who are outside the top 18 on the current log lies with horses above them being scratched as last weekend’s results did little to alter any positions.

A field of 16 will face the starter and there will be two reserve runners.

The criteria for acceptance does not rest solely with merit rating as there can also be judgement calls made on distance and surface suitability. The surface is only usually taken into account if a horse has an obvious preference for one or the other or in the situation where two horses are hard to separate in which case the one with the superior turf performance will likely be chosen.

Furthermore, the fillies are given a 2,5kg allowance, so they can be chosen ahead of males with higher merit ratings.

The Charles Laird-trained Rich Girl and the Johan Janse van Vuuren-trained Silver Class are in first and second places on the log respectively, which is interesting as both trainers have won the race with a filly before, Laird (pictured) doing it with Hollywoodboulevard in 2010 and Janse Van Vuuren achieving it with Winter Star last year.