EquineHub, a new trading platform for racehorses developed in Singapore, is set to revolutionise the equine industry as owning a racehorse will become more accessible than it has ever been before with relatively small amounts of money.

EquineHub executive director David Raphael has been touring South Africa presenting the platform to trainers and owners in unison with his South African colleague, James Goodman ahead of the online trading site’s launch date in the fourth.quarter of 2018.

EquineHub leverages on blockchain technology in which a race horses records can be stored immutably. EquineHub’s blockchain Depository safeguards the racehorses’ history and lineage, tracking its journey from conception at the stud farms till the end of life in a transparent, traceable, immutable and secured manner.

James Goodman (Sportingpost)

Horses traded on the website will have up to 100,000 shares issued at the entry stage. Any member of the public will be able to register and begin buying and selling these shares online. The difference between this system and the stock exchange is that it will be up to the owners to decide what price they put on their shares when they wish to make an offer to sell.

The fractional training fees attached to each share are calculated and collected in advance. Owners of the shares must keep this portion of their purchase up to date and failure to do so will give EquineHub the right to trade the shares.

EquineHub automates the distribution of stake monies and trainer fees. On South African race cards EquineHub will usually appear as the owner of the horses who have been sold to shareholders on their automated online platform.

If there is an extraordinary expense, such as a horse being exported to race in Dubai, shareholders will be asked to pay their portion of the expense. However, as Raphael points out, the demand for such a horse would have increased astronomically and a shareholder not willing to pay the travel expense will almost certainly be able to sell at a profit.

South Africans will be able to buy horses from any country. Raphael said one of the dreams of EquineHub was to own horses who run in each of the world’s biggest races, like the Melbourne Cup and the Kentucky Derby.

Raphael and the other two founding members of EquineHub have been holding workshops for the last twelve months to address problems thrown at them by industry men in order to ensure the automated system runs smoothly.

He said the racing industry was not complicated, but rather just different to other industries, so there had not been a single issue which they had not been able to solve and incorporate into the automated system.

Raphael has no doubt the concept will be a success and cited the accessibility of ordinary members of the public to owning racehorses and the security of the transactions through the site’s blockchain databasing as the key points.

He said, “Our experience is that owners and trainers are striving to improve the perception of our industry. Integrity is vital, and we believe that the blockchain system will ensure integrity in areas that have been questionable in the past.”

Goodman added, “There will be rules and guidelines for buyers and sellers to adhere to and trainers will furnish periodical information on horses offered for sale.”

Raphael said an option to include breeding stock on the trading platform was also being explored.
The EquineHub website lists eight propositions to their platform.

The first is the “Exchange”, as described above, and the others are “Marketplace, Blockchain Depository, Social Proof Scoring, Auction, Gamification, Expert Network and Adopt-A-Horse.

The definition provided for the Marketplace is, “A global B2B (business to business) marketplace for service providers such as logistic providers, vets, agents and trainers to connect and conduct commerce.”

Raphael said, as an example of the Blockchain Depositary, EquineHub would have the ability to update the medical history of a horse. The integrity and security of the data would also be as close to perfect as possible due to blockchain databasing.

Social Proof Scoring will allow users to rate and rank Equine service providers. The Auction facility allows owners or horse syndicates to list their horse on a secondary market. Gamification is a plan to run fantasy leagues etc for horseracing. The Expert Network allows Equine experts to share their views as a restricted paid service. Adopt-a-Horse is a platform for adopting a horse after its horseracing career is over.

This certainly looks to be a most exciting development for racing fans. For those who have dreamed of being in a position to trade and own racehorses, as they have had the relevant knowledge but have just never had enough funds, this is a particularly inspiring innovation.

EquineHub will also provide the ideal opportunity for racing folk to introduce outsiders to the joys of racehorse ownership.

By David Thiselton

The Equus Awards took place last night at the Emperor’s Palace in Johannesburg and the only three-time Grade 1 winner of the season, Oh Susanna, was named Horse Of The Year as expected.

The Australian-bred by Street Cry became the first three-year-old filly to win the Sun Met for over 100 years and her owners and breeders Drakenstein Stud have a valuable asset in hand.

Her trainer, Justin Snaith, received the National Champion Trainer’s trophy for the second time in his career.

Oh Susanna (Candiese Marnewick)

Snaith’s charges received three other awards. Oh Susanna also won the Champion Three-year-old filly award and the Champion Middle Distance horse award as her Grade 1 wins in the Cartier Paddock Stakes, Met and Woolavington 2000 were all over middle distances. The Snaith-trained Do It Again won the most keenly contested award, the Champion Three-year-old male. A number of qualifiers had each won one Grade 1 apiece. However, Do It Again’s victory in the Vodacom Durban July was regarded as the Grade 1 three-year-old performance of the season as he had the field stretched out like the washing and it was in open company. He also won the Grade 2 Daisy Guineas and finished a flying second in the Grade 1 Investec Cape Derby.

The Champion Sprinter was also competitive with each of the contenders having also won only one Grade 1 each. The Mike Azzie-trained Will Pays got the nod as he won the weight for age (WFA) Grade 1 Mercury Sprint and in so doing beat the Grade 1 weight for age Computaform Sprint winner Attenborough. He also won the Grade 3 Spring Spree Stakes over 1200m.

The Sean Tarry-trained Legal Eagle lost his Horse Of The Year title, which he had won for the previous two years running, but he retained his Champion Miler award. He is unbeaten over this distance and defended his crowns in the WFA Grade 1 L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate and the WFA Grade 1 HF Oppenheimer Horse Chestnut Stakes. Legal Eagle also retained his Champion Older Male award.

The Tarry-trained Return Flight won the Champion Two-year-old Filly award due to her commanding performance in the Grade 1 Thekwini Stakes which was adjudged more meritorious than the Johan Janse van Vuuren-trained Mighty High’s impressive win in the Grade 1 Allan Robertson Championship.

Mike de Kock-trained horses won two awards. Soqrat was narrowly beaten by his stablemate Barahin in the Grade 2 Golden Horseshoe over 1400m but next time out in the Grade 1 Premier’s Champions Stakes over 1600m he won impressively and was given the nod for the Champion Two-year-old Male award. De Kock’s Grade 1 Empress Club Stakes winner and narrow Horse Chestnut Stakes runner up Nother Russia won the Champion Older Female award.

The Dean Kannemeyer-trained It’s My Turn was named Champion Stayer for his feat of winning the Track and Ball Derby, the Gold Vase and the eLan Gold Cup in the space of five weeks.

Lyle Hewitson received the National Champion Jockey trophy. He became the first apprentice to win the championships since Michael Roberts won it in the 1972/73 season, although Roberts became a fully fledged jockey in June 1973 so Hewitson was the first to receive the trophy while still an apprentice since Gerald Turner did so in the 1960s.

Drakenstein Stud were the deserved champion owners as they do a lot for the sport. The perennial champion owners Mayfair Speculators were forced to begin dispersing their stock under a cloud halfway through the season.

Klawervlei Stud retained their national Breeders Championships, although they were just over a R1 million clear of their perennial rivals Summerhill Stud.

Silvano retained his champion stallion trophy. It was the third time he had won the title.

By David Thiselton

Pleasedtomeetyou, who looked so good when winning effortlessly on debut at Kenilworth last Saturday, has made a big impression on the handicappers. They have introduced him into the merit ratings at 92, a far higher figure than trainer Andre Nel envisaged.

Ryan Munger

After winning with Hello Summer at Durbanville yesterday, Nel said: “I think they have punished him unbelievably and I am considering whether to appeal.

“I know that the time was almost half a second faster than the Pinnacle on the same day but they should rate him on what he beat and four of those were unraced.”

The Querari colt appeared a really smart sort in the making at the time but, when viewed again in the cold light of Monday evening’s Winning Ways programme, he seemed considerably better than that – possibly even a Guineas horse. The James Goodman/Paul Lafferty combination had no hesitation in nominating him as one to follow. Punters may not have all that long to wait because Nel has already been looking through the programme.

He said: “Pleasedtomeetyou came out of his race very well, and as if he had hardly raced. We will pick his next race carefully but there could be something for him around September 11.”

Certainly punters could do with something to latch onto after being knocked for six in the first race yesterday as surely as if they had been taking on A.B. de Villiers.

Rock Trip, a horse with about as much form as a blank sheet of paper, led inside the final furlong under Ryan Munger to score by a neck at 55-1 with barely a rand on her. To add insult to financial injury odds-on favourite Happy Girl, who could manage no better than fourth, came from the same stable – that of Candice Bass-Robinson.

She was in Johannesburg to inspect the near 450-horses in the National Two Year Old Sale. Her brother Mark said: “This was a big surprise to us but Rock Trip ran in the wet last time, she didn’t enjoy it at all and finished 16 lengths back seventh of nine. Today the leaders went a hell of a pace and all the fancied horses fell in a hole.”

By Michael Clower

Mark Khan is becoming a familiar face in KZN and as a good friend of the late Alec Forbes, Khan is often booked by Alec’s widow Lezeanne. The combination can get today’s Greyville card off to a winning start with the filly Roy’s Marlin.

It was all hands on deck at Scottsville last Sunday with some long-shot results and today’s poly card doesn’t look much easier.

Roy’s Marlin had shown little in a dozen starts, three modest places to be exact, before being tried in blinkers for the first time. She was coming at them late when third behind Spiffy over course and distance last time out and the presence of Khan in the saddle could see her home.

Candy Galore could prove the biggest threat as she was not friendless in the market on debut and showed up well.

My Zinzara (Candiese Marnewick)

Internet Kid has had many chances but has been running consistently well and should be a cast-iron PA banker in the opening leg.

He was touched off when trying to make all last time out and Anton Marcus has taken over in the saddle.

Kinglassie has been consistent since joining Kom Naidoo at the beginning of the year from Charles Laird but has been struggling to get it all together. Marcus was a regular for Laird and is sure to have some inkling as to how Kinglassie’s ability. Marcus is a master on the poly track and Kinglassie can get home ahead of Pashtoosh and Face Of An Angel.

My Zinzara, winner of her last two, is a luke-warm 3-1 favourite for the fourth and that just about sums of the card. My Zinzara has won both of her starts since being fitted with blinkers but three on the trot may be stretching it a bit and Breaking Barriers can snap her winning streak.

Dennis Drier’s filly has her third run after a break and she was close-up behind the useful Pearl Glow last time out.

Shane Humby doesn’t run them often but when he does it’s worth sitting up and taking note.

Socrates is a four-year-old with only five starts under his girth, his last two being wins. As mentioned, three on the trot is mostly a difficult ask but with hardly any miles on the clock, Socrates could go in again.

In a country where precocious speed dominates, Go Deputy is an under rated sire of stayers and Viking Red is only just coming into his own as a five-year-old. His last two starts were over a ‘mile’ and the extra furlong today should suit Frank Robinson’s gelding.

Humby saddles Roman Courtesan in the seventh and the mare should be cherry-ripe having her third run after a break. She has done well on the poly and maybe the pick in another competitive handicap.

Marcus could round off the afternoon for Mike Miller aboard Global Pursuit. The gelding shows good pace but tends to lack a little extra when challenged. His best recent effort has been on the poly and if Marcus can get him to settle he could prove difficult to peg back.

By Andrew Harrison

Hayley Turner believes a second Shergar Cup win for the Girls team in four years proves female jockeys do not need a weight allowance to be competitive in Britain.

Turner, Josephine Gordon and Hollie Doyle got the better of Great Britain and Ireland, Europe and the Rest of the World at Ascot on Saturday, just as she, Sammy Jo Bell and Emma-Jayne Wilson did in 2015.

Hayley Turner

“We’ve had some good girls riding over the years and I don’t think our success surprises anybody, it’s quite normal,” said the jockey, who also won the Alistair Haggis Silver Saddle for the top-scoring individual rider at the meeting.

Turner, 35, has ridden in France, where the introduction of a weight allowance – now 1.5kg on the Flat – last year to help women jockeys was a key reason why she returned to riding, having retired in the autumn of 2015 before returning the following year to mix race-riding with her media work.

Pointing to the evidence of the Shergar Cup, she said: “It shows we don’t need an allowance over here. The allowance in France has certainly increased the number of girls riding, but I don’t think it’s something that needs to be brought in over here. We can compete on level terms.”

Turner was speaking little more than a month after the launch of British racing’s first Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan, one of the aims of which was to support and promote opportunities for female jockeys and assess whether further action was needed to ensure they are given fair and equal opportunities compared to male counterparts.

Turner was making her 12th appearance at the Shergar Cup and is a big fan of the unique event.

“It was amazing, such a fun day,” she said. “They put on such a good show every year and I’m lucky to be involved.”

– Racingpost.com

South African Group 1 winner Noah From Goa atoned from his defeat on debut by scoring a resounding all-the-way victory that was a truer reflection of his potential in the $125,000 Better Than Ever 2010 Stakes, a Kranji Stakes A race over 1800m on Sunday.

The 2015 Cape Guineas winner was launched over a similar Kranji Stakes A race, but over 1200m at his Singapore debut five weeks ago. Donning blinkers on that day, the Tiger Ridge six-year-old was like a fish out of water, not to mention he got galloped into and returned with cuts to his near-fore.

A first-up defeat from a much-hyped galloper is always hard to grapple with, but trainer Ricardo le Grange copped it on the chin, and to his credit, did not dwell on it, confident in his horse’s ability to bounce back.

Noah From Goa (hamishNIVEN Photography)

The South African handler did away with the headgear second-up, and also stretched the chestnut out to a more suitable trip. Chuck in a rousing barrier trial win (August 2) in between, and the machine was ready to rumble.

That he did in brilliant fashion on Sunday, under the guidance of Nooresh Juglall. The Mauritian jockey, who was also aboard at his first Kranji outing, did not hold back when he noticed the other seven runners’ reluctance to go forward.

From the moment Noah From Goa took charge, it became increasingly clear they would be hard-pressed to run him down in the home straight.

A delighted Le Grange could breathe better after such a scintillating performance from possibly the best-credentialled horse he was given since he took over Patrick Shaw at the end of 2016.

“Like I said, I learned a lot from the horse. After his first run, I’ve gone back and done things that worked the right way for him,” he said.

“I’ve put this first run behind and it’s great the horse has won today. To do this at his second run after a lengthy break while giving weight to his rivals, it was a really decent effort.

“I’ve got a few people to thank now. First of all, big thanks to Mike de Kock who sent me such a good horse to train.

“It’s also a great honour to train for Mary Slack and her daughter Jessica. They are famous owners and top breeders back home.

“I would also like to thank Nooresh who rode a cracker. He allowed the horse to dictate and that went in our favour.

“I also have to thank his track rider Ayie who rides him every day. Ayie’s a proper rider and you need someone like him to ride a quirky horse like Noah From Goa.”

-thoroughbrednews.com.au

Lyle Hewitson burst to prominence soon after joining the apprentice ranks in March 2016 but few would have envisaged him being crowned national champion jockey in just his second full season as a professional rider.

He becomes the first since the great Michael Roberts to win the national jockeys championship while still an apprentice. Roberts achieved the feat in the 1972-73 season although he attained his full jockey’s license in June of 1973.

Therefore, at tonight’s Equus Awards, Hewitson will become the first to receive the national champion jockey trophy while still an apprentice since Gerald Turner did so in the 1960s. Hewitson is currently recovering from a knee injury but the good news is he will not require surgery and expects to be back in the saddle in about four weeks time.

Lyle Hewitson

He said yesterday, “There is quite a bit of bone bruising and there is a hairline fracture and a strained ligament, but it will heal by itself. I will make sure I am 100% before coming back.”

He is receiving physiotherapy as well as sitting in an oxygen chamber and receiving Tecar heat therapy in order to speed up the healing.

He expects to be able to ride in the Jockeys International in Singapore on September 25. He will be team South African together with Muzi Yeni and Aldo Domeyer and will be taking on Team Australia, Team UK and Team Asia.

Hewitson said the reality of being champion jockey had not really sunk in yet but admitted, “When going down to the start and hearing the commentator saying ‘Lyle Hewiston, the champion jockey elect’, it caused goose bumps. It is also great knowing there is still more to work on.”

Hewitson said he had never had the championships in mind at the beginning of the season but his goal had rather been to ride a Grade 1 winner. He had appeared booked for second place in the championship before the reigning champion and runaway leader Anthony Delpech’s horror season-ending fall at Turffontein in the SA Classic on April 7. Hewitson had at that stage ridden 105 winners and was 31 behind Delpech and was eight ahead of third-placed Muzi Yeni. He hit the front on May 13 when riding a double at Greyville and looked a certainty for the title as he was by now 28 clear of Yeni. However, there looked to be a chance he would become probably the first champion jockey in history to have never won a Grade 1, a tag he would not have wanted.

That all changed about a month later, also at Greyville, when bringing home the Brett Crawford-trained Undercover Agent in the Rising Sun Gold Challenge. His feeling was not one of relief but rather that “the floodgates can now open.” He duly scored a second Grade 1 winner on Vodacom Durban July day on Redberry Lane in the Jonsson Workwear Garden Province Stakes. He ranked this his ride of the season and recalled, “I had done well on her. She is such an honest filly and it was also for Sean Tarry who has done so much for me. I went in feeling it would be hard to beat Snowdance but Redberry Lane is a good frontrunner and I felt maybe if I stole a couple of lengths we had a chance. It didn’t unfold that way as she didn’t quite have the gatespeed of Snowdance and others and we ended up fifth in the running, so I had to go to Plan B. I just punched away in the straight and she dug down deep and got her head down. It was very satisfying that things did not go our way but we adapted and it worked out, a fantastic feeling.”

Doing it on July day made it all the more special as a lot of friends had been watching.

Return Flight (Candiese Marnewick)

His ride on Undercover Agent was also memorable as this horse has a tendency to be strong in the running and despite the crawling early pace he managed to settle him after 150 metres. The big three-year-old colt consequently found enough extra to power all the way to the line.

Hewitson spoke about the vital skill of being able to settle a strong horse, “You have to trust the horse to come back to you without fighting the horse. It is all about feel and it is probably something which comes naturally, it becomes second nature.”

Hewitson said the cherry on the top of his season would have been to score a third Grade 1 on Return Flight. She had always been his ride but he was sidelined when she won the Thekwini on the last day of the season.

He named Return Flight, the ever-improving Chimichuri Run, Celtic Sea, Saturday’s impressive debut winner In The Dance, his favourite horse, Africa Rising, and Lord Silverio as some of the horses to follow from the Tarry yard this season.

Hewitson grinded away when second choice in the yard to S’Manga Khumalo and when the latter was off injured, he grabbed the opportunity with both hands. He felt when Khumalo came back they were both getting an equal share of the rides and it was down to which rider Tarry regarded as more suitable for a specific horse.

Hewitson rode 185 winners in the season winners at a strike rate of 12,59%. He rode 99 winners on the Highveld, 57 in Port Elizabeth, 24 in KZN, three in the Western Cape and two in Kimberley. He felt the season could have been even better if the Tarry yard had not hit a two month dry spell.

On his long term goals he said, “It will be tough defending the title as I will have lost a couple of months, but I aim to ride more Group 1s and if an offer to ride overseas comes that would be high on the agenda.”

By David Thiselton

The 2016 Met and Paddock Stakes winner Smart Call has been retired and will be covered by the Haydock Sprint Cup winner Kingman to Southern Hemisphere time.

Smart Call (Liesl King)

Jessica Slack told the Racing Post: “We decided a while ago that we wanted to retire her to stud this year and breed her on Southern time so Sir Michael Stoute planned her campaign this year to fit in with that. She has been such a star and we are so proud of her.”

Considering the authoritative way she won the Met – beating Legal Eagle by three and a half lengths with Captain America another length away third – her overseas campaign was rather disappointing.

She won only once, in a Group 3 on the all-weather at Newcastle. To be fair, she was highly tried and widely travelled. Two of her first four races in Europe were in Group 1s and she visited Hong Kong, Ireland (twice) and France. She was also reported to have suffered lameness problems.

By Michael Clower

Cape champion Aldo Domeyer can bounce back with a first-race winner at Durbanville today after being sidelined for much of the last fortnight.

His mount Happy Girl is the highest rated in the 1 400m fillies maiden, she is drawn two and her form reads well. She beat all except the useful Valderrama over the trip at Kenilworth last time and appeals at 19-10.

Ancestry

Her 74 rating suggests that she can beat 15-10 favourite Secret Path who has gone close over shorter on her two most recent outings and has to concede only 3kg. The weight-for-age scale puts the difference between a four-year-old and a three-year-old over this 1 400m at 8kg but Secret Path is only rated 61.

World Sports Betting has the wide-drawn Double Rosie and Lucille (who ran well 13 days ago) next in the market at 15-2 but don’t ignore 12-1 shot Troux Au Biches. She represents the currently inspired combination of Justin Snaith and Richard Fourie. She might not have made much impression on debut but she did lose a front shoe that day.

Whatever their fortunes here, the champion trainer and his jockey should win the Tabonline Maiden (race three) with Black Indy. This one was fancied over 1 400m here ten days ago, raced second but proved unable to quicken and was beaten into third behind favourite More Magic.

Black Indy is officially the best horse in the race and it is significant that he steps up in trip. He was 2-1 favourite yesterday and could have most to fear from 10-1 chance Cedar Man even though the betting suggests that 33-10 shots Hello Many (Domeyer) and Metropolitan have stronger claims.

Nasty Harry is 33-10 joint favourite with Domeyer’s mount Orakal for the TAB Telebet Handicap (race two) and gets the vote because he ran so well in a good Pinnacle on his most recent appearance. He disappointed when last tried over this 1 400m but that was 11 months ago.

Orakal was beaten only half a length on his last start despite being hampered. An interesting runner is 15-2 shot Ancestry who takes a big drop in class after running in all three legs of the Winter Series. A change of course could be just what the doctor ordered.

Stable companion Sparkeling Fire appeals in the Betting World Maiden. Royal Kiss is the 2-1 favourite but the Joey Ramsden filly stands out on both form and ratings. She looks good value at 28-10.

By Michael Clower

This season’s KZN Racing awards, which will take place on August 24, will be competed for by horses who were based in KZN during the season. However, the exception is the Horse Of The Year award, which is open to all horses who raced in KZN.

It’s My Turn (Candiese Marnwick)

The like of the Dean Kannemeyer-trained It’s My Turn and the Glen Kotzen-trained Temple Grafin will qualify as their only runs during the season were in KZN.

However, others like Do It Again, Undercover Agent, Captain America, Surcharge, Oh Susanna, Redberry Lane, Mighty High, Celtic Sea, Van Halen, Return Flight, Will Pays, Chimichuri Run etc will only qualify for the Horse Of The Year award as they all did most of their racing in other provinces.

A ride of the season will also be one of the awards and can be voted for by the general public.

The five rides chosen for voting were Anton Marcus aboard Fiorella in the Grade 2 Daisy Fillies Guineas, Lyle Hewitson aboard Redberry Lane in the Grade 1 Jonsson Workwear Garden Province Stakes, Mark Khan aboard Mighty High in the Grade 1 Allan Robertson, Craig Zackey aboard Will Pays in the Grade 1 Mercury Sprint and Corne Orffer aboard Captain America in the Grade 1 Champions Cup.

The votes can be cast on Gold Circle’s Facebook and Instagram pages.

By David Thiselton