Newly-crowned national champion trainer Sean Tarry is already looking forward to the Cape Summer Of Champions season and the former top jockey and renowned horseman Felix Coetzee will once again be helping take care of the yard’s Cape Town string.

Coetzee is well versed in the methods of the legendary “horse whisperer” Monty Roberts and also prepares some of Tarry’s “babies” down in Cape Town.

Tarry’s string usually only arrives in Cape Town in about December, but he is planning to move them earlier this season.

Seven of his three-year-olds earned 50% of the yard’s record-breaking stakes earnings of R25,924,950 this past season, so he will obviously be in a strong position to retain the championship, considering the filly Tamaanee is the only one among them to have retired.

Tarry was amused to read a quote yesterday from outgoing champion Justin Snaith which said, “The Ready To Run races knocked the wind out of us last season but they won’t count this time and I am going to have a full go at the title.”

The restricted races indeed will not count towards the Championship this season. However, Tarry’s total earnings from the Ready To Run races this past season were R3,628,000, Championship second-placed Mike De Kock’s were R830,000 and Snaith’s were R280,000. Yet the difference between Tarry at the top and De Kock in second place was R6,308,688 and there was then a further R3,381,274 back to Snaith in third place.

Snaith is always up for some pre-season banter and Tarry jibed, “If he can’t do the math he should just check his phone I’m sure it has a calculator on it!”

Tarry said he would send either one of Legal Eagle or French Navy to Cape Town, but would not like to send both, so it might depend on which one was doing best at the time and on discussions with the owners.

Carry On Alice would be a definite as the course and distance of the Gr 1 Betting World Cape Flying Championships suits her and that race will be one of her big targets for the season. Her biggest sprinting rivals from last season, Captain Of All and Alboran Sea, have both been retired to stud.

Siren’s Call’s owner Peter de Beyer is Cape Town-based, so he would likely want to see his star filly racing down there. If she did go then Trophy Wife would likely stay in Johannesburg, but if there was any change in the former’s plans then the latter would likely travel instead.

Zambezi River appeared to love it down in Cape Town last season and he would also likely be on the float.

Tarry received the Equus Champion Trainer award at the annual ceremony to honour South African racing’s champions at the Emperor’s Palace in Johannesburg on Tuesday night. He thanked his many hard working team members in his speech as well as his loyal chief owner Chris van Niekerk and all of the yard’s other supporters.

His dual Gr 1-winning colt French Navy walked away with the Champion Three-Year-Old Male award, but he there were also some disappointments and he wondered whether it was not time criteria became part of decision making process.

He said, “I am not at all aggrieved and am aware that the awards are based on the subjective opinion of the panel and I think they got it about 80% right. But everybody is always left in the dark on how the decisions are made, sometimes merit ratings count, other times they don’t, sometimes the Johannesburg form counts, other times it doesn’t, sometimes it’s the winners of the most prestigious race that gets it, other times it’s not. I think if there were criteria it would sort out the confusion.”

Tarry was disappointed to see Siren’s Call, who went close to landing the Triple Tiara, and the Mike Bass-trained Inara, who won two Gr 1 races, not even making it on to the nomination list for the Champion Three-year-old Filly award.

He said, “If a horse can receive an award without winning a Gr 1, those that win Gr 1s should at least be nominations, even if they are not going to win it, just as an acknowledgement of their achievements.” He also pointed out that the 120 merit-rated Legal Eagle’s only blemish was in the Vodacom Durban July, where he was hampered in the straight and yet still managed to finish “right on top of them”. He said, “If he is as good as his merit rating suggests, it is a surprise that he comes way from the awards empty handed.”

By David Thiselton

Picture: Sean Tarry (Liesl King)

Racegoer writer Michael Clower won the Equus Print media award at the annual ceremony to honour the champions of South African racing in Johannesburg on Tuesday night and was a thoroughly deserving recipient.

Michael admitted to getting just “as much of a kick” out of writing about racing as he did when first starting in Kenya 48 years ago. “I just love going to the racing and talking to people and then writing, I always have.” His newspaper writing reflects his enthusiasm for the game and he always keeps readers well informed with behind the scene news which they would otherwise not be able to gather.

Punters are also always eager to see his headline horse for Cape Town meetings, as he fishes out best bet winners regularly, and his other tips for the day are invariably a good guide. His magazine writing has an entertaining style and at the end of a limited space article about a racing personality the reader will be left knowing not only a lot about the subject’s career but also a bit about their personality, outward demeanour and inner psyche as well as the forces which drive them.

Michael was born and brought up in England and qualified as a chartered accountant, but realised in the first fortnight of doing his Articles that he wasn’t suited to accountancy and would never enjoy it. However, his parents would not allow him to give it up – they were dead set against racing, having lived through the experience of Michael’s grandfather, who was a racehorse trainer, losing a lot of money on horses which Michael’s father often used to ride.

Michael was advised that South Africa was the place to go to practice accountancy. However, in his first job interview the interviewer suggested East Africa. “There was no difference to me, so I went to Kenya.”

In Kenya he owned a few racehorses which he used to ride in flat races. There were no rules disallowing amateurs to ride against professionals and through natural build and “a starvation diet and dehydration” he used to weigh in at 7 stone 11 (about 49kg). He recalled riding three winners in his first six rides and was then never able to get to the line in front again.

However, he jumped at the opportunity to write when the racing correspondent for the main newspaper departed. He then combined accountancy with race writing and recalled loving the latter so much that he couldn’t wait to get to the newsstand in the mornings to read his own articles.

Michael spent six years in East Africa before departing for Ireland in 1973. Kenya had been good to him in more ways than one because he also met his wife Tessa there.  She was working for the Jockey Club, having earlier trained and ridden racehorses in Singapore.

In Ireland he quickly picked up bits and pieces of race writing work and calculated he would be able to leave accountancy behind completely after another two years. However, that eventuality never happened because he was given the sack by his accountancy company, a fortuitous occurrence in the long run. He worked as the full time Irish correspondent for the Sporting Post for 15 years and later worked for both the Racing Post and the Sunday Times.

He wrote three books in his 33 years in Ireland, one about the 13-time Irish Champion Flat Jockey Mick Kinane, another about ten-time Irish National Hunt Champion jockey Charlie Swan and a third about the legendary Aiden O’Brien-trained hurdler Istabraq, who won the Cheltenham Champion Hurdle three-times in succession and the Irish Champion Hurdle four-times in succession (Istabraq was ridden by Swan in all 29 of his races and won 14 Gr 1 races).

There was a special on course presentation for Clower when he left Ireland and he was called “one of the legends of Irish racing” over the public address system, so those moments were one of the highlights of his career.

He had decided upon Cape Town because his wife said to him one day she had spent 30 years in the sun and 30 years in the rain and she would like to spend the last period of their lives back in the sun.

In Cape Town he started the magazine SA Bloodstock News in unison with a magazine company. However, when the company began downsizing the magazine he felt it was starting to give him a bad name, so he discontinued it.

A number of breeders as well as trainer Joey Ramsden then lobbied on his behalf to become editor of Parade Magazine, but after a meeting at Gold Circle it was decided he would write for rather than edit the magazine and that suited him fine due to his love for writing. Later Gold Circle Publishing manager Andrew Harrison asked him to become the Racegoer’s Cape Town newspaper correspondent and he jumped at it.

Michael’s Equus award was the first media award he had received in his long career and he counts it as another highlight. In Ireland there were no media awards, but he did go close in the “Naps Table” on a number of occasions. On one of these occasions he was 10 pounds clear before the final meeting, but the second placed writer tipped a 20-1 winner and he was pipped on the post. “I was devastated for about five minutes and then saw the funny side!”

Michael had made it on to the shortlist of the Equus Print Media Award on a number of occasions so wasn’t expecting much when departing Cape Town on Tuesday with Tessa’s  words of encouragement ringing in his ears. He had always dearly wanted to win it and was humbled by the many words and messages of congratulations he received after being called on to the stage.

His two winning submissions were a Parade Magazine article about the popular owner Marsh Shirtliff and a Monday Racegoer newspaper page with follow up stories about the big races on Vodacom Durban July day.

Michael will be writing his preview for Kenilworth’s Saturday meeting today. His invaluable guide for the meeting can be read tomorrow in the broadsheet morning newspaper’s Racegoer supplement.

By David Thiselton

KZN’s chief flag bearers in the 2014/2015 season were once again the respectively powerful yards of Dennis Drier and Duncan Howells and it was the former who recaptured the title of KZN Champion Trainer. Gavin van Zyl finished in the top ten on the National log for the fifth season in succession, Charles Laird had won of the highest strike rates in the country and it was a roller coaster season in more ways than one for Paul Lafferty. Mike de Kock is officially a KZN trainer, although he is generally regarded as an international trainer, and he finished second on the national log.

Dennis Drier (Nkosi Hlophe)

Drier can look back on a particularly memorable Champions Season in which he won five Gr 1s. Historians are always hard pressed to accurately present previous racing records in this country as the archives are poorly kept, but it would appear that the great Terrance Millard won six Gr 1s during the Durban Winter season (now known as Champions Season) of 1990 (Illustrador won the SA Guineas, the Durban July and the Gold Cup, Jungle Warrior won the Schweppes Challenge and the Champions Stakes and Olympic Duel won the SA Fillies Guineas).

Drier’s five Champions Season Gr 1 victories were achieved through Captain Of All (Gr 1 Tsogo Sun Sprint and Gr 1 Mercury Sprint), Seventh Plain (Gr 1 Tsogo Sun Gold Medallion and Gr 1 Durban Golden Horseshoe) and Chestnuts N Pearls (Gr 1 Zulu Kingdom Golden Slipper). The Scottsville Sprint meeting was the first time Drier had landed two Gr 1s on the same day and then he did it again on Vodacom Durban July day. Drier’s Cape Summer Of Champions Season was plagued by the travel sickness many of his string picked up on the way down and having won Gr 1 races down there for the previous three seasons he came home empty handed in that regard this year.

However, Captain Of All was reckoned by all and sundry to have won the Gr 1 Cape Flying Championship until the photo finish showed otherwise. Drier still had a successful time in Cape Town, winning a Gr 2 and two Listed events, while his Var colt Generalissimo broke the Kenilworth 1200m course record in a Graduation Plate over 1200m. In KZN, on top of the five Gr 1s, he also won a Gr 3 and three Non-Black Type features and at the postponed Super Saturday meeting, which officially fell in this season, he won a Listed race. Drier finished sixth on the National log with stakes earnings of R8,946,512 and was crowned KZN Champion trainer with 74 winners in his home province.

Captain Of All (Nkosi Hlophe)

Howell’s chief horse in the season was the brilliant three-year-old filly Same Jurisdiction. She had a luckless Johannesburg campaign, but still claimed a Gr 1 runner up position in the Wilgerbosdrift SA Fillies Classic. In KZN she won the Gr 1 Jonsson Workwear Garden Province Stakes and the Gr 3 Flamboyant Stakes and she was a fast finishing second in the Gr 2 Tibouchina. Howells also won the Gr 1 Thekwini Stakes on Super Saturday with the filly Lauderdale and had earlier won the Gr 2 The Debutante with the exciting unbeaten filly Cosmic Light.

The yard also won three Listed races and two Non-Black Type events and one of the winners of the latter, Saratoga Dancer, is another horse to follow this season. Howells finished twelfth on the national log with earnings of R6,862,038, but lost his KZN Champion trainer title partly due to his string not initially taking well to polytrack racing. However, he still finished second on the KZN log with 61 winners.

Van Zyl operated out of Summerveld and Turffontein and had Gr 2 wins with No Worries (Jo’Burg Spring Challenge) and Heart Of A Lion (SABC Gold Vase). He also won two Gr 3s and a Non-Black Type event. He finished eighth on the National log with earnings of R8,009,800 and fourth on the KZN log with 44 winners.

Charles Laird

Charles Laird won the hitherto richest race in South African history, the R3,85 million Emperor’s Palace Ready To Run Cup over 1400m on the tough Turffontein Standside track with Rich Girl and this was a fine training feat for a filly who appears to be better at sprints. This was a restricted race so didn’t count towards the national log statistics. Laird also worked wonders with the talented but problematic Ice Machine, who joined his yard as a six-year-old at the beginning of the season.

The classy Silvano gelding won the Gr 2 IOS Drill Hall Stakes in emphatic fashion and then ran a great race in the July over a trip too far before being touched off in the Gr 1 Champions Cup over 1800m by Equus Horse Of The Year Futura. The yard also won two Listed events and a Non-Black Type feature and finished 17^th on the national log with earnings of R6,022,850 achieved at a strike rate of 15%. The yard finished joint fourth on the KZN log.

Lafferty’s top class three-year-old colt Harry’s Son was one of the most travelled horses of the season and he won the Gr 3 Graham Beck Stakes over 1400m as well as the Gr 2 Gauteng Guineas at Turffontein and also finished second in both the Gr 1 Grand Parade Cape Guineas and Gr 2 Investec Dingaans and fifth in the Gr 1 SA Classic. Lafferty was at the centre of one of the most heartwarming stories of the season as the industry rallied around him and raised funds for treatment after being diagnosed with lymphoma. Lafferty also won both a Listed and a Non-Black Type event with “the miracle horse” Double Clutch.

Ice-Machine (Nkosi Hlophe)

De Kock was second on the national log with earnings of R19,616,262 and third on the KZN log with 50 winners. His highlights were wins in both the Gr 1 Cape Flying Championships and Gr 1 Computaform Sprint with the brilliant filly Alboran Sea, victory in both the Gr 1 Avontuur Estate Cape Fillies Guineas and the Gr 1 Laurie Jaffee Empress Club Stakes with his champion filly Majmu, Ertijaal’s win in the Gr 1 Investec Cape Derby, Entisaar’s wins in both the Gr 2 SA Fillies Nursery and the Gr 1 Allan Robertson, Pine Princess’s win in the Gr 1 Wilgerbosdrift SA Oaks and he also won the Gr 1 eLan Property Group Gold Cup on Super Saturday with Wild One, which put him into the lead on the current season’s log.

Weiho Marwing officially became a KZN trainer this season and won the Gr 1 President’s Champions Challenge with Wylie Hall and he also won a GR 2, a GR 3, a Listed race and a Non-Black Type feature.

Weiho Marwing

Mike Miller had a fine Champions Season considering his small string. His gelding Sheik’s Brashee won a Non-Black Type Sprint before finishing third in the Gr 1 Tsogo Sun Sprint at odds of 33/1 and his colt King’s Night won the Gr 2 Umkhomazi Stakes.

Colin Scott won the Gr 3 Christmas Handicap with Fourth Estate and the yard also won a Non-Black Type event with the old soldier Stolen Destiny.

Dennis Bosch won the Non-Black Type KZN Yearling Sale Million with Cutting Edge.

Mark Dixon won a Non-Black Type event with his classy filly African Dream and she was later a mere 0,35 lengths behind the runner up when fifth in the Gr 1 Mercury Sprint.

Alyson Wright won a Listed event with Deputy Ryder.

There were Non-Black Type wins for all of Alistair Gordon, Paddy Lunn and Doug Campbell.

Kom Naidoo was sixth on the KZN log with 38 winners and 32^nd on the National log.

By David Thiselton

Futura received uproarious applause when deservedly named Equus Horse Of The Year for the 2014/2015 season at a glittering ceremony held in the Emperor’s Palace Convention Centre in Johannesburg last night.

Captain Of All – Nkosi Hlophe

The brilliant Dynasty colt was trained by Brett Crawford to win both the Gr 1 L’Ormarin’s Queen’s Plate and the Gr 1 J&B Met and by Justin Snaith to win the Gr 1 Champions Cup. He was owned in the first two events by Jack Mitchell, John Freeman and Ian Longmore. Longmore then sold his share to Drakenstein Stud, a happening which led to the horse changing yards.

Futura also won the Champion Older Male and Champion Middle Distance award. Last Friday evening he won the equivalent of these three titles at the Western Cape Racing Association Award ceremony held at the Lanzerac Hotel in Cape Town.

French Navy (Nkosi Hlophe)

Three of the most eagerly awaited Equus Awards were that of Champion Sprinter, Champion Stayer and Champion Three-year-old Male and in the end all three required a vote by the tie-breaking panellist Larry Weinstein.  Captain Of All was crowned Champion Sprinter on the likely grounds that his 1200m wins in the Gr 1 Tsogo Sun Sprint and Gr 1 Mercury Sprint were superior combined performances when compared to the Mike de Kock-trained Alboran Sea’s wins in the Gr 1 Cape Flying Championship and Gr 1 Computaform Sprint. Alboran Sea defeated Captain Of All in both of the latter events, there only clashes of the season, but Captain Of All was invincible over his preferred trip of 1200m and ended the season on a merit rating of 126, the joint second highest rating in South African history.

Legislate (Liesl King)

Alboran Sea had consolation in that she was named the Champion three-year-old filly of a vintage crop, which included the like of Majmu, Same Jurisdiction and Siren’s Call.

Champion Stayer was awarded to the De Kock-trained Gr 1 eLan Property Group Gold Cup winner Wild One at the expense of the Gr 1 SA Derby winner Legal Eagle. The Gold Cup winner is usually awarded this title due to the race being the country’s premier staying event and it also being a true test of stamina.

The Champion Three-year-old Male award went to dual Gr 1-winner French Navy at the expense of the luckless Legal Eagle, although Sean Tarry trained both of them so he was still full of smiles.

Alboran Sea (Nkosi Hlophe)

Tarry later received a huge ovation when officially accepting the award for National Champion Trainer, having finished second on three occasions in the past and in the top ten for the previous ten seasons.

Gavin Lerena was admired for his true grit in winning his first National Champion Jockey title and also received loud applause.

The Two-Year-Old Awards expectedly went to the Drier-trained colt Seventh Plain and the De Kock-trained filly Entisaar respectively.

Seventh Plain (Nkosi Hlophe)

The Champion Older filly/mare category was not strongly contested this year, as the contestants generally had to play second fiddle to the three-year-olds. However, the Mike Bass-trained mare Hammie’s Hooker, who won both a Gr 2 and a Gr 3 during the season, because in previous seasons she was the perennial bridesmaid to the brilliant Beach Beauty.

The Champion Miler award raised one or two eyebrows as Futura lost out to his current stablemate Legislate, but a close look at their performances vindicates the decision. Legislate broke the Kenilworth Old Course record when beating Futura in the Gr 2 Lanzerac Le general Green Point Stakes over 1600m and was then clearly not himself when defeated by Futura in the Gr 1 L’Ormarin’s Queen’s Plate. In KZN he exacted revenge when beating Futura in the Gr1 Rising Sun Gold Challenge.

2015 Equus Award winners:

CHAMPION 2YO COLT

Seventh Plain

CHAMPION 2YO FILLY

Entisaar (AUS)

CHAMPION 3YO COLT

French Navy

CHAMPION 3YO FILLY

Alboran Sea (AUS)

CHAMPION OLDER MALE

Futura

CHAMPION OLDER FILLY/MARE

Hammie’s Hooker

CHAMPION SPRINTER (1000-1200m)

Captain Of All

CHAMPION MILER (1400-1600m)

Legislate

CHAMPION MIDDLE DISTANCE HORSE (1800-2200m)

Futura

CHAMPION STAYER (2400m upwards)

Wild One

SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Piere Strydom

CHAMPION STALLION

Captain Al

CHAMPION BROODMARE

Si Senorita

CHAMPION BREEDER

Klawervlei Stud

OUTSTANDING STALLION ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Dynasty

OUTSTANDING BREEDER AWARD

Highlands Farm Stud

MEDIA AWARDS

Print – Michael Clower

Television – Kevin Harris

APPRENTICE OF THE YEAR

Craig Zackey

CHAMPION JOCKEY

Gavin Lerena

CHAMPION TRAINER

Sean Tarry

OWNER OF THE YEAR

Mrs I & Mr M J Jooste

HORSE OF THE YEAR

Futura

By David Thiselton

Sean Tarry broke through for his first National Trainer’s Championships this past season having finished in the top ten for the previous ten seasons in succession and having been runner up on three occasions. In the process his yard set a new South African stakes earnings record of R25,924,250, which surpassed the mark of R22,191,845 set by Mike de Kock in the 2009/2010 season.

He said when asked what the title meant, “It was important to achieve the goal we set and worked hard for and it has left me with a sense of achievement.”

Siren’s Call (JC Photo)

Champion Trainer status probably opens doors for overseas opportunity, but this is not on Tarry’s current list of priorities.

“International racing is very attractive and lucrative and there is talk of things getting easier for us but there is no evidence of it happening. Until the restrictions on movement are relaxed I think I will sit on the fence. Michael (De Kock) has been successful under very tough conditions that only look to be getting tougher.”

Tarry usually pays tribute to the loyal team behind him in his post-race interviews and also occasionally mentions he is not always easy on them. He did not go as far as saying he was a “hard task master” but said he was definitely not a “soft touch.” He added, “There is only one way and that’s the right way. Each time you drop the ball that’s an opportunity lost. It is always going to be a game where 90% is not good enough. There is a recipe and it has to be followed 100%.”

The base of Tarry’s team have been with him for a long time. Further evidence they are happy in their positions was seen one day this season at Summerveld in the week of The July, when the harmonious singing of the Tarry yard grooms riding a string back to the stables rose above the early morning mist.

Carry On Alice (Nkosi Hlophe)

Tarry lists his highlight of the season as being the entire Johannesburg Autumn Season, in which he enjoyed considerable success. March 28 was a particularly good day as Siren’s Call won the Gr 1 R1 million Wilgerbosdrift SA Fillies Classic, French Navy won the Gr 1 R2 million SA Classic, Amber Orchid won the Gr 3 Jacaranda Handicap and Carry On Alice won the Gr 3 Man ‘O War Sprint. Siren’s Call later failed by one stride to land the Triple Tiara. She lost a shoe and played up at the start that day in the Gr 1 Wilgerbosdrift SA Oaks and this could have cost her victory. However, her other wins, including victories in the R2,5 million CTS Book 2 Graduates Race over 1400m at Turffontein and the Gr 2 R500,000 Wilgerbosdrift Gauteng Fillies Guineas saw Tarry walking away with a R1 million bonus as trainer of the highest earning three-year-old from the 2013 Book 2 Sale.

Another highlight was the overall brilliance of his three-year-old string. Seven of them earned 50% of his entire season’s stakes.

Therefore he has much to look forward to this season with only one of them, the filly Tamaanee, having been retired to stud.

Asked on his lowlight he said, “We did Durban a little differently with a couple of my Gr 1 horses. I didn’t have the confidence to move the whole string like we used to at Clairwood and I don’t think we fired as well as we usually do, although we did still win two Gr 1s (French Navy won the Daily News 2000 and Carry On Alice won the City Of Pietermaritzburg Sprint).

French Navy (Nkosi Hlophe)

Tarry added being unlucky in the July with a number of his horses hadn’t helped.

Tarry pointed out that historically the July was a race where 18 to 20 horses fanned out at the top of the straight and generally had fair chances from then on in. However, he said it should now be accepted that it was a different race and sincerely believed the size of the field should be reduced to 16 on a track which is narrower than it used to be.

He said, “The July is the race the whole Champions Season revolves around and it is going to lose some of its sparkle if we continue to have rough races with sad luck stories and objections.”

Tarry praised the proactive approach of Tony Rivalland in his position at Summerveld and said he might approach the Champions Season differently next season, although he was hoping one or two changes would still be made at the KZN training centre, where he also has a permanent satellite yard.

He said of the yard’s jockeys for this season, “Raymond (Danielson) and S’manga (Khumalo) have done well for the team and I hope the relationships continue, but we have a big string (about 180) and we might look at a couple of other jockeys to spread it around a bit.

Pomodoro (Nkosi Hlophe)

Tarry recently submitted an affidavit in favour of Khumalo regarding the 60 day suspension the latter was given after being charged of being in contravention of Rule 62.2.1 in that “he failed to take all reasonable and permissible measures to ensure that SUPERTUBE (a first-timer) was given a full opportunity to win or obtain the best possible placing” in a race on November 5 2013. The case went on appeal but Tarry submitted the affidavit on the grounds that the belief in a first-timer (he was trainer of Supertube) was largely about “speculation”, whereas a few runs down the line form and jockeys comments give a much better idea of what the horse was all about.

Tarry is also looking forward to the stud career of Pomodoro, who became the second horse he has trained after Fort Beluga to have made it into the stallion ranks.

He believes the July-winning Pomodoro “ticks all the boxes” although he is mindful that only 5% of all stallions “make it.”

Tarry’s ability as a trainer is chiefly seen in the loyalty shown to him over many years by his chief owner Chris van Niekerk, because it is well known that top businessman like the latter are results driven.

Tarry looks to be in a strong position to add a few more championships to his CV in years to come, although it is never going to be easy in a country which boasts many top class trainers.

By David Thiselton