The unbeaten Pleasedtomeetyou could step up to seven furlongs for his next start as he possibly heads towards the Cape Guineas in December.
Andre Nel said: “While I am not yet sure where he will run next I am going to nominate him for the Cape Classic (October 28). He relaxes well enough at home to suggest he will get the 1 400m.”
Nel added that the colt “has taken his last race well.” This is good news considering the accusations levelled against Bernard Fayd’Herbe of giving the colt an unduly hard race in the Sophomore Sprint.
Fayd’Herbe has been metaphorically hanged, drawn and quartered by his critics, most of whom were not even at Durbanville that day. Nor was I (on holiday overseas at the time) but I do know that the jockey will have been hurt and upset by the criticism. He has long prided himself on his love and understanding of the horses he rides, qualities which he believes he possesses more than most riders.
Andre Nel
True, he sometimes does appear more forceful than many of them but this is at least partly because he is a fair bit taller than they are.
Significantly stipes Nick Shearer, Cecil van As and Tarquin Norval did not consider that he was guilty of any offence and, even more significantly, nor did they when the NHA drew their attention to the criticism and invited them to look again.
It is an unfortunate aspect of racing life that most thoroughbred horses, despite being bred to race and wanting to do so, will not give their all without the whip. For many it is enough just to see it but others will not quicken unless they actually feel it.
Fortunately the whips permitted today are a lot kinder than the old criss-cross leather covered whale bone which could both mark and hurt. The manufacturers of today’s whips claim that they do not hurt (although I wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end!) and that it is the noise that stirs the horse to maximum action.
Perhaps it is time for the NHA to take the lead here because the noise sounds frightening to the public, let alone the horses, and it is in danger of giving racing a bad name. The media room at Durbanville is adjacent to the 50m marker and when the horses reach this point it sounds like a volley of machine gun fire. If the crowds were bigger there would be cries of cruelty from the uninformed.
The authorities might also consider reducing the length of the whips. In Scandinavia this is barely half that of our whips and, while they are derided by the rest of the racing world, a reduction would have a corresponding increase in the inability to hurt.
Elusive Trader, beaten less than a neck in the Sophomore, is not certain to race again before the R2.5 million Lanzerac Ready To Run at Kenilworth on November 18.
Greg Ennion said: “He was unlucky in running in the Sophomore, and also he was in front both shortly before the line and just after it. However he was shin-sore afterwards. If he does run before the Lanzerac it would have to be in a plate race. I am not going to run him in a handicap.”
Magnificent Seven, winner of four of his last five starts, is already odds-on for the Settlers Trophy at Durbanville on Saturday. World Sports Betting yesterday opened the Snaith-Fourie hope at 17-20 with the Candice Bass-Robinson trained Benjan (Greg Cheyne) second favourite at 4-1. The Billy Prestage-trained Red Peril, who sprang a 14-1 surprise 12 months ago, is the 20-1 outsider of the party this time.
By Michael Clower
