MARK DIXON

South African racing is blessed with a host of top-class trainers and Mark can be numbered among them but racing is very much a personal thing when it comes to ownership and the choice of the conditioner one decides to employ.

Given the right horses to work with, most trainers have the talent to produce results and Mark has shown that on many occasions over the years. With the “big” horses from around the country now back in their home bases after Champions Season, the smaller local stables are flexing their muscles and Mark had a good month with five wins and seven placings from just 23 runners – a win-place strike rate of 52%.

Well done Mark

LOUIS GOOSEN

Relocating a complete stable of horses from one region to another and getting the feel of the tracks and facilities is a major operation for any trainer but, probably because Louis saw the Ashburton training centre outside Pietermaritzburg as “a heaven for horses”, the transition from the Vaal came a lot easier for him.

Making the move at the beginning of the season, Louis has caused something of a storm in KwaZulu-Natal and when one tallies up his successes for the month of October, one sees he had notched up seven wins and the same number of placings from just 25 runners. That put him at the top of the provincial trainer log for the month and his supporters would have been extremely happy with a R20 profit if they had played a R1 win bet on each of his runners.

Gold Circle and the local racing public welcome Louis to the region and wish him continued success in the future.

LOUIS GOOSEN

The two leading stables in the province, those of Dennis Drier and Duncan Howells, have continued to turn out the winners and saddle runners that perform well enough to earn a place cheque while generally the spoils have been spread across many yards in the region.

Garth Puller has done well and Dean Kannemeyer continues to enjoy a degree of success from his satellite yard.

However, relocating a complete yard from one province to another and getting to grips with the new training conditions and facilities takes some doing and Louis has managed the transition exceptionally well to saddle two winners and four placed finishes from just 10 runners during the month.

Well done Louis and welcome to KwaZulu-Natal.

PAUL GADSBY

Paul has been in racing for a long time, first proving his riding talent among some of the greatest jockeys in the country. He then switched to training, exploiting the knowledge he gained working with some of the leading trainers he rode for like top KwaZulu-Natal conditioner Alistair Gordon.

Breaking into such a competitive, demanding and complex area of the industry would never be easy but he has persevered and proven that he can maximise the inbred talents of his charges and present them to perform at their best on the track.

In spite of medical difficulties in his yard that hampered his efforts, he was able to field 11 runners during the month, four of which he welcomed back into the winner’s enclosure with another three finishing in the placings – a stout effort worthy of the award.

Well done Paul

CANDICE BASS-ROBINSON

July was a month where Ashburton trainer Duncan Howells had one of the best runs of success in his career with his runners winning 13 races and others finding the placings on 21 occasions. Normally it would be a performance worthy of the award.

However, there is no achievement greater in South African racing than winning the country’s premier event, the Vodacom Durban July. In this case it was also unique in that Candice was the first woman trainer ever to win the race and adding to that, it was in her first season as a trainer.

Candice has had to fill one of the biggest pairs of boots in racing, those of her father Mike Bass, and her achievement in winning Africa’s Greatest Horseracing event, the Vodacom Durban July, with Marinaresco is testament to her talent and dedication and more than worthy of this honour.

Well done Candice & her entire team.

BRETT CRAWFORD

One of the gentlemen among South Africa’s racing community and a man who takes problems in his stride without animosity, Brett has weathered various setbacks in his career but has always come back stronger and with a smile.

This winter season in KwaZulu-Natal, with a relatively small string, his runners have performed outstandingly to capture four very important Graded events and saddles one of the joint favourites for the Vodacom Durban July. He won the Grade 1 Daily News 2000, the Grade 1 Woolavington 2000 and the Grade 1 Rising Sun Gold Challenge. Then for good measure he saddled the winner of the Grade 2 Post Merchants.

It was a great month for Brett and his chances of extending his winning streak look very strong.

Well done Brett

Dennis Drier

Dennis is one of the country’s senior trainers who has prepared the winners of many hundreds of races including the Vodacom Durban July with Spanish Galliard. Among the top horses he has trained are the legendary Val De Ra and the magnificent filly Beach Beauty.

But possibly his most notable achievement has been his recent domination of the Grade 1, Tsogo Sun Gold Medallion for two-year-old, a race which he has won six times in the past eight years and seven times overall.

The win this year with Sand And Sea was incredible with the colt slow out of the pens then accelerating from last to demolish the opposition.

His success with young sprinters has been phenomenal and his seventh victory in this premier juvenile sprint race with Sand And Sea is an achievement worthy of the award.

Well done Dennis

Gavin Van Zyl

If dedication, enthusiasm and innovation are the requirements for success in life then Gavin has shown he has plenty of all three and together with sons Chesney and Gareth has formed a very effective training establishment operating in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.

After a relatively quiet period the stable is again beginning to flex its muscles and did well for its supporters during the month with eight winners and nine other placed runners returning a win-place percentage of 51.52 and an outright win rate of 24.24%.

With the big season now in full swing one could expect further successes for the stable.

Well done Gavin

PAUL LAFFERTY

His engaging, positive and humorous outlook on life will have helped him through a difficult health problem during the past year and many will say that being with him is “a Laff a minute”.

But behind the smiles and the jokes is a man who takes his various roles in the racing industry very seriously, involving himself in administrative affairs for the benefit of the sport as a board member of Gold Circle.

Also among his collection of “activity hats” are those as an on-course presenter and co-presenter of the racing programme Winning Ways.

But it is the exploitation of his training skills, honed over many years, where his main focus lies and his dedication was rewarded during the month when topping the trainer list with nine winners and 11 placings from just 29 runners – a win-place strike rate of just on 70% giving his followers a return of R74.60 on a R1 win bet on each of his charges.

Well done Paul

ALYSON WRIGHT

There are some very powerful racing stables operating in KwaZulu-Natal including satellite operations of some of the biggest yards in the country making racing extremely competitive.

However, against the strong opposition the local yards have held their own and one of those is that of lady trainer Alyson Wright that had one of its best months in topping the trainer table for the month with eight winners and another four placings from just 26 runners.

That translates roughly into one winner from every three runners which is excellent and the stable supporters would have been extremely happy with the R76.90 return on the R1 win bets they placed on all her runners.

Well done Alyson