David Thiselton

Owner Clive Murphy’s recent success is not due to him just being a lucky owner or breeder as the like of the Dean Smith-trained Kingdundee and the Dean Kannemeyer-trained Princess Of Gaul were bred on the back of in-depth scientific research.

Kingdundee is on his way overseas after showing how good he was by easily winning the Gr 1 World Pool Cape Flying Championship over 1000m.

Clive explained, “Kingdundee’s campaign has been driven on the comment of Craig Zackey who said this horse will win the Cape Flying and the Computaform Sprint and will win anywhere in the world. He had been putting up great times before the Cape Flying and Dean had him 100% ready. Craig Zackey is contracted to Dean Kannemeyer, so we got Calvin Habib to ride Kingdundee. Previously we used to sit with the horse and come and win, but Dean made a great call in the ring. It being a Gr 1 and as competitive as it could be, he said to Calvin ‘Let him stride, let him go … it’s not 1200m it’s 1000m. He’s got the speed and he’s badly drawn so stride him out.’ A winner had not come out of that draw (14 out of 14) for a crazy number of races, I think it was 489.”

He continued, “Kingdundee (who is by the Galileo sire The United States) just ran his own race out in front. The dividends it reaped are very much a hallmark of Galileo. The English guys say you should never work a Galileo upsides another horse, because they are so competitive and so masculine they don’t want to lose. Kingdundee knocked them sideways against the wind from the worst draw. Buffalo Bill Cody could not match him, so to my mind Kingdundee is the champion sprinter of the country  and there is no point in staying in South Africa when you’ve got a horse like that, he is a dream horse, a once in a lifetime opportunity.”

Kingdundee departs for England today (Wednesday) after completing his 14 day vector protected quarantine requirement at the Kenilworth Quarantine Station.

His ultimate destination is the Dubai Carnival early next year, but Clive might run him in England if the ground is fast enough.

Clive said, “He’s got to run on firm ground as he’s got that action and he’s got that speed. He is able to fetch a horse in PE, but if you go to England and are up against highly rated horses, you have to be handy.”

Clive explained how he bred Kingdundee, “The best genetics that existed in South Africa was Northern Dancer and I wanted to find a mare with Northern Dancer as close as I could get him. We found the ideal mare, Pas De Basque. She was in a show jumping stable at the time but we offered money and got her.”

Pas De Basque is by the Northern Dancer stallion Rambo Dancer and is in fact the dam of the Champion broodmare Halfway To Heaven, a Jet Master mare whose first three foals were famously the multiple Gr 1 winners Rainbow Bridge, Hawwaam and Golden Ducat.

However, an inkling of how intuitive Clive’s research had been was that when this breeding project was being planned, Rainbow Bridge, Hawwaam and Golden Ducat had not even started racing yet.

Pas De Basque won eight races herself.

Clive continued, “She had breeding problems but we sent her to Wynnholme Stud who were really good with her and got her in foal. We sent her to Byword first.”

Clive admitted that was a mistake, but he then identified Duke Of Marmalade. In his research he discovered that a pin used to repair a pastern injury Duke Of Marmalade had suffered as a two-year-old had been causing him discomfort and restricting his movement. After this pin was removed Duke Of Marmalade won five successive Gr 1s as a four-year-old and was named European Horse Of The Year.

Furthermore, Duke Of Marmalade was from the Northern Dancer line via the legendary Danehill.

The resulting foal from Duke Of Marmalade was a filly called Miss Marmalade, although sadly Pas De Basque passed away from colic shortly after the birth.

Clive, as a follower of the X-factor (large heart) theory, was convinced Miss Marmalade had a large heart.

Her hooves grew unusually quickly and he reckoned this was due to the superior metabolism provided by her large heart. She also had the small, curly ears that are associated with progeny who carry the large heart gene passed along by Buckpasser.

Then when it became evident she possessed tremendous speed it provided more evidence. When she won on debut over 1000m it confirmed it.

He sent Miss Marmalade to stud after just one more run, because she was not correct and she was going to be way more valuable as a broodmare.

She had the genetics he was looking for i.e. the dual copy of Northern Dancer and a large heart.

However, he points out that, in fact, environment contributes 70% to breeding success and genetics only 30%.

The 70% consists of food, water and weather, and the quality of the horse care and environment of wherever the horse is raised and trained.

He always ensures the right environmental factors are in place.

One reason Clive chose the United States to cover Miss Marmalade was because he is by the peerless Galileo, who is from the Northern Dancer line.

He added, “Galileo and Danehill Dancer is the premier mix in world pedigrees. Miss Marmalade has the Danehill and The United States has the Galileo, plus The United States has the best damside pedigree of all the stallions in the country.”

When Kingdundee was the same colour as his mother Miss Marmalade, he knew he had inherited his X gene from her and not from the father and he was thus confident he would have a large heart too.

The X-factor theory of Mariana Hahn identifies double copy broodmares i.e. those which carry the large heart gene on both X chromosomes.

The theory has been debunked, according to some, but the principles of passing on the female genes from generation to generation remain the same.

Clive said, “A family’s genetic strength can be broken in one generation with just one poor mating.”

The Vercingetorix filly Clive bred, Princess Of Gaul, is also out of Miss Marmalade and she has already won two Gr 2s and a Gr 3.

With two stalwarts on the track, the now five-year-old Kingdundee and the four-year-old Princess Of Gaul, the years he has poured into understanding thoroughbred breeding have paid dividends.

RACE 1

1 EL COHETE must have a big winning chance in this field, she is very fast, and she is very consistent, on her best form, she will be hard to beat. 6 RUST NEVER SLEEPS ran a great race behind Another Hero on the 23rd of June, he looks to be improving with every run, provided that he has improved further back at home, he will go close to winning. 7 BOLERO stayed on well late for fourth on debut, he should improve nicely going into his second run on Wednesday, include him into all bets. 2 WREATH OF SNOW oozes class on pedigree, the connections paid top dollar to secure this beautiful colt, the market could tell the story on debut, watch him closely.

RACE 2

2 SABRE WING finished like a train on debut, she was only beaten just under four lengths by Juliet Of Verona on the 18th of July, in hope that she has made further improvement at home, she will go very close to winning this race. 3 MIND OVER YOU ran a fair race on debut behind World Of Secrets, she will love the step up in trip to 1200m, include her into all bets. 6 ROCK THE ROAD stayed on well for third behind Scandalize on the 16th of June, the form of that race has worked out well, she will be right there in the finish late. 11 ROYAL EMULATION jumped at big odds on debut, she caught the eye late when finishing fourth in the same race as Sabre Wing last time, she might be able to sneak into the places at a decent price.

RACE 3

2 AFRICAN WILD DOG looks to be one of the better bets on the card, he has run two excellent races in succession, this looks to be the right race for him to exit the maiden ranks from a good draw. 8 IT’SGOOD IT’SNICE disappointed terribly in the Grade 3 Langerman on the 27th of June, he is much better than that poor performance, in hope that he bounces back to his best form, he could be competitive. 3 ZANFAN MORIS was well beaten by Superhero on the 23rd of June, the drop in trip should help his chances, he will be given the run of the race from a neat draw. 7 BIG DEAL gets the blinkers fitted, he never runs a bad race, include him into all bets.

RACE 4

2 ODDS AND EVENS tried to lead them all the way in her last start behind Spanish World on the 7th of July, she has a big winning chance here, on her best form, she will be hard to beat from a good draw. 11 MACRO GRAVITY showed good improvement stepping up in trip last time, she ran third in the same race as Odds And Evens on the 7th of July, with some luck in running from a bad draw, she will be competitive. 6 BE RATIONAL ran fifth in a decent race on the 16th of June, the form of that race has worked out well, if she builds on her last run, she could sneak into the places at a decent price. 9 MOONSHINE BAY only brings fair form into this race on Wednesday, with the 2.5kgs off her back from the apprentice claim, she could run a place at best.

RACE 5

5 HAMPSTEAD HEATH won a good race on the 21st of June, she was given five points for that win last time, the step up in trip should be no problem for this mare, she will run a big race again. 7 SUPREME FATE changed stables on the 10th of July, she was last seen winning well in PE on the 19th of June, she will be just off the speed early, and she will be flying at them late, watch her closely. 10 UNA THE UNICORN flashed up late to run fourth behind Lady Veritas on the 18th of July, she will be much fitter going into this race on Wednesday, include her into all bets. 1 DREAM SEARCHER never runs a bad race, she has a good place chance here.

RACE 6

3 MASTER COINER stayed on beautifully late for third behind Glenalmond on the 14th of July, he looks progressive, there should be no excuses for this gelding from a good draw, include him into all bets. 1 ETOILEFILLANTE finished second in the same race as Master Coiner last time, he has run two great races in succession, he can be very hard to peg back, watch him closely from a good draw. 10 PHANTOM MAN never runs a bad race, he will be on speed early, on his best form, he has a good place chance in this field. 2 MIDWAY has dropped even further in the ratings from his last run on the 7th of July, his chances must always be respected at this level.

RACE 7

6 AVIGNON could be the value play in this tricky race, he is a big striding horse with lots of early speed, in hope that the apprentice gets his fractions right, he will run a big race. 5 SHIFTING PATH stayed on well late for third behind Peace Of Mind on the 18th of July, he has dropped to a winnable rating, with the right run here, he will be competitive. 7 PRINCE OF TIBET is much better than his last run, ignore that performance on the 7th of July, now that he is back up the straight at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth, he could bounce back to his best form at a good price. 4 VERCICAT has been rested for 78 days, in hope that he doesn’t need the run, he could sneak into the places.

RACE 8

1 CORK BAY stayed on well late to finish second behind Lyrical Gangster on the 18th of July, the yard thinks highly of this gelding, top jockey Andrew Fortune gets the ride, he will go close to winning on his best form. 4 LYRICAL GANGSTER won with absolute ease last time, he was given three points for winning a top race at Hollywoodbets Durbanville, even though he has gone up in the weights, he will be very competitive again, include him into all bets. 3 LIKE DYNAMITE could be anything, he quickened away from his field to win super impressively on the 23rd of June, he should improve even further going into this race on Wednesday, watch him closely, he looks like a smart colt in the making. 10 CATWALK KING was well beaten in the Grade 3 Langerman on the 27th of June, he is much better than that, he will be flying at them late here.

Alistair Cohen

As the new racing season is in its embryonic stage, new life is breathed into expectations, hopes and direction for so many individuals. One man who has taken every direction through his life is Andrew Fortune who starts another campaign with his life clock now reading 59 years old. He has a fair book of rides at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth on Wednesday, his best coming in race 8 over 1200m aboard Cork Bay.

Cork Bay has done sweet-little wrong in three runs after a 15-month break. He returned with a head-turning victory after a long layoff. A huge training feat by Andre Nel to get this horse back on track as winter dawned and tracks became slightly more challenging to work on. He beat Blind Date by 1,75 lengths over this course and distance. Blind Date has won twice since. It has to be noted that Blind Date is nowhere near the peak of his powers in a sprint and he was also returning from a break but all Cork Bay could do was win and he did so.

His next two runs saw him defeated finishing third and second respectively. Both runs came up the road at Hollywoodbets Durbanville over 1250m but he was clearly not disgraced. His penultimate saw him finish behind Witch Hazel who evidently has some game in hand from the handicapper before his near miss behind Lyrical Gangster last time.

He meets Lyrical Gangster again but he has a kind 2,5kg in hand for 0,75 lengths. That should be enough to turn the tables. Added to that, and this is not scientific until we reach this last race, he has pulled gate No 1. Before racing took a break at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth for about six weeks, the lower the draw, the bigger the advantage.

Lyrical Gangster is by no means disadvantaged by gate No 4. He always struck as an underachiever who just needed a confidence boost and his last win could be what he needs to kick on and find some form and ability which he has always threatened. The weights suggest that he has a bit to find to stay ahead of Cork Bay but he should not be far away. JP van der Merwe had a rough season but he ended it looking like he was getting into gear again. He is carded to ride for Justin Snaith.

The most interesting runner in the race is Gold Dust back down the lane. His first run for Michelle Rix came after a six month layoff. Rix knew exactly what to do for a fresh horse first up for the yard and had him in a sprint which he absolutely dominated. He went over 1400m subsequently where he was not disgraced but now it seems a happy medium is found in sprints for him. The widest gate of No 11 is not ideal but on largely fresh turf, he has half a chance of having things in his favour. He also reunites with Sifiso Bungane who steered him to that 0,75-length victory over this course and distance two months ago.

Athandiwe Mgudlwa makes a rare visit to Cape Town as he takes some attractive rides for Candice Bass. He is aboard the enigmatic Follow Your Heart who is capable of upsetting horses better than him and equally those who have faith in him. He is not the easiest to read but always worth including into wider plays.

El Cohete comes from an in-form yard of Greg Ennion and they could draw first blood in Cape Town this season in race 1 over 1000m with Keagan de Melo up. Probably overdue having her sixth career run with four places to her name. Her most promising run was her penultimate effort when she ran third over this course and distance behind the upwardly mobile One Magic. Keep an eye on the record equaling R9-million purchase Wreath Of Snow. He galloped at Hollywoodbets Durbanville less than a month ago. He gave a very pleasing piece of work but little about him hints that 1000m will be his chop.

Sabre Wing put up a pleasing debut over 1250m last time so he must have the capability to improve in race 2 over 1200m. He had draw No 11 and he made up ground from last. He would be more persuasive over slightly further but he sets the standard on a pleasing debut. Andrew Fortune is up for Ennion. Over My Shoulder is in the race. She also galloped with Wreath Of Snow and she galloped like a star.

Gavin Lerena takes the ride on African Wild Dog in race 3 over 1400m and they look set to exit the maidens. He met his main danger, It’sgood It’snice on 16 June and African Wild Dog had a narrow advantage. Every run of his has been improved which is assuring that he should not go backwards.

Lerena and Snaith have Odds And Evens in race 4 over 1400m. She looks the best bet on the card against this field. Two recent near misses should convert to a win.

Snaith and Lerena are an interesting dynamic in race 5 over 1500m. Una The Unicorn returned from a four-month layoff last time when she hit the line with plenty in hand to finish fourth behind Lady Veritas over this distance at Hollywoodbets Durbanville. If she is not one run from her peak and she can overcome draw No 10, she has a good chance. Hampstead Heath won her most recent start and all she needed is confidence. This is a rise in class but she could give Una The Unicorn something to think about.

Etoilefillante is overdue another win and he could get a reward under Mpumi Mjoka. He hit the crossbar in his last two runs against some uninspiring opposition but Mjoka has brought lots of life out of his horse. He has every chance from gate No 1 and with a soft lead, he must rate as the horse to beat in race 6 over 1800m.

There is not much to be excited about in race 7 over 1200m. A chance is taken on Shifting Path with 50,5kg under Varun Jodhee. He likes the sting out of the ground and he runs his best races towards the end of winter. When those are metrics of tipping a horse, one must know how many moving parts are involved.

Please note: South African Quartet Pools with fractional betting offered at Ffos Las and Lingfield (UK) – 4 August 2026.

David Thiselton

The 2025/2026 season will go down as a memorable one for the thoroughbred owners of South African racing and the accolades included overseas success.

Hollywood Racing, who were crowned champion owners for the second season in succession, set a local target for themselves of 180 wins, way ahead of their best previous return of 128.

Remarkably they reached 179 wins with one meeting of the season left and looked set to get their target exactly on the Fairview Poly on Friday.

However, they were a short-head shy of reaching it when Whirlybird was second in the sixth race and then in the penultimate race of the season they were half-a-length back with Potenza.

Hollywood’s local highlight was a Gr 1 win with the Duncan Howells trained What A Winter mare Asiye Phambili, who produced a remarkable finishing burst from someway off the pace to get up by a neck in the wfa Gr 1 SA Fillies Sprint Brought to you by the Witness over 1200m at Hollywoodbets Scottsville, beating the crack Justin Snaith-trained mare Double Grand Slam. It was a hugely deserved Gr 1 win for the mare who had not had much luck in previous Gr 1s.

She also won the Gr 3 WSB Southern Cross Stakes over 1000m at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth and the Gr 3 Dennis Drier Poinsettia Stakes over 1200m at Hollywoodbets Scottsville as well as finishing fourth in the wfa Gr 1 World Pool Cape Flying Championship over 1000m and an unlucky third in the wfa Gr 1 Mercury Sprint over 1200m.

She gets better and better and this powerful filly resembled a tank in full flight when charging late in the Mercury, so it is great news to hear she will be staying in training as a seven-year-old.

Overseas, Hollywood Racing, in partnership with Rikesh Sewgoolam, went close to flat racing big race glory when their stalwart One World colt One Stripe finished a late-surging 0,25 length second to his Graham Motion-trained stablemate Test Score in the Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational at Gulfstream Park over 1800m with Gavin Lerena up.

One Stripe had put his disappointing Woodbine Mile and Breeders Cup Turf Mile runs behind him when winning an Allowance Optional Claiming over a mile at Gulfstream Park in a time just 0,4 seconds outside the course record.

One stripe followed up his Pegasus run by finishing second in the Gr 1 Makers Mark Mile Stakes at Keeneland and third in the Gr 1 Manhattan Stakes over 1900 at the iconic Saratoga “Meet”.

The Woodbine Mile and Breeders Cup Mile winner Notable Speech, who was an admittedly unlucky fourth in the Makers Mark Mile, franked One Stripe’s form recently when winning the Gr 1 Lockinge Stakes over a mile at Newbury in the UK by an easy and impressive two lengths.

Hollywood Racing’s other USA-based stalwart, the Graham Motion-trained What A Winter gelding Isivunguvungu, came back from a nine month layoff to recently win an Allowance Optional Claiming over 1100m at Laurel Park.

However, the Hollywood Racing overseas highlight was provided by their jumps racing superstar Il Etait Temps, who provided a moment any owner in the world would dream of when winning one of the Cheltenham Festival’s  Championship events, the Gr 1 Queen Mother Champion Chase over two miles.

It was the Willie Mullins-trained grey’s sixth Gr 1 win. They own the champion chaser in partnership with the Kieswetter family’s Barnane Stud.

There was also overseas Gr 1 success for a former champion owner, Gaynor Rupert of Drakenstein Stud.

Her exciting UK Summer included being owner-breeder of a John and Thady Gosden-trained Sea The Stars filly called I’m The One, who was installed as Epsom Oaks favourite after a highly impressive six length victory over a mile and two furlongs at Newbury on debut.

She finished second in her next start in a Listed event at Chester and was unfortunately then sidelined with injury.

However, a St Mark’s Basilica three-year-old colt Gaynor owns and bred in partnership with Coolmore, Thesecretadversary, later won the Gr 3 Jersey Stakes over seven furlongs at the Royal Ascot meeting before landing a Gr 1 in France over seven furlongs at Deauville.

Locally the second-placed owner

in the 2025/2026 championship was Durban-based Nick Jonsson, who pulled off surely the finest ownership feat in SA history when his Justin Snaith-trained Twice Over gelding won the wfa Gr 1 WSB Cape Town Met, because it meant Jonsson had won Cape Town’s most famous race four times in succession with four different horses. To win one Met could be due to luck but there is nothing lucky about winning four in a row and it proved Jonsson to have intuition of rare quality in the buying arena.

See It Again also landed the wfa Gr 1 Premier’s Champions Challenge and Snaith and Jonsson ran one-two in the wfa Gr 1 HKJC Champions Cup at Hollywoodbets Greyville with Eight On Eighteen and See It Again.

Eight on Eighteen was Equus Horse Of The Year in 2024/2025 and See It Again looks a certainty to give Jonsson a second successive Horse Of The Year and a third one overall as his part-owned Do It Again was Horse Of The Year in 2018/2019.

In another fine ownership feat Nancy Hossack and Jonathan Bloch became the third known owners to land the Hollywoodbets Durban July exacta following Luke Bailles in 1990 and Nick Jonsson in 2018. Their charges Note To Self and Wish List, both trained by Justin Snaith, finished close together in that order in the R10 million Hollywoodbets Durban July.

Bloch also likely broke a record by winning the July plus all four of what used to be KZN’s most important classics, with his part-owned charge the James Crawford-trained Star Major winning the Gr 2 WSB Guineas and the Gr 1 Daily News 2000 and Wish List winning the Gr 2 WSB Fillies Guineas and the Gr 2 Lucky Fish Woolavington 2000.

Another notable season was had by Kenneth Pillay of Kestorm Investments as he not only had two Gr 1 wins with the Tony Peter-trained Buffalo Storm Cody, but he also had 37 overall wins during the season at an amazing strike rate of 28.24%.

David Thiselton

The Stuart Pettigrew-trained imported Irish-bred Sea The Stars gelding Mission To Mars could be Betway Summer Cup bound after another easy and impressive win and this time it was in a MR 96 Handicap over the Summer Cup 2000m course and distance.

At Turffontein Standside on Saturday the gelding was having just his third career start, despite now being a six-year-old.

He was drawn two with Philasande Mxoli keeping the ride and he was backed into 5/10 favourite.

He broke well and soon found the rail.

He then settled nicely, third in line on the rail under the beautiful long rein of the underrated Mxoli.

In the straight he turned it on effortlessly and sped past the pacemaker Royal Edition while still under a tight hold.

Mxoli just had to steer him, showing him the stick and administering one reminder as he sauntered to a 3,50 length victory from Prince Of Kildare, to whom he gave 2,5kg, and the third horse was beaten 8,75 lengths.

He will likely get the maximum eight point raise for the handicap win, which will take him to a 94 merit rating.

That is still some way short of Summer Cup qualifying standard, but he has hardly come off the bit in his two wins over 1600m and 2000m respectively, following his debut over 1500m in which he came from a mile back to run second.

Pettigrew said he would get his African Horse Sickness Vaccinations now and they then had a plan for him “up until the end of November”, which was a hint that he would be targeted at the Summer Cup.

Pettigrew is a horseman of vast experience and is not one to jump the gun. He admitted the horse still had a number of hurdles in front of him and would have to prove himself good enough. However, he added that the horse was a lovely, sound type and he believed he would be even better with the sting out of the ground after the rains came.

Owner Willem Ackerman said it had been his acid test going from a maiden to a MR 96 Handicap and admitted the performance had left him excited.

For a horse who arrived with a reputation of not wanting to work and who then took over a year to get to the racecourse he appears to be remarkably professional and there is little hint of any problems other than him going down to the start with his best friend, the stable pony.

It is interesting to note that Mission To Mars is out of a mare by Jeremy, as the latter is by Danehill Dancer.

The nick between Galileo and Danehill Dancer mares is one of the world’s elite thoroughbred crosses and with Sea The Stars being a half-brother to Galileo and Danehill Dancer being the grandsire of Mission To Mars’ dam, the cross could be said to be there to some extent.

David Thiselton

The national championships of all categories last season was notable in that there were no really close fought titles with all of them being clear cut, although there was a mathematical possibility that Varsfontein Stud could catch the eventual champions Mauritzfontein and Wilgerbosdrift at the World Pool Gold Cup meeting in the race for the Breeders Title.

Craig Zackey can now proudly and deservedly call himself Champion Jockey having reached a final tally of 286 wins for the season when landing a four-timer at the last meeting on the Fairview poly.

He had by far the most rides in the season of 1683, but his strike rate was a decent 16.99%.

Zackey had set himself a target of 275 for the season and such was his excellence throughout that his prediction turned out to be conservative.

He was 61 wins clear of nearest rival Richard Fourie, who had 225 wins at a strike rate of 21.55%.

Keagan de Melo is a man to watch as he ended on 158 wins in third place, despite starting the season four months in on December 5.

His strike rate of 20.57% tells a story as it was third highest on the log behind that of Aldo Domeyer’s (53 wins at 22.75%) and Fourie’s.

Fourie generally only travelled from Cape Town to the East Cape other than for big meetings in KZN and the Highveld and if it is the same this season then the title might be fought out by Zackey, De Melo and Gavin Lerena. The latter travelled to KZN for the first meeting of the new season and now looks to be Hollywood Racing’s chief rider.

The rest of the top ten together with their number of wins and strike rates were Muzi Yeni on 148 (11.96%), Calvin Habib on 133 (10.95%), Callan Murray on 117 (12.58%) , Serino Moodley on 100 (12.35%), Sean Veale on 94 (13.13%), Gavin Lerena on 92 (18.47%) and Rachel Venniker on 83 (11.96%).

Blaine Marx Jacobson will be crowned Apprentice Champion with 43 wins at 11.85% and he beat home Mxolisi Mbutho on 32 wins (7.60%), Damyan Pillay on 31 wins (11.40%), Dezahn Louw on 28 wins (8.33%) and Bavish Soodoo on 27 wins (10.31%).

If there had been betting on the Apprentice Championship Marx-Jacobson would likely have been a 100/1 shot at the beginning of February as he had mustered a paltry three wins from 97 rides in the season at that stage and was going along at a strike rate of at 3.09%.

The two leaders at that stage were Mxolisi Mbutho and Girish Samo-Burthia, who were both on 21 wins at respective strike rates of 9.68% and 12.73%.

Yet just seven weeks later Marx-Jacobson, after moving to the Highveld, had taken the lead on 28 wins and had improved his strike rate to 12.79%.

The leading Workrider in the country was Phenesile Mongqawa with 8 wins at a fine strike rate of 36.36% and Sam Mosia was next best with 7 wins at 25.93%, while Savanna Valjalo retired from the professional ranks in January but started riding in work races again in May and had five wins in 15 rides for a high strike rate of 33,33%.

The best bet of the season was Justin Snaith to land the Trainers Championship because at odds of around 5/10 it looked like buying money such was his firepower.

He ended up earning more than double the stakes money of his perennial closest rival Sean Tarry.

Snaith ended on stakes earnings of R39,579,158 from 140 wins.

The only statistic in which he was not leader was the number of wins in the season which saw Alan Greeff ahead on 149 wins.

The rest of the top ten was made up of Tarry (R17,897,882), Tony Peter (R15,419,938), Mike and Mathew de Kock (15,316,968), Alan Greeff (R13,191,599), James Crawford (R11,990,085), Candice Bass (R11,706,375), Dean Kannemeyer (R9,759,044), Vaughan Marshall (R9,543,629) and Glen Kotzen (R8,866,332).

The Breeders Championship was won for the third time in the last six seasons by Wilgerbosdrift and Mauritzfontein, who wrested the title back from Drakenstein Stud.

They won both the Gr 3 R1 million World Pool Gold Cup and the Gr 2 R500,000 Bet With The World Gold Bracelet on the final day of the season with Holding Thumbs and Mocha Blend respectively to remain clear of Varsfontein Stud, whose progeny Note To Self had won the R10 million Hollywoodbets Durban July.

Wilgerbosdrift is owned by Mary Slack, while Mauritzfontein is owned by her daughter and son-in-law Jessica and Steven Jell.

Wilgerbosdrift & Mauritzfontein’s progeny had 169 winners of 270 races with 11 individual stakes winners of 14 races for stakes earnings of R34,703,203.

Varsfontein Stud had 120 winners of 190 races with 17 individual stakes winners of 21 races for earnings of R32,261,776.

Drakenstein Stud had 85 winners of 135 races with 12 individual stakes winners of 14 races for earnings of R22,998,934.

Maine Chance Farms (Pty) Ltd had 69 winners of 117 races with 7 individual stakes winners of 13 races for earnings of R19,231,596.

Ridgemont had 96 winners of 142 races with 5 individual stakes winners of 6 races for earnings of R16,670,646.

Stallion phenomenon Vercingetorix secured his second Sires title with his progeny earning R40,770,265 from 138 winners of 248 races. He was unable to match his South African stakes race record from the previous season of 23 individual winners of 33 races, although his progeny did win more stakes races, 34, albeit with 21 individual winners.

Gimmethegreenlight (AUS) was in second places with 126 winners of 188 races. including 7 individual stakes winners of 7 races for earnings of R23,816,838

Querari (GER) had 92 winners of 143 races with 7 individual stakes winners of 12 races for  earnings of R22,888,859

Master Of My Fate had 88 winners of 147 races with 11 individual stakes winners of 16 races for earnings of R21,145,171.

Rafeef (AUS) had 110 winners of 162 races with 6 individual stakes winners of 6 races for earnings of R20,746,283.

Malmoos was the freshman champion stallion with 9 winners of 14 races and 1 individual stakes winner of 3 races for earnings of R1,800,896.

Note To Self was the highest earning horse of the season on R6,382,850, followed by See It Again (R5,080,750), Mocha Blend (3,948,275), Wish List (R3,749,363) and Questioning (R2,933,125).

Andrew Harrison

Patrick Kruyer was a regular during the KZN winter season when assistant to Terrance Millard back in the 1980’s but he arrived for this year’s Champions Season with just two modest runners stabled with old friend Michael Roberts.

One of them was Charlie Bucket who arrived with a string of places behind his name. That changed first time out as he got his maiden behind him and he followed up with an impressive second win, leading all the way under Rachel Venniker, in the C Stakes that headed the card at Hollywoodbets Scottsville yesterday.

The addition of a compression mask and earmuffs to his racing equipment appears to have him turn the corner. Slow out when winning his maiden, he ‘pinged’ the gate yesterday and was not for the catching with a wall of horses chasing him home.

Taking a leaf out of Venniker’s playbook, Tristan Godden made all aboard Rikkitikkitavi for Andre Nel, but it was a close run thing as he was chased home by a wall of horses, one being Captain’s Pride with Keagan de Melo riding an excellent race only to fail by a head.

Rikkitikkitavi was game up front as he kept finding all the way to the line while De Melo sat for as long as he dared on Captain’s pride before asking for maximum and just running out of runway.

Owen Heffer, the head honcho  of Hollywoodbets and the man behind Race Coast and Champion Owners Hollywood Racing, gave former local trainer Craig Ramsay, now resident in New Zealand, a brief to buy some well-bred fillies to race in this country.
The first of these to run was a winner. Australian-bred Umoyawokubambelela put the field to bed in the second in spite of doing very little right. Slow out of the gate and last for much of the race, Gavin Lerena slowly allowed her to build momentum and once into stride, she left to opposition for dead.

According to Hollywood Racing’s  manager Anthony Delpech, Umoyawokubambelela had a rough time in quarantine suffering from colic and having a colic operation, so the decision to leave the filly with Wengi Masawi and his team in the quiet climbs of the Ashburton paid dividends as she won with authority.

 Stuart Ferrie got his season off to a winning start as the well supported Iceberg Rose finished off her race smartly to touch off Paul Lafferty’s first timer Fleur Delacour in the first with favourite Forthegoodtimes in third.

Lovecomesknocking and Sweet Cherry set a strong gallop but both came up empty. The winner and runner-up both finished strongly with little separating them at the line. Forthegoodtimes was slow out and briefly looked as if she would make a race of it but was a tad one-paced at the business end and does appear to be looking for further.

CaLvin Habib had an armchair ride on Peaceful Duchess for Dennis Bosch in the first leg of the Pick 6.

Keagan de Melo tried to make all on Future Prospect but the writing was on the wall a long way out as Peaceful Duchess moved up under the hands to come home a comfortable winner with Future Prospect staying on for second.

Glen Kotzen held the key to the Class 4 over 2000m with Golden Angel and Sesame. The two met at their previous start with Sesame on the right side of the photo. Golden Angel was 3.5kg better off in yesterday’s race but Sesame defied the handicappers and stormed to a comfortable win from Golden Angel with the gamble on Our Lady Fate, 10’s into 4’s,  going awry. The race was run in two halves. If Habib had it easy in the previous race Zena’s Act got the better of him from the jump as she took a hold of the bit and hurtled off to the front and her race was run down the back straight as the opposition tracked her some 10 lengths adrift.

Janes Vision, back to the mark at which she last won, made all under apprentice Dezahan Louw to land the D Stakes for Michael Roberts. Out in a flash, Louw made a bee-line for the inside fence, a smart move given the mares tendency to hang right, but once there she was not for the catching with Champagne Mac, slow to start, flashing up late to snatch second.

De Melo may have timed his run a little too late aboard Captain’s Pride but he made amends for Louis Goosen. Just off the pace in the early exchanges, Blazing Fury came with a storming late run under a big weight to win the last going away from long-time pacemaker Axis Power and Luneluck, who was not so lucky as he got caught between Axis Power and Blazing Fury and Venniker was forced to ease for a few strides .

David Thiselton

Mickaelle Michel ended a fairy-tale tour to South Africa on a high note at the World Pool Gold Cup meeting at Hollywoodbets Greyville on Sunday when landing the Gr 2 World Pool Bet With Tote Umkhomazi Stakes over 1200m on the James Crawford-trained Fish Tales, who fittingly races in the famous colours of Tony Moodley.

Fish Tales, who was bred by Ascot Stud and is by their underrated stallion Heavenly Blue, is now unbeaten in two starts.

His victory was all the more commendable in that he had to overcome a draw of 11 out of 13 runners.

Mickaelle took the athletic bay colt up to mid division and in expert fashion managed to slot him into a one wide position with cover before he had used up too much energy.

The colt continually found after being switched out in the straight and hit the front at about the 150m mark before going on to win by 1,10 lengths.

Fish Tales’ red and yellow checks, emerald sleeves and cap colours were carried to Summer Cup victory by the Mike de Kock-trained Rudra in 2006 and earlier that same year were carried to Gr 1 Champions Cup glory by Equal Image. Many other good horses have carried the colours.

Tony races in partnership with his son Nishen and the other owners in Fish Tales are Raphael Goolam and Selvan Naidoo. Fish Tales is in fact the first horse Raphael has ever owned.

Nishen said after the win, “My Dad has been involved in horseracing for the longest of time. He has never left the sport. We did go a little bit quiet, I think horseracing is a wheel, you will be at the top one day and be at the bottom again and now we are slowly rising to the top again.”

He said about the purchase of Fish Tales, “When we saw him at the August two-year-old Sale last year we absolutely fell in love with him. He is by Heavenly Blue, who I think is overlooked, he is such an underrated sire, and he is one of the better Heavenly Blues that we’ve seen. Myself and some friends decided to get involved and here we are today.”

Ashley Parker of Ascot Stud was alerted many years back to the fact that Fish Tales’ dam Caviar was for sale and he snapped her up.

The Var mare was trained by the late Colin Scott and won five times over distances from 1000m to 1400m.

The Australian-bred Heavenly Blue, who is by the iconic four-times Australian Champion Sire Snitzel, won the Gr 1 SA Classic over 1800m and he was third in the Gr 1 SA Derby.

Fish Tales, who has plenty of substance, ran like a horse who would enjoy further.

James Crawford said they would have preferred to have come into the race with one more run under the belt and he added, “He is still green and immature and once the penny drops we’ve got a lot more fun to have.”

Fish Tales is an exciting classic prospect.

He is a half-brother to the useful King Prawn, an Alan Greeff-trained three-year-old gelding whose two wins include the Listed Champion Juvenile Cup over 1400m, although he has had a somewhat disappointing three-year-old season.

Fish Tales was bought for R375,000.

At this year’s National Yearling Sale his full-brother was bought for R200,000 by Jaap van de Vendel and will be trained by Alan Greeff.

Caviar is currently in foal to the Mauritzfontein-based sire Digital Age, a Gr 1-winning son of Invincible Spirit..

Caviar’s third dam is the Champion Broodmare Soho Secret, which means she is from the family of the good racehorse and influential matriarch Secret Pact.

Caviar has had six runners for four winners and Fish Tales is her second stakes winner.

Fish Tales won by 2,30 length on debut over 1160m on June 7 and now that he has confirmed that promise he is definitely one to follow.

Meanwhile, Mickaelle Michel will be back in South Africa in October.

Before departing the racecourse on Sunday she was presented with a framed enlargement of a Sporting Post front page headline commemorating the day she made history on Star Major in the Daily News 2000, becoming only the second woman in South African history to win a Gr 1 event.

Her 47 wins on this tour were achieved at a strike rate of 9.2% and included one Gr 1 and three Gr 2s.

In exciting news for the South African horseracing industry it has been announced the UK have opened a direct equine export route from South Africa, which cements two-way trade for the SA Equine Industry.

SA Equine Health & Protocols NPC (SAEHP) sent out the following press release:

UK Opens Direct Equine Export Route from South Africa, Cementing Two-Way Trade for SA Equine Industry

Cape Town, 15 July 2026 — SA Equine Health & Protocols NPC (SAEHP) is pleased to announce that the British Government has confirmed a decision permitting direct import of live horses from South Africa to Great Britain. Following a positive assessment of South Africa’s disease control measures, imports will be permitted from the approved vector-protected quarantine station in Cape Town, for registered equines complying with UK import conditions.

This milestone reflects sustained collaboration between SAEHP, the South African Department of Agriculture, and the Western Cape Department of Agriculture — a powerful demonstration of this public-private partnership’s success in maintaining South Africa’s equine disease control measures to the highest international standard and translating that credibility into real market access.

The announcement follows closely on South Africa’s opening of imports from Dubai, New Zealand, and Australia earlier this year -making genuine two-way trade a reality for the South African equine industry.

Adrian Todd, Managing Director of SAEHP, thanked the Hong Kong Jockey Club for its funding, technical support, and vision in opening South Africa to the world, noting that the growing number of trade partners now opens a world of opportunity for South Africa across all equestrian disciplines.

About SAEHP:SA Equine Health & Protocols NPC is a South African public-private partnership established to ensure the sustainability and security of the African Horse Sickness control zones through risk mitigation measures and controls, operating under the authority of the South African National Director of Animal Health in partnership with the National Department of Agriculture and the Western Cape Department of Agriculture.