Andrew Harrison

When world respected and multiple champion trainer Mike de Kock labels a Progress Plate winner capable of taking its place in races like the Gr1 L’Ormarins King’s Plate, and also hinting that it may be added to a stallion roster,  then it is best to sit up and take note.

The Rafeef colt Esteemed has obviously had some serious issues in his short career before returning from a 69 weeks lay-off, with De Kock intimating that it has taken some large vets bills to get him back on track.

That patience has paid dividends for his owners and Esteemed came through his first race back with flying colours, destroying the opposition in a 1200m sprint in his comeback. “Just an exercise canter” was how jockey Richard Fourie described the win.

Sitting off the early pace, Fourie got a dream run up the inside fence and the result was a formality a long way out. A long-striding colt with a pedigree that suggests that a mile and even further would be right up his alley, his progress will now be under the microscope.

It appeared to be an ordinary day of racing at Hollywoodbets Scottsville yesterday but the black books will have been scribbled in. Esteemed stamped himself as a horse to follow, as did Dean Kannemeyer’s gelding Hah Lah Lah.

Taking on a small field with only eight in opposition, Hah Lah Lah made short work of his rivals, winning the Hollywoodbets Bright Future Handicap in commanding fashion. His fourth win from just five starts, Kannemeyer said he would give his charge a break and line him up for the Cape Summer. He is a horse that should comfortably go a mile so may well clash with Esteemed in the Gr1 L’Ormarins Kings Plate.

With a world connected by AI and technology, landing an old fashioned betting coup is never easy, but the punt on Cowboy Country landed with a thud in the Class 4. Gelding does not always have the desired effect but the operation certainly got Cowboy Country concentrating on what he was bred for and backed in from an ante-post call of 20-1 to start around 4-1 was a coup well landed. With Jabu Jacobs calm in the saddle and pressing on when it mattered, the result was never in doubt.

It was a double for Tony Rivalland and owner Mary Liley whose racing roots trace back to the early 1970’s where her colours, with her late husband John Liley, were carried with distinction by many champions.

Who wants to be a stipendiary steward? They do if they don’t as there are plenty of amateur stipes with itchy fingers on line. Mike and Mathew de Kock’s gelding Trombolines came in for a lot of race-time money for the B Stakes over 1400m but the lead-in was delayed as Serino Moodley lodged an objection on the grounds of interference to his mount Nordic Chief in the closing stages.

There was no doubt that Trombolines shifted ground running into Nordic Chief. The question that would have been asked in the boardroom is ‘would Nordic Chief have won but for the interference?’

Any human athlete will tell you that if an opponent leans onto you, you will be inconvenienced, no matter what. However, if that runner comes from behind and likely to go past, that will have been what the stipes took into consideration. Obviously it was their opinion that Trombolines would have won regardless of the interference so the result stood. You Judge!

After making all the running to win the second on Sierra Foxtrot for the fledgling Paardeberg Stud, Glen Kotzen and Chad Little teamed up for a double as Takethegreenlight finally got the Maiden monkey off his back in the Open Maiden.

Giving weight all round, both Kotzen and Little were cautious in their pre-race comments, concerned about the weight but feeling that the gelding was in the right race. They need not have worried as Takethegreenlight was always handy, tracking pacemaker Noctamnulist and taking command shortly after turning for home. Noctamnulist raced very green under pressure but stayed on for second and definitely one for the notebook.