Prolific Highveld-based owner Larry Nestadt and partners were given sweet consolation when their newly acquired colt Lobo’s Legend was a shock winner of the Grade 1 R2 million SA Classic on Saturday and he praised Joey Soma for a fine training feat.
Nestadt had been alerted in December by Jeff Shill of the Tawny Syndicate that the Trippi colt was one of the many horses on the for-sale list of Mayfair Speculators.
“He had finished a short-head second to a sprinter Mike de Kock rates, Buffalo Bill Cody, and he then won his maiden by 8,5 lengths, so we bought him with CTS 1200 in mind,” recalled Nestadt.
Imagine the disappointment of himself and the other part-owners Shill, JR van der Linden, Mark Currie and Soma when the horse’s chances were botched at the start of that lucrative US$500,000 race. He had become fractious and the handler was unable to remove the hood until after the start was effected. He lost a few lengths and was later declared a non-runner.
Muzi Yeni
“We were devastated,” said Nestadt. “He didn’t finish far off them in the end too.”
Nestadt believed he was a sprinter, so was surprised when Soma suggested he target the SA Classic over 1800m.
He said, “It was a gamble but Joey went in committed, he was not going in thinking he didn’t have a chance, so it was a good training feat.”
Lobo’s Legend must be the most unusual SA Classic winner of all time from a form point of view as he had never run beyond 1200m in five previous starts, had never gone around the turn and had never run in a black type event before. To cap it all he had won only one of those five races and had finished lame in his last start. However, Nestadt did point out that on pedigree he should stay 1800m and that was one of the reasons the connections supported Soma’s recommendation.
Nestadt was on the golf course at the time of the race on Saturday and listened in via a cellphone call to Shill.
He recalled, “Jeff shouted ‘this horse is going to win’ and he then began screaming so loudly I thought he had lost his marbles!”
It was a tremendously exciting moment for Nestadt and particularly gratifying that the connections’ faith in Soma had paid off.
They have not yet discussed the long-striding bay’s future, but Nestadt reckoned he would likely be seen in action during the SA Champions Season in KZN. However, he believed he would not go much beyond 1800m and a race like the Daily News 2000 would be his very limit.
Indeed the colt fought for his head for a moment or two right at the beginning of the race on Saturday and Muzi Yeni did a fine job settling him. It could well be that he has a fine future as a miler.
By David Thiselton
