When you have done six years cutting your teeth as an assistant with the Kwa-Zulu Natal veteran and legendary trainer Dennis Drier and decide to take out your own licence, you know that a better grounding you could not have asked for and the consistent results speak for themselves. The man I am talking about is Phillipi-based trainer Michael Robinson.

Robinson will not forget his first hat-trick which he achieved at Durbanville yesterday. All three of his winners were steered to victory by title-chasing Warren Kennedy who also had the distinction of riding all four legs of the jackpot. Kennedy said in his post-race interview that he was delighted to have given Mike and Louellla their first treble, they absolutely adore their horses he said. Kennedy has recently become a father and he has made it clear that he is going for this season’s jockey championship.

Robinson, 47, must have thought whilst driving to the races yesterday that he had a bright chance of having a winner or two! He had a strong card of runners and his day kicked off in the third race with Cross Court. This lightly raced filly finished fourth and one can only feel that she might still have some more improvement to come.

The floodgates opened in the fourth where Lunar Tunes got the better of the Brett Crawford-trained Maningi Indaba in a nail-biting finish. This was strike one for Kennedy and Robinson.

Forty minutes later the jockey / trainer combination were in the winner’s enclosure with Lady Abigail. This Crusade filly was supposed to go to Robinson some time ago but Mike De Haast from the International Racing Club said that they battled to get her to Cape Town due to the restrictions at the time. They then sent her to Mike’s father-in-law, Doug Campbell, and he too, won a race with her at Hollywoodbets Greyville on the polytrack in July.

Robinson said her local debut was good enough and she came out well from that race and he thought that this was the right race for her. It would have been a dead giveaway for anyone who was on course yesterday to see De Haast there all the way from his Bloemfontein home base. This racing club deserve all the success they can get.

Next into the winner’s box was the daughter of Elusive Fort, Secret Depths. The in-form trainer said in his post-race interview that she had been such an unlucky filly and he was really chuffed that she has finally won again. He rates her as one of the nicest fillies he has trained. Part-owner and breeder Peter De Beyer was on course to lead her in.

Eric Sands made two visits to the winner’s box first with Broadside in the first race and then with Bellingham Bay in the seventh. Racegoer followers would have noticed that there was a large picture of Lady Abigail in the papers on Tuesday night as well as Broadside in the headlines. All in all, a very good day out at the country course.

By Warren Lenferna

Durbanville Tuesday Tips and Race Previews by Warren Lenferna

Race 1
Preview: BROADSIDE (7) finished third on debut and with natural improvement can secure his maiden win this afternoon. GOLDEN TRACTOR (2) is improving with racing and has experience on his side – he should go close and make a race of it. CAPKUTA (4) has a solid place chance – he disappointed his backers last time. (Warren Lenferna 7-2-4)

Race 2
Preview: RUMOUR HAS IT (9) is a very well bred filly – watch the betting with regards to her chances on debut and look out for the comments in the media – with that pedigree and from a yard that does well especially with young horses, it would not be a shock for me to see her win on debut. ROSEMARY MEADOW (8) finished exactly midfield on debut and with that run under the belt can get a lot closer – place chance. VILLITA RYE (11) could do well on debut – she is by Catcher In The Rye out of a Roar mare – interesting! (Warren Lenferna 9-8-11)

Race 3
Preview: LA DE DA (2) is coming along with racing experience and should relish the mile. She rates the one they all have to peg back. NAN (1) is improving and seems to run well for apprentice Sandile Mbhele. She should be right there at the finish today and her maiden victory should not be far away. CROSS COURT (3) can now improve to place. (Warren Lenferna 2-1-3)

Race 4
Preview: Not an easy race! WHITE LACE (4) has run three okay races thus far. The stable is coming right back into top form again and this daughter of Flower Alley meets the right field to secure her maiden win. LUNAR TUNES (1) is probably the one they have to beat – her form baring her last run is good enough to see her win here. MANINGI INDABA (2) could certainly lurk into a quartet position. (Warren Lenferna 4-1-2)

Race 5
Preview: Five of the eight runners here have won their last start which makes it a little tricky and some of them maidens. TATTOOED ROCKER (5) won well last time and has been selected to follow up. The apprentice keeps the ride. PEARL TIARA (1) also won last time but will have to carry top weight – nevertheless, she should still be right there and LADY ABIGAIL (2) is way better than her local debut suggests. (Warren Lenferna 5-1-2)

Race 6
Preview: SLEEPING SINGLE (4) clearly is a decent filly as she has recorded three on the bounce. It could pay to follow her again. MISS PLUMCAKE (3) is seldom far off the action and should be in the firing line today. INTOTHELIMELIGHT (2) has flashed up and run some attractive races – based on that she must be respected and included in most bets but they might all have to go some to beat Sleeping Single. (Warren Lenferna 4-5-3)

Race 7
Preview: BERNIE (2) is coming back to his best and finally looks ready to score another victory. He is holding his recent form and deserves to notch up another one. BELLINGHAM BAY (7) justified favouritism last time beating Quarllo rather well – he should run well again. POWER GRID (1) has a place chance. (Warren Lenferna 2-7-1)

Race 8
Preview: HAPPY WANDERER (2) has placed twice from three starts and should not be a maiden for too much longer. He does have a deep draw to overcome but will be guided by in form rider Warren Kennedy – if he can overcome the draw, he should go close to winning and has been made the first choice. BACKGAMMON (1) and HALF AND HALF (7) have quartet chances. (Warren Lenferna 2-1-7)

To take a bet go to www.tabgold.co.za or www.trackandball.co.za

Captain Of All snuck in as the champion freshman sire last season from Vercingetorix. John Koster of Klawervlei Stud said it was great for South African breeding that their respective champion fathers, Captain Al and Silvano, having already proven themselves to be great broodmare sires, were now showing themselves to be sires of sires. 

Koster said, “Captain Al is one of the very few sire lines of Roberto still left and this line is a great out-cross to Northern Dancer and Mr Prospector. Alan Porter, a pedigree guru from the USA, told me that in Captain Al we have the fastest Roberto sire line at stud in the world.”

It is little wonder that three yearlings by the late Captain Al were bought by Hong Kong-based interests at this year’s National Yearling Sale.  

Captain Of All had 14 winners of 16 races compared to Vercingetorix’s 13 winners of 21 races. However, the championship is decided on non-restricted race stakes money. Vercingetorix’s progeny earned R2,526,375, but a big portion of this was won by his son African Warrior in the restricted KZN Yearling Sale million. Captain Of All earned R1,875,725 non-restricted race stakes, which was R74,350 clear of Vercingetorix’s earnings of R1,801,375.

Nevertheless, the success of the Maine Chance Farms-based Vercingetorix is also important to Klawervlei as they bred him and own a quarter of a share in him.

Also exciting for Klawervlei is that Captain Al sire William Longsword’s first yearlings will be sold this year.

Furthermore, there are more Captain Al stallions in waiting, including the like of One World, Undercover Agent and the exciting youngster Captain Of Stealth, who won his only two starts as a two-year-old by a combined margin of 11,50 lengths.

Captain of All, trained by Dennis Drier, won three Grade 1s, the Tsogo Sun Gold Medallion, the Tsogo Sun Sprint and the Mercury Sprint. He was particularly impressive in the last of these wins, winning by 4,5 lengths from Captain Al filly Carry On Alice, and this earned him a merit rating of 126, which was a joint South African record at the time, previously held solely by the legendary Jet Master.

Koster said, “Captain Of All is throwing different types of horse. He himself was a substantial horse who was a bit short in the leg, so he stood close to the ground and was a strong, sprinting type. However, a lot of his ancestors were English and a lot of the foals he is throwing are very English types i.e. tall in the leg. This is why the trainers are waiting with them. There are still close to 50 of his first crop yet to race.”

He continued, “He has a very good syndicate of owners, so he was well supported in his first few seasons without having many outside mares but as soon as he was announced as the freshman champion the outside bookings have been pouring in.”

Meanwhile, William Longsword has been stamping his progeny in exactly the same way Captain Al did. His first crop will go to the yearling sales this season.  

Koster said, “William Longsword’s foals have been unbelievable. They are good bodied, with plenty of substance and are like peas in a pod, just like the Captain Als were. The Cape Thoroughbred Sales inspection team of Ric Wylie, John Kramer and Kerry Jack were blown away by William Longsword’s yearlings.”

William Longsword, like Captain Al himself and also One World and Captain Of Stealth, was trained by Vaughan Marshall. He was retired as a young three-year-old despite still being perfectly sound and with a lot of racing still in him. It made sense because he had won the Cape Guineas 16 years after his father, who was beginning to become sub-fertile, had won it and furthermore his dam is a half-sister to Victory Moon, who was a great loss to the industry when passing away at the age of just nine.

Koster said the decision to retire him so early had now proven to be the “hundred percent” correct one. He said, “His last two impressive wins of the Cape Guineas and the CTS 1600 sit squarely in people’s minds so he is an extremely popular horse.”

Koster described Captain Of All and William Longsword’s temperaments as “beautiful”, although of the “don’t mess with me” mould.

Klawervlei have an exceptional band of stallions at present.

This includes Twice Over, sire of the duel Vodacom Durban July winner and Equus Horse Of The Year Do It again.

Pomodoro has also made an exceptional start to his stud career.

The latter is a son of the late seven-times champion sire Jet Master, who, like Captain Al and Silvano, has proven himself a top broodmare sire and is now showing himself to be a sire of sires as well.

Klawervlei also stand Coup De Grace and have an exciting new stallion called Royal Mo.

Koster said, “Coup De Gras is by Tapit. He is from the A. P. Indy sire line, which has done so well in South Africa, and will have his first runners this year. It is very exciting as he ran the fastest 1200m in the USA in 2014.”  

It is not surprising Klawervlei like this line as A.P. Indy’s dam Weekend Surprise was a half-sister to Al Mufti, the sire of Captain Al.

Royal Mo won a Grade 3 over 1700m and was third in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby before fracturing a sesamoid as an early three-year-old.

He is by Coolmore’s new sire sensation Uncle Mo, who is breaking records in America.

One of the world’s leading stallion analysts, Bill Oppenheim, has compared Uncle Mo’s early statistics to those of A.P. Indy, Danzig and Storm Cat. 

It certainly is exciting times for Klawervlei Stud and if the export protocol problem is solved the world could well be their oyster.

By David Thiselton

Pace is always a key to the outcome of any horse race and most will argue that a genuine gallop usually sets it up for the best horse in a race. Pace, or the lack of one, is one of the first factors jockeys, trainers and astute punters look towards when planning strategy but even then, things can go awry.

A case in point was the third at Hollywoodbets Greyville yesterday as the entire field may well have dropped back to a canter had Stuart Randolph not taken action and let Wildlife Safari off the bit and speed up what was looking like a funeral procession.

The move almost paid off but both Favour and Room At The Top finished with a wet sail to run Wildlife Safari out of it in the last few jumps.

It was a lesson learned from the previous race with another dawdling pace in the early fractions but fortunately for favourite backers, Dickens finally put it all together to break his string of runner-up places.

It was the first win on the day for Johan Janse van Vuuren who notched a treble with Ginger Biscuit and What A Thrill rounding off a successful afternoon for the Highveld-based trainer.

Two of those, Dickens and What A Thrill, were the mounts of Keagan de Melo with Ashton Arries riding a particularly good race on the eight-year-old mare Ginger Biscuit.

Formerly trainer by Pat Lunn, who has handed in his trainer’s brief but still holds a share in the mare, Ginger Biscuit has been an honest campaigner for her connections and an eighth win was not out of order as she had not been out of the money in her last five starts.

Arries had his patience tested as he hunted a gap with the line looming, but once he got daylight, Ginger Biscuit responded with a turn of foot that belied her age.

Dennis Bosch seldom let’s one past the goalkeeper but Gentleman’s Way had him doing a Joe Hart after the first. As the gelding had not been out for over a year, Bosch does have excuses. Gentleman’s Way was probably not an apt name as the gelding has not been the easiest of customers at the gate, hence his sole outing in three seasons. “He’s a bad boy,” confirmed Bosch. “He rattles those cages.”

“This was a little bit of a surprise but he has been working terribly well. I thought it would be too short but you have to start somewhere.”

Frank Robinson will again have been disappointed with the performance of Just Dixit in the second but the gelding keeps earning and has not been out of the money in his last six outings and was just out-gunned by the better horse in Dickens.

Robinson may not have made the winner’s enclosure here but two races later his runners bracketed favourite Orient Express who was the meat in the Robinson sandwich. Muzi Yeni, relentless in his quest for the national title after coming up just short last year, got first jump on Princess Analia to hold off Orient Express with Adorable Analia closing the door on the rest of the opposition.

By Andrew Harrison

Constable can come home in front at a rewarding price in the Sophomore Sprint at Kenilworth tomorrow.

The Candice Bass-Robinson colt, 9-2 yesterday, has impressed in both his starts and particularly when coming from the wrong side of the course in a maiden over the trip on his most recent outing three months ago. “He has such a high cruising speed that he put them all under pressure some way out,” commented rider Anthony Andrews that day.

Keagan de Melo takes over tomorrow but what really swings it is that the Trippi colt is a half-brother to champion sprinter Kasimir. No wonder that he has speed to burn!

Captain Tatters is 22-10 to become the third successful favourite in four runnings and he has a lot going for him even though he has been off for four months. He had Ground Control (17-2) a length back third when chasing home the Hong Kong-bound Armando in the Somerset over this trip.

The first Sophomore of his distinguished career would be a fitting 48^th birthday present for Brett Crawford but both his runners – the pair are the highest rated in the field – have been racing over further. Finding Camelot (weak in the market, drifting from 3-1 to 11-2) and 5-1 chance King Of Gems were third and fourth in the 1 500m Langerman and this much shorter race looks more of a prep for the season to come.

Three Two Charlie (6-1), third to Armando in the Cape Nursery, is suited by the trip and should be ready after last week’s Durbanville outing but he makes nothing like the same appeal as his stable companion.

There are others that stand out during the afternoon beginning with Silver Operator in the Perpetua House Handicap. He was most impressive when winning first time and then only just failed to get up in the Langerman. He will relish the extra 100m and looks significantly better than the older horses. Furthermore the Marshall stable is on song. The only drawback is that at 11-10 he is not much of a price.

Frank Lloyd Wright has only really come into his own in his last two outings but he has long been held in quite high regard. He has gone up sharply for last time’s win but he may just get the better of impressive maiden winner Yorktown in the Val Vida Real Estate Handicap.

Finally Queensbarns who came away from over a furlong out to score by over five lengths. Maybe you shouldn’t be tempted by horse’s first time out of the maidens but the 15-10 favourite looks an exception to the rule in the finale.

By Michael Clower