Captain And Master has had his fair share of bad luck at Greyville, most notably when running into traffic in the Gr2 Golden Horseshoe on July day last season. Since then he has been campaigned at the top level by Sean Tarry, his last outing being in the Gr2 Hawaii Stakes where he was friendless in the market with favourite Soqrat all but home and hosed according to punters.

It turned out not quite that simple as Soqrat, in spite of turning in a tremendous performance, was not able to hold off the relatively unfancied six-year-old Zouaves. Captain And Master was also making late headway and beaten less than two lengths into fourth.

Tarry appears to have picked the right race for Captain And Master to score his second success this term when he lines up in the Morris Vee Sports Bet Progress Plate over 1400m on the Greyville turf on Sunday.

He does face some useful younger opposition, notably Marchingontogether and Mr Greenlight, so this will be no walk in the park for the Highveld raider.

Marchingontogether ran no sort of race in the Gauteng Guineas when tried in blinkers and Gavin van Zyl made no secret that he was expecting better when back on home turf.

His confidence was not misplaced as Marchingontogether held off the attentions of older stable companion Blackball, this over 1950m.

Marchingontogether does appear to be equally effective over Sunday’s shorter trip but given that this is Captain And Master’s optimum distance, the latter gets the nod.

One who could put them all to bed is Mr Greenlight. Nothing went right in his trip to Cape Town where all three of Duncan Howells’s runners on the day ran way below par. Prior to that Mr Greenlight had booked his place on the float to Cape Town with a thoroughly convincing victory in a Graduation Plate.

Mr Greenlight has had over a month to recover from his ill-fated trip south and needs to be included in all calculations.

Of the balance Affranchi has yet to find the promise that he showed earlier in his career and the filly Twice As Smart looks held by Mr Greenlight given her last outing where she started favourite but that was on the poly track and she could well prefer the turf.

KZN trainers have been relatively quiet as far as getting their two-year-olds up and running in comparison to their out-of-province counterparts, possibly a combination of barrier trials and many not wanting to push their young charges on the synthetic track on debut.

It’s turf on Sunday and the card opener is littered with runners that have trialled well and it is up to punters to test their skills at reading gallops and taking notes on the habits of trainers – because that is essentially what a barrier trial is.

Just how far behind or how far in front a horse finishes in a trial is immaterial. A trial needs to be gauged on individual showings, and what can be expected from different trainers. Some trainers make use of them as trial gallops, others as a shop window for horses that are up for sale and others just letting their charges go through the motions because the rules say they have to. Over time just how the ‘form’ of particular trials work out becomes apparent.

Seasoned trainer Dennis Drier is one of the shrewdest in his profession but Yessiricanboogie, a seven-length winner on debut, and Pearl Of Asia, a narrow winner at cramped odds in his debut, have rather compromised trial winner Ninotto.

From a pole position draw, Ninotto is likely to start at short odds in spite of the smart showings of Double Games, who simply cruised through his trial and may be the biggest threat to the selection, and the more experienced African Warrior and Chief Officer.

Let the games begin!

By Andrew Harrison

The Justin Snaith-Richard Fourie combination can expect a profitable day at Durbanville on Saturday if the ante-post prices are anything to go by. They have the favourite in four of the nine races.

World Sports Betting has installed Rio Querari at 15-20 to win the opening 1 250m Juvenile and Destin is also odds-on at 7-10 to take the Betting World Maiden (race four) while Cyber Blossom heads the market for the Tabonline Maiden Juvenile (race three) at 2-1 and The Boston Rose is 3-1 favourite to take the Interbet Handicap (race seven).

Brett Crawford is the only other trainer with more than one favourite – Corne Orffer rides 22-10 shot Grand Silvano in race two while Greg Cheyne has the mount on 5-2 top weight Vforvictory in race six.

By Michael Clower

Wayne Badenhorst is another of the young trainers at Summerveld who is making inroads and this is not surprising considering the wealth of experience he has gathered in his 24 years in the game.

He will be relocating to Ashburton in a couple of months’ time.

His horses have had 53 runs for 6 wins this season at a strike rate of 11,32%. He has also had eight second place finishes and a place strike rate of 41,51%. However, possibly the most telling statistic is the R33.30 profit a punter would have earned if putting R1 a win on each of Badenhorst’s horses.

Badenhorst left horseracing for a while a few years back and was earning a living in the furniture business.

However, an owner lured back him to the game he loves with an offer to train six horses on a farm close to Richmond. The stint went well and in his best period he bagged five winners in three months.

However, the farm was subsequently sold and he returned to Summerveld. He has received support from the like of Keith Smith and Shaun Standeaven and also from some of his good friends. By next week he will have a string of 20.

He has four horses running on Sunday on the Greyville turf and is bullish about one of them.

He said, “In the 8^th race I have Sun On Sand. I have got her as well as I can. Last time 1400m was a bit short but she was about nine lengths back at the top of the straight and was beaten only four-and-a-half lengths. She is drawn wide on Sunday but the distance of 1900m is spot on and we will drop her out. Muzi Yeni is up and she will be mowing them down. I think this is her race to win.”

He said of his other runners, “Elnora (Master Of My Fate filly running in 1^st race) is a nice filly and I am probably putting her in the wrong race here against the boys as I just want to see where I am with her and whether she is good enough to go for the big races, so I have thrown her into the deep end but hope she can rise to the occasion.

Class Of Eight (3^rd over 1400m) is very temperamental but I have tried one or two things and she will win a maiden. We will try and drop her out and see if she can run on.

I’m Free’s (5^th over 1200m) last run on the poly was not great so I’ve put her on the grass but she has drawn badly. She’s fit and well and has a bit of ability so I hope she can put it together.”

Badenhorst’s philosophy is to go in trying to win every race he enters.

He said, “I get the horses as ready as I can and want to get a cheque everytime they run.”

As a trainer who rides himself, he knows when they are ready. His training methods are based on all he has learnt from his time spent with some of the best in the game.

Badenhorst began workriding at the age of 12 for Yvette Bremner in Port Elizabeth.

He later spent six months as a workrider in Hong Kong. He then returned to the Bremner yard. From 2005 to 2007 he worked for top trainer David Payne in Australia. After that he had a stint with another top trainer, Alec Laird.

Later, Laird sent him down to KZN with his Champions Season string. Badenhorst enjoyed Durban so much he did not want to return to Johannesburg.

He then took out his own license. However, he eventually could not carry the amount which was owed to him in training fees and was forced out. His stint in the furniture game was profitable but he is glad to be back working with his beloved horses. 

He is now proving he has what it takes to make it in this toughest of professions.

By David Thiselton

Gareth van Zyl experienced the ups and downs of training racehorses at the dawn of his career but looks to already be hitting the proverbial highway a year or two later and has the second highest strike rate among the country’s top 50 trainers.

This season he has had 126 runners for 21 winners at a strike rate of 16,67% and has the third highest place strike rate of 51,59%.

Asked what he put this down to, he replied, “I follow a business plan of sifting out bad horses. If horses can’t earn I would rather move them on to a weaker centre or in to a new discipline like show jumping. Effective studying of the program and planning a horse’s races also helps. We are also not a punting stable, so our horses run on their merits. I also try and run from favourable draws only as there are only so many times you can go to the well.”

Waiting for draws requires patience, but Van Zyl said it was possible to keep a horse ticking over during the wait. Therefore, a Van Zyl horse returning from a short layoff should not be written off as it has likely just been waiting for a draw and will invariably be fit enough to be competitive. However, he admitted that sometimes the wait was so long he would be forced to accept a bad draw.

Van Zyl said he had a “healthy spread” of owners, although mentioned Graham Palmer and Maurice Ferreira as two of the most prominent.

He is sent a number of horses by breeders, but otherwise selects horses himself at the Sales.

He explained his purchasing philosophy, “I firstly look for balance and athleticism. I have horses of all sizes in my yard from big to small as I don’t put as much importance on substance as I do on athleticism and balance.”

Van Zyl said he was very happy with the facilities available to him at Summerveld and this not only included stabling and training tracks but also a treadmill, which is owned by his father Gavin, and a hydrotherapy spa.

Of his training methods he said, “I think the fundamentals of training are commonly used but the fine tuning is personalised.”

He said he was also very much a fan of barrier trials and added, “I think they are a great training aid and educating tool.”

Indeed, a Van Zyl-trained barrier trialist which shows promise usually delivers in a subsequent race.

He said his best horses at present were YessirIcanboogie, Can You Feel It, Red Al and Paths Of Victory.

Yessiricanboogie, an athletic two-year-old daughter of the new Highlands stallion Time Thief, was ultra impressive on debut over 1000m at Scottsville, She showed exceptional natural speed and possesses gears too. She won easing up by 7,10 lengths and will next be going for the Strelitzia, which will be a springboard into the Grade 1 Allan Robertson. A sales voucher won at the KZN Breeders Golf Day was the prompt for a group of golfing friends to look for a horse at the KZN Yearling Sale last year and they can consequently look forward to some exciting times with YessirIcanboogie, whose price of R110,000 is looking a bargain.

Jackson filly Can You Feel It completed her two-year-old season still a maiden but finished third in both the Grade 2 Golden Slipper over 1400m and the Grade 1 Thekwini over 1600m. In her debut this season over 1200m she waltzed in by 5,75 lengths. However, she subsequently sustained a tendon injury, so has been sidelined. Van Zyl will not be rushing her into anything, but said there was still a chance she could run in the Champions Season.

Captain Al filly Red Al has won her last two starts over 1900m on the Greyville poly and Van Zyl will be travelling her to Johannesburg at the end of the month to run in the Grade 2 SA Oaks over 2450m at Turffontein. He reckoned she was looking for the trip and would enjoy the galloping track too.

He regards Paths Of Victory as just below Champions Season quality, but this twice-winning Noble Tune middle distance to staying type has finished second in his last two starts off a 91 merit rating and has been raised to a 92.

Van Zyl is fortunate to have Warren Kennedy as his stable jockey. Kennedy lived for a long time in the shadows of the top echelon jockeys but with the spate of injuries and retirements to the latter group recently he soon emerged as one who was more than capable of filling their boots. He is now fast establishing himself as one of the best jockeys in the country. He is currently 8^th on the national log with 85 winners and is the 6^th highest stakes earner.

Exciting breaking news is that Damon Delpech, the son of recently retired jockey great Anthony, will be joining Van Zyl’s yard as assistant trainer.

Van Zyl said, “Damon is joining me in April. He has spent time at Summerhill stud and on a stud farm in Kentucky. He has had valuable exposure to the game and this will stand him in good stead.”

Gareth’s early exposure to the game was also through his father’s jockeyship and he was later his assistant trainer. He said he still bounces ideas off Gavin.

Gareth began his career as a licensed trainer on October 30, 2016 with a double which included the Listed Jonsson Workwear Michaelmas Handicap. However, less than a year later he lost the horses of owner Brian Burnard, which formed the majority of his string. He rebuilt virtually from scratch, starting on August 1, 2017, so the horses he himself has purchased are now only three-year-olds.

He has made big strides and looks to have a bright future.

By David Thiselton

If there is a better jockey riding at the moment than current champion Lyle Hewitson, then he is sitting at home watching on the couch. One of the litany’s around the training yards, usual moans aside, is the lack of depth in our jockey ranks.

Who is going to replace the likes of Anton Marcus, Piere Strydom, Mark Khan and Anthony Delpech, Depech aside, that are nearing the end of their careers in the saddle?

But before these seasoned riders rose to prominence, the refrain was the same – who was going to replace the likes of Martie Schoeman, James Maree and Gerald Turner, who in turn replaced legends Harold “Tiger” Wright, “Cocky” Feldman, Johnny McCreedy and Charlie Berends to name but a few of the late, greats of their time.

Along came Michael Roberts, who was a bit more than just useful, the two Bert’s, Abercrombie and Hayden, were no journeyman riders, Garth Puller was a legend and Basil Marcus, Barty Leisher, Felix Coetzee, and my memory deserts, weren’t half bad either.

There may be small gaps between generations and the complexion of the jockey room has changed, literally and figuratively, but the cream will always rise to the top in one of the toughest and most dangerous sporting professions on earth – Formula One drivers at 300km per hour have more chance of surviving serious injury in a crash than a jockey taking a spill in a race – or just slow track work for that matter.

Granted, Hewitson has teamed up with one of the best agents in the game, Dees Dayanand, Anthony Delpech’s agent before his unfortunate accident, but Dees knows a good horse when he sees one, on the track and off it. So does current trainer’s championship leader Sean Tarry who worked out Hewitson early in his career and was instrumental in his championship win.

In the last two meetings at Greyville Hewitson has racked up the winners. Three on Sunday, and his four-timer at Greyville yesterday was a combination of finesse and straight grind. Injury saw a belated start to his season so his chance of defending his national title was dead in the water before it even started, but he cracked the 50-winner mark yesterday in a rapid climb up the ladder.

In short, if Hewitson can keep a lid on his weight, Bernard Fayd’Herbe could be a mentor, and a sound head on his shoulders, his services will be in demand where ever he chooses to ride.

By Andrew Harrison