In an interview earlier in the week, Gavin van Zyl was confident that the winner of yesterday’s umThombothi Stakes (Non Black Type) at Scottsville would come from one of his four runners – he included son Chesney’s pair in the mix – but was uncertain of the right one.

Punters were not fazed however, as Marchingontogether was backed as if the result was already known. He duly landed the plunge, although hard-pressed to the line by ‘stable companion’ Blackball.

Marchingontogether had solid credentials before lining up in the Gauteng Guineas earlier this month where he finished with just three behind him.

But with blinkers removed, the son of Pathfork was settled mid-field by Warren Kennedy before moving though in the straight to win smartly. The year-older Blackball made a race of it but came up nearly a length shy with the filly Flichity By Farr running a cracker in her come-back from a break in third.

Anton Marcus seldom goes home without a winner, most often two, and he collected another double yesterday.

The first came for Shane Humby whose Mr Fitz looked the best bet on the card and lived up to his billing. Runner-up on debut behind Last Of The Legend, a winner in good company next time out, Mr Fitz franked that form with a solid performance that bodes well for the colt’s future.

There are few more passionate owners in racing than Rob Haswell, retired Municipal Manager of Msunduzi (Pietermaritzburg), but he was missing in action yesterday – work commitments – as Marcus rode a copybook race on Cumulus in the White Horse Function Room Handicap. Showing early pace, Marcus sat for as long as possible before asking Nathan Kotzen’s gelding for and effort and Cumulus responded smartly, finding another gear to motor to a convincing victory.

Milnerton-based trainer Piet Steyn, after winning a race at Kenilworth on Saturday, made a passionate plea for owners to support the smaller trainers, without them he reasoned, racing would be doomed. However, racing has a habit of ploughing the same furrow regardless of consequences.

The most popular winner on the day, no matter the lengthy odds, was the Gary Rich-trained Connect Me – spectators and fellow trainers alike warm in their congratulations. Rich, son of July winning trainer Dessie (Lightning Shot), operates a small string with the help of his daughter Tessa, and they get the best out of what they have.

Steyn put it bluntly to Racegoer writer Michael Clower. “In a year or two’s time we are going to end up with only four or five trainers in Cape Town, and racing can’t survive on that. They have got to start to support the smaller trainers. I know you can’t tell people where to put their horses but come and look at Milnerton and see how many empty stables there are.

 “It’s a disaster and it comes from agents, breeders and the whole clique. It doesn’t matter how good you are – if you are not in that flow you can forget about it.”

Possibly an early warning for us in KZN!

By Andrew Harrison

Rain has not only bedevilled racing in KZN but also on the Highveld and some trainers are looking elsewhere for relief. Turffontein-based Paul Peter is in the vanguard with three runners at Scottsville today and some of his Highveld colleagues, notably Chesney van Zyl, have also cottoned on.

Sunday’s rescheduled meeting is headed by the umThombothi Stakes (Non-Black Type) over 1950m where weights are allocated according to number of wins which sees Legend at the top of the handicap.

On official merit ratings, Legend will have his work cut out in this company in spite of two recent forward showings, especially as he is up against a quartet of progressive three-year-olds.

Chesney van Zyl raids with top-rated Marchingontogether and Stream Ahead while his father Gavin also holds a competitive hand in Affranchi and the year older Blackball. Add to this the progressive Duke Of Spin and the smart filly Flichity By Farr and we have the ingredients for a good contest.

Marchingontogether and Stream Ahead both took their chances in the Gauteng Guineas, both finishing down the field. The race was run in yielding going but Van Zyl Snr confirmed that those runs were way below par. Speaking on behalf of his son he said the blinkers come off Marchingontogether and the tongue-tie comes off Stream Ahead and both were in a good space as was Affranchie.

“He’s coming on nicely and I think we have finally got to the bottom of him,” confirmed Van Zyl. Affranchi has not run up to expectations since switching to the Van Zyl yard but he has been showing signs of life at recent outings.

“Blackball raced wide with no cover last start so I’m expecting a better showing from him as well,” said Van Zyl. “I can’t single out any one of our runners but I think the winner will come from one of them.:

Duke Of Spin, the lowest rated of the three-year-olds was palpably in need of his last run and his efforts were not helped by stable companion Legend giving him a rough passage. He looks like a smart colt and a win would not be unexpected.

Best weighted is Alyson Wright’s filly, Flichity By Far. However, she has not been out since October last year where she proved to be more than useful over marathon trips so this race, her first in over three months over a trip short of her best, does look like a warm-up although she will probably race fresh.

The White Horse Function Room Handicap is a competitive sprint but it may be worth following Anton Marcus who stays with the Nathan Kotzen-trained Cumulus. The gelding has shown flashes of ability, having run recent eight-time winner Ronnie Rocket to within a length and his last two efforts have signalled a change in fortune.

A change of tactics could also be in order and Cumulus is likely to be running at them late. Given all the recent thunder storms, his name could be an omen.

Of the balance, Buffalo Soldier is smart on his day while the grey Isca hacked up in a weak four-horse barrier trial but did show his well-being and he loves this course.

Finally, Darryl Moore looks to have a potential star in the making in Woodstock Festival and a win in this company will set him on the road to bigger things.

By Andrew Harrison

Brett Crawford, who won the Daily News two years ago with subsequent July third Edict Of Nantes as well as with Jackson in 2012, is to aim Charles at the R2 million Greyville Grade 1 on June 1 following the colt’s fine run in the G-Bets Cape Derby when he was only beaten a fifth of a length by the Mike de Kock-trained Atyaab.

Crawford said: “Charles ran a great race that day and he goes to Durban. There is a seven furlong race (Byerley Turk on April 7) as a starting point, he then definitely runs in the Daisy Guineas (May 4) and after that he will head for the Daily News.”

The precise value put on the form of the Cape Derby has been lowered by two kilos after Robert Bloomberg – acting for De Kock, Crawford and Justin Snaith, trainer of fourth-placed Bunker Hunt- lodged a successful appeal against the revised ratings of three of the first four.  The Glen Kotzen-trained Herodotus, who was third, was not included in the appeal but his rating was also lowered by 2kg.

The mystery of Mushi Sterek remains. Nothing has shown up – even the blood tests were clear – to account for her poor performance when odds-on for her handicap debut at Kenilworth on January 12. She was in trouble after little more than a furlong and finished a long way last. The only outward sign that all was not as it should be came when she was tossing her head around going down to the start.

Crawford said: “She has now gone for a rest. We will give her a nice break and then start again.”

Much has rightly been made of Sean Tarry’s feat in training his 2 000^th winner with Flash Burn at Turffontein last Saturday. However the corresponding achievement of his great championship rival passed under the radar during the 2015/16 season. Snaith’s total now stands at 2 530. Cape Town’s current winningmost trainer started operations in 2001 when he was 26 while Tarry was 28 when he first took out his licence in May 1997.

By Michael Clower

Three-times National Champion trainer Sean Tarry talked about his 2000^th winner achieved with Flash Burn at Turffontein on Sunday and revealed his superstar Legal Eagle would be heading for the Champions Season and might well line up in the Vodacom Durban July.

Tarry’s career started in stunning fashion at Turffontein on 11 May 1997 when his battling one time winner Supreme Magic won over 1400m under Francois Herholdt and returned odds of R199 on the Tote. It was his first meeting as a licensed trainer. Nine days later at Newmarket he won his first feature when Sorevof won the Listed John Breval Handicap over 1200m at Newmarket under Greg Cheyne at odds of 7/1.

Tarry recalled, “In those early days you thought anything could win! If it was sound and eating well it could win! You didn’t realise how many things could go wrong. To just judge a horse on well being and how well it is working is not enough. There are underlying factors and you also need a real understanding of form and ratings. An astute form studier probably has a better chance of predicting a result.”

Fortunately, Tarry has always been a form studier and had soon learnt to relate form with well-being.

The merit rating system was introduced in 1999 and as one who took the time to learn its ins and outs he became an expert in placing horses.

Tarry once said coming from a non-racing background had been an advantage as this had allowed him to be dynamic and never stuck in his ways.

He did have a well documented lucky break early in his career. The successful businessman Chris van Niekerk had decided on an afternoon off to go and visit a training yard or two as he had wanted to get more serious about racing and needed a new trainer. His first two phonecalls went unanswered. He then phoned Tarry and the rest is history. However, Van Niekerk would not still be with Tarry without results and those results have been achieved through Tarry’s professionalism in every aspect of the game and his meticulous attention to detail.

Tarry said, “Attention to detail is really important. There are a lot of things to measure. There are also a lot of things that can’t be measured, well they can be but you can’t go to that expense on every horse, so there are still a lot of things to trip you up.”

It is a high pressure job but Tarry has always been known for his cool, calm and collected demeanour. 

He said, “Your expectations have to be realistic otherwise is can cause stress. Public expectations are not the same as yours and when everybody else thinks you can win it is not always the way you are thinking. If you have six or seven well prepared horses for the day running in the right races you would be a fool to think you are going to have six or seven winners. I don’t pay attention to websites. If you take abuse thrown at you as a noteworthy injustice it creates a lot of negative energy which can drag you down so I don’t allow myself to get involved and stay away from it.”

The big wins create the opposite kind of energy.

He said, “You feel elated because it is so hard to win those big races. So much can go wrong and when realising you have got it right it is very gratifying.”

He paid tribute to his big team and said, “Most of them are low profile and it says a lot for them, they keep their minds on the job.”

He found his future goals difficult to quantify but offered, “Winning more Grade 1s, consistency and keeping earnings up.”

Tarry’s winners were all in South Africa with the exception of his top class sprinting filly National Colour’s single victory in Dubai.

His first classic win was with Golden Apple in the 1999 Grade 2 Gosforth Park Fillies Guineas and it turned out to be one of the most impactful victories of his career. Golden Apple became the dam of the Jet Master colt Pomodoro, who gave Tarry the first of two victories in the country’s premier race, the Vodacom Durban July. Tarry has also been one of the biggest supporters of Pomodoro at stud and it has paid immediate dividends as his first crop colt Cirillo is the highest earning thoroughbred in the country this season, having already amassed R3,85 million courtesy of victories in both the R2,5 million CTS Ready To Run Stakes and the R5 million CTS 1200.

Tarry’s first of 50 Grade 1 victories was with the 50/1 shot Alastor in the 2005 J&B Met.

He concluded with the news of a change to Legal Eagle’s routine programming. In discussion with owners Braam van Huysteen, Hedley McGrath and William Henderson it has been decided to send the seven-year-old gelding down to Durban for the Champion Season. Legal Eagle has only ever raced once in Durban, finishing an unlucky fifth in the July as a three-year-old when starting favourite in 2015. His obvious Champion Season target this year is the Grade 1 Rising Sun Gold Challenge. Tarry said the July could well be another race he would run in although due to his high merit rating it will likely depend on who else is taking part. The son of Grey’s Inn will be going for his fourth successive win in the Grade 1 weight for age HF Oppenheimer Horse Chestnut Stakes over 1600m at Turffontein on March 30.  

By David Thiselton

Justin Snaith said the Grade 1 Betting World Cape Flying Championship winner Kasimir was in “good shape” and would “take a lot of beating” in Saturday’s Grade 2 Khaya Stables Diadem Stakes over 1200m.

He also spoke about some of his plans for the rest of the season.

He said, “We always knew Kasimir was a very nice horse and the gelding in Durban made all the difference. He is a class act.”

The Diadem is run under weight for age plus penalties conditions and off his 117 merit rating plus a 2kg Grade 1 penalty he is officially second best in at the weights, half-a-kilogram under sufferance with the 114 merit rated three-year-old Chimichuri Run. Kasimir has to carry 60kg together with the other Grade 1 winners in the race, stablemate Sergeant Hardy, Bold Respect and Attenborough. 

Sergeant Hardy will be an interesting running as he has quite a low draw of five. He has a habit of jumping to the left but the rail will be close enough for him to not waste too much ground, presuming he can jump fast enough to cross over to it.

Snaith will wait until after Saturday’s race to plan Kasimir’s next move but he said it was unlikely he would go for the Grade 1 Computaform Sprint over 1000m at Turffontein.

He said not only was it a tough journey but he was not a 1000m horse either, despite having won the Cape Flying. Turffontein is probably the fastest 1000m course in the country, whereas the Kenilworth 1000m is undoubtedly the toughest.

He said Kasimir would also likely avoid the Grade 1 Tsogo Sun Sprint over 1200m at Scottsville due to his high merit rating but would line up for the Grade 1 Mercury Sprint over 1200m at Greyville..

Snaith reckoned the Vodacom Durban July would be dominated by older horses this year. He reckoned a look at the three-year-old crop revealed that the best of them would be stretched by the July trip. He was not sure yet which three-year-olds he would be taking to KZN. He did say one of his promising ones, Belgarion, would be staying in Cape Town for the Winter series.

Snaith mentioned Doublemint as his probable best July horse. Like African Night Sky last year, Doublemint was the lucky horse to finish sixth in the Sun Met, which meant he escaped any merit rated raise and will be well handicapped. He reckoned this horse would be suited to Greyville and, asked whether he had a turn of foot to match African Night Sky’s, he replied, “There is not much in it.”

He added, “One horse I wouldn’t count out for the July is Magnificent Seven, he has done nothing wrong.”

Magnificent Seven has won seven of his last nine starts including the Algoa Cup over 2000m and the Grade 2 New Turf Carrier’s Stayers over 2800m.

He said July champion Do It Again would arrive in Durban in April and his route would initially be the Drill Hall and the Rising Sun Gold Challenge and it would then be taken from there.

Equus Horse Of The Year Oh Susanna’s program would be planned carefully due to her value but he said there was not much for her other than the Jonsson Workwear Garden Province unless she took on males.

By David Thiselton