Justin Snaith sets punters a puzzle in the TAB Telebet Open Handicap at Kenilworth today and the champion trainer admits that he doesn’t know the answer.

He runs Bunker Hunt and Knights Templar who both won last time out ridden by Richard Fourie (effectively the stable’s first jockey this season). Fourie is on Knights Templar here but he didn’t have the choice of mounts.

“Don’t look at the jockeys. It was my decision who rode which,” says Snaith. “Bernard Fayd’Herbe (who rode Bunker Hunt first time out) couldn’t do the weight on either of them and I was lucky that Aldo Domeyer was available. But he can’t do the 53kg of Knights Templar. Both that one and Bunker Hunt are very nice horses – one is a Cape Derby horse and the other a Politician type -.and either could win.”

Although he wasn’t committing himself Snaith seemed to be leaning marginally towards Bunker Hunt (“There is just something about him”) and in October he was suggesting that this gelding would be one of the best of his come the time of the Cape Derby. But this is only a mile and Fourie’s mount receives 4kg, the equivalent of four lengths over the trip.

Bunker Hunt gets the vote, albeit only narrowly, and it’s worth noting that World Sports Betting have him second favourite at 16-10 whereas his stable companion heads the market at 15-10.

Dennis Drier runs three with stable jockey Sean Veale on 9-2 shot Priceless Ruler who has so far only run in sprints. Crown And Country (Fayd’Herbe) is on 13-2 and, although considered good enough to run in a Scottsville Grade 1 in May, he has not raced since. Greg Cheyne rides the third Drier horse, 10-1 chance Hard Core, who has a bit of form but is another who has only run in sprints.

Glen Kotzen runs recent winner Quick Star who is the 12-1 outsider of the party but the booking of the talented claimer Sandile Mbhele brings this one into the reckoning.

There has been some support for Snaith’s Augustina in the first but on form there is little to choose between Dragon Power and Empire Glory. Brave Tiger, already backed from 10-1 to 13-2, is 2kg clear top-rated. Dragon Power has the advantage of consistency and may just prevail.

Jacqueline went into the notebook, running on well as if she wanted further, and was well-backed on her Cape Town debut. She had won a barrier trial beforehand and may just get the better of Bella Summer and Fortune Flies in mile Tabonline Maiden.

Dancing Sally is top-rated and well drawn in the mile maiden (race four), she finished well when a 28-1 shot last time and, while you could only get even money yesterday, she looks the part.

By Michael Clower

Sean Tarry said he would keep his feet on the ground with G-Bets Summer Cup winner Tilbury Fort and he was unlikely to go for the Sun Met.

He had a red letter day on Saturday bagging six winners and for the second time this year gave a former horse of his a first stakes winner at stud.

Tarry said he would find a Highveld program for Tilbury Fort and then have another crack at the Vodacom Durban July.

Tarry clinched a first stakes winner for his former July winner Pomodoro when Return Flight won the Grade 1 Thekwini Stakes over 1600m on Gold Cup day at Greyville and on Saturday he clinched a first stakes winner for his former inmate Skit Skizzle, whose Chris van Niekerk-owned daughter Cordillera won the Listed Secretariat Stakes over 1400m.

Both Pomodoro and Skit Skizzle are by the late great Jet Master and both are out of Northern Guest mares. These are also the same lines upon which the great sprinter J J The Jet Plane was bred. However, Skit Skizzle was not nearly as well performed as either Pomodoro or J J. He won three ordinary races and in his only attempt at a Graded race he finished fourth in the Grade 2 Senor Santa Handicap over 1160m.

Tarry said, “He was as good as any of the others and won his first race (over 1200m at the Vaal) by ten lengths. The difference was we decided not to geld him and he just became too heavy. He

was a massive horse.”

His last race in the June of his four-year-old year was mediocre and Tarry and owner Chris van Niekerk than asked Neil and Lyth Orford if they would like to stand him at their Bosworth Farm Stud in Klerksdorp.

In his first season he only received five mares, all Bosworth owned.

Cordillera’s dam by Right Approach, Quinoa, was an ordinary racehorse. She was sent to Port Elizabeth after just two runs on the Highveld and took 16 starts in all to win her only race. However, that hasn’t stopped Cordillera from winning two of her three races to date, including the Secretariat on Saturday where she ran on strongly. Tarry was not surprised and pointed out that although Against The Grain had been the stable elect Cordillera’s last run when green and finishing well in a strong field had been “very, very good.” She had originally been earmarked to make her debut in a barrier trial in KZN but ended up missing it and was then sent up to the Highveld to run in a Workrider’s Maiden. Tarry had expected a good run there, so was thrilled when she won so well.

The Tarry-trained and Van Niekerk-owned Skit Skizzle colt Tierra Del Fuego also looks promising, having gone close on debut then winning his second start over 1400m at Scottsville by 6,25 lengths and then finishing third over 1600m first time out the maidens.

Tarry agreed that considering the success Skitt Skizzle had had to date with so few mares his future looked exciting and he should now receive outside support.

Tarry was also pleased with the run of the Pomodo colt Shuckra in the Secretariat and by all accounts he looks to be one to follow.

Tarry’s first winner on Saturday and the first of four for Lyle Hewitson was an easy one by the Captain Al colt Mythical Bolt and he felt this horse had a bright future. He said he would be taking a chance by travelling him down to Cape Town straight away as he was eyeing a race for him on December 22 which would help him qualify for the $500,000 CTS 1200, if he had not done so already.

He praised S’Manga Khumalo for a terrific ride in the next when he got Purple Diamond up in a 1000m handicap and he said this success would not necessarily mean he would stick to sprints with the former Grade 2 Golden Slipper winner.

Cordillera, ridden by Luke Ferraris, was next and two races later Hewitson won the Grade 2 Gold Rush Derby Run Merchants on his favourite horse, Africa Rising. Tarry is not sure of this horse’s next step yet but he was already earmarking the Grade 2 Hawaii Stakes over 1400m for Captain And Master who missed the break and then from a hopeless positioned powered through the field for third in the Merchants.

The last of the yard’s winners was with Zilzaall rdden by Hewitson to a three length victory in a 1600m maiden. This Silvano colt looks promising although he looks likely to appreciate further than a mile.

By David Thiselton

Veterinarian Dr Johnny Cave of Baker and McVeigh is fast gaining a reputation as one of the best in the business for wind operations in thoroughbreds and two of his latest efforts have seen the Dennis Drier Grade 1 winner Sand And Sea making a successful comeback and his older stablemate Wealthy clinching a rare KZN Winter and Summer 2000 Challenge double.

Drier said in his experience wind operations had only a 50/50 success rate but three which had clearly been hugely successful, those on Sand And Sea, Wealthy and Sea Fever, had all been performed by Dr Cave.

Drier said, “Sea Fever came back and won five races and now Sand And Sea’s and Wealthy’s operations have clearly been unbelievable successes.”

The four-year-old Twice Over gelding Sand And Sea looked to be something exceptional when powering home to win the Grade 1 Tsogo Sun Gold Medallion by 2,25 lengths in his second career start to remain unbeaten. However, he continually disappointed as a three-year-old and after finishing a well beaten ninth in the Byerley Turk in April it was discovered he had “completely gone in the wind”.

His breathing problem was due to a common cause, paralysis of the left side of the larynx.

He made his comeback on November 17 at Kenilworth over 1200m and won easily. He unfortunately kicked the float on the way home but has been stitched up and is back on target for the Grade 1 Betting Word Cape Flying Championships.

Wealthy was bought by racing all rounder Peter Gibson at the National two-year-old Sale for R180,000 on behalf of Hong Kong-based owner Robert Chung.

The now six-year-old Silvano gelding began showing promise when stepped up in trip and in the April of his three-year-old year in a stretch of five races between 1800m and 2400m he won three times and finished second twice. Consequently Drier targeted him at the Grade 2 Cape Stayers race on Sun Met day. However, in his final preparation run over 1800m at Kenilworth he did not finish off the race and was beaten by over eleven lengths.

It was discovered he had gone in the wind, although in a very rare occurrence the paralysis was on the right-hand side of the larynx instead of the normal left.

Chung, due to his past experience of wind operations, was not optimistic about the horse’s future and decided to give the horse to Gibson, who then put together a syndicate of racing friends including himself, Tony Dickinson, Michael Heron, Dean Hayman, Marcus Nel, Sean Singleton and Drier’s wife Gill. They all new what they were in for but their faith in Dr Cave’s expertise has paid dividends.

Wealthy made his comeback in October last year and slowly came to hand. After three unplaced runs he earned four cheques in succession and two runs later won the R200,000 KZN Winter Challenge 2000 in June this year.

On Sunday at Scottsville Wealthy was having his second run after a layoff in the R200,000 KZN Summer Challenge 2000 and finished strongly to win by 0,6 lengths, much to the excitement of the on course owners who had also taken advantage of the Tote pay outs of R21,30 a win and R4,90 a place.

A wind operation is an intricate operation performed by key hole surgery under full anaesthetic and a lot depends on the skill of the surgeon. Cave does all of them at Baker and McVeigh where the policy is to do them with the horse lying down on a table as opposed to standing up.

John McVeigh, the owner of the practice said If doing it that way you require two very strong and brave assistants during the recovery period to hold the horse down as the horse can injure itself if trying to get up too quickly upon regaining consciousness.

The thoroughbred breed will forever be plagued with respiratory problems due to its anatomical design.

The right laryngeal nerve has a simple route, branching off from the vagus nerve, which comes from the brain, and travelling directly to the larynx.

However, the left laryngeal nerve instead must travel all the way to the heart, where it wraps around a large pulsing artery, before coming all the way back to the larynx. It is the longest nerve in the horse’s body and so it stands to reason that it is commonly damaged.

The most common cause of any abnormal respiratory sound is idiopathic left laryngeal hemiplegia (paralysis of the left side of the larynx).

This condition is caused by degeneration of the nerve that supplies the left side muscles of the larynx.

The left side of the larynx consequently “hangs” inward, instead of moving in and out in symmetry with the right side.

There is evidence that thoroughbred’s suffering from biliary are vulnerable to laryngeal paralysis, because the disease causes the artery around which the laryngeal nerve wraps to have an elevated pulse rate.

Long necked horses are also thought to be more predisposed to left nerve damage simply due to stretching of the nerve.

Ninety percent of weakness or paralysis of the larynx is on the left side.

Wealthy’s right-side nerve damage was most unusual.

The paralysis causes an inspiratory ‘whistling’ or ‘roaring’ sound during cantering or galloping due to the obstruction of airflow to the lungs.

As early as the 19th Century, an operation known as the Hobday was performed. It involves making a surgical incision into the larynx under the throat to remove both ventricles and the left vocal cord and is still used today on horses who have lower grade wind problems.

In the 1970s, an ingenious procedure, termed “tie back”, was devised to replace the paralysed muscle with a suture to hold the affected cartilage out of the airway during exercise.

Both Sand And Sea and Wealthy had tie backs and they look to have plenty more races in them.

By David Thiselton

Snowdance will get her 1 400m Pinnacle outing at Kenilworth on Saturday after all. There were fears that last season’s Cape Fillies Guineas and Majorca winner might frighten away all the opposition but five have been declared against her – just enough to save the race.

Justin Snaith also decided to run Platinum Class (Greg Cheyne) but it was Glen Kotzen who saved the race, declaring Prix Du Cap winner Elusive Heart (Bernard Fayd’Herbe) as well as Luna Child (Craig Zackey). Michael Robinson runs Goodtime Gal (Sindile Mbhele) and Andre Nel will be represented by his Diana winner Love To Boogie (Aldo Domeyer). Richard Fourie rides Snowdance.

The sponsors make the unbeaten Brett Crawford-trained Front And Centre 5-2 favourite for Saturday week’s World Sports Betting Fillies Guineas with Western Cape Fillies Championship winner Clouds Unfold second favourite at 33-10. Temple Grafin, a length and a quarter second to Candice Bass-Robinson’s filly in that race, is next on 7-1. Mike de Kock’s Ghaalla (8-1) is the only other quoted at less than 15-1.

In the Cape Guineas Vaughan Marshall’s unbeaten One World heads the market at 16-10 with De Kock’s Dingaans scorer Hawwaam (also unbeaten) on 22-10. His stable companion Soqrat is next on 11-2 and then it’s 6-1 Chimichuri Run, 9-1 Twist Of Fate, Cirillo, 16-1 bar.

Oscar Foulkes, who with his mother Veronica runs the Normandy Stud, appears to have picked up a bargain at the WC Equine Trust meeting at Kenilworth last Saturday. He went to R35 000 to outbid all opposition to secure a service to the hugely successful Twice Over whose fee for the current season is billed at R50 000. Foulkes also runs the catering at Kenilworth.

By Michael Clower

Paul Reeves may have been demonstrating his training talents for nine years now but he was still David taking on Goliath in the first Cape Town two-year-old race of the season at Kenilworth on Saturday.

His R250 000 Chilly Winter cost little more than half the Justin Snaith-trained Shinnecock and at 13-1 only one other horse in the field started at a longer price. Yet the more Reeves heard about what a certainty the 9-20 favourite was the more he convinced he became that his single sling shot was going to fell the champion.

“She hadn’t been here or Durbanville to gallop, only at home where we can only go 600m. But I had put her against some very fast horses and she hadn’t been beaten by any of them,” Reeves explained as he was toasted by the filly’s eight owners in the hospitality room afterwards. “So I had a lot of confidence in her and I am sure that there is more to come.”

Richard Fourie on Shinnecock determinedly threw down the gauntlet throughout the final furlong but Sandile Mbhele’s mount kept pulling out more to hold on by a fifth of a length. Now Reeves’ sights are set on the Met day Listed race.

It was a tough day for Snaith. He might not have had his head severed with a sword but it certainly felt that way. Three more favourites bit the dust and what really hurt was that arch rival Sean Tarry went R1.8 million clear at the top of the trainer’s log. Not exactly a fitting prelude to the champion’s 44^th birthday today.

Mbhele can talk as well as he rides – a considerable asset for any apprentice – and he followed up on the curiously-spelt Summer Olimpics for Michael Robinson in the Klawervelei Stud Handicap while Xola Tshayisa, 26, rode his second winner when making all on Spring Burst for his boss Glen Kotzen.

You often hear jockeys praising their mounts after winning on them and so it was particularly unusual to hear Fourie and Aldo Domeyer saying how difficult their horses actually were.

Fourie, after getting up close home on Gyre, reported: “He doesn’t like to be in front. If you get there too soon he will throw the anchor. When I pulled him out he went straight back behind the horse ahead of him and he was already pulling himself up when I hit the line.”

Domeyer added about Vikram: “He is not an easy horse to ride. When he hits the front he starts messing around and tries to drop the bit.”

Corne Orffer had no such problems with his Brett Crawford double on Senatla and Princess Irene while Paddy Kruyer went home convinced that Greg Cheyne had stolen the last on Rush Hour Girl – “The track is very fast, Greg got away from them and they couldn’t peg him back.”

Interviewer Fee Ramsden remarked to Piet Steyn that he was looking a bit down before Morne Winnaar just got up on Metorite in the Khaya Stables Handicap. The trainer replied: “Things are not going my way at the moment. But one or two more drinks and I will be a lot better!”

By Michael Clower