Dennis Drier clinched the 2000^th winner of his career when the three-year-old Silvano gelding Hard Core passed the post first on debut in the first race at Greyville on Sunday and by the end of the day the maestro Summerveld-based trainer had treble cause for celebration.

Two nights earlier he had been crowned the KZN Champion trainer for the umpteenth time and the treble he landed at Sunday’s meeting put an end to a relatively dry spell.

Dennis Drier (Nkosi Hlophe)

Drier started out as assistant trainer to his late-great Uncle Syd Laird in the late 1960s and took out his own license in August 1977.

He had been associated with many great horses while with Laird and learnt a lot about preparing horses for big races.

He won the country’s biggest race, the Durban July, with Spanish Galliard in 1992 and at around the same time was training the good sprinter Polished Silver and the classy sprint-miler Spook And Diesel. Polished Silver won seven races, including the 1992 Grade 1 Computaform Sprint. In 1990 Spook And Diesel gave Drier the first of his wins in a race he was to later dominate, the Grade 1 Gold Medallion, which is a race for two-year-olds over 1200m run at Scottsville’s big Festival Of Speed Meeting.

Like a fine wine, Drier has had the best spell of his career this decade. He has won at least 17 Grade 1 races from 2010 onward.

He has won six of the last nine runnings of the Gold Medallion and has also trained two great fillies this decade.

Val De Ra, a sprinter, won eleven of her thirteen starts and her three Grade 1 wins included both the Computaform Sprint and the Cape Flying Championships on weight for age terms against the boys. Beach Beauty was a miler to middle distance filly who despite her tiny stature won five Grade 1s and she never let punters down on the numerous occasions in which she was regarded as “the meeting banker.”

Drier won his ninth Scottsville Grade 1 this decade and his tenth overall when Sommerlied won the SA Fillies Sprint in May this year and she was named KZN Champion Sprinter and Champion Older Female.

In his speech on Friday night Drier owed a lot of his success to the owners who support him, the stalwart team of people around him at Summerveld and to his wife Jill, who is the daughter of the trainer John Breval and is a fine horsewoman in her own right.

By David Thiselton

Anton Marcus, who has got this season off to a rollicking start, doesn’t need the help of an agent. He can pick his own plums and the looks to have plucked a ripe fruit in the third on the Greyville poly today.

He partners the Kom Naidoo-trained Palace Rose and although the filly can be difficult she looks to be head-and-shoulders above her rivals in spite of stepping up to 1600m for the first time.

Palace Rose has gone close on a number of occasions, including last time out when beaten under a length on the poly and of her rivals, only Face Of An Angel has finished within two lengths of the winner.

Palace Rose looks to have this field at her mercy, but three that could be worth taking note of are Paradise Song, Cosmology and Counter Fate.

Legend (Candiese Marnewick)

Palace Rose was priced up at around a seemingly generous even money yesterday with Paradise Song the only market mover. Glen Kotzen’s filly was in from an opening call of 11-1 to around 8-1 so it may be worth taking note as she too stretches to a mile for the first time. The Sean Tarry-trained Cosmology made no show in her barrier trial but is bred to stay today’s trip and further so any market support should not be ignored, similarly Counter Fate. Dennis Drier, recently crowned KZN’s champion trainer, has kept his filly to sprints but she did make marked improvement last time out. The extra should suit so is another to warrant serious consideration is you do not fancy the ante-post favourite.

Former Gr1 Premier’s Champion Stakes winner Gunner is taking ages to record a third victory but has been knocking at the door of late and today could be his day when he lines up in the fourth. However, he does take on a more than useful field and exotic bet punters may be advised to added a few for insurance.

Legend took on feature company last time out but has shown consistent form since his last win and the drop in class could just bring out the best in him. Royal Armour and Seattle Skyline are others that stand out.

Bold Beauty was a recent maiden winner but has had her problems and is lightly raced. She may well prove much better than her current rating and can follow up in the fifth but again she is no betting proposition. Red Al found some strong market support in Gr1 company last time out and although not featuring, today’s opposition is way below the quality field of that run. Espresso Martini, Illuminate and Peggy’s Dream look pick of the balance.

The sixth is another open affair where Via Sacra is a weak 7-2 ante-post favourite but she comes from a stable that has hit the new season running. She is lightly raced but has never finished far back and the step up in trip, first up with a tongue-tie and a 2.5kg claimer up makes her a must for all bets.

She faces the year older poly specialist Accidental Tourist who is proven over course and distance and the Howells stable is also coming to form.

Royal Kaitrina was a beaten favourite first run back from a successful Kimberley raid but she should prove more effective over today’s trip. Marcus appears to think so two and she must have a decent chance in the seventh, although again, not a betting proposition.

A qualified maiden rounds off the afternoon where Leslies Pathtofame and Trust In Gold are the obvious contenders while Lucara and Command Respect are others to consider.

By Andrew Harrison

Ryan Munger has been appointed first jockey to Glen Kotzen and he will move from Johannesburg to Cape Town by the beginning of October.

Kotzen said: “We had been watching Ryan last season and we were quite impressed. We had a meeting with him and he accepted our offer.

Ryan Munger

“Obviously he has a lot to learn so far as the tracks and weather conditions in the Cape are concerned but this will come with time. He already has a good rapport with our owners and the horses and what is nice is that he is a natural lightweight.”

Last season Richard Fourie was retained by some of the stable’s main patrons but this term he has elected to ride freelance.

Munger,22,  was one of the busiest jockeys in the country last season with over 1 300 rides. He finished up in the top ten on the national log with 107 winners.

He said: “I’ve got plenty of winners on my CV. What I need now are feature-race winners.”

Munger only really started riding In Cape Town on anything like a regular basis towards the end of last season and was making just his third visit to the course when riding his first Kenilworth winner on the Andre Nel-trained Room At The Top in June.

He won for Kotzen on Lanza at the end of last month and on Strawberry Wine last Saturday. He has five rides for the stable at Kenilworth on Saturday plus two for Candice Bass-Robinson for whom he has a good record.

By Michael Clower

Lemaire pipped legendary Japanese jockey Yutaka Take to the crown, with Mirco Demuro completing a top-three finish for the Japan Racing Association side, who landed the team prize for a fourth consecutive year.

Christophe Lemaire (Kenneth Chan)

The French-born Lemaire, whose glittering honour roll includes the Melbourne Cup, 1,000 and 2,000 Guineas, Japan Cup and Dubai Sheema Classic, was taking part in the two-day challenge for the fifth time, in which Shane Foley, Joao Moreira and Chad Schofield were among those who featured for the World All-Star team.

Foley, out of luck in a Grade 3 and maiden race on the undercards, finished joint sixth of 14 riders on his first time competing in the event following some small stints in Japan on a short-term licence.

Richard Hughes, Johnny Murtagh and Ryan Moore are among jockeys to have landed the annual challenge in previous years.

US-based Rafael Bejarano fared best of the World All-Star team in fourth, but victory on Smart Elements sealed the top prize for Lemaire, who also rode a winner on the first day.

Lemaire said: “This is great – Sapporo is a wonderful course and I want to thank the racing fans for their support. I was really lucky to have been able to ride good horses this year.”

There was frustration for Take, who topped the standings going into the finale before finishing second for a third consecutive year.

Take, who has filled the runner-up spot seven times since last successful in 1992, said: “I’m glad I was able to win one race in the series, although I was hoping that maybe I could win the title this year.

“I was on top after the third leg so naturally I was a bit disappointed when I saw Lemaire lifting the trophy.”

– racingpost.com

Chad Schofield, son of former South African jockey Glyn, competed against Joao Moreira in the World All-Star Jockeys series in Japan last weekend, but longer-term he is hoping to help fill the void left by the Magic Man’s departure from Hong Kong.

Schofield finished fifth in the jockeys’ championship last season with 38 winners, but with three-time champion Moreira moving to Japan and Nash Rawiller disqualified, two of the riders above him are gone and opportunities have opened up.

The 24-year-old, who got engaged to his partner, Hannah, in the off-season, is entering his fourth season at Sha Tin – collecting his highest win total last campaign – and feels he is ready to take the next step.

Chad Schofield

“With the big hole Joao Moreira has left, there’s definitely more winners to be had for me especially,” Schofield said.

“I want to finish top three and just ride as many winners as I can and try to break into some of those bigger yards because I think that’s quite important in Hong Kong.

“Last week I was riding as much trackwork as I can for as many trainers as I can and just try to broaden my support base. Everyone seems to be pretty receptive so hopefully I can have a new season.

“In Hong Kong, riding against the best in the world and all that high-pressure racing, it definitely improves you as a rider and I felt every season I’ve come in better and more experienced and I just hope I can keep improving and raising the bar.”

After getting a taste of big-race success with Singapore Sling’s victory in February’s Classic Cup, Schofield wants more and he has formed a strong association with rising stars Win Beauty Win and Refined Treasure.

“The good horses in Hong Kong, they are quite hard to get on, but if you can get on a young horse going up and stay with them, it’s a lot easier,” he said.

“I feel like I do have some really nice young horses heading that way so hopefully they can stand up when the big races come around.”

While all his rivals will be racing down the Sha Tin straight (on foot) in Saturday’s preseason carnival, Schofield will blow out the cobwebs in World All-Star Jockeys event at Sapporo.

He will be aiming to be the fourth Hong Kong representative to win the event, following in the footsteps of Douglas Whyte (2004), Zac Purton (2012) and Moreira (2015).

It is Schofield’s first time riding in Japan and he has been in touch with Moreira after the Brazilian’s scintillating start to his stint there, winning 22 of his 57 rides at an astonishing 38.6 per cent.

“He’s been messaging me and told me to bring the rain gear because there’s lots of rain around but I’m looking forward to catching up with him,” Schofield said.

“A lot of the people at trackwork were saying how well he’s done and all that, but it’s no surprise to me, obviously he’s just brilliant.”