Seemingly Aldo Domeyer has news for the medical profession. He himself might have been prescribed physiotherapy, biokinetics and chiropractics but for a jockey nothing is a better tonic than winners.

After riding six on Saturday (for the second time this year) he couldn’t feel an ounce of pain in his troubled back – just elation and satisfaction, particularly given his belief that Dutch Philip and Magical Wonderland seem sure to add to his tally in future features.

Aldo-Domeyer

Both the Cape Of Good Hope Nursery and the Kenilworth Fillies Nursery suffered from a well-nigh funereal pace – they were run over a second slower than the work riders’ maiden – but each time Domeyer’s mounts answered their rider’s every call.

“I was a little bit lacking in confidence with Dutch Philip because he hadn’t felt quite himself during the week and I don’t think he was at his best here,” he related. “But he has so much class that he managed to pull it off and he is a horse who is going to continue to improve.

“When I won on Magical Wonderland last time I said she was a bit better than that and Saturday’s race proved that. She really impressed me and coming to the last two furlongs I had so much horse under me. What I like about her is that every time I ask her for something she has an answer.”

Plans for both What A Winter horses are fluid. Candice Bass-Robinson, watching from Scottsville, said: “Dutch Philip could possibly run in the Langerman – he only got going at the end – but I haven’t decided. If he doesn’t he will have a break.

“I’m not sure that the filly will get further than sprint distances so she will probably have a rest. I won’t run her in the Irridescence.”

Five of the six Domeyer winners came in the last five races and by the end Midtown Manhattan was almost as inevitable as Churchill at The Curragh and was backed accordingly, from 6-1 to 22-10 favourite. His rider duly gave a whole new meaning to the phrase service delivery.

Platinum Prince won the 1 800m handicap like a horse on the up – he had also won his previous start – but the Snaiths intend to let him work his way through the handicap rather than step him up in class.

“There is an option to go for the Winter Derby which I think could have a small field and be a weak race,” said Jonathan Snaith. “But to take a well-handicapped horse like this and stick him in at level weights wouldn’t make much sense.”

Wildlife Safari, who drifted from 16-1 to 36-1, served up the shock of the day under Akshay Balloo in the 1 200m handicap. The Eric Sands-trained gelding is part-owned by 37 Maine Chance grooms but sadly the transport of those coming to the course was late leaving and they had got no further than Kuils River by the time the race was run. They watched it on their cell phones.

It is not so long ago that Jason Smitsdorff was a highly sought-after apprentice with a good future in front of him but apparently most of those trainers who were so keen on him didn’t want to know when his claim was gone – and until Saturday he was heading for a winnerless season of little more than 50 rides.

A work-riding opportunity at the Andre Nel winner factory – grabbed with both hands over two months ago -looks like putting the 24-year-old back on the right road as he showed when Hall Of Fame finished like a rocket to make a winning debut in the Racing Association Maiden.

By Michael Clower

Dennis Drier equaled a feat achieved by his famous Uncle Syd Laird on Saturday at Scottsville by winning the same Gr 1 race for the seventh time.

Sand And Sea (Nkosi Hlophe)

The exciting Twice Over colt Sand And Sea landed “Uncle Den” his seventh Gold Medallion, which is currently sponsored by Tsogo Sun. “Uncle Syd’s” seven-up was more celebrated as he did it in the Durban July and thereby set a record in the big race which still stands.

However, the most impressive part of Drier’s achievement is that of the eight renewals of the Gold Medallion this decade he has won six of them.

His first Medallion victory was way back in 1990 with Spook And Diesel and since then he has won it with Link Man (2010), Potent Power (2012), Captain Of All (2013), Guiness (2014), Seventh Plain (2015) and now Sand And Sea.

Of those horses, Captain Of All went on to win two further Gr 1s and Seventh Plain one. Captain Of All landed the Tsogo Sun Sprint and the Mercury Sprint as a four-year-old, having missed most of his three-year-old season. Seventh Plain won his next race, the Gr 1 Golden Horseshoe over 1400m at Greyville.

Sand And Sea could by all accounts go on to further Gr 1 success. He took a while to find his stride on Saturday. This didn’t overly concern Anton Marcus, not surprisingly, as the rangy colt was travelling ominously well in behind the field. When he switched him out it was race over in a matter of strides as the colt’s big action saw him making up the ground easily to win going away by 2,25 lengths from Varallo and Al Mariachi.

He looks likely to go a mile this season.

Sand And Sea was bred by Drakenstein Stud and is owned by Bernard Kantor, Jack Mitchell, Marsh Shirtliff and Mayfair Speculators.

Markus Jooste, of Mayfair Speculators was the outright owner of all of Captain Of All, Guiness and Seventh Plain, while Anton Marcus rode all of those in the Medallion with the exception of Captain Of All.

By David Thiselton

The swansong victory of Carry On Alice in the Grade 1 SA Fillies Sprint at Scottsville on Saturday was accompanied by rare emotion from her normally phlegmatic trainer Sean Tarry and the win was significant for more than one reason.

The five-year-old Captain Al mare was a member of what is regarded as probably the greatest crop of fillies in South African history. She was the first among them to win a Grade 1 and currently is the last, although one of her best contemporaries, Smart Call, is still campaigning overseas.  On Saturday she joined another of her contemporaries, Inara, as a five-time Grade 1 winner.

Sean Tarry (Nkosi Hlophe)

Carry On Alice won one Grade 1 in each of her first three seasons and in her final season has won two. Although all five of those wins were in sprint events, she showed her class as a two-year-old when going down by a short-head in the Gr 1 Thekwini over 1600m, despite jumping from a wide draw at Greyville.

She and four of her contemporaries won seven Grade 1 races between them in open company as three-year-olds. Inara and Alboran Sea achieved the feat twice, and Carry On Alice, Majmu and Same Jurisdiction each did it once, Furthermore, both of Alboran Seas Gr 1 victories that season were in weight for age sprints against the boys. Carry On Alice had also beaten the boys in the SA Nursery as a two-year-old and failed by only 0,25 lengths to repeat the feat in the Gold Medallion. The crop have gone on to win another nine Grade 1s between them. That makes a total of 24 Grade 1 wins for the crop to date, as they also contested eight age restricted Grade 1s. Those 24 Grade 1s have been won by nine individuals, namely Carry On Alice (five), Inara (five), Alboran Sea (three), Smart Call (three), Same Jurisdiction (two), Majmu (two), Bilateral (one), Siren’s Call (one), Pine Princess (one) and Real Princess (one).

Amazingly, Carry On Alice is yet to win an Equus award having been ousted by three exceptional members of her crop, Majmu, Alboran Sea and Smart Call, in respective champion age group awards, and by Captain Of All and Talktothestars, both merit rated above 120, in respective Champion Sprinter awards. However, this year she looks likely to walk away with two Equus awards as Champion Sprinter and Champion Older Female.

Carry On Alice has a fairytale story behind her and two of her owners, UK couple Dr John and Jill Warner, have become staunch fans of South African racing as a result.

It was only through the tender care of the Klawervlei Stud staff that Carry On Alice was ever conceived at all.

Klawervlei part-owner John Koster, speaking of her mother Carry On Katie a couple of years ago, said, “She used to throw these monster foals and maybe her canals were just too narrow. When she gave birth to her first foal she injured her pelvis and couldn’t get back up for a day or two. We nursed her back to health and the following year she conceived Carry On Alice.”

Carry On Alice was successfully born, but the following year Carry On Katie had complications when foaling down. Unfortunately, despite around the clock care, both her and her foal did not survive the ordeal on this occasion.

However, as consolation, Carry On Alice will be able to continue her legacy.

Carry On Alice (Nkosi Hlophe)

The Warners were two of forty people who had booked for a racing tour of South Africa in early 2013, which had included in its itinerary a trip to Klawervlei Stud. When the Met was moved to a later date that season, the Warners were two of only four people who did not cancel their tour tickets. On the trip to Klawervlei, Jill Warner asked Koster about a filly which had caught her eye in the catalogue for the pending CTS Premier Yearling Sale. The filly was of course Carry On Alice. The Warners became part-owners of the filly a few days later along with Tarry’s chief owner Chris van Niekerk. Klawervlei Stud also kept a share. The Warners could never have dreamed Carry On Alice would give them such a wonderful ride and she has also made them a myriad new friends.

On Saturday Carry On Alice proved she is better without cover as this allows her to use her high cruising speed to maximum effect. She crept up to join the leader before Khumalo pressed the button at the 400m mark. That famous kick propelled her to the front and her big heart enabled her to stave off the challenges of Grade 1 winners Just Sensual and The Secret Is Out to win by a length. She also won this race two years ago as a three-year-old. Her other Grade 1 wins were all against the boys, in the Gr 1 SA Nursery (2014), the weight for age (wfa) Gr 1 Computaform Sprint (2016) and the wfa Betting World Cape Flying Championships (2017).

She can arguably be regarded as the greatest sprinting female South Africa has produced his decade as her Grade 1 count is higher than the like of Val De Ra and Via Africa. However, National Colour will still have pride of place as the best Tarry has ever trained. One can only hope Carry On Alice will be as good a broodmare as National Colour, who already has two Gr 1-winning progeny, and she will be given every opportunity to be so as she will be heading overseas to be covered by the best stallions.

Carry On Alice will be sorely missed by the racing public, who could always rely on her to give of her best. He career record ends at eleven wins, eight seconds and five thirds from 29 starts and she only failed to earn a cheque on three occasion and all of those were in races beyond sprints. She earned R4 591 250 in stakes.

By David Thiselton

Young South African jockey Callan Murray gained a dream result at just his third meeting in Hong Kong, scoring his first Sha Tin win in style with a shock victory on 88-1 rank outsider Lucky Year in the Gr3 Sha Tin Vase Handicap (1200m) on Sunday.

“Unbelievable!” Murray exclaimed after Danny Shum-trained Lucky Year poked through to hold off a wall of challengers.

Callan Murray

“I can’t believe it, how exciting is this? It’s crazy. I didn’t expect it so soon, but I’m thrilled – what a way to break through at Sha Tin. I’ve been very fortunate.

“You always hope that you can make an impression quickly, you’ve got it in the back of your head you want to do well, but I didn’t think it could be like this. Hopefully it gives me a bit of momentum going forward.”

“Danny told me to have him midfield but they went so slow, they were really dragging it back throughout, so I ended up sitting handier,” Murray said. “I think he seemed to really travel well, and I knew I had plenty underneath me turning in. I thought he could be around the mark but wow, he really found.

Murray admitted there was some concern that he would miss the ride because he would struggle to get down to the horse’s allotted weight of 115lb. In the end, he tipped the scales one pound over at 116lb.

“I thought I might have to forego the ride, not getting down to 115, but they let me ride 116,” Murray said. “It was hard work to get that weight down but I’m absolutely rapt, I’m so happy I did it. This is such a great result.”

Shum was full of praise for Murray and predicted a fruitful Hong Kong career for the 20-year-old Johannesburg native.

“I rang a few jockeys asking them to ride this horse, but none of them wanted to ride him,” Shum said. “Then I came across Callan. He worked hard to get his weight down and he really wanted the chance. I thought he would be a good fit.

“He’s a very polite kid, he’s got talent and I would be happy to use him on more of my horses. I could see him being here for a long time to come.”

– HKJC.com

Jockey Gunther Wrogemann might well have been singing “Brave Mary keep on rolling” when the Brave Tin Soldier filly burst away from the opposition to win the R750 000, Grade 1 Allan Robertson Championship at Scottsville on Saturday.

Carrying the action name given to the American Indian activist Mary Brave Bird in the 70’s, and costing a mere R40 000, Brave Mary stunned the large crowd at Scottsville and, even more so, the fancied runners Call To Account, Green Plains and Neptune’s Rain when she tore away to post a time of 68.3 secs, a fraction faster than the smart Dennis Drier-trained Twice Over colt Sand And Sea, that impressively won the Tsogo Sun Medallion.

Brave Mary (Nkosi Hlophe)

Trainer Paul Matchett did not appear that surprised in the interview after Brave Mary, a daughter of the Rich Man’s Gold mare Mary Lou that he had trained to win six races, skated clear of the field. A former Zimbabwean top trainer and for years very competitive on the Highveld, Paul obviously had a good idea of what he had in his care to travel from Gauteng to Scottsville for just one runner on the day.

That confidence will have come from the filly’s last race over 1 000m at the Vaal where she bolted away from the maiden field to win by 6.5 lengths in the cracking time for a juvenile of 56.79 secs. Saturday’s performance will have strengthened his belief in her talent and she looks a very exciting prospect for the future.

Following up in the R750 000, Grade 1 Tsogo Sun Medallion, Sand And Sea was awesomely impressive in pulverising a field that included some very exciting young colts and geldings to give Dennis Drier his seventh victory in the prestigious race and his sixth in eight years. Strongly fancied to beat the Mike de Kock-trained favourite Naafer, his supporter’s hearts will have dropped when he virtually walked out of the pens at the start and trailed the field in the early stages.

But when Anton Marcus said giddy up boy the colt quickened and before long it was race over as he skipped clear to win by 2.25 lengths relieving what was no doubt a few seconds of tension for his conditioner.

Then it was time for the queen of sprint in South Africa, Carry On Alice, to take the stage for her grand finale on the track before going off to stud and she treated the public to another scintillating performance to win the R750 000, Grade 1 South African Fillies Sprint for trainer Sean Tarry who, together with owner Chris van Niekerk, shed a little tear at memories of what she had achieved and sorrow that she is being retired.

For Tarry, however, the smiles soon returned when the Toreador gelding Bull Valley, that he had taken over from retired trainer Dom Zaki a year ago, demolished a strong sprinting field to win the top race of the day, the R1-million, Grade 1 Tsogo Sun Sprint, giving Tarry a Grade 1 double for the day and pushing his stake earnings in the season to a record high which cemented his place at the top of the trainer log.

A day of mixed results and fortunes with Brave Mary demolishing the opposition and, as a 27-1 winner, the Pick 6 hopes of thousands leaving an eventual payout of R970 000 and some change.

By Richard McMillan