Former national champion trainer Justin Snaith said recently his KZN campaign this year had panned out to be the most important period of his current season. He duly got his feature race campaign off to a good start at Scottsville yesterday when winning the Listed KwaZulu-Natal Stakes over 1000m with the speedy Captain Al filly Jo’s Bond, who was ridden by Richard Fourie.

Justin Snaith

Fourie travelled from Cape Town for just the one ride and sat just off the pace. Jo’s Bonds powerful turn of foot saw her drawing clear of the favourite Elusivenchantment to win by a length. Our Destiny and Cosmic Burst ran on well for third and fourth and Vision To Kill was next best.

Earlier, the Gavin van Zyl-trained Oratorio gelding Arianos Bagofgold produced a good finish from off the pace to win the Non-Black Type Sentinel Stakes over 1000m under Eric Saziso Ngwane. Autumn In Seattle was giving the winner 2kg and had to be switched, so did well to finish a 0,5 length second. Northern Rebel was next best.

The first round of the newly introduced KZN Breeders “Levelling the Playing Fields” series of races kicked off at yesterday’s meeting. Trainers were invited to nominate one KZN-bred horse with a rating of 78 and below to compete in three races over 1200m, 1400m and 1600m respectively.

In Round 1’s first heat the Chris Erasmus-trained outsider Putchini just got up under Billy Jacobson to deny the Tony Rivalland-trained Reactive. The Garth Puller-trained Cipher, the Greg and Karen Anthony-trained Poivre and the Paul Gadsby-trained Roy’s Power were next best. The favourite Beckedorf dwelt in the stalls and lost many lengths.

Jo’s Bond (Nkosi Hlophe)

In the second heat, the Glen Kotzen-trained three-year-old filly Royal Agree won cosily by 1,25 lengths under Athandiwe Mgudlwa from the Wendy Whitehead-trained Brave And Bold, with the Doug Campbell-trained Fire The Rocket, the Paul Lafferty-trained Tropical’s Son and the Sean Tarry-trained favourite Kahula next best.

Both Putchini and Royal Agree are effective up to 1600m at least.

Later, the Dean Kannemeyer-trained three-year-old Summer Sky won a MR 86 handicap over 1400m by five lengths under Anthony Delpech. On that showing the Trippi gelding could develop into a feature campaigner.

There were also wins at the meeting for Wendy Whitehead and Alec Forbes, Paul Gadsby and Sean Veale and Mark Dixon and Marco van Rensburg.

By David Thiselton

Anthony Delpech will be reunited with CTS Mile runner-up Copper Force in the Byerley Turk at Greyville on Sunday…

Anthony Delpech (Nkosi Hlophe)

Delpech rode the gelding for the first time in the Met day $500,000 sales race and came from a bad draw to beat all except Cape Guineas winner William Longsword. “Anthony has other commitments but he comes to ride work for me every day at Summerveld,” said Snaith.

Vaughan Marshall will gallop The Secret Is Out tomorrow before deciding whether last season’s Allan Robertson winner contests the Umzimkhulu Stakes on the same card. The filly has only raced once since an epistaxis ruled her out of the Cape Fillies Guineas and she managed only fifth of eight despite starting favourite although, to be fair, she was giving weight all round.

Marshall said: “I was quite happy with that run. She had had no gallops and she was only beaten just over two lengths.”

Bernard Fayd’Herbe returns to South African action at Kenilworth tomorrow after stints in Mauritius and Dubai. He rides in all eight races with five mounts for Snaith, two for Joey Ramsden and one for Candice Bass-Robinson.

By Michael Clower

Mayfair Speculators racing manager Derek Brugman said the reigning Equus Horse Of The Year Legal Eagle, who won his sixth career Gr 1 at Turffontein on Saturday, would be “unlikely” to take part in the SA Champions Season.

Legal Eagle (Liesl King)

Meanwhile, their best three-year-old William Longsword will not race again as it has been decided to retire him to stud.

Legal Eagle’s next race will be the defence of his Gr 1 Premier’s Champions Challenge crown at Turffontein on May 6.

Brugman said he would thereafter follow the same route as he had done this season i.e. the L’Ormarin’s Queen’s Plate and the Sun Met.

If Legal wins the Premier’s Champions Challenge he would have successfully defended three separate Gr 1s in one season. On Saturday he defended his HF Oppenheimer Horse Chestnut Stakes crown, having defended his Queen’s Plate crown in January.

Variety Club (Liesl King)

The last horse to successfully defend three Gr 1s in one season might well have been the immortal Sea Cottage, who in 1967 defended his crowns in all of the Queen’s Plate, the Newbury Stakes over 1200m at Greyville and in the Clairwood Winter Handicap over 1800m.

Legal Eagle remains unbeaten in six starts over a mile, and this includes four Gr 1 weight for age events and one Gr 2.

However, Brugman still rates the great Variety Club as Mayfair Speculators’ best ever horse and doubts whether they will ever have one as good as him again.

Variety Club was a facile winner of a Gr 1 overseas (in Hong Kong) and Brugman believes Legal Eagle could also win at the highest level overseas. However, unfortunately his efforts to get him to the Breeder’s Cup this year were thwarted by travel costs. Brugman has not given up on an overseas campaign for legal Eagle, but said the champion racehorse would never go the Mauritius route.

William Longsword’s retirement coincides with his sire Captain Al nearing the end of his stud career.

The latter did a lot to put Klawervlei Stud on the map. Markus Jooste, the owner of Mayfair Speculators, is a major shareholder in Klawervlei.

By David Thiselton

Life Life warmed up for her assault on Scottsville’s Poinsettia Stakes and South African Fillies Sprint by convincingly overcoming a rushed preparation in the Golden Bulls Allowance Plate at Kenilworth on Saturday.

Aldo Domeyer, riding the CTS Sprint winner for the first time for ten months, said: “She drops it in the first half of a race but the better she switches off the better she turns it on.”

Aldo Domeyer

Candice Bass-Robinson added: “She was classy enough to beat these even with top weight, she has a great turn of foot and she has improved tremendously. I will send her up to Durban a week to ten days before the Poinsettia. Scottsville is a tricky track but hopefully she will handle it.”

Piet du Toit’s filly will be on a four-timer in the April 30 Grade 3 and seemingly there is a possibility that she may not stay on in KZN after Scottsville’s Grade 1 meeting four weeks later as her trainer explained: “I don’t want to kill her for next season.”

Stable companion Extradite, less than a length back third, stays at home for the Sweet Chestnut on April 22.

Mike Stewart’s R5 000 bargain buy Icon King will be upped to Grade 3 in the Winter Guineas that day. He was receiving weight all round in the Bolands Promotions Pinnacle Stakes but Akshay Balloo was able to make all at 20-1.

“My stable is in shocking form and I don’t think my brother-in-law Hattie Zeppel had any faith in me,” said Mike Stewart, grinning as broadly as if he had won the Horse Chestnut. “He said ‘What are you doing, running him against a horse (Milton) who was second to the Met winner?’

“Indeed I wasn’t going to but the NRB rang me, said there were only seven in the race and asked me to put him in.”

Our Mate Art, who overcame a 19-week absence to grab second close home, will also be in the Winter Guineas line-up as will Elevated despite dropping out in the closing stages – “He needed it badly but it will be a different story next time,” said Riaan van Reenen.

MJ Byleveld

The Craig Bantam-ridden Raya Baya became the first two-year-old in Cape Town to win first time out since Valedictorian six weeks earlier when coming home at 30-1 in the opener but seemingly Tap O’Noth 35 minutes later is the one for the notebooks.

The Fosters’ homebred Captain Al newcomer was heavily backed and, although MJ Byleveld only gained the advantage in the final furlong, Vaughan Marshall left no doubt, saying: “William Longsword goes to stud this week but I am hopeful that this one will follow the same route – I think he is very special.”

Domeyer made it 60 for the season on Waitingfortonight in the OFYT Maiden to leave owner Ron Caris wistfully reflecting that the only previous horse he had with Piet Steyn was Sanshaawes who he bought for R30 000 and sold to Mike de Kock for more than R1 million. As Caris indicated, this one has a bit to go to attract the maestro!

Mind you, he was breaking his duck at only the seventh attempt and the Eric Sands-trained Cautiontothewind had 17 races before finally getting her head in front in the Lavender Blue Maiden. She is the first winner for Belinda Edmonds and her son Justin Offord and was ridden by Donovan Dillon who doubled up in the last on the Shane Humby-trained Waywood while Gyre booked his Durban ticket by coming from the back under Corne Orffer in the Glasfit Handicap.

By Michael Clower

Sean Tarry’s seven winners at Turffontein on Saturday fell one short of Justin Snaith’s world record equaling eight winners at one meeting, which he achieved at the J&B Met meeting last year.

Both Tarry and Snaith won the first six races on the card on the way to their personal best hauls.

Sean Tarry (Nkosi Hlophe)

There were 12 races on both occasions and Snaith’s 32 runners on the day constituted 21,5% of the total of 149 runners at the meeting, while Tarry’s 23 runners constituted 21,1% of the 109 runners at Saturday’s meeting.

Tarry had no fewer than five seconds on Saturday, including in three races where his horse did not win. However, one of his winners, Brave Nomad, did not cross the line first but was on the right side of an upheld objection. Tarry’s haul with his 23 runners included seven wins, five seconds, one third, two fourths and a fifth. He won four features races, one Gr 1 and three Gr 3s, and his total earnings for the day were R2,294,375.

On Snaith’s record day he scored eight wins, two thirds, two fourths and five fifths.

He won two features on the day, a Listed event and a Gr 2, and his total earnings for the day were R741,450.

Tarry had previously regarded his career best day at the races as last year’s Champions Day in which he won three Gr 1s and a Gr 2. Considering his total stakes haul on that day was R5,047,000, it might still remain his best day.

Tarry is well on his way to breaking his own record of R27,999,562 stakes earnings in a season, which he set last season.

At this time last year he had earned R14,951,912.50 in the season, whereas his earnings this season stand at R21,627,700.

By David Thiselton