Ashburton trainer Des Egdes’ step daughter Skye Gilbert is anticipating her fist ever race ride at Scottsville tomorrow aboard the Just As Well filly Just Rap with plenty of excitement.

Skye is based in Newmarket in the UK with the 25 time Gr 1-winning trainer Ed Dunlop and her apprenticeship license was granted at the end of November.

She said about tomorrow’s race, “I worked Just Rap on Saturday and she worked very well, she will be fit and well but it’s a competitive field.”

Skye is limited to riding down the straight for at least her first five rides so feels lucky to be given this opportunity.

Just Rap has run twice over the course and distance and on the second of those occasions finished 5,5 lengths back in a handicap off a 72 merit rating, so she should get closer on paper tomorrow off a 67 merit rating together with Skye’s 4kg claim.

Skye grew up with horses being the daughter of farrier Ford Wallace, who now practices in Cape Town, and showjumper Kim Egdes.

Showjumping and eventing were high on her list of priorities while growing up.

However, racing was where her ultimate ambitions lay.

She worked for her step father Des as a stable employee before departing for the UK four years ago.

She was taught all aspects of racing and horse care by Des and the same thread was picked up in her first eight months in the UK as a stable employee to Newmarket trainer Marco Botti.

She found it exhilarating to be living in racing’s Headquarters and spiritual home, Newmarket, where residents eat and sleep The Sport of Kings.

She later worked for a stud farm before joining Ed Dunlop.

Ed is the son of the 1995 British champion trainer John Dunlop, who won ten British classic races in an illustrious career. John played a pivotal role in the establishment of Middle Eastern influences in British horseracing, training Hatta, Sheikh Mohammed’s first winner as an owner at Brighton in 1977. He was also associated with Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum over a period of three decades.

Ed is immediately associated in world racing circles with the gallant warrior Red Cadeaux, who ran five times in the Melbourne Cup, finishing second three times.

He also trains Trip To Paris, who in 2015 won the Ascot Gold Cup, Britain’s most prestigious event for stayers. He went on to finish fourth in the Melbourne Cup.

Skye works Trip To Paris, among other horses, every day out on the Newmarket heath, which has a vast choice of grass gallops, as well as a polytrack or two.

The jockey qualifying system works differently in the UK to South Africa.

It is up to the trainer to whom the rider is attached to teach them the basics of race riding.

Skye, for example, was able to receive advice not only from Dunlop, but also from the jockeys attached to his yard. She also sought advice from Richard Perham, a former jockey who is now a “Jockey Coach” at the British School of Racing.

She has been able to hone her skills on a equicizer in a gymnasium which is just down the road from Ed’s yard.

It is up to the trainer to recommend youngsters for apprenticeship licenses.

“The trainer must decide whether it is worth taking a chance on a rider making it as a jockey,” explained Skye.

Before applying for the licence the rider should have completed a Level 2 Diploma in Racehorse Care. He or she would also be expected to be confident and competent in galloping a racehorse at speed, riding work on a racehorse and jumping a racehorse out of the starting stalls.

The Apprentice Jockeys licence allows riders aged between 16 and 26 years old, who are in full time paid employment with a UK based Licensed Racehorse Trainer, to ride in flat races against professional jockeys, but with a weight allowance to compensate for their inexperience.

As part of the application, the prospective jockey is required to attend, and satisfactorily complete, a five-day course at either the British Racing School or Northern Racing College. They must also undergo a medical examination.

Apprentice and Conditional jockeys who hold their licence in the UK are entitled to be allocated a qualified Jockey Coach. They receive coaching in all aspects of their careers from technical support to motivation, confidence, fitness and communication skills. The jockeys can continue to receive coaching until they have completed the season in which they ride out their claim. The funding is done through an annual grant from the Horserace Betting Levy Board as well as a contribution of between 3,75% and 7,5% of the jockey’s riding fee.

However, the trainer remains the rider’s guv’nor and Skye had to receive permission from Ed Dunlop to ride out here.

Skye still appreciates her South African roots and her idol is Anton Marcus.

“Anton Marcus is brilliant strategically and knows about his own and every other horse in every race he rides in,” she said. “I aspire to be like him.”

Des and Kim will be cheering for Skye from the course tomorrow and her father Ford will be glued to Tellytrack at 14h45 for the milestone moment.

Skye will be returning to the U.K in about two weeks time in preparation for the British Flat season.

By David Thiselton

Miss Frankel, so disappointing when starting at 5-10 on debut at Kenilworth ten days ago, will not race again before returning to Durban.

Dennis Drier said: “Miss Frankel was 100% afterwards but she just didn’t bring her homework to the track. That has happened before [with other horses] and it will happen again.”

The second foal of champion sprinter Val De Ra, Miss Frankel is the only offspring of the undefeated superstar to race in South Africa so far. Frankel commands a stud fee of £125 000 (R2.1 million). The reports of his daughter’s homework had been good but she was niggled at from the off and managed only seventh of 12 to fellow newcomer Magical Wonderland.

By Michael Clower

The Sun Met racemeeting, celebrated with G.H.Mumm at Kenilworth on Saturday, was of such a high standard in every way it prompted an English owner to call South African racing the best in the world.

Ironically, in Sun International’s first year of sponsorship following the 39 year stint of whisky-producing J&B, the big race winner was named Whisky Baron. The Brett Crawford-trained four-year-old Australian-bred gelding is owned under the banner of Ridgemont Stud, which was formed by the Kieswetter family, Wayne and Belinda and their sons Ross and Craig. It was decided Ross and Craig would race all of this partnership’s male horses in their colours, which are reminiscent of Scotland’s national flag, while the fillies run in the Ridgemont colours.

Craig represented England in one day cricket 71 times, but his career was ended by an eye injury. Mother Belinda was born in Scotland and among entrepreneurial father Wayne’s business ventures is a partnership in a Scottish whisky distillery.

The win gave Crawford a third Met and jockey Greg Cheyne a first. Two years ago Crawford completed the L’Ormarin’s Queen’s Plate and Met double with Futura, only to see the horse depart his yard a few weeks later due to a dispute between the owners. However, fortune compensated him at the end of the same year when he inherited Whisky Baron after a split between the Kieswetters and their original trainer.

Whisky Baron extended his unbeaten run as a gelding to five starts. He and the favourite Legal Eagle were the stand outs in the preliminaries. In the back straight Whisky Baron became trapped wide and his chances hung in the balance. However, this horse has a laid back demeanour and jockey Greg Cheyne had little difficulty in easing him back and slotting him in.

Anton Marcus had to get to work earlier in the straight on Legal Eagle than he had last year as  Captain America and Gold Standard were showing no signs of stopping in front. Whisky Baron was meanwhile making inroads after turning for home about eight lengths off the lead. His white near-fore sock made it easy to see how well he was throwing that leading leg out.

The leading trio’s strides were laboured by the time he had caught them just before the 100m mark and he swept past in machine-like fashion to win by 1,5 lengths. Runner up Legal Eagle was carrying a 2kg Gr 1 penalty, but Whisky Baron was being eased down at the line.

The winner’s stablemate Captain America repeated his third placing from last year. An objection against him by three-year-old Gold Standard was overruled. Second favourite Marinaresco turned for home on Whisky Baron’s heels, but couldn’t match his initial turn of foot. He was finishing fast for fifth. French Navy pipped the filly Bela-Bela for the all important sixth place.

The Vodacom Durban July looks likely to be on Whisky Baron’s radar, so the handicappers’ view of the race will be important.

Earlier, Englishman Dr John Warner had waxed lyrical about South African racing. He had every reason to feel elated as the mare he part-owns, Carry On Alice, had just won the Gr 1 Betting World Cape Flying Championships over 1000m under S’Manga Khumalo. The five-year-old daughter of Captain Al has now won a Gr 1 in all four of her racing seasons.

She is yet to win an Equus award and might be hard pressed to do so in this season’s Sprinter category, because the performance of the day undoubtedly belonged to the Cape Flying runner up, Trip To Heaven. This five-year-old Trippi gelding lost at least five lengths at the start, yet failed by just 0,3 lengths to catch his stablemate. The result gave Sean Tarry a Gr 1 one-two. Gr 1 Mercury Sprint winner Red Ray was third and the filly Jo’s Bond proved her recent defeat of Carry On Alice was no fluke by finishing fourth. The veteran Tevez was a gallant fifth.

Earlier Carry On Alice’s formline had been enhanced when the Candice Bass-Robinson-trained filly Live Life won the US$500,000 CTS Sprint over 1200m under Grant van Niekerk. The Gr 2 Sceptre Stakes victor produced another powerful finish to beat Gr 1 winner Always In Charge. Trippi had one over Captain Al on this occasion. Attenborough was third.

Later, Bass-Robinson’s heart must have sunk when she saw Silver Mountain’s promising run petering out in the Gr 1 Klawervlei Majorca Stakes. However, it didn’t matter in the end as the stablemate, the Silvano filly Nightingale, produced a strong finish to get up, beating Star Express and Goodtime Gal. This was Bass-Robinson’s official first Gr 1 winner, having taken the reins from her legendary father Mike at the beginning of this season. It was also a first Gr 1 win for the familiar duo of jockey Anthony Delpech and owner-breeder Mary Slack since their official retained-status partnership begun.

Earlier, Gold Standard’s Met chances had been enhanced when his Grand Parade Cape Guineas conqueror, the Captain Al colt William Longsword, stormed to victory in the US$500,000 CTS Mile under Anton Marcus, defeating 35/1 shot Copper Force by 1,75 lengths. Dingaans winner Singapore Sling was next best.

The result also enhanced the form chances of the Crawford-trained Count Dubois colt Edict Of Nantes in the Investec Cape Derby. Edict Of Nantes duly won it to give an elated Frankie Dettori a first Gr 1 victory in South Africa, twenty years after missing out on the Queen’s Plate ride on London News due to illness. The Derby race time was nearly five seconds slower than the Met’s. However, the result proved form and distance suitability to be the two ultimate guides.

Crawford’s day had begun with a hair’s breadth victory for Bold Silvano colt Bold Respect in the R1 million Kuda Sprint under Corne Orffer.

Crawford clinched a memorable four-timer when Orffer won the eleventh on Winter Prince.

By David Thiselton

London Call has never been an easy horse to train but Mark Dixon and wife Hailey have persevered and the Kahal gelding posted the seventh win of his career in only eleven outings when winning the Marula Sprint (Non-Black Type) at Scottsville yesterday.

The seven wins have been punctuated by some lengthy breaks and yesterday’s victory came off a three-month spell as Brandon Lerena kept his mount running strongly to the line to easily hold off fellow top weight Barbosa and Sea Fever, a whisker separating the two stable companions.

With very little rain over the past few weeks, Scottsville was riding fast and Lerena had London Call up with the pace throughout, but it was only inside the final furlong that he really got to work with London Call responding gamely to his urgings.

It was a quick double for Dixon who had earlier saddled the consistent Caribbean Day for his fourth victory for owners Blake and Cathy Richard. Although this was only his fifth win from 38 starts, Caribbean Day has been a soldier, placing 18 times for a return of over R400k.

Yesterday’s win came at the expense of some useful younger rivals as Keagan de Melo took the shortest way home off the false rail to easily held off the attentions of the late-charging Capel Top with favourite Monte Christo a well-beaten third.

Mr O’Neill, back in blinkers after his narrow previous victory, notched the third win of his career when comfortably seeing off the opposition in the Soccer 6 Handicap. It took time and gelding for Dean Kannemeyer’s charge to realise the promise he had shown early in his career – at his second start being touched off by Saturday’s Gr 1 Investec Derby runner-up Zodiac Ruler in a race that he could easily have won had he had his mind on the job.

With Champions Season looming, Mr O’Neill may well be a name for the notebook.

By Andrew Harrison

The Sun Met 2017

Greg Cheyne, won on Whisky Baron: “When I asked him for his effort he turned it on superbly. Some horses quicken but this one has two kicks.”

Anton Marcus, second on Legal Eagle: “He tried hard and he ran up to his best. In fact he ran the same race as last year.”

Corne Orffer, third on Captain America: “I thought for a time that he might hold on but then he started running outwards, using up his energy. I could have been a lot closer had he kept straight.”

Richard Fourie, fourth on Gold Standard: “It was a good run but I got interfered with. Captain America carried me out the width of eight horses.”

Grant van Niekerk, fifth on Marinaresco: “He is not travelling in a race like he used to and I need to figure out why his putting in only half the effort he should.”

Weichong Marwing, sixth on French Navy: “Everything went according to plan but he just kept on at the one pace.”

Piere Strydom, eighth on It’s My Turn: “He didn’t take the bend and I had to slap him down the shoulder to keep him in.”

Frankie Dettori, 13^th on The Conglomerate: “He was OK early but he was soon throwing out distress signals. He took me to the straight and then he ran flat.”

By Michael Clower