Captain Chaos gave Ronnie Sheehan one of his biggest wins for a long time when striding away from the opposition in the Cape Of Good Hope Nursery at Kenilworth yesterday and, what is more, the veteran trainer reckons there is more to come.
Grant van Niekerk sent the 9-1 shot to the front a furlong out and his mount strode away to beat the strong-finishing 33-1 chance The Stone Thrower by three and a half lengths with the winning jockey punching the air in delight. Van Niekerk said: “This is a good horse, he quickens well and he was taking on what are probably the best two-year-olds in the Cape at the moment.”
Sheehan added: “I have never had a Captain Al before and I am over the moon. He is a top horse and when he goes over 1 600m he will be even better.”
The disappointment of the race was Tar Heel who started at 13-20 and managed only fourth with Anton Marcus reporting: “”Obviously he wasn’t the same horse as last time.”
Richard Fourie and Justin Snaith followed up Legislate’s great win by taking the Kenilworth Fillies Nursery with Petala, leaving Chris Snaith to reflect on what might have been had that devastating virus not struck at the height of the summer season. He said: “It was a terrible virus and it affected all the horses although the two-year-olds recovered faster than the others.
“Training is a juggling act. You try to keep as many balls in the air at the same time as you possibly can but when you drop the whole lot it’s very hard to start again.”
Riaan van Reenen was talking about balls of a different kind when Red Rex slammed his head against the wall of his racecourse stable a month ago – “I said that they had to come off. He knocked his face against the wall so aggressively that he knocked teeth out. It was horrible to see.”
Seemingly the operation worked a treat because Morne Winnaar was able to deliver him with a strong run to lead just inside the last 100m of the Soccer 6 Maiden and spring a 20-1 surprise. Van Reenen added: “He’s got a skew leg and one cloudy eye that means he can’t see properly but he will win more races.”
Stan Elley is still puzzling over the disappointing run of Betting World 1900 winner Dynastic Power in Saturday’s Cup Trial won by stable companion Punta Arenas. Dynastic Power was backed from 7-1 to 11-2 but finished with only one behind him.
Elley said: “He was 100% sound this morning (Sunday). He did have a foot abscess between the 1900 and this run and, while that should not have accounted for it, he was on antibiotics for four or five days and that may have left an effect.”
Robert Khathi travelled to Nairobi to renew his successful association with the David Southey–bred Happy Times. The Casey Tibbs filly started long odds-on for the Kenya St Leger and won easily. Khathi had already ridden her to victory in the Kenya Derby, Oaks and Fillies Guineas. He is convinced she would have won all five classics had she not been reluctant to load in the Guineas and been withdrawn by the starter.
By Michael Clower
Picture: Ronnie Sheehan and Captain Chaos (with Grant van Niekerk up) – Equine Edge
