Warren Lenferna

It was a training feat of absolute note by Eric Sands, who had the exceptionally bred son of Fire Away, Foudre, ready to make a winning comeback to what he was born and bred to do. He had not raced since 31 January 2024, yet he was presented today looking as if he had run only a few weeks ago. He is out of the champion mare Halfway To Heaven, making him a sibling to Golden Ducat, Hawwaam, and Rainbow Bridge. Sands trained all the siblings except for Hawwaam (he was the underbidder), who was trained by Mike de Kock.

It is no surprise that Foudre was sent to Sands, given his remarkable track record with the family—he even trained Halfway To Heaven herself. Retained rider for Khaya Stables, Craig Zackey, gave this handsome thoroughbred a perfectly judged ride, steering him past the line to score a convincing comeback victory. Zackey is in such good form that, if you look closely, there is smoke coming off his silks.

Later in the afternoon, while checking on his string at his Milnerton-based yard, Sands reflected on the journey with the son of Fire Away. He described it as a tough road, as Foudre was returning from a tendon issue. Sands paid huge compliments to physio Sue Franklin, who helped nurture the horse back to his best with constant, careful maintenance.

“1200m was always going to be too short for him, and he impressed me today,” said Sands. He added that he was extremely thankful to Mrs Mary Slack and Lady Christine Laidlaw for their support, patience, and willingness to allow him to do whatever was required for this gelding.

Race 3 saw Rose Woott catch the eye in a Maiden Plate over 1600m for fillies. She is a magnificent daughter of Wootton Bassett, ridden by the in-form Serino Moodley and trained on the West Coast by Andre Nel. She showed a promising debut over 1400m, finishing only 3.35 lengths off Red Beryl, and followed up with a fourth-place effort over the same trip, 2.30 lengths behind Boozy Susie.

Today, stepped up to 1600m from an acceptable draw, she showed her true potential, winning well and beating La Patrona. There was no sign of Ms Sakura, who caught the eye on debut when finishing second to Dark Matter in KZN. She most likely needed the run today, having last been seen in KZN 26 weeks ago. A beautiful filly with a stunning pedigree, there is little doubt she will build on this effort.

The last race of the day went the way of Tulip Fields from the Dean Kannemeyer yard in a tight finish. Stable rider Craig Zackey gave her everything and got her up in the shadow of the post. Speaking of shadows, the runner-up La Landonne jumped a shadow from the grandstand yet still never went down without a fight. She, too, is a striking filly from the Snaith yard who should go on to win races.

We now look forward to three features this coming weekend, with the headliner being the Grade 2 Race Cape Punters Cup.