David Thiselton

The South African racing fraternity woke up to the sad news yesterday that the legendary Hall Of Fame trainer Ormond Ferraris had passed away after a short illness.

He passed away peacefully at his retirement home in Plettenberg Bay yesterday morning, 10 June, surrounded by people he loved dearly, his sons David and Paul, grandson Luke, granddaughter Caroline and stepdaughters, Kim and Leigh.

Ormond was inducted into the South African Hall of Fame on Champions Day at Turffontein on Saturday, 29 March 2025, two days  before his 93rd birthday.

He had saddled no fewer than ten Oaks winners, including Pretty Border, St Just and Lambarina.

He also prepared eight Derby winners, including the outstanding Distinctly, Newmarket Triple Crown winner Fine Regent, and The Monk, and he won the 2013 Triple Tiara with Cherry On The Top.

Another of Ferraris’ great legacies will be the role he played as a mentor. He played a pivotal role in shaping the careers of champion trainers David Ferraris, Mike de Kock, and Michael Clements, as well as leading trainers Weiho Marwing, Weichong Marwing and Sharon Kotzen.

Yet, what he held dearest was his founding of the Trainers Benevolent Fund, which he personally managed from 1970 to 2022 before handing it over to a private accountant.

Ferraris said about the fund just over a year ago, “The saddest thing I’ve seen in all my years in racing is the passing of many good horsemen without a penny to their names. We tried to help as many as we could, despite limited funding from racing authorities. Resources are now at a minimum, but we built a reserve that I hope will last a few more years.”

Ferraris briefly worked as a trainee antiques dealer in downtown Johannesburg before becoming workrider and then assistant trainer to George Weale in 1949 and 1950 respectively.

In 1954, he was granted his own trainer’s licence and saddled his first winner, Shenandoah, at Gosforth Park on 14 August of that year.

Ferraris went on to train approximately 2,600 more winners before retiring in May 2019, never handling a string of more than 60 runners.

Racing scribe Charl Pretorius ghost wrote Ormond’s autobiography “Thoroughly”.

The book reaffirmed Ferraris’ reputation as a dedicated trainer who put his horses first.

Ormond developed expertise in all facets of training and his most rewarding finds at the Sales ranged from a R200 purchase to the brilliant Australian-bred Tracy’s Element.

His dedication to his profession was in fact emphasised on the day he spotted Tracy’s Element.

It followed an exhausting flight to Australia, but rather than rest in the hotel and wait for the next day he went straight to the Sales grounds where he spotted the filly walking by soon after arriving there.

He was beside himself with excitement and upon returning to the hotel he informed owner Paddy Hinton that he had seen perfection. His expert eye and intuition proved to be a hundred percent correct. Tracy’s Element had 19 starts for 11 wins, four of them Gr 1s and three of those were against the boys, the Gold Medallion, the Computaform Sprint and the Star Sprint and she also won the SA Fillies Sprint.

The book confirmed Ormond to be a forthright man.

The first time a wealthy owner pushed him too far the twenty-seven year-old Ormond drove to the latter’s office, jumped over the receptionists desk and barged into his office.

“Get your horses out of my yard!”, or something to that effect, were the last words he said to a few owners, including that one.

However, this never stopped him progressing steadily and the reason for this was emphasised through another incident.

Ormond was warned by a colleague, after he had given one particular owner the “Get out!” command, he should perhaps have been more circumspect because this particular man had a reputation as one not to be messed with.

Ormond believed his end might be nigh when he came to a lonely bridge on the way to the track early in one of the ensuing mornings to find this man’s car blocking the path.

However, after approaching the car with trepidation, it turned out the owner was only there to beg Ormond to take his horses back.

Ormond was training at The Vaal at the time of that incident and had moved there after a stint at Newmarket.

His career in fact truly took off at the Vaal.

His reasons for the move, i.e. the training tracks had no clay underneath them and thus drained well, proved spot on.

Ormond had up and down relationships with jockeys, but developed flourishing partnerships with the good ones, with fierce loyalty being a determining factor.

The pressure was high on trainers in the old days when they did not get a percentage of the prize money and had to rely on betting. In fact this pressure was so great that in the mid 1960s Ormond packed up training and turned to sheep farming.

Luckily for SA racing, the latter stint did not last long!

There were then the boom years of the 1970s,1980s and first part of 1990, when massive crowds attended the races and the quality of the thoroughbreds competing was outstanding, as it had also been in the 1960s.

They horses were bred tougher in those days and this is emphasised when Ormond states matter-of-factly that his top class colt Distinctly made his debut over 800m on October 10 of his two-year-old season!

Of course Distinctly is at the centre of Ormond’s most disappointing day on a racecourse in the 1975 July, where he believes, but for interference from Gatecrasher, Distinctly would have won by four to five lengths.

Another aspect mentioned by Ormond is that throughout the dark days of apartheid peace and harmony existed between the various races of South Africa on the race course, even in the times when they were forced on to separate grandstands.

Former jockey and now Summerveld trainer Dennis Bosch summed up Ormond is one sentence yesterday morning.

He said, “In racing Mr Ferraris said it as it was, there was no beating around the bush, but out of racing he was the nicest, kindest man you could ever meet. He not only started the benevolent fund for trainers. but I believe he also built a beautiful church for the previously disadvantaged. He was a super guy and a great trainer.”

Ormond was still active into his 90s assisting trainer Weichong Marwing at Turffontein, where the pair once formed a lethal partnership with Ormond as trainer and Weichong as jockey.

Andrew Harrison

Keagan De Melo will have learned plenty about pace in Hong Kong, one of the most competitive racing jurisdictions on the planet, and he put that knowledge to good effect as he got Vapour Trail home in the Progress Plate that headed the poly card at Hollywoodbets Greyville yesterday.

Blinkered for the first time, De Melo had Vaughan Marshal’s charge quickly out of the gate and into the lead but setting a sedate gallop as the gelding settled comfortably into the bridle.

Powerandtheglory was always in contention but favourite Hah Lah Lah was giving Craig Zackey a torrid time. Dropped in off the pace as is the want with Dean Kannemeyer-trained runners, Hah Lah Lah was having none of it, fighting for his head and eventually forcing Zackey to track wide to prevent him running into the heels of the opposition.

De Melo quickened up the pace off the false rail and Vapour Trail was not for the catching as he kept rolling. Powerandtheglory tried gamely to stay in touch but was unable to make up the leeway and as a half-brother to WSB Cape Town Met winner Double Superlative a trip further than yesterday’s 1400m must be on the cards.

Hah La La blew his chances in the early fight with Zackey and his powder was damp come the chase for home.

Louis Goosen’s filly Meeksha was a popular choice in the card opener but the result boiled down to a successful objection. Meeksha and Tiger Cody were involved in a desperate finish but did come together a couple of times. There was a nod of the heads at the line with Tiger Cody on the right side of the photo finish but on the wrong side of the objection and the result was reversed.

Master Of My Fate is the hottest stallion in the country of late and the white-faced Splash Of Love added another to his growing tally of winners as Paul Lafferty’s filly made short work of her opposition in the second.

Greek Heiress made most of the running but she quickly ran out of gas in the straight leaving her challenger in the market, Gimme The Power, racing into the lead. However, her challenge was also short lived as Splash Of Love shot clear crossing the subway and went on to win unchallenged with Indignation running on late to relegate a tiring Gimme The Power into third.

It was a day of close finishes with little more than a piece of paper separating Shiny Bob and Circle Of Grace in the D Stakes. Circle Of Grace came off a win at the Vaal and got a five-point increase in the handicap while Shiny Bob’s jockey was replaced by a 4kg claimer. Circle Of Grace made the running and tried gamely to hold on to his advantage but the weights told a tail.

RACE 1

SNOWBLADE made an encouraging 1000m debut and is open to any amount of improvement over this distance. EXPERT WITNESS and KNIGHT HEIST also made pleasing sprint introductions and should, on pedigree, be better suited to this extended trip. WARTRAX BLAZE, POGINI GREINE and CRIMSON RANGER will know more about it too after much-needed educational outings. Newcomer RAFE’S ORACLE is bred to be useful so warrants consideration – watch the betting.

RACE 2

Well-related FREESTYLE DANCE finished more than 4 lengths ahead of FOREST ACT on debut and, while the latter should improve with the benefit of that experience, FREESTYLE DANCE should have the measure of that rival as well as re-opposing EMPRESS OF PEACE over this extended trip. However, it could pay to side with well-bred FEAST OF BERRIES whose 1160m debut was encouraging. Her pedigree also suggests that this distance will be more to her liking.

RACE 3

HEROIC ACT, COMIC ARTIST and the returning INCLUSION all have the form and experience to acquit themselves competitively but are vulnerable to less-exposed rivals. Both DOCTOR STRANGELOVE and EVENING NEWS fall into that category and have shown enough over shorter distances to suggest that they can fight out the finish if making the expected improvement over this extended trip. EPIDAURUS has earning potential too.

RACE 4

Progressive FUTURE GAMBLE has thrived on the Highveld. She recently reeled off a hat-trick of 2000m victories, each win more impressive than the last, and the 8-point penalty for her latest wide-margin beating of male opposition may not be enough to prevent her from following up. Consistent last-start scorer INTO DANCING remains competitive off a career-high mark and will keep the selection honest. Hard-knockers AVOONTOAST, MOUNT ETNA and AZALEAS FOR ALL are proven at this level and likely to make their presence felt too. BAKWENA and SURPRISE PARTY also have the means to get involved.

RACE 5

APOSTROPHE, PLAY WITH FIRE and ROSY LEMON are closely matched on the form of an 1800m meeting last month and there shouldn’t be much separating them on revised terms. The latter was too far out of her ground on that occasion so will appreciate the extra 200m and could turn the tables over this trip. FALCONFLY should also enjoy stretching out to 2000m after a pleasing 1600m comeback, while recent scorer INSTANT ATTRACTION is distance suited and likely to remain competitive under a resultant penalty.

RACE 6

JUST THE TWO OF US has found her niche racing with cheekpieces fitted. She was a good 3rd against male opposition at a higher level last time and a repeat of that performance could suffice in same-sex company. ANCHORAGE, BRIGHT AND BRAZEN and VERSACE ONTHETRACK are closely matched on the form of recent meetings, so they should be in the shake-up. DAME OF TRIX and MISS ARGONAUT are others with earning potential.

RACE 7

TEMPRANILLO returns from a rest but is open to improvement and unbeaten over this track and trip. BLINDFIRE, DUCHESS ZAHRA and KIA KAHA should have more to offer back in same-sex company off reduced ratings, while POWER OF PEARLS is another to consider on her handicap debut under a 1.5kg claimer. JAZZ PIANIST has dropped to a career-low mark in her peak outing and a repeat of her latest performance (3rd) at a higher level should be good enough in this grade.

RACE 8

RINGA RINGA ROSES is course-and-distance suited and has remained competitive off her current mark at a higher level. TRAIL RUNNER and VAMANOS are better than their recent 1200m efforts suggest and a return to this trip should suit both fillies. PRINCESS KEIRA and PRINCESS ILARIA will be involved if building on improved recent performances. BLUSHING BLOOM and SAKURA HANAMI also have earning potential.

RACE 9

Maturing TRACKSUIT DAVE was beaten by a well-handicapped older rival at this level last time and a similar performance off an unchanged mark, even under top weight, will see him go close to winning. ELUSIVE RED and LONGSWORD are closely matched on recent form. Both made eye-catching late headway in a stronger 1400m contest last time and will be competitive if reproducing those efforts. Hard-knockers LEGENDARY, MICHAEL FARADAY, MATTIAZO and BLOOMINGTON can never be ignored at this level either.

Please note: the scheduled Turf meeting at Fairview on Friday, 12 June 2026 has been moved to the Polytrack due to inconsistent penetrometer readings ranging from 35 to 55.

2400m races will now be run over 2200m.