Turffontein picks
Trainer Brett Crawford flew to England on Thursday to check on his star performer Whisky Baron without the Horse of the Year trophy in his suitcase.
The Cape trainer, who was third in last season’s national log, will have had high hopes that Whisky Baron or his other top horse, Captain America, would win the award.
The Equus panel voted for Sean Tarry’s champion Legal Eagle, who secured the Horse of the Year award for the second consecutive year.
Several pundits believed that Whisky Baron’s defeat of Legal Eagle in the Sun Met might tip the scales in favour of the Aussie import. However, the panel did not agree, believing that Legal Eagle’s L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate and HF Oppenheimer Horse Chestnut victories were all important.
The Equus banquet was a triumph for champion trainer Sean Tarry, who saw another of his stars, Carry On Alice, walk off
2 Discoveror, 1 Miesque’s Rumba, 4 Sea Lord, 9 Pocahontas Girl
12 Think Twice, 1 Rolled Silver, 3 Kings Creek, 2 Lady Defender
7 Greek Fire, 1 Imperial Ounce, 5 Artax, 4 Over Easy
11 Sir David Baird, 8 Galactic Warrior, 4 Darkest Hour, 10 Levendi
11 Cathedral County, 6 Tandava, 2 Angel’s Power, 4 Isphan
1 Secret Harbour, 6 Hyperactive, 2 Mission Contro,l 4 Bono
5 She’s A Dragon, 2 Runalong, 7 High Seas Beauty, 1 Peggy Jay
5 Full Mast, 7 Dawnbreaker, 6 Post Grad, 2 Trip To Rio
7 Monarch Air, 1 Blue Berry Pie, 5 September Bloom, 8 Rose Water
with two awards, Champion Sprinter.
Mayfair Speculators continue to dominate the leading owner award in the same way that Roger Federer dominates Wimbledon. Steinhoff boss Markus Jooste has probably lost count of the number of times he has won the trophy.
There was some consolation
including for Crawford as Whisky Baron was voted Champion MiddleDistance Horse and another star in his stable, Edict Of Nantes, won the Champion Three-YearOld Colt award.
The award for the Champion Three-Year-Old Filly went to Just Sensual.
Dennis Drier’s unbeaten two-year-old filly Lady In Black was favourite to secure the Champion Two-Year-Old Filly award after winning three races in a row and duly got the nod. She looks on course for a successful second season.
Few pundits would argue that Mike de Kock fully deserved the Equus panel’s Industry Award given the way he has put SA on the map with numerous international successes.
After ending fifth in the national log, it probably was not De Kock’s finest season here or Dubai, but the award was recognition of his brilliance that was evident over two decades.
The second session of the National Two Year Old Sale continues at the TBA complex in Germiston on Friday.
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