Sun Met gallops scrapped
THIS season’s Sun Met gallops have been scrapped – much to the relief of several of the trainers. The R5 million race closes on 10 January and the published conditions contain the usual stipulation that “all runners participate in public gallops scheduled for Thursday, 18 January, failing which the horse may be declared ineligible to run.”
But Kenilworth duty manager Teresa Esplin said yesterday: “The trainers don’t want these gallops which are a bit close to the race but also we are doing this in the best interests of the horses.
“Every time you travel them to the racecourse you are putting them at risk and some of them can get stirred up.”
More and more trainers have been working horses on their own so that they do not over-exert themselves.
And, although these gallops have become increasingly popular with the public, the performances have been more and more difficult to assess with no second horse with which to make comparisons.
Justin Snaith, one of the biggest critics of the gallops, said: “This is the best news I’ve heard all year. Apart from anything else nine days beforehand was too close to the race. Indeed if people want to see the horses gallop they can see them in the L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate as many of them also take part in that.
Mandatory
“Making the gallops mandatory was a bit like saying to everyone in the Comrades Marathon ‘we also want to see you run nine days beforehand.’”
The draws, normally done straight after the gallops, will now be done at a function later on 18 January during the Kenilworth racemeeting which has been transferred from the previous day.
The meeting on Wednesday 29 November will also be run on a Thursday. France Galop, a significant contributor to Tote turnover in South Africa, requested the switch to the 30th and for the card to be increased in size so that French punters have something to watch and bet on early in the afternoon and in the evening. There will now be 11 races (assuming they can all be filled!) on the card.
Snaith ended a run of 40 consecutive Cape Town losers when Richard Fourie got 13-2 chance Sassy Lady up in the last two strides of the Play Soccer Handicap at Kenilworth.
He said: “We are still high on the trainers’ log but it was all getting a bit annoying because it’s been hard finding races for a lot of our horses.
“Nothing in training horses is ever plain-sailing.
“There is a lot of hard work involved and you need things to go your way.”
Sassy Lady cost only R30 000 and is owned by a syndicate headed by longterm stable patron Eddie Powell.
She will now be aimed at the $500 000 CTS 1200 on Met day. THE outstanding three-year-old filly Enable was named the Cartier Horse of the Year at the 27th annual Cartier Racing Awards, European horseracing’s equivalent of the Oscars on Tuesday night.
The 2017 Cartier Racing Awards are presented at a glittering ceremony before an invited audience of 300 at the Dorchester Hotel in London.
From the first crop of Nathaniel, Enable recorded five consecutive Gr1 victories in 2017. Owned by Khalid Abdullah, trained by John Gosden in Newmarket and ridden by Frankie Dettori, Enable was impressive against her own sex in two Classics, the Investec Oaks at Epsom Downs and the Darley Irish Oaks at the Curragh, winning by five lengths each time, before easily defeating all-aged, all-sex opposition in Ascot’s King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes.
After capturing a third Oaks at York in August, the Gr1 Darley Yorkshire Oaks, Enable created history by becoming the first British-trained filly to win Europe’s most valuable race, the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Chantilly.
Her comfortable two and a half-length victory against a high-class field was an outstanding performance and the prospect of Enable staying in training in 2018 whets the appetite of all racing enthusiasts.
The three other Cartier Horse of the Year nominees were Cracksman, Ribchester and Ulysses.
Enable also easily took the honours in the Cartier ThreeYear-Old Filly Award from Winter, Lady Aurelia and Roly Poly, while her stable companion Cracksman, owned by Anthony Oppenheimer, was the Cartier Three-Year-Old Colt following his impressive seven-length success in the Gr1 QIPCO Champion Stakes at Ascot in October.
Cracksman saw off challenges from Harry Angel, Churchill and Barney Roy.
Even by his own incredibly high standards, Ireland's champion trainer Aidan O'Brien enjoyed an outstanding 2017 as he sent out a worldwide record of 27 Gr1 winners. O’Brien is responsible for both the 2017 Cartier Two-Year-Old Colt, U S Navy Flag, and the Cartier TwoYear-Old Filly, Happily, while Order Of St George scoops the Cartier Stayer Award for the second year in succession.
Thrilling Harry Angel
Thrilling Harry Angel was the winner of the 2017 Cartier Sprinter Award. The Godolphinowned three-year-old colt, trained by Clive Cox, showed tremendous versatility with victories over six furlongs on good to firm ground in Newmarket's G1 Darley July Cup and on heavy ground in the G1 32Red Sprint Cup at Haydock Park. He finished on top from Marsha, Battaash and Lady Aurelia.
Ulysses is the Cartier Older Horse for 2017, after registering a Gr1 10-furlong double in the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown Park and the Juddmonte International at York, though it was a close-run affair with star miler Ribchester. Highland Reel and Talismanic were the other two nominees.
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