Snaith’s big plans for Kasimir
JUSTIN Snaith is set on making Kasimir Equus Champion Sprinter after Richard Fourie’s mount followed up his Cape Flying Championship success by taking the Khaya Stables Diadem Stakes at a crowd-filled Kenilworth on Saturday.
“Sprinter of the Year is a big thing for me and Kasimir has won every main sprint race we could throw at him this season,” he said.
“He won’t go for the Computaform – he will have a break – but he will go to Durban for the Mercury Sprint.”
Snaith, also on the mark with the Corne Orffer-ridden Libra, was limping like the proverbial wounded soldier – apparently the result of a swollen foot developed as he tried to get himself ready to race.
There were no shortage of medical experts in the crowd offering advice including one woman who had a Latin name for the affliction and a dire warning of what would happen if he does nothing about it.
Speedpoint
Joey Ramsden was a little unlucky not to win the Diadem with 44-1 shot Speedpoint who was fast closing the gap and went down by only a short head. He had better luck with Rose In Bloom in the same Brian and Kathy Finch colours in the Vasco Prix Du Cap, thanks in no small part to a powerpacked S’Manga Khumalo ride.
Ramsden, winning this for the sixth time in 15 seasons, said: “She is an absolute superstar. She got pneumonia coming back from Jo’burg and was in hospital for 12 days. Yet she promptly finished fourth in the Sceptre. She is for sale and she is piro-free.”
But it was Vaughan Marshall who stole the show with his latest Captain Al star.
Captain Of Stealth,a R500 000 CTS Premier purchase, was backed from evens to 6-10 for the 1 400m Divine Jet Maiden Juvenile, led after two and a half furlongs and coasted home over five lengths clear with M.J. Byleveld waving his index finger as if he had a message to impart.
Indeed he had, saying: “This horse has a massive action and a huge cruising speed, and my only concern was that he had never been off the bit.”
Marshall, who also trains his triple wining half-sister Rocket Girl, confirmed that the colt will go the One World route (Langerman) and added: “He is a super horse. I think he is something special.”
He is 20% owned by Johannesburg-based John Habib and 80% by a thrilled Pat Freestone who also part owns Rocket Girl and related: “I said to Vaughan at the sales that I wanted to have a go at the big time but this was the first occasion I realised that he was going to be good. It was more than exciting. Indeed I’m still shaking – but boy oh boy, he didn’t want to stop. What can he do next?”
Next on the agenda for the first two legs of a Candice BassRobinson/Aldo Domeyer treble is Durban.
Vandah’s Spirit, who made it look so easy in the Kepu Trading Juvenile, goes for the Allan Robertson at Scottsville while Aeolus OTR Kenilworth Cup winner Pacific Chestnut has the Gold Vase and the eLan Gold Cup on his bucket list.
Anthony Andrews now has some idea of how John The Baptist felt – only in his case the wilderness lasted four times as long – yet throughout the barren spell he has remained cheerful (outwardly anyway) and positive, and he rode a peach of a race to win the Selangor Jet Master on Run Red.
“Anthony is an unsung hero. He rides a lot of our work at home yet he doesn’t really get the chances,” said Andre Nel, paying tribute.
William Bambiso made his experience tell on River Rhone in the Work Riders Maiden but the stipes were so appalled at the general standard of riding that they had all six of them in and warned them that their licences could be in jeopardy if improve. their riding does not
The size of the crowd, and the overall atmosphere, attracted favourable comment from a succession of Tellytrack interviewees. Events Officer Clinton Theys, who is entitled to take a bow, said: “At a thumbsuck we had between 3 500 and 4 000 here although it seemed more than last year. Certainly people stayed longer this time.” TRAINERS are expressing concern about security following the horrific attack on Eric Sands at Cape Town’s Milnerton Training Centre last week.
The Sun Met-winning trainer, who is 62, was in the yard of his stables around 6.00pm last Wednesday when an intruder burst in wielding an axe and charged towards Sands.
The trainer, with considerable presence of mind and no little courage, ran at the man and hit him with the point of his shoulder.
The assailant lost his balance and fell. But Sands’ advantage was short-lived. Three more men appeared and they were armed with knives.
In no time it was Sands who was on the ground and in mortal danger. One of the trio was intent on smashing his face in.
“He had a pellet gun. I was on my back and I couldn’t really move. I saw him lift the gun and prepare to bring it down, butt first, into my face,” Sands related. “In the last fraction of a second I managed to move my head sideways and the butt only grazed my cheek.”
It was a bit more than a graze - the scar is still clearly visible. The men tied up Sands in his office before making off with R7 500 in cash as well as some foreign currency left over from overseas trips.
There was a security man on duty but he was on the road frontage side of the stables guarding the cars. Apparently he is under orders to stay put until the last of the cars has left and, in any case, he heard nothing.
However somebody obviously knew that there was cash on the premises and tipped off the raiders. Sands has let it be known that he is prepared to pay a reward for information leading to the arrest of the men and he has so far received some feedback.
Greg Ennion, whose yard adjoins Sands’ stables, said: “It is believed that the quality of the security has deteriorated markedly over the last two years. They must improve it. We are paying for security as it is included in our rent.”
Candice Bass-Robinson’s yard is further up the road and she said: “Phumelela has to work on this. It happened to Harold Crawford a few years ago (November 2013) and we can’t have this sort of thing – otherwise it’s only a matter of time before it happens to us all.”
She pointed to the obvious dangers of a woman sitting in the office of a yard on her own but she was thinking, not of herself, but of assistant Mel Arnold who is often working there on a Saturday afternoon when the rest of the complex is either off duty or at the races.
The most famous Milnerton attack came over 20 years ago when Joey Ramsden, then assistant to Vaughan Marshall, was attacked by two men when he was paying the wages. One had a gun and the other a knife which he plunged into Ramsden’s padded jacket.