Nel in no rush
ANDRE Nel (pictured) is determined not to be hurried in his search for a replacement when Aldo Domeyer takes up his post with Candice BassRobinson at the end of the month – and there is a possibility that Domeyer could still be involved.
Nel said: “I have approached a couple of jockeys but they can’t give me an answer while another has approached me.
“It will be the boss’s (Sabine Plattner’s) decision but we are not going to rush into anything and, if we have to freelance for a couple of months, then we will.
“Aldo is still putting in all the hours and being very professional about everything. He wants to continue to ride work for us and I will put him on those for which he is free.”
Kampala Campari
Domeyer certainly earned his R5,375 percentage on Kampala Campari in the mile handicap at Kenilworth on Saturday as the 13-10 favourite fought it out with Earth Hour and Richard Fourie – a hard man to beat at the moment – for much of the final furlong and secured a short head verdict only on the nod.
He had a much easier time of it on Straat-Kind in the 1 000m maiden with the even money newcomer leading just under two furlongs out and striding away like a good thing.
Nel said: “She wasn’t on the list for Durban but she might be now.
“However I don’t think she is a star by any means. I probably had her more ready than I would have wanted with a firsttimer as she came here on New Year’s Eve but had to be scratched after being injured in transit.”
Domeyer is bullish about Kampala Campari, Nel’s 40th winner of the season, and said: “He is on the up and he is improving.
“There are exciting times ahead for him.”
Most of Nel’s horses have class written all of them – appearance as well as pedigree – but for trainers working their way up from the bottom rung of the ladder with bargain basement-level stock life can be very difficult.
Few work harder than the busy Paul Reeves and his family for whom this has been a frustrating and largely unrewarding season.
But that all changed on Saturday when Grant Behr landed a 98-1 double on Finn’s Rebel and Sunshine Lady to treble the stable’s score for the campaign. Apparently Finn’s Rebel was particularly satisfying.
Nanna Anna
Reeves, who has high hopes for Nanna Anna on Wednesday, explained: “Finn’s Rebel works like a machine at home – I’ve got nothing that can go with him, he kills everything. But he has been very disappointing on the racecourse.”
It is about this time of year that Vaughan Marshall unleashes his Scottsville Grade 1 contenders and the well-backed Valedictorian certainly looked the part when coming home the best part of five lengths clear under MJ Byleveld in the first.
However the Milnerton trainer played down expectations, saying: “He is a nice colt but there will be better than him around.”
Cheryl Gabler has owned horses for over 20 years but the Geoff Woodrufftrained Aviatrix, the middle leg of Domeyer’s treble, is the first for which husband Reiner has had his name in the racecard.
Needless to say, he will never match his wife’s racing record.
She was there when Sea Cottage deadheated for the Durban July half a century ago and she still has a hair of the horse’s tail to prove it.
Brett Crawford is more concerned with this year’s race and, while neither Scriptwriter nor Argo Solo will make the line-up, they cemented their trainer’s third place on the national log and put him on the 67 winner-mark.