An act of kindness
IT could have been termed ‘the day of the elephants’ at Greyville last Wednesday because by amazing coincidence an amateur golfer named Don Oliphant became the unsung hero in saving a panic-stricken filly called Elephant Matriarch from serious injury or worse.
Trainer Dennis Bosch was particularly grateful to Oliphant for his selfless act of kindness, as the filly escaped with only a few scratches, and said, “I would really like to thank the gentleman on the golf course who caught her.”
Oliphant is a member of Royal Durban Golf Club, which lies within the bounds of the racecourse, and was on the 17th hole of his regular Wednesday afternoon competition round when the horse suddenly came bolting across the fairway.
He and his playing companions then watched in horror as she somersaulted into a water hazard.
Oliphant played down his role and said, “There was not much to it really. I walked over and as I got there she was coming out of the water. My voice seemed to calm her and I managed to grab the rein and then when I began patting her on the neck she calmed down even more.”
Oliphant admits to not being a horseman at all, so his rescue act will be recognised as most kind and selfless. Even experienced professionals of the horseracing game would only ever approach a flighty thoroughbred with extreme caution due to the obvious dangers.
Elephant Matriarch has a “lovely temperament” at home at Summerveld, but becomes “up tight” on the racecourse and consequently becomes a bit headstrong down at the start. She is “a big, strong filly” and had to be fitted with a hood before entering the starting stalls of the fourth race over 1 000m on Wednesday in order to keep her calm. However, on this occasion she panicked after being installed, bowled the handler out of the way and burst through the front gates. There was now the rare, but potentially calamitous situation, of a horse bolting with the hood still on.
Bosch was thankful for the “horse friendly” rails made of plastic, which were installed at Greyville a few years ago, as she thrust straight through them without injury. Oliphant has seen many horses bolting on the racecourse in his time, but this was the first time he had seen one on the golf course. By the time he had reached her the hood had fortunately come off.
Bosch has given Elephant Matriarch a few days off to allow her to recover from the incident. Veterinarians have passed her fit and she will resume full training tomorrow (Monday).
Bosch rates her a “beautiful filly” with a bright future, especially on the Greyville polytrack, where she won her maiden so comfortably in August she was accorded an 80 merit rating by the handicappers. She has since come down to 77 after four more slightly disappointing runs.
The Royal Durban Golf Club members are a tightly knit group and generally keep an eye on the racing, so are now likely to follow Elephant Matriarch’s career with keen interest. A glass or two will be raised to Don Oliphant from the always lively bar area the next time she passes the line in front and a few rand could perhaps be added to the drinks kitty in the process.
THE Christmas period will no doubt have some rainy days in which watching DVD’s is the obvious form of entertainment and a racing movie well worth watching which has slipped under the radar, at least in this country, is 50 to 1, the incredible true story of a group of misfit cowboys who travel their horse Mine That Bird 1,700 miles in a horsebox from New Mexico to Churchill Downs to run in the 2009 Kentucky Derby, where he starts biggest outsider at odds of 50/1. The acting is excellent and the racing scenes, in which Hall Of Fame jockey Calvin Borel plays himself, contain breath taking live footage. The movie magnificently captures the glory of being part of one of the most celebrated races in the world and puts into perspective an inspirational statement made in this country by Summerhill Stud’s Mick Goss who, when talking about his Grandfather Pat Goss, related, “One horse, he’d say, that’s all it takes.”