Big Joburg yards eye Champs Day spoils

The national trainer championship is all over bar the shouting, but there are still plenty of big-race trophies and bagsful of prizemoney for the country’s hard-working conditioners to aim for.

Highveld trainers like Mike and Mathew de Kock, Sean Tarry and Tony Peter have their horses fighting fit for Saturday’s big race meeting at Turffontein – hoping to capitalise on the absence of Cape Town’s Justin Snaith, who is an hilarious 1-50 favourite to be 2024/25 champion.

The De Kock operation, revitalised by a newly hatched father/son partnership, looks particularly strong on the day, with several young, up-and-coming runners topping betting boards through the card.

Master strategist Tarry likes to time his seasonal campaigns to peak for the large purses on offer in autumn and winter. He saddles 13 horses on Saturday and it would be a surprise if he wasn’t rewarded.

Peter, youthful and energetic, is fiercely determined to establish his place among the training elite and knows that garlands and accolades on a prestigious race day decorate a route to the top.

Small, but quality field

Interestingly, back in the day, Snaith was an occasional upcountry raider – even winning the Grade 1 Empress Club Stakes with the mighty Dancer’s Daughter.

This time around, the Empress Club has attracted seven Joburg-based fillies. It’s a disappointingly small field but one packed with quality and an intriguing age split between three- and four-year-olds.

Lightly raced Spumante Dolce, from the De Kock yard, will start as the favourite – following three wins in a row at the start of her career. She performed badly in her last outing but was reported to have mucus in her trachea that day and we are advised to forget the run.

Stablemate White Pearl enters into betting considerations after a praiseworthy effort in male company in the recent Horse Chestnut.

VJ’s Angel

The principal threat to Spumante Dolce seems to be Peter-trained VJ’s Angel, a Grade 1 winner who looks handily weighted with her opposition.

Peter has Grade 1 Computaform Sprint aspirations with Pistol Pete and Golden Sickle. That duo and Tarry’s classy Lucky Lad take on Corne Spies’s popular war horse William Robertson in the 1000m dash.

Tarry and the De Kocks are expected to fight out the Grade 1 SA Derby with Legend Of Arthur and Immediate Edge respectively.

The three prominent stables have a runner apiece in the meeting’s nominal headliner, the Grade 1 HKJC World Pool Premier’s Champions Challenge, but none of them are in the frontline of the ante-post betting action.

All eyes will be on Alec Laird as he saddles the very smart three-year-old Fire Attack alongside Summer Cup winner Atticus Finch.

Defending champion Royal Victory makes the trip up from KwaZulu-Natal to his favourite course with trainer Nathan Kotzen – as does versatile Imilenzeyokududuma and Gavin van Zyl.