A high five for trainer Sean Tarry at the Big T

When Lucky Lad won the main race at Turffontein racecourse on Saturday, giving trainer Sean Tarry his fifth victory of the meeting and his 300th career stakes winner, cheesy headline writers might have been tempted to apply the colt’s name to his conditioner.

But there is nothing flukey about Tarry’s success. He is famously one of the most hard-working and studious conditioners of thoroughbreds, as many of his “lucky” owners testify.

Tarry himself confesses to being a hard taskmaster at his Randjesfontein base north of Joburg, but in the flush of victory he never forgets to mention and thank the workers.

“It’s a great team effort … I’m truly happy for my team,” he said after Lucky Lad’s breathtaking performance in the Grade 2 Jehan Malherbe Senor Santa Stakes.

“It’s been a fantastic day for the yard. I couldn’t have wished for anything better,” was his comment on the five-timer on the final day of The Championships series of summer/autumn feature meetings at the city track.

Bouncing back

It was more evidence of Tarry Racing’s determination and work ethic in bouncing back from chief patron Chris van Niekerk’s decision to quit racing in mid-2022. About 60 horses had to be sold off at that time, but the team picked themselves up, dusted themselves off and had a surprisingly good 2022/2023 season – finishing a close second on the national trainer’s log.

This term has followed in much the same vein, with Tarry – bidding for a sixth championship – currently lying second on the log behind reigning champ Justin Snaith of Cape Town.

Tarry couldn’t have wished for a better time for the yard to hit form, with the riches of the KwaZulu-Natal winter season beckoning.

The recent departure of two of his best runners, Princess Calla and Bless My Stars, for the US has blunted his KZN campaign slightly, but he will be pleased that his younger brigade looks keen.

Juveniles kept him busy in the winner’s circle for the first three races on Saturday’s card. Legend Of Arthur laid down a marker for the country’s youngsters when he trotted up by nearly five lengths in Race 1, advancing his record to two wins from three starts. In the following juvenile fillies heat, World Of Alice had to work a lot harder but landed the 11-10 odds.

Race 3, the Protea Stakes, the first seasonal feature for two-year-olds, went the way of the well-bred Proceed in the ubiquitous Wernar family silks.

On the road

All three of these prodigies are likely to be on the road to Durban in the near future – as will Mrs Browning, a four-year-old filly who grabbed a Grade 2 gong in the Camellia Stakes, the fifth event on the card. The win was consolation for one of Tarry’s most popular charges, Mrs Geriatrix, trailing in last after starting as a 3-1 joint favourite.

Then it was the Lucky Lad show, with the famous Beck brown and white colours swooping from a seemingly hopeless position at the back of the field to snatch the honours.

Tarry’s son Dan, who is being schooled in talking on camera, warned viewers of “big things to come” from this three-year-old progeny of champion sire Gimmethegreenlight.