In The Fast Lane, pictured walking in the surf with her trainer Justin Snaith in the saddle, races against the boys for the first time in Saturday’s R3.5-million Vodacom Durban July at Greyville. She’s currently at 11-1 in the betting. Picture: Liesl King (picture supplied 4 July 2014)
But only those with a true appreciation of the majesty and fragility of an animal born to run, as well as sharp business acumen and a sparkling personality, will thrive on the rollercoaster of training thoroughbreds.
Justin Snaith, 39, is one of those blessed with the attributes needed to excel at the profession.
He has what people in racing call horse sense – he and his brother Jonathan, his partner in Snaith Racing and a man he says “could be a champion trainer in his own right” – have built their business on the tenets that a happy horse is a valuable horse.
His operation is based on a private farm in Cape Town with all the facilities of a regular training centre, plus the added benefits of paddocks and, of course, the sea.
They’ve made it into horse country. In fact, Snaith’s horses get homesick when they’re away – In The Fast Lane, one of the fancied runners in today’s Vodacom Durban July, took quite a bit of persuasion before settling down in her winter home in Durban.
With loads of TLC and a disciplined routine, she is back to normal and gave Snaith his 20th Grade 1 trophy when winning the Woolavington 2000 recently. Legislate is the better fancied of the stable’s runners in today’s race, but In The Fast Lane is a really talented filly and could give the team their second Durban July triumph.
Snaith has 11 runners at Greyville today, proving how much he loves the challenge of the big occasions. “They are what count, when there are people there and a bit of hype,” he says. “Anyone can get a horse fit, the challenge is getting the horse to peak on the right day. It’s invigorating.”
And he has played a leading role on many big racedays in recent years and took home the blue riband of South African racing, the Durban July, back in 2008 when his classy grey mare Dancer’s Daughter dead-heated with the mighty Pocket Power.
He would love to win the race again with one of the horses he claims are “the best of their generation”.
And he’s put his money where his mouth is, backing both, but saays: “My share of the winnings won’t change my life. If one of them happens to win, I’ll have a couple of rand in my pocket to shout a round – everyone will be expecting me to buy if I do win.”
Other top horses he has trained in his 14-year career include two horses who may well have won the Durban July had they not, heartbreakingly, hurt themselves before getting there.
Gimmethegreenlight would probably have started favourite last year had he not hurt himself in the SA Classic a couple of months beforehand and been retired to stud. His first crop of babies turn one next month.
The other who missed the opportunity to even try was Jet Explorer, who crashed head-first into the turf in a big race this month. He broke his nose and jaw and it was touch and go for a while whether he would survive.
Snaith, however, reports that he is back on solid foods and the bones are knitting nicely. It did mean he could not keep his date in today’s race, but might be able to make his mark next year. “He’ll have all the time he needs, but he’ll be back,” predicts Snaith.
Hearing him talk about his horses, nobody would doubt they mean everything to him along with their owners.
He learnt his trade at the knee of a champion trainer, his father Chris, who nowadays is an active member of the team. Snaith furthered his education in Australia with top trainer David Hayes and in 2000 was due to go to the USA to work for another iconic trainer, Bob Baffert.
Snaith Snr, however, handed in his open trainer’s licence in order to train privately for prominent owner-breeder Sabine Plattner and suggested the Snaith brothers start their own business.
“I didn’t feel I was ready,” Snaith says. “I told him I was only 25 and looked like 19 – who was going to give me horses?”
In some part courtesy of an inspired public relations campaign that continues to this day, the horses arrived at young Snaith’s door.
Snaith Racing opened for business with a string of 22 horses, including a few feature-race contenders owned by the late Laurie and Jean Jaffee, and hasn’t looked back.
The two brothers now have more than 150 horses in Cape Town and their satellite base in Port Elizabeth, and had a record 198 winners during the 2012/2013 racing season.
Snaith is about to win the South African Trainers’ Championship for the first time in his career this season. It’s unlikely to be his last.
– Follow The Citizen’s reporting team from the Vodacom Durban July on Twitter @CitiReporter.
