Praised be: Sometimes things do go as planned in horseracing

“I just love it when a plan comes together”. That is what Colonel John ‘Hannibal’ Smith used to say on that 1980s throwback show The A Team.

Admittedly that TV series hasn’t aged well. Viewing it in the cold light of the 21st century is cringeworthy.
The experience being akin to the December-time horror of having to listen to that mortifyingly smug 1984 Band Aid song Do they know it’s Christmas?.

That said, I’m happy to quote the often used episode-ending line that actor George Peppard would spit out from the side of his Panatela cigar. I required a storytelling cornerstone for today’s tale and “I just love it when a plan comes together” does the trick.

I have been betting on and owning racehorses long enough to know that it’s seldom the case that the planets align. In horse racing, getting ahead of oneself is inadvisable and only the foolhardy start celebrating before the all clear is given and the pay-pay announced.

And yet serendipity does exist.

Call it what you will – good fortune, lady luck or charmed coincidence – once in the proverbial blue moon the best laid plans prevail.

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Take this weekend for example.

Having had the privilege of presenting another Saturday of Graded races from Cape Racing’s HQ, I was scheduled to fly back home to Joburg on Sunday morning but something was nagging away at me.
That something was that our BENMaG Bloodstock horse Laudato had cracked a 1 draw at Monday’s meeting on the Greyville Poly surface and it was telling me I needed to change my plans.

Despite not looking at the quality of his opposition or his price in the betting market, I committed to a new course of action. I would fly to Durban from Cape Town on Monday morning, watch Laudato run and only then fly home after the meeting.

The second liberty was that normally by Sunday evening I’ve finalised the topic for this mid-week column and by Monday morning I’ve begun writing. This weekend I tempted fate and decided I would wait to see if Laudato would perform well enough to be this article’s subject matter.

The rest, they say, is history.

Our three-year-old son of Oratorio won his race very nicely. After a low-key introduction he has now won twice from his seven starts.

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I must commend our young jockey Siphesihle Hlenga. I heard the instructions trainer Garth Puller gave him and he followed them to the letter, giving Laudato the perfect ride.

Garth tells me that Siphesihle is one of the hardest working riders he’s ever employed. Never late, never complains, never misses work (even on a Sunday) and furthermore he is always smiling.

There is some synergy in the productive relationship that Siphesihle has struck up with Laudato because he’s one of the jockey’s sponsored by Heversham Park who themselves featured in one of my earlier articles.

I must also thank two fantastic horsewoman.

I have long since wanted to purchase a horse bred by Ambiance Stud. Dr. Marianne Thomson is an accomplished breeder with a track record of breeding champions. Ever since the days of the full brothers Al Nitak and The Sheik I take cognisance of her sales draft and if Laudato turns out to be even half as good as his half brother, the 2023 Betway Summer Cup winner Royal Victory, then I will be delighted.

As a matter of interest Dr. Thomson named the colt after the Laudato si, an oratorio written in 2016 by German composer Peter Reulein. Laudato si is Latin for “Praised Be”.

Praised be to Jane Thomas.

More than anyone else I must thank Jane in the Laudato purchasing process. I liked his pedigree a lot, doubtless because his mother was a daughter of The Mouseketeer’s father Kahal, so I short-listed the colt at the 2022 Bloodstock South Africa National Yearling Sale but it was Jane who motivated me to put my hand up.

I am glad I did, although it felt somewhat weird because being Lot 2 he went under the hammer so early in proceedings. Jane reminded me of this on Monday when she sent me a text to say she’ll never forget the look on my face when they knocked him down to me. She describes it as “classic panic!”.

I wish to thank Jane not only for sharing her judgement of what a good looking, well put-together yearling she thought Laudato was but also for the exceptional work she always delivers as a pre-training specialist at her Far End farm down near Mooi River.

In closing I have specifically parked my praise for our trainer Garth Puller. I simply don’t have enough editorial space remaining to do justice to such a remarkable horseman. I will feature Garth in an article in 2024 and dedicate it solely to his genius.

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