Leaving on a jet plane? Not so fast…

It took years of painstaking work to get international horse quarantine rules changed to allow South African thoroughbreds to campaign overseas. The racing industry cheered when the onerous old protocols were ditched – only to find no-one had made good arrangements for regular plane flights to wing the creatures to riches in foreign climes.

Equine export from this country is surprisingly ad hoc – and eye-wateringly expensive – according to people who’ve enquired about it. It’s often a case of the departing passengers packing into a waiting room until enough of them are booked to justify chartering a plane.

Quid Pro Quo and One Stripe

The brilliant Quid Pro Quo, bought some months ago by international syndicate Team Valor, was destined for Europe and Dubai but has been forced to gallop on locally pending a flight at some indeterminate time in the future.

Trainer Barend Botes is reported to be preparing the filly for both the Wilgerbosdrift SA Fillies Classic and the Empress Club Stakes over the coming eight weeks. Unless an early boarding pass turns up, of course.

After his stunning L’Ormarins King’s Plate triumph, colt One Stripe was sold to local group Hollywood Racing with a US career in mind. The connections decided to go for the lucrative Big Cap sales race at Kenilworth on 16 March as a farewell outing.

But then One Stripe’s name popped up as an entrant for the Splashout Cape Derby on 22 February – one of only seven horses originally entered, before the deadline was extended and another five hopefuls were found.

But, just days later, One Stripe was scratched from the Cape Derby – notably diminishing that race’s lustre.

Trainer Vaughan Marshall explained to Sporting Post that the Derby had never really been part of the gameplan but uncertainty about flight availability, and a consequent quarantine stint, meant Plan B and bringing forward the swansong to the Cape Derby.

As it turned out, there was no plane taxiing on the runway, so Plan A and the Big Cap was reverted to, explained Marshall.

One Stripe and his merit rating of 132 will be sorely missed when the Cape Derby is contested next weekend – and not just in the action and a potentially stirring showdown with Met victor Eight On Eighteen.

Grade 1 status?

The five horses added to the nominations after the deadline extension are mostly rated under 100, resulting in the venerable contest having a much lower overall average rating than in years. This puts the Derby at risk of losing its Grade 1 status in the future – a sad development given its reputation as an important bloodline beacon.

Two races in KwaZulu-Natal, the Golden Horse Sprint and the Woolavington, have been downgraded from Grade 1 to Grade 2 this season and the threat of other top-level events going the same way must be a worry for the local industry.