It has to be Legislate!

“There can be only one winner – Legislate. It’s as brief as that! The only other contender is Yorker, but his Joburg form didn’t hold up when he met the rest of the country’s best in Durban and he then sidestepped the July,” said bloodstock consultant, John Freeman.

“As the only triple Grade 1 winning three-year-old he beat older horses in the July,” added John.

Now as the manager of Legislate’s sire, Dynasty, and a number of other top stallions, it’s been a season to remember for John who can be excused if he celebrates with plenty of red wine in Kempton Park tonight.

One set of awards – those held at Kenilworth racecourse in the Cape last Thursday – was pretty much a celebration for anyone associated with Snaith Racing and their star three-year-old, Legislate.

The trophies for Cape “Horse-of-the-Year”, champion Three-Year-Old Colt and Champion Middle Distance horse all went the way of a colt who has supplied the most newspaper copy since the days of Pocket Power and Horse Chestnut.

Justin Snaith was, of course, named Cape champion trainer and his jockey, Richard Fourie, took the rider’s award.

So now we switch to the Highveld where the panel of judges for the Equus awards is a different line-up to that in the Cape. Will they see the “Horse-of-the-Year” as a one-horse affair – I very much doubt it. Indeed, it may have caused some heated debate.

For starters, anyone who witnessed Yorker’s defeat – albeit by the width of cigarette paper – of Capetown Noir at Turffontein know they saw a performance right out of the top drawer. Then there’s the little matter of his gutsy second in the J&B Met when – weak in the market – he kicked on strongly when challenged throughout the final 300m.

In racing, it’s inevitable we have equine heroes who we prefer to others – it’s the same as being passionate about your favourite football side. In four decades, I’ve had love affairs with numerous horses Mill Reef, Connaught,
Be Friendly, Forgive ‘N Forget, Best Mate, Main Man, Horse Chestnut and JJ The Jet Plane are a few that spring to mind. I have no hesitation in adding Yorker to this exalted group and I sincerely hope he makes it to next May’s Singapore Airlines Cup.

Are there any other candidates in the running for “Horse-of-the-Year”? Well, some sentimentalists might go for Beach Beauty who one could argue has been “Mrs 100% Reliable” for punters thanks to the expertise of Dennis Drier.

Then Robert Bloomberg isn’t a guy afraid to express his view and he told me: “I’ve no idea what the criteria is, but notwithstanding Variety Club didn’t race here in the season, he still raced as a SA horse overseas so I’ll put the cat among the pigeons and nominate him.”

The guests at the annual Kempton Park bash are a knowledgeable and sporting bunch so young Mr Snaith can be assured of a warm reception tonight. This, despite the fact it will be strange for many not applauding many-times champion, Mike de Kock.

Nevertheless, the biggest cheer will be reserved for new champion jockey, S’manga Khumalo, who 12 months ago he told us hacks his goal was to become the first black jockey to win the title. He had it pretty much in the bag two months ago and it’s worth remembering he rode in 1381 races (203 more than have-saddle-will-travel Muzi Yeni) so his hard work and constant airport dashes paid off in the end.

If there is any downside, it’s the 60-day ban which seems to have being hanging over S’manga’s head for as long as the Oscar Pistorius trial. I prefer how they handle these cases overseas, “Sorry, mate, no Derby for you tomorrow – you’re suspended.” Tough but at least everyone knows where they stand.

S’manga hopes his success will spur on other black riders and that he’ll be their role model. I’m sure that will be the case but – you have to like the view of Canadian jockey Emma-Jayne Wilson – who said at the weekend: “People don’t look at it as girl jockeys – it’s really not even a conversation.” Yes, we must hope that – in the near future – the colour of a jockey’s skin will also be a non-issue.

One fairly easy decision for the Cape judges was “Outstanding Breeder Of The Season” which went to Carl and Amanda de Vos. Yes, you’re correct, they bred Yorker who did win the “Older Male” award.

Is there a surprise in store at the Equus awards? With Sir Alex Ferguson, Rod Stewart and Billy Connolly all in the “No” camp on the independence issue, there’s certainly a better chance of an upset in Kempton Park tonight than Scotland on 18 September.