Lucky rolls the Dyce … and wins

Talented sprinter Dyce was allowed to win a Pinnacle Stakes dash at the surprising odds of 10-1 at Turffontein at the weekend. Those who saw this speedster running rivals ragged last year would have raised an eyebrow.

Late developer Dyce capped his sparkling 2023 run by winning the Cape Flying Championship in commanding style at Kenilworth, beating subsequent Equus Champion Sprinter Thunderstruck.

So, it certainly wasn’t speed potential that turned off the punters. And it wasn’t the weight, either, with Dyce having a massive 2.5kg advantage over his rivals at the official merit ratings.

The draw of 7 out of 10 might have been a slight worry, but the punters’ wariness was mainly due to three dismal runs that followed that glory day in Cape Town.

Regain zest and form

Those punters probably didn’t read trainer Lucky Houdalakis’s comments in the media prior to Saturday’s meeting at the Big T – which revealed a new approach had been taken in preparing the horse.

Houdalakis said he’d backed off intensive work with Dyce for three months to allow him to regain his zest – and hopefully his form. And so it proved, as the six-year-old and maestro jockey Piere Strydom easily overcame the draw and made short work of the 1000m contest.

In January, when he returned to his Vaal base after the Cape raid, Houdalakis found that his star galloper was haemoconcentrating and a decision was taken to geld him.

Some horses recover from this op quicker than others. Dyce wasn’t one of the lucky ones, as three unplaced runs in feature races showed.

Houdalakis spoke plainly to owner Dave Shawe: “This horse cannot run unplaced in any race; we’re not the same horse! We can’t go on, we’ve got to stop!”

Shawe responded: “Do what you have to.”

“So, ja, we stopped,” explained the popular conditioner. “I didn’t take him out of work, I just took all the pressure off him and just let him become a happy horse again.

“I think he was going through body changes and all kinds of stuff.

“The pressure came off him, but it came onto me. Badly. I took strain this week,” chuckled Houdalakis in the Turffontein winners’ circle.

“I cannot tell you how happy I am he’s come back. This wasn’t the top echelon, but it was a good stepping stone for him.”

A poignant note was struck when the trainer revealed his assistant had died a few weeks earlier. “The only one missing here today is Everisto. He’d have been doing cartwheels … this was his No 1 boy!”