Stamina and courage found wanting at Equus Awards

Colt Hawwaam, winner of two Grade 1 races in the 2019-2020 season and currently in the export pipeline, is probably favourite to land the honour, though Rainbow Bridge has a similar record for the term and presents a strong case.

Valiant filly Summer Pudding, wearing her Triple Tiara, could sweep it away from under the noses of the boys.

Equus Awards might not mean a whole lot to the average punter, but they are a big thing in the lives of South African thoroughbred breeders, in particular. A controversial decision to do away with the 2020 Champion Stayer category will, therefore, be a major production disincentive.

The Equus moment is not the usual banquet bash, for obvious reasons, and is instead a TV show on Tellytrack, channel 249 on DStv, at 7.30pm on Sunday 13 September. Stalwart racing presenters Neil Andrews and Nico Kritsiotis have the job of whipping up an exciting and expectant atmosphere for viewers at home.

The winners in each category will be chosen by a panel of five racing journalists: Alistair Cohen, Andrew Harrison, Jack Milner, Ken Nicol and David Thiselton.

These gentlemen are all astute judges and can be relied upon to deliver sound decisions in each category. That makes the move to scrap the Equus Champion Stayer prize all the more perplexing.

A Racing Association press release states: “A decision was taken by the judges and members of the Equus Committee not to award a Champion Stayer for 2020 as it was felt that there was no outright deserving winner in this category.”

This suggests the Equus Awards have acquired a certain, unspecified, standard of excellence that must be reached, rather than simply being rewards for the best horses in a season – which they were once claimed to be.

Then there is the argument that if the staying ranks in the country are weak there is all the more reason for handing out a gong to the best of the bunch – to encourage breeders and owners to persevere with marathoners. Denying them a moment in the spotlight seems like cutting off the nose to spite the face.

The only long-distance Grade 1 race in South Africa at present is the SA Derby at Turffontein, a race for three-year-olds that was won by unfancied Out Of Your League in what appears to have been a freak result in the aftermath of the coronavirus racing shutdown.

If the judges felt disinclined to reward that effort, the monumental, brave performance of Paths Of Victory in the country’s most prestigious endurance contest, the Grade 3 Gold Cup at Greyville, was surely Equus-worthy.

The pandemic saw the seasonal equine awards deadline postponed from 1 August to 1 September, with a number of candidates for honours staking their claim at the Gold Cup day meeting in Durban on 29 August.

The winners were selected from the following nominees:

• Champion Two-Year-Old Colt – Erik the Red, Mount Pleasant, Nourbese, Tempting Fate
• Champion Two-Year-Old Filly – Anything Goes, Sentbydestiny, Vernichey
• Champion Three-Year-Old Colt – Golden Ducat, Got The Greenlight
• Champion Three-Year-Old Filly – Missisippi Burning, Summer Pudding
• Champion Older Male – Belgarion, Hawwaam, One World, Rainbow Bridge, Vardy
• Champion Older Filly/Mare – Celtic Sea, Clouds Unfold, Queen Supreme, Ronnie’s Candy, Temple Grafin
• Champion Sprinter – Celtic Sea, Rivarine, Russet Air, Van Halen, Warrior’s Rest
• Champion Miler – Hawwaam, Rainbow Bridge, Vardy
• Champion Middle-Distance – Belgarion, Gold Ducat, Got the Greenlight, Hawwaam, One World, Rainbow Bridge, Summer Pudding
• The Horse of the Year will be selected from among the winners in these equine categories and the groom of the Horse of the Year will be acknowledged for his contribution.
• Awards will also be conferred on the Champion Stallion (Silvano), the Champion Breeder (Klawervlei Stud) and the Champion Broodmare (Halfway To Heaven). The Thoroughbred Breeders Association will, in addition, honour an “outstanding South African breeder”.
• Individual awards will go to the Champion Jockey (Warren Kennedy), the Champion Trainer (Sean Tarry), the Champion Apprentice (Luke Ferraris) and the Champion Owner (Chris van Niekerk).

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