Woodruff experiencing ‘nervous anticipation’

Should Louis The King win the 2450m race he will become only the second horse in South African history to win the SASCOC Triple Crown. The Triple Crown also carries a R2-million bonus.  The only other horse to achieve this accolade was Horse Chestnut in 1999. Louis The King, who cost just R60,000 as a yearling, has already won the Betting World Gauteng Guineas over 1600m and the SA Classic over 1800m, the first two legs of the Triple Crown.

Saturday’s race meeting is called Champions Day as nine of the 10 races are feature events. Woodruff trains the ruling favourite in three of the five Grade 1 events. “It’s not just about Louis The King. We have Yorker and Tellina in the President’s Champions Challenge, Zephira in the SA Oaks and Miss October in the Computaform Sprint.

“The feeling in the sable right now is one of nervous anticipation,” said Woodruff.

“If you’re looking at somebody else’s horse as favourite, you see that as the one to beat. The other trainers are probably thinking the same about you. We trotted all of our runners yesterday morning and of the 10, all checked out beautifully.”

Woodruff admits that he does not like to get involved in long conversations before the running of a big race. “One always gets a bit of knot in the stomach but I like to save nerves for when they load into the stalls. I like to sit quietly in the weighing room and sip tea. I hate getting into conversations that last four minutes.

“You just have to wait. There is nothing more you can do once the horse is saddled.”

Louis the King, who will be ridden by Robbie Fradd, has been priced up at 9-10 to win Saturday’s SA Derby.