The Equus Awards will be held on 16 August in Johannesburg to honour outstanding achievements in the horseracing industry. On Monday night, Lanzerac Hotel in the Cape Winelands hosted the precursor to the national ceremony with the 2016 Cape Racing and Breeders Awards. Most of the categories had unanimous winners, though a few verdicts generated fierce debate.
Juvenile ace, Always In Charge (merit rating 108) from top stud Klawervlei scooped the colt’s category for his decisive Grade 1 score at Scottsville. Filly, The Secret is Out (MR 99) was honoured in the Cape Racing section with Cloth Of Cloud (Highlands Farms) getting the nod amongst the Cape- bred nominees off the same merit rating.
Both sets of judges found it impossible to distinguish between the equally persuasive claims of Silver Mountain (Highlands) and Bela Bela (Cheveley Stud), so they somewhat controversially shared the three-year old filly prize. The colts division also proved contentious – Marinaresco (Mauritzfontein) receiving extra credit for his tough-beat second place in the July and season-ending Champions Cup triumph in KZN, gained a marginal points decision over Highveld Triple Crown hero, Abashiri.
As expected, the high class Legal Eagle (Avontuur) and his nemesis in the Met, Smart Call (Mauritzfontein Stud) scooped numerous awards across categories. The former was officially rated 120 for his exploits from a mile up to middle distances, and South African fans will eagerly follow new Horse of the Year’s Smart Calls’ Breeders Cup bid in America to see how her 121 merit assessment after that Met clincher stacks up against international legends.
Both the Sprinter and Stayer divisions were split. Brave speedball Real Princess received acknowledgement from the Cape Racing panel with resurgent Red Ray garnering the Cape Breeders vote for his demolition job of fellow nominees in the Merchants at Greyville. Ovidio was credited for his fluent victory in the J and B Stayers, whilst Abashiri’s grind-it-out SA Derby victory at Turffontein was yet another notable accolade for outstanding breeders, Lammerskraal Stud.
Jockey of the Year award went to Grant van Niekerk. Horses just seem to run for this naturally gifted reins-man and he maintained a high strike rate throughout the season. All those Grade 1 wins on star filly Inara, and his association with Marinaresco, who he describes as “a once in a lifetime horse”, boosted his profile.
Justin Snaith won Trainer Of The Year. The Snaith Racing family outfit keeps getting bigger and better, comprising seasoned horsemen getting the best from well-bred stock, backed up by a real gift for slick marketing and communication. Remarkably, they churned out eight winners on a single day when cleaning up at the marquee Met meeting – the ideal way to let the results themselves promote their business.
The Cape Breeders recognised Drakenstein Stud’s established stallion, Trippi together with emergent first season sire from Varsfontein Stud, Gimmethegreenlight who has been on a roll lately with a bunch of winners.
Special tributes were paid to retiring trainer Mike Bass and breeding guru, John Slade who have made extraordinary contributions to horse racing in their specialist areas of expertise.