The long awaited Winter rains have finally hit Cape Town, turning the Kenilworth track soggy over the weekend. The official penetrometer reading was only 23mm at the start of the meeting, disputed by jovial Greg Ennion, “They must have measured the going with an ice-cream stick – it’s already much softer than that.” The Milnerton trainer was to record a long odds double with Jeremy and In Limine – given persistent showers through a cold afternoon, mud-spattered horses and jockeys were finding it a tough slog through the bog towards the end.
“My horses always take a run or two in these conditions before they do well, “ lamented Candice Robinson for Bass Racing, after favoured Tin Soldier had got bogged down in the slush, clocking in near the back of a strung out field. Some of her entries indeed battled to feature, though she saddled a good winner when classy, Tapit gelding, Rodney just defeated Search Party, who had to switch around pacemaker Seven Wood in the drive to the finish. Rodney, who tangled with the best of his generation during the Summer, and the fast-progressing, Search Party are worth following based on this notable level of performance.
Certain horses prefer the sting out of the ground, so trainers with infirm stock try crank them up for career bests during wet Winter months. Grizzled veteran, Ronnie Sheehan got Kwando to eventually shed her Maiden making her 18 start. Piet Steyn is a similarly low key conditioner with a reputation for patching up unsound horses and getting his charges really fit – he won the 2400m Maiden endurance test with In The Jungle.
Ennion also does not have a big string, yet is a canny horseman who remains competitive with relatively inexpensive purchases. He saddled the exacta when Jeremy woke up dramatically to beat off stable mate Chrome Blue in a MR 80 handicap. Ennion repeated the treatment in the nightcap as In Limine employed energetic front-running tactics to record a belated third victory, 756 days after her last mud-loving score.
The vast majority of healthy horses run equally well regardless of a soft or firm surface when they’re in prime physical shape, and horseplayers may mistakenly overstate a preference for particular ground conditions on limited evidence. However, for those runners that genuinely need softer ground to take away the aches and help them run with renewed vitality, it makes sense to upgrade their chances when it comes up mud. And, whilst they are usually overwhelmed by the superior horsepower of big name stables during Summer, lower profile barns run by sharp horseman can strike back during the off season and be the key for punters trying to unlock bonanza Saftote dividends.