“I hope to get on a roll today,” Justin Snaith declared before racing started on Saturday at Durbanville. Eight races later he had swept half the card, including a 1-2 finish in the Listed Settler’s Trophy with promising staying filly Francia and East Cape Derby winner, Captain Splendid.
“Now is the time for us to get those winners – whilst others are just galloping their horses.” Snaith said. Timing is important in the training game – and conditioners selectively prime their strings to gain a competitive edge at different stages of the year. Some will try tune up their entries during Summer when their overseas patrons are visiting, conversely battling yards with infirm stock will try to maximise their haul during the Cape Winter when the ground is soft. Horses aren’t machines, of course, and quieter spells are inevitable – many yards see August and September as slower “housekeeping” months’ with staff taking a break and horses recovering after required inoculations.
Snaith, a high profile recent Champion trainer who has historically targeted marquee days to best market a slick and successful operation is not averse to cashing in while the opposition is regrouping. With brother Jonathan co-ordinating strategy and father Chris, a tremendously experienced horseman as ever-present counsel, Snaith Racing are churning out early season winners at a brisk tempo in both Cape Town and at their satellite barn in Port Elizabeth.
In just over three weeks during September, Snaith has saddled 24 winners and 16 second places. Whilst some smaller trainers specialize in a specific race category, Snaith runs a large, multi-facetted operation with winners running the whole gamut of horseflesh across different age groups and over a range of distance categories. Young talents like long range Derby prospects One Direction and Strathdon are stepping out to shed Maidens, whilst old stager Jet Explorer is still winning high merit rated handicaps at eight years of age.
Snaith is also adept at handling fillies. Recent winners, Victoria College and Twinkle Toes are two speedy daughters of Captain Al with potential whilst progressive stayer, Francia, by Dynasty, looks a threat in Summer season tests of endurance based on her Settlers Trophy victory.
Most of Snaith’s victors have been piloted by Richard Fourie, currently riding like a demon. The high-percentage duo combine at 26% winners to mounts ratio. Fourie’s alert judgement of pace, rhythmic vigour when delivering finely-timed finishes, and upbeat mental attitude are special attributes.
Other jocks have also got in on the act. A resurgent Andrew Fortune landed a long-odds four timer at Fairview in early September, with Donovan Dillon, Greg Cheyne, Grant van Niekerk, Craig du Plooy and even Shadlee Fortune joining in this month’s win-fest.
Snaith realises that now is the time to ratchet up the winners, and that it’s unrealistic to sustain this momentum for much longer, especially when rivals such as Joey Ramsden, Candice Bass- Robinson, Dean Kannemeyer, Vaughan Marshall and Brett Crawford bring their equally well- bred strings into fighting trim. Not to mention formidable visiting trainers selectively raiding the Cape for juicy Summer plums, such as Dennis Drier, Mike de Kock and Sean Tarry.
Until that happens, Snaith intends to keep sending it. “Shew, you should see the runners I’ve got lined up for Wednesday…” he said with positive intent on leaving the track Saturday. Hard-core punters know that this game is more complex that just following in- form trainers, but bettors not already on the Snaith band-wagon, can do worse than build wagers around their super fit and sensibly placed entries. If they keep on saluting at the current rate then this very hard game can, at least for the time being, appear ever so slightly easier.