7/10 Via Africa

Sometimes, these owners n trainers know Fk all, seriously.
No matter what conditions, where u race, whether is 1st run of a layoff or 1000th run of a lay off, the main thing is, horses are flesh and blood and they CONNECT with certain humans, just as dogs connect with certain ppl. Eg, my dogs all wag their tails n jump n run around like crazy when they see me, yet when dy see me dad dy get scared n run away because he is so strict. Animals build relationships. My point is, when u have a winning horse n jockey formula for about 5/6races I think it is, y on earth change? And when u do change n realise she not da same horse, bring da man back. Funny how in SA they so quik so fire our jocks regardless of what they have done with a particular horse n what relationship has been built. I am not saying alec wouldve won the race-but I am saying he wouldve rode her how she likes2 b rode n correctly, maybe he gives her a lil pat when she wna give up n dt makes her fight on? Who knows? Look at frankel, black caviar, zenyatta, secretariat (I am not comparing Via to these horses) but they all had 1 particular jockey for the main part of their carreer if not for every race regardless of conditions or resting patterns. I for 1 believe bo1 couldve done what tom queally did with Frankel. That's because horse CONNECT wih certain ppl

Always thought duncan was a good trainer until I heard he jocked off striker. Lol. The man is the best in the game and gets blamed for via's previous run. Don't make me laugh.

It's time racegoers be advised that following Natal horses in the Cape is going to prove very very costly. The other day it was the well handicapped Beach Beauty.

The " marriage" between WCape and Gold Circle is over, so expect some acrimony in the aftermath.

Striker was very unhappy that he was replaced on Via Africa because he mentioned it on his Saturday Citizen column and also on the interview after he won.

ManP Wrote:

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> Striker was very unhappy that he was replaced on
> Via Africa because he mentioned it on his Saturday
> Citizen column and also on the interview after he
> won.


What did he say?

mikesack Wrote:

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> It's time racegoers be advised that following
> Natal horses in the Cape is going to prove very
> very costly. The other day it was the well
> handicapped Beach Beauty.
>
> The " marriage" between WCape and Gold Circle is
> over, so expect some acrimony in the aftermath.

Are you suggesting they are being nobbled?

Not to those extremes, however it seems to have been much easier when our maestros like Syd Laird and David Payne took horses down to the Cape, always enjoying success in the many feature races they contested.

During the interview he said, he came to Cape Town to ride Via Africa and he doesn't know why he was taken off the ride.

I would be looking after my best horses myself

The only trainer who achieves consistent success with "Training by remote control" is MdK.............because he manages his team - most others fail !!!!!

I rate Duncan as a top trainer I truly think the smaller yards are in a no win situation they crack a good one owners want them to travel so they send the horse to another trainer ( cause if they don't it will be moved ) then the public have a go that they did not train it, just ask Lafferty how that worked out for him. If they send the assistant also in trouble but he is at home looking after the vast majority of his owners and horses, boy it's a tough crowed the racing community. As far as the jockey is concerned I am a believer in having a stable jockey and sticking to him I thought KV Shea is Duncan's guys ? But not sure about that just think chopping and changing does not work.

mikesack Wrote:

---

> It's time racegoers be advised that following
> Natal horses in the Cape is going to prove very
> very costly. The other day it was the well
> handicapped Beach Beauty.
>
> The " marriage" between WCape and Gold Circle is
> over, so expect some acrimony in the aftermath.

maybe the kzn horses are not as good as you all may think.remember in years gone by kzn breeding was strong,imo anyone wanting to buy a gr1 winning horse, has to buy a cape bred horse, because last season 29 gr1s were won by cape bred horses.kzn racing will stay weak because of restrictions placed on out of town horses to protect mediocre kzn horses and trainers.the signs are there for all to see.just look at the last 2 kzn feature seasons and see how many gr1s were won by kzn trainers?if this trend continues then kzn will be on par or below pe in a few years time.just my honest opinion of course and do feel free to attack my point of view.