MDK vs Laird

accord me he has jus about passed Laird after front of house win

Add Winter Weather and Milk and Honey to that and it looks like De Kock just about wins it on the line.
Laird had a tough day in Durban yesterday, 21 runners, no winners, while De Kock won 4 races, including 3 features.
Season ends Thursday.

the method of deciding jock and trnr championship has long been debated.

Using money for jocks would automatically favour stable jocks of powerful yards because they have buying power when it comes to top horses.

Using wins for trainers negates the real world achievements of winning classic races where you have to be able to train 'to the minute'.

Neither perfect, but I think often gives the 'correct' winner in each catagory.

PS looking at the current log, on stakes Striker beats Khan who is unbeatable with 50 wins clear of next rival, and Greef would be challenging Smith (and Snaith) rather than a dingdong between deKock and Laird.

How does other countries decide winners ?

whoever wins the trainers title the situation is laughable to say the very least.in the one corner you have a trainer who has spent hundreds of millions of rands and races his stock in south africa and in the other corner you have a man who spends much much less BUT RACES HIS BEST STOCK IN SA DUBAI AND IN EUROPE.the title is only based on stakes earned in sa only.it should never get this close as laird should win it by 4 or 5 million every year.

Much much less sounds like a good estimate when one considers that R16M was spent on No Doubt Deja and telephone numbers on a good few more

adios i dont have figures but you only have to look at s.post each time the stables send out a first timer.the pedigrees of laird inmates i hear every week on racing world as they are world class pedigrees by world class stallions..laird taking part in the sa trainers title is like manchester united or chelsea taking part in the sa premier league ..IT WOULD BE NO CONTEST

the majority of these horses purchased in training will never see the racetracks of south africa for example asiatic boy archipenko etc..maybe its time that the arcsa awards panel has a look at how to hand out awards as we been back from isolation since 1994 and trainers horses jockeys and breeders that excell overseas should be duly rewarded..laird might go on to win the trainers title but for me mdk is the champion hands down..you could take the discussion further for horse of the year and include jay peg and sun classique.racing is a sport so we honour our sportsmen that compete overseas so why not our racing ambassadors

pirates, give us a clue as how to measure overseas performances so that we can compare them to local efforts

Cat, how do you compare apples and pears?
At the Olympics next month, can you compare sprinters and 1500m winners?
Each are tops in their own categories.

The only measure I know is that of rating horses, an internationally accepted method which has stood the test of time.
On that measure Jay Peg and Sun Classique would come out tops.

surely the local racing honours should go to those who race and win in SA, whether measured by wins or prizemoney. otherwise a de Kock win in a single race in Dubai or the UK would obliterate the leading trainers locally and trivialise the status of champion trainer.

international success should be accorded due respect and recognition obviously, but for me it is in a different category, possibly falling under "racing personality" or some such.

We know that while they were here, neither Jay Peg nor Sun Classique would ever start at a shorter price than Pocket Power. We know that every time they met, Pocker Power was in front.

Did they get better over there, or could Pocket Power have beaten them there?