THAT WAS MY 'MET' & Other Related Topics

I usually go the Met and then go home wishing I had shown a bit more restraint. Yesterday 35 years of practice at last yielded some dividends as well as a touching and sobering postscript................

Firstly - It was absolutely thrilling when nearly pulling off the upset of the year in the Derby with our Bluemambo. I did advise clan members some weeks ago that we were supplementing him for the Derby with Kevin Shea aboard. I didn't dare tip him as we were hopeful rather than confident. Embarrasingly I did not punt him - largely because he was 'only' 25/1 ante post whereas he drifted to 50/1 on the day. At the time I was having my own battles as the somewhat overly enthusiastic staff were doing their very best to deny me entry to the parade ring.....fortunately Robert Bloomberg spotted me and came to my rescue.

Then on to the Met where I smashed R100k on Pocket Power. Yipee.

And lastly the J&B Reserve Stayers where I decided - on largley sentimental grounds- to side with KB Shea again. Who promptly came home lonely. Put & Take - It all seems so easy when you hit form.

But today matters took a somewhat poignant turn when Robert Bloomberg forwarded me an email from the breeders of Bluemambo which reminded me just how fortunate we are :


Dear Mr. Bloomberg,



You do not know us, but we are the breeders of Bluemambo and wanted to introduce ourselves and also to say well done on a fabulous run - thought he had it. He looked a picture too and am so pleased for you.



We have been breeding horses for many years in Zimbabwe and lost our farm in 2005.

Thought you might be interested in Bluemambo's history as it is a miracle that he has come this far.

He was born on our stud, Netherfield, and was a stunning foal. When he was three months of age, an " esteemed" bank executive and his band of merry men invaded our farm. They barricaded themselves into the farm security fence, which encompassed the stables and refused us entry. We had 23 horses inside and were unable to give them food or water or exercise for over 24 hours. After pleading with the police to intervene and getting no response at all we turned to the SPCA who came to our rescue and enabled us to send in two grooms to care for the horses. We were still denied entry. We then had 12 hours to move off the farm and what a nightmare it was - trucks and lorries had to be found in a second and nobody was too keen to involve themselves in this situation either.The horses were literally trotted into the boxes and hurried off before the "new owners" decided they wanted them too.



We were kindly offered a place for them on Dubbles Draper's farm- she has been a lifelong friend.

From there we had huge decisions to make and decided to send them down to the Cape. We had decided it was where we wanted to be.

So all set off for RSA - mares, foals, weanlings, the lot. Horrendous trip down as they were kept at the border for over 16 hours with no water until a custom's official had sufficient bribe to let them through.

They had to stop in Beaufort West, and we had originally planned to keep them there for a few months.

We followed a few weeks after the horses to try and find a new life for ourselves - something which took us three years and a lot of heartache and frustration.

The horses then moved from Beaufort West to Cape Town as we wanted them closer to us and as you can imagine the bills started ticking over alarmingly ..



When Bluemambo was a yearling we had literally exhausted our funds and had to sell him which is how he ended up with the Beaks.

We are so pleased that you have him and are giving him the opportunity to run in the big races. It is such a thrill to see him doing so well.

Thankfully we are now happily settled in Greyton, and have started our stud again in this beautiful part of the world and are back on track.



Well done again and apologies for the long e-mail but thought his history makes for good reading.



Kind regards,



Carole and Martyn Doggrell

Magic story Garrick, thanks for sharing and well done yesterday.

Garrick, that was a brilliant yet poignant story, def worth some wider media coverage. Good luck with Bluemambo, im sure he will win a graded race quite soon.

Speaking of Robert Bloomberg, as usual he was pretty phenominal with his tipping on Tellytrack and must have absolutely cleaned up.

Interesting to see the Met attendance at 35,000 when 50,000 was the norm a few years ago, unless capacity has been deliberately reduced.

I think thats the last time Pocket will race again in Cape Town and its been a privilege to have had him in South Africa for so long. I just hope he retains his ability and soundness and takes on the best in the world sometime soon. It would really be great to see him extended at level weights whilst fully tuned up.

Living in London severly limits being able to watch SA racing but it was great to watch the entire card, albeit in one of the betting shops. It would have been greater if Met day as a product was exported all over the racing world to satelite/home television with interviews, presenters, inserts etc. Obviously just seeing the races one isnt able to feel the vibe of the day. Melbourne Cup day is exported all over the world, it's a phenominal product and great advert for Aussie racing. I know SA is only an ant in the racing world in terms of prize money and breeding but one might have thought with SA's Dubai and international success there would be interest in seeing SA's biggest race day...

Nice story Garrick,and congratulations to the owners.