J.SOMA BLOWS THEM AWAY.

After a great day at the races yesterday,having a stab at the Greek stalls 'Souvlla',it was really pleasant to see the festivities at the big T back to its popular best,as i once remembered it.It was also nice to see our new champion IGUGU,pulverise a field of fillies,and on that form i hope that she will not be leaving us soon.A magnificent feat winning the triple tiara,and off course it was the mighty Mike De Kock stable doing what they know best,setting records.A great moment was the running of the Grade 1 Presidents Champions Challenge 2000m with a purse of R 2000 000,which was won by a small time trainer J Soma.It was nice to see how the De Kock stable went and congratulated the winner,in the parade ring,and what a great moment for Joe Soma,a moment that every small trainer dreams about,nice win for Happy Landing,and off course a nice Happy Ending,shot boys.

It's good to see the smaller stables winning some of the Group 1 races.

Happy ending indeed(tu)

As I said in the other thread, the quality of horses in Gauteng have steadily declined over the last decade.
(Just like everything else )
IF M de kock does not have a runner or not running his first string then more smaller trainers will cash in .
Not so long ago , this horse was a honest handicapper, but I'm not taking anything away from this victory

results are indicative of the poor standard of racing.happy landing and seal are b division horses . i dont know where racing is going.

Very intresting to hear that he worked the horse TWICE a day? My opinion is that he may not have had the best horse in the race based on talent but he sure had the fittest one - Well done Joe you really improved this horse and Muzi Yeni really did well to keep him going.

shikar3 Wrote:

---

> As I said in the other thread, the quality of
> horses in Gauteng have steadily declined over the
> last decade.
> (Just like everything else )
> IF M de kock does not have a runner or not running
> his first string then more smaller trainers will
> cash in .
> Not so long ago , this horse was a honest
> handicapper, but I'm not taking anything away from
> this victory


the question needs to be asked again if the presidents cup or whatever it is now called should have the same group one status bestowed upon it as the july and the met has....the majority of this years field and of years gone by would not have qualified for the july consolation race never mind the july itself

kubenn Wrote:

---

> results are indicative of the poor standard of
> racing.happy landing and seal are b division
> horses . i dont know where racing is going.

I'm sorry Kubenn, I have to disagree with you here. Seal & Happy Landing winning was merely the result of horses running true to form imo. They were easily the horses best in at the weights.

As for them being B-div I'm not exactly sure what you mean here, atleast in the case of Seal as he does have a better run /win/place record than Fav. Perana even though he came through hcp races. Imvho the entire Derby field should be B-div as the top horses only had about 1 graded win behind them & Seal joing the line up should not be questionable at all.

'Andycap Wrote:

---

> kubenn Wrote:
>

---

>

---

> > results are indicative of the poor standard of
> > racing.happy landing and seal are b division
> > horses . i dont know where racing is going.
>
> I'm sorry Kubenn, I have to disagree with you
> here. Seal & Happy Landing winning was merely the
> result of horses running true to form imo. They
> were easily the horses best in at the weights.
>
> As for them being B-div I'm not exactly sure what
> you mean here, atleast in the case of Seal as he
> does have a better run /win/place record than Fav.
> Perana even though he came through hcp races.
> Imvho the entire Derby field should be B-div as
> the top horses only had about 1 graded win behind
> them & Seal joing the line up should not be
> questionable at all.


andycap your comments regarding seal and happy landing being easily the best horses in at the weights is way way way way way way way off the mark...i suggest you read the merit ratings insert on the nhra website before you make such a pathetic statement

Predicting the outcome of a race is difficult most of the time; in the case of Seal I think MR did not really come into it - he just stayed the trip better than the others - the oucome would have been different over a shorter trip imo - one needs to consider the distance a horse achieved his rating - Seal would not run to the same rating over 1600 than he did over 2400 - just my opinion.

In the case of Happy Landing, I think the other jocks thought he was going to come back to them - but due to an inspiring ride from Muzi and an excellent training feat the horse was fit enough to hold them off - it has happened before and will happen again.

Lastly I don't get this constant hammering on the 'fact' that Gauteng horses are now not up to the task (KZN has not really covered themselves in glory in the last ten years - but so what) the wheel could be turning (but so what) - what does it matter if the best horses come from KZN, the Cape or Gauteng?

I'm sorry I offended u my learned friend. I may not know all the rules & regulations to the hcp system but i do know this, if one horse (A) had beaten another( and had lost to that same horse( again than should they meet again the first horse should win if the handicapper had done his work correctly. And for me that was the case on saturday. Just my very humble opinion.

I assumed that remark about Seal and Happy Landing being best in at the weights was intended to be tongue-and-cheek, because the alternative is impossible to comprehend. Happy Landing might have had a squeak on paper of reversing past form with Captain's Wild, but you can't get away from the fact that he'd never won above Listed class and was merit rated to finish in the last five - as was Captain's Wild. Not that merit ratings are the end all and be all of racing, but they are not sucked out of thin air, especially when a horse is as seemingly well exposed as the very experienced Happy Landing.

Frodo is right when he suggests that Seal simply outstayed his opposition, and as a backward staying type he is entitled to still be improving, although it leaves one more than a bit bemused that Ice Flag managed to beat him in their last encounter - but these things happen. It is also true that Happy Landing enjoyed the run of the race. Muzi Yeni prertty much admitted as much when he said that he'd given his horse a bit of a chance because he would be racing handy in a field where most of the "big" names would be racing from well off the pace. He got first run on them, and the form of the race (will all respect to everyone concerned) probably won't stand up very well.

I would not bash the quality or otherwise of Gauteng horses purely for the hell of it. Again, as Frodo points out, let's rather look at it from an SA perspective and if the best horse comes from Joburg, Cape Town, Durban, or even PE (a la Bold Silvano), who cares? However, it is quite different when you try and evaluate the strength of Gauteng form going forward into future races. I think I am right in saying, based on a snap analysis that I did off the top of my head, that of the 11 winners of the last ten Durban July's (remembering there was one dead heat) only three of the horses had ever raced in Gauteng previously. The other eight all had Cape Town form. You also need, I think, to go back to 2005 to find the last time a horse with Gauteng form won the J & B Met, although the fact that one horse won it three times does rather render that "statistic" a little less meaningful.

This is not about "bashing" Joburg, as much as I freely admit I don't like the place one little bit.< There does, however, seem to be a trend developing that the form of big Gauteng races is not quite what it maybe was ten or more years ago. However, the possibility that it is weaker than it was, coupled with the big Feature race stakes on offer, has at least had one positive spin-off in that has persuaded at least some of the Western Cape's numerous high class horses to race in Joburg. The results this year were surely good enough that they will be back again in 2012.