natal trainers fail to win a group one since outcome last july

Quite amazing that since outcome won last years garden province stakes on july day natal trainers have failed to win a group one race.I am sure that the age old excuse of buying power will come up but this surely isnt the reason as many of the group one winners didnt cost a fortune .The best two natal trainers finished 15th and 26th on the national log and they finished well behind trainers that are based in minor centres.

ja they struggling. buying power is a factor ( if you ignore herman brown very junior ) but imo the quality of natal trainers are down from years gone past. i think that dennis drier seems to be rebuilding and has very few older horses.

A few words to look out for in the near future

Lord London
Sharks Bay
Gavin van Zyl
Duncan Howells
Dennis Drier

All capable of winning group 1's

.....and dont forget Laff and the animal farm.

Even Joey Ramsden commented on how much harder it has been to win races in KZN this year.

The Sharks are coming!

Al, there does seem to be a light at the end of this particular tunnel, but I still think that the KZN horses in general are inferior; take Bambelela as an example this past weekend; he had run behind some pretty moderate animals up in Gauteng, but won like the proverbial good thing over a distance short of his best, beating the much touted Kokerot easily.

Sure this is horse racing, things can change, but for me the jury is still out....

ja frodo that is a good example. when gauteng trainers raid natal with moderate maidens it is very often pay pay

Forgive me for saying this but mathematically it would appear that the problem lies with the trainers rather than the horses.

In ANY group of animals where the formula for success is as random as horse breeding is it is mathematically impossible for one centre to underperform year after year in the manner that these trainers have managed in the last number of years. It's a world record!

Racing is littered with superstars acquired for pennies rather than pounds so the entire blame cannot be placed on the altar of affordability. Durban trainers attend all the major sales so must inevitably fluke good horses at some point.

There is probably some merit in criticising the programming and the area does appear to bend over backwards to fete soupmeat. But surely somebody has/had a Politician, Yataghan,Sentinel, Taban etc., lurking in their yard in the last decade?

Regrettably I believe they are just KAK!

to many horses that relocate from natal perform divisions better up here. al nitak always thrown around but is the perfect example.

have to agree with leervis

This game is cyclical. One minute you're hot the next your're not. Lets look at Mike Bass' natal campaigne. Started like a house on fire then missfired with some red hot odds on favourites in PP twice, River Jetez and no show with many bullets in the gun for the Gold Cup. Granted KZN trainers are having a protracted cycle, soon the wheel will turn though.

There is an old saying history repeats itself. One cannot apply this to racing as each year is completely different from the next. A few years back Dom Zaki was firing big time so was Dean Kannemeyer and I do recall Weiho Mawing having a great KZn season with Jessica Goslett. The wheel has turned for them but I am sure they will all be back.

Dennis Drier is still the best in KZN as far as I am concerned and he rates right up there with the best in SA. Gavin van Zyl has a lot of scope for huge success and we must not forget assistant trainer Nathan Kotzen, who is really a KZN trainer with MDK being away. He has prepared some top horses.

Lets be fair now boys, Kzn trainers cant win everything other wise the winter season will end up like your summer cup with no reason for anybody to travel

They dont have enought Captain AL's in their Yards

Alcaponee - If winning is cyclical let's start off with the supposed pinnacle - the Durban July - and examine the performances from local trainers.

The last time they won it was in 1994 - 15 years ago - when Space Walk won by default for Ricky Maingard. As Maingard is actually ( I believe ) Mauritian some might argue that he was not local although he was stabled in Durban.

Prior to that we need to go back to 1992 when Dennis Drier won with Spanish Galliard - a genuine home town trainer. Also lending weight to the contention that Drier is still Durban's best trainer yet does not even rank in the top 10 nationally.

Then another 7 year gap back to 1985 to Antelme who won with Gondolier. If we go further back we find local trainers peppered in with much greater regularity through household names such as Syd Laird.

In summary, however, locals have clocked up 3 in total since 1985 - a strike rate of 3 out of 24. Pretty putrid if you apply the 'home ground' principle.

Of even greater concern should be the number of runners they have managed to get into the field in recent years. I don't have them to hand but they hardly lend substance to the self proclaimed 'Racing Capital' status that the area likes to claim for itself.

The acid test is that if you fired the lot of them it would hardly reflect in the history books as their achievements are so sparse.

Fair enough. Can't argue against fact, but one has to ponder why trainers just under the top rank in the Cape and JHB and even the Eastern Cape for that matter, with the KZN boys being such shite trainers after all; why dont this lot not come and set up shop in KZN and shoot fish in a barrell. The answer is they will not find the quality of investor that they will find in the Cape and JHB and that is why they flourish.

The good jocks also gravitate to the good centres and get jobs in the top stables with top investors, top horses

Correct me if I'm wrong

A bit more to add to the argument. Lets look at this in rugby terms. Natal were the shitest team in SA for a long time. Battled to win a curry cup. Done it a few times and are almost invincible. Why - money!!!!

KZN is Africas racing capital not because of the horses or trainers but purely due its racing heritage an position. The Cape could hardly qualify. The pools tell the story in the cape and Jhb doesnt qualify no one one wants to be assisnated on the way to the track