RACING NEWSTEXT : LIESL KINGVoster has quietly and without any fuss been Rocky’sdaily work rider and while he partnered the sprintingsuperstar to some of his local victories, he was inevitablyreplaced for the big races. Hence it was businessas usual in the 2012 Group 1 Krisflyer Sprint, with FelixCoetzee taking the reins of the defending champi<strong>on</strong>,while Voster was nominated to partner the stable’ssec<strong>on</strong>d stringer, Ato.H<strong>on</strong>est work horseA h<strong>on</strong>est work horse, the slightly built Ato was howevernot in Rocket Man’s league and had been <strong>on</strong> thereceiving end of a resounding thrashing when theylast met in the Group 1 Li<strong>on</strong> City Cup. On top of that,Ato had not w<strong>on</strong> a race since August 2011 and Vosterwas under no illusi<strong>on</strong>s that the colt’s first foray into Internati<strong>on</strong>alGroup 1 company was likely to end thatdrought.However, racing is neverwithout drama of some sortand after days of speculati<strong>on</strong>s,the news of RocketMan’s withdrawal from theKrisflyer, due to a tend<strong>on</strong>strain, finally broke. With hiswithdrawal went South Africa’shopes of c<strong>on</strong>tinuing thecountry’s dominati<strong>on</strong> of theKrisflyer and the SIA Cup.The Shaw stable and Rocky’sc<strong>on</strong>necti<strong>on</strong>s put <strong>on</strong> a brave face, explaining that it wasin the best interest of the horse not to push him underthe circumstances, but the pain and disappointmentof being unable to defend the title and to see their stablestar c<strong>on</strong>fined to his box was there for all to see.With Rocket Man g<strong>on</strong>e, the attenti<strong>on</strong> shifted to theGolden Shaheen winner, Krypt<strong>on</strong> Factor and the localhero Better Be The One. Yet out of the glare of themedia, Voster just kept <strong>on</strong> quietly putting Ato throughhis paces, c<strong>on</strong>fident that the youngster would deliverhis best <strong>on</strong> the night.And deliver he did. With a soft track, Krypt<strong>on</strong> Factorwas never in the race and with 200m left to go it becamea two horse race between the aptly named MrBig and Ato. Shaw had taken the blinkers off in an attemptto stop the wayward colt racing too keenly andwhile staring down his opp<strong>on</strong>ent, Ato shot clear toVoster was completelyovercome withemoti<strong>on</strong>, hugging andpatting Ato, beforecollapsing <strong>on</strong> his neckwith tears of joy.win by 1.5 lengths.The quiet, behind the scenes man, <strong>on</strong> the perennialbridesmaid had finally w<strong>on</strong> his first Internati<strong>on</strong>alGroup 1. Voster was completely overcome with emoti<strong>on</strong>,hugging and patting Ato, before collapsing <strong>on</strong> hisneck with tears of joy. A well deserved victory if everthere was <strong>on</strong>e.It was <strong>on</strong>ly <strong>on</strong> seeing Ricardo le Grange, Shaw’s assistant,running from the stands, leaping and shoutingwith joy, that the reality finally sunk in. A SouthAfrican owned, bred and trained horse had just w<strong>on</strong>the Krisflyer Sprint.And in winning, Ato, who is owned by Dennis andGael Evans, together with his breeder, Andreas Jacobsof Maine Chance Farms, escaped the unkindest cutof all. The naughty and wayward Ato was scheduledto be gelded after the Krisflyer to try and c<strong>on</strong>centratehis mind <strong>on</strong> work, but those plans have now beenshelved and the colt can lookforward to a future stud career.But before too much champagnecould be c<strong>on</strong>sumed, itwas <strong>on</strong>wards to the Group 1Singapore Internati<strong>on</strong>al AirlinesCup. Unfortunately, despitebeing the country withthe most victories in the Cup’sten year history, includingwinning the 2010 and 2011Cups, South Africa had entered no runners in 2012.Our closest c<strong>on</strong>necti<strong>on</strong> being a South African bred,Silvano gelding, Flax, trained by David Hill in Singapore.DramaAgain the race was not without drama as the SheemaClassic winner, Cirrus Des Aigles, had been withdrawnearly <strong>on</strong>, leaving the race wide open. Godolphinhad a potential winner in the elegant City Style,while frequent flyer, Chinch<strong>on</strong>, was competing in hisseventh country in just over a year.To add to the drama, Chinch<strong>on</strong>’s Spanish born Frenchtrainer, Carlos Laff<strong>on</strong>-Parias had arrived three daysbefore the race, <strong>on</strong>ly to return to Seville the very nextday, as news of his father’s passing came through.36 Parade CAPE PREMIER YEARLING SALES EDITION
29 Yearlings at CapePremier Sale Book 124-25 January 2013Champi<strong>on</strong> Sire (Florida USA) &Sire of a Champi<strong>on</strong>SA’s Champi<strong>on</strong> Freshman Sire 2012New SA Record for 2yo Stakes winsSire internati<strong>on</strong>ally of over 400 winners and over 40 Stakes winners including:R Heat Lightning, Trippi’s Storm, Travelin Man, Jealous Again, Gourmet Dinner, Miss MacySue, Let It Rock, R Holiday Mood, No More Trips, Green Vegas, Trip For A.J.,and in South Africa: Franny, Hammie’s Hooker, Agra, Ziparana, Abercrombie and Trip PokerTRIPPI (usa)Stands at Drakenstein Stud FarmRoss Fuller - Tel: +27 (0)21 874 9015 | ross@drakensteinstud.co.zaALL BOOKINGS AND ENQUIRIES: John FreemanTel: +27 (0)21 418 0566 | Fax: +27 (0)21 418 0254john@johnfreeman.co.za | www.freemanstalli<strong>on</strong>s.co.za
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