Ken Daniels Horse racing
Horse Chestnut, already hailed as a wonder horse, now stands on the brink of becoming the country’s most phenomenal racehorse in recent history. On Saturday the big, long-striding colt attempts to do what no three-year-old has been able to do for 50 years: win the J&B Met.
Few horses have captured the imagination of the public since the days of Sea Cottage, in the 1960s, and then Empress Club – known as the Galloping Goldmine because of her ability to win races effortlessly.
Trainer Mike de Kock, who has worked with talented horses such as Spook Express and Golden Hoard, makes no secret of his belief in this horse. “It is easily the best horse I’ve ever trained,” he said this week. “Everything is going to plan and there have been no hiccups.”
De Kock says he’s confident his horse will run well and, without any interference, should win. The publicity Horse Chestnut has attracted has done a lot to improve racing’s image, he adds.
Owned and bred by Harry and Bridget Oppenheimer, Horse Chestnut is sired by Fort Wood, the imported American sire, who is proving to be a star in his own right with an incredible strike rate in his first crop of runners in this country.
But it is his striking son Horse Chestnut that has made everything he races against look second-rate, even though they are the cream of the country’s three-year-olds.
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The racing fraternity believe this is no ordinary racehorse. Even Tony Millard and his famous father Terrance, who between them have had enough champion racehorses in their yard to recognise a good one, agree that Horse Chestnut is as good, if not better, than their wonder horse Empress Club.
Millard’s own three-year-old Pablo Zeta is a decent sort of horse and was highly regarded by his trainer, but in his last three races has had to be content to watch the formidable hindquarters of Horse Chestnut in front of him.
Having contemptuously brushed aside all opposition in his age group, Horse Chestnut now moves into the big league where he faces some seasoned campaigners. Among these are Classic Flag, who last year carried the mantle now worn by Horse Chestnut.
The latter’s trainer, David Ferraris, last year chose to contest the July Handicap, which he won easily, rather than enter the Met. It’s a measure of the confidence in the ability of Horse Chestnut that he is quoted at 8-10 to win the race while Classic Flag is at 14-1.
But while no one is willing to deny Horse Chestnut’s brilliance there are the doubters who say he is biting off more than he can chew at this stage of his career. They point out that while three-year-olds have a good record in the July, the race comes five months after the J&B Met, giving them more time to mature.
Many people including regular jockey Weichong Mawing have said the horse is still a youngster and has a lot to learn about racing. This could count against him in a hard fought race against older rivals who may not let him have as easy a passage as against his younger opponents.
On the other hand Mawing has also described the horse as “awesome” and “scary” in his ability. De Kock – who saddles two other entrants in the Met, Smart Money and Star Defence – must have a shrewd idea of how Horse Chestnut measures up to the older horses in his stable and would surely not have entered his youngster in the prestigious race if he wasn’t sure the horse could hold his own.
“I think he’s up to it,” De Kock says, dismissing the arguments about three year olds not being ready to take on the Met so early in the year.
De Kock concedes that racing against older horses for the first time might count against the young star and he might have to fight hard to get a good position. “He works with older horses during training and does not appear concerned.”
So in spite of the doubts, you would have to be brave punter to bet against a horse of such raw talent. On his first trip to the Cape there were the detractors who expressed doubts about his ability to handle the left handed Kenilworth track on which the Argus Guineas, and the Met, are run.
Instead he dumbfounded everyone by turning in the best performance of his career by pulverising the best three- year-olds in the country. The bookmakers, already smarting from the pounding they took in the Guineas and the possibility of having to pay out doubles taken on the Met, are certainly not taking any chances and are offering very tight odds, but if the horse is as good as everyone believes it is, even 8-10 might be generous.