Jockey Felix Coetzee makes no bones about how good his record-breaking mount Silent Witness is.
”He’s the best horse you could ever hope to ride,” says the South African.
”I’ve ridden close to 3 000 winners and I will never ride anything like him again. He’s a superstar, a supreme athlete. He’s just a once-in-a-lifetime horse,” says Coetzee, who has ridden Silent Witness to all 17 triumphs.
”He’s a wonderful character, he’s very calm and relaxed and he’s very intelligent. He’s like a dream to ride, because he always likes to look around and take things in, but he’s got the reflexes of a springbok.”
Recalling the record-breaking ride of April 24 when Silent Witness, racing over 1 400m for the first time, eclipsed the 16-win runs of legends Cigar, Citation and his own great-great-great-grandfather, Italy’s Ribot, Coetzee says the crowd helped them on.
”When I went into my gate, we were on the other side of the track, but I could hear the crowd already roaring. When I turned into the straight, they got even louder,” he says.
”I was a bit concerned the other horses were going to come up and worry him in the early stages, but he set a time that was just too fast for anybody close.
”When I came round the turn at the halfway mark, Silent Witness was just cruising along and I thought he was going to win easily.
”For me, it was pretty exciting being the first time over 1 400 metres and I was waiting to press the button, but I never really had to.
”He got into the last 15m and I put my fist up in the air because I knew he had it won.”
Silent Witness has won all 17 victories in Hong Kong, where he has built up a huge following.
Coetzee reckons life is about to get tougher for the world’s top-ranked sprinter, who lines up for his first mile race on Saturday.
Success on Saturday would see Silent Witness equal Ajax’s 18-win streak in 1930s Australia.
”He hasn’t seen his biggest test yet,” says Coetzee. ”But Silent Witness is like a boxer — challengers keep coming and he keeps on knocking them out.”
The gelding is then due to run the Yasuda Kinen in Tokyo on June 5, the second stage of the lucrative Asian Mile Challenge and his first race overseas since arriving here from Australia in 2002.
Owner Archie da Silva has expressed interest in taking the gelding to the United States next season.
”We’re going to take it step by step. If he’s able to win this mile and do very well in Japan, then there could be more options open to us,” said Coetzee. — Sapa-AFP