THE eight-year-old gelding, What A Winner, was by far the oldest horse in the Glendore Sprint at last Friday’s Fairview Polytrack meeting.
Although he was the runner-up in the same race last year, he wasn’t given much of a chance this time, against the younger brigade.
Well, the old man and his trainer, Juan Nel, had other ideas and what a gutsy winner over the 1000 metres he was, indeed.
It was no easy victory for What A Winner, as he was involved in a three-way fight to the line. At the winning post, he just got his nose in front of his more fancied stablemate, Evies First.
What A Winner is always willing to put the hard work in to prepare for races and in the races he never goes down without a fight.
In this race, the Fairview spectators were again treated to a nail-biting finish. This has become the norm at the Fairview meetings with one nail-biter after another.
The Glendore Sprint was a triumph for Nel, as he took the first two places.
Keeping the top yards of trainers Gavin Smith and Alan Greeff out of the winners’ box in a big Fairview race is no mean feat for a smaller stable.
It is what Nel has done with What A Winner that impressed most though. Winning jockey, Chase Maujean, could not believe that Nel got an eight-year-old horse in such tremendous shape for a competitive race.
Nel didn’t want to take the credit for the brilliant win and stated that the old man is the real star.
“He is an absolute soldier. He loves his racing and is always eager to put the hard work in before races,” Nel said of What A Winter, now a veteran of 57 races.
What A Winner wasn’t the only equine star at last Friday’s meeting. The small five-year-old mare, Santa Therese, produced a sparkling run to win the Pinnacle Stakes over 2200m.
She came from the back of the field in the short Poly straight to win, going away in a fine performance.
Santa Therese has been very consistent for the Greeff-stable and has now won 11 races from 19 starts.
She has been campaigning over shorter distances and it was the first time she tried the longer 2 200m. She looks ready for more sparkling runs over even more ground.
Then there was the four-year-old filly, And We Danced, who made it four wins in a row for the Sharon Kotzen-stable.
She easily won a Conditions Plate for fillies and mares over 1 600m and one to keep an eye on going forward.
Winning jockey, Louis Mxothwa, had no problem steering And We Danced home and was quick to predict that the filly will win more races in the future.
So, if you want some work on your nails done before the festive season is in full swing, get to Fairview this Friday for more nail-biting action.
Fairview dates:
2 December
9 December (Founders Trophy)
16 December
23 December
30 December
