AND the winner is . . .
On Saturday night racing fans will know which race horse is regarded as the best in the Eastern Cape.
The annual Racehorse Owners Association Awards evening will be held on Saturday, in the Bold Silvano Room, at Fairview in Greenbushes.
At this smart evening the equine and human achievements during the Eastern Cape season (August 1, 2021 till July 31, 2022) will be honoured.
The most prestigious award is Horse of the Year and Saturday’s winner will join famous names of previous winners like Hear The Drums, Surfin’ USA, Blaze of Fire and Copper Parade.
One would expect the winner to come from the stables of champion trainer Gavin Smith or former champion Alan Greeff.
They dominated the past season with horses like Santa Therese, Glacier Gold, Safari Blue, Global Drummer, Cliff Top, Franca, Barak and many others.
Some of the previous awards evenings at Fairview (and Arlington when that venue was still in use) turned into legendary parties.
After missing out on an awards evening for two years due to COVID-19, one can expect the racing fraternity to be ready to party on Saturday.
Before the party can begin, though, there is an action-packed meeting on Friday on the Fairview Turf track.
The feature race will be the Speedsters Stakes and some very fast horses will battle it out over 1000m for prize money of R175 000.
Stranger Danger won a brilliant race last year for the Smith-stable when it was run on the Poly surface and another exciting contest is expected.
Last Friday’s meeting was packed with quality and the five-year-old mare, Santa Therese, produced yet another brilliant performance for the Greeff stable.
She won the Jockey Club Stakes in fine style. She was one of three winners on the day for the potent combination of trainer Greeff and jockey Richard Fourie.
What an absolute pleasure it was for racing fans to see Fourie riding at his very best at the meeting. The services of the Cape Town-based rider are certainly a huge asset for the Greeff-stable.
There were also other eye-catching performances at the meeting. Trainers Smith and Duncan McKenzie were also in tremendous form and it was a huge day for the 21-year-old Ewan Garrett.
He is a part-owner of the filly Chroniclesofnania who won the fourth race. It was the first winner in the former Woodridge College learner’s black and orange racing colours and a moment he will never forget.
It is always a big event for an owner to lead his horse to the winners’ box but unfortunately Ewan was not at Fairview on Friday.
The reason for that was an animal of another sort. Ewan was at home looking after the puppy dog, Luna, but did join the winning celebrations later with the filly’s trainer and also one of the owners, his mom, Tara Laing.
