It is always wonderful to see when a fine racehorse is back to his best after a lean spell.
The four-year-old gelding, Jaeger Moon, announced that he is back as one of the best horses in Nelson Mandela Bay.
He did this with a stunning victory last Friday, on the Fairview Polytrack, in challenging racing conditions.
Before this victory, Jaeger Moon last won a race just more than a year ago.
It was not just any race he won in May last year – it was one of the Eastern Cape’s biggest races, the WSB Derby.
Jaeger Moon was a gutsy winner of the Derby and it was his seventh victory from 11 starts, a very good record.
Racing fans were excited to see what Jaeger Moon would do next but he could just not deliver the goods after his Derby win.
The decision was then made in December last year to geld Jaeger Moon. This is usually done to make the horse more even-tempered and easier to handle.
Since then, Jaeger Moon had three runs this year before taking on a strong field in a Pinnacle Stakes over 2000m on the Poly.
In those runs, Jaeger Moon started to show signs that he is coming back to his best and he confirmed that with his last run.
He won the race by almost four lengths, under top jockey Richard Fourie, for the Gavin Smith stable.
Now it is exciting times, with Jaeger Moon again. Smith and the racing fans can’t wait for Jaeger Moon’s next race to see if he can follow up on his last run.
The Smith stable is enjoying a great season and, in the case of Jaeger Moon, all the hard work paid off. Smith and his team did a great job with the horse.
We very nearly didn’t see Jaeger Moon’s victory as last Friday’s meeting was called off after this race. There were still three races left.
It was a unique decision to abandon the remainder of the meeting, as the action usually continues on the Polytrack, come hell or high water.
This time, the very welcome rain at Fairview left the track waterlogged.
The jockeys lodged a protest and it was then decided that the last three races would be abandoned due to poor visibility and a waterlogged track.
It is always a setback and very disappointing to everyone involved when a planned race can’t take place.
When the officials make these decisions the safety of the horses and riders are the most important factor and one can’t argue with that.
This coming Friday’s Fairview meeting is on the turf track and there is also a Poly meeting on Monday.
The running of the Milkwood Stakes and the Fairview 1400 will be the highlights on Friday.
