THIS year’s East Cape Derby very nearly turned into a fairytale for young Gqeberha trainer, Kelly Mitchley.
Quasimodo just missed out, by 0.25 length, to the Cape Town horse, Machete Man, in the prestigious race, last Friday on the Fairview Polytrack in Greenbushes.
It was the first time that Mitchley had runners, Lord Nelson was her other entry, in this race for three-year-old’s over 2 400m. To come so close to winning one of the East Cape’s biggest races in only her first season as a trainer, is no mean feat.
The race, steeped in history, has become very difficult for local trainers to win, since the Western Cape raiders started to dominate proceedings decades ago. Only four East Cape-trained horses have won this race in the last 20 years, an indication that it takes a really special effort to keep the silverware at home.
When you look at the betting boards, the Mitchley horses weren’t given much of a chance to take the winner’s cheque of R218 750.
Mitchley and her right-hand man, Kyle Paddock, had other ideas and were quietly confident before the race that they had a proper winning chance.
Machete Man gave a gutsy display to hang on for victory, as he fought it out with Quasimodo in a thrilling finish.
Although just missing out on the big prize, the Mitchley stable had an excellent day with two winners, making it 28 winners in an already stunning debut season for the trainer.
Derby Day is one of the biggest race days annually at Fairview, but many role-players would be forgiven for giving a sigh of relief that it is behind them.
The derby was filled with drama this year, due to the welcome rain and was originally scheduled to be run on the Turf track on May 12.
On that day it was switched to the Poly and then postponed to this past Friday. It was back on the Turf, but switched to the Poly again after more rain.
This situation made it very challenging for the trainers to keep their horses ticking over, as they were prepared to the tee to run on the Turf on May 12.
“You basically had to switch the horses on, then off and then on again, always keeping a possible change of surface in mind,” explained champion trainer, Gavin Smith.
Some more milestones were achieved at the meeting, which was also the last for the Fairview Track manager, Charles Newcombe.
He is taking up a contract in the United States of America. Fairview trainer, Tara Laing, won the last race on the card, to reach 500 career wins. It was wonderful to see the passion with which Tara shouted the filly “Like It Hot” home!
The action continues at Fairview this coming Friday, when the Milkwood Stakes and the Fairview 1400 will be the main races at another good-looking meeting.
