Up and down on the racing roller-coaster

The powerful Mike de Kock stable seemed to have a firm grip on the big-race trophy, with the top four runners in the betting. But the silverware was snatched away by rival Sean Tarry’s team and their 28-1 outsider Zillzaal.

A few racegoers were ecstatic to have backed a long-odds winner, but rather more were disappointed – for a few minutes, at least, until the next race came around and they recouped losses (maybe).

Aficionados of the game raised their admiration of trainer Tarry, who played an apparently mediocre hand to devastating effect in Joburg’s most prestigious race.

It’s never an easy decision to take to geld a well-bred young colt, but the unkindest snip appears to have been crucial to getting Zillzaal’s name into the history books. By champion stallion Silvano, out of a mare by international star Giant’s Causeway, Zillzaal is royally pedigreed and confirmed high expectation by winning early in his career.

But he just couldn’t win again, despite running prominently alongside the best of the best. So, a fateful call was made: whip ’em off.

Zillzaal won first time out sans cojones; a relatively minor race, but with enough ease to suggest his mind was fully on the business of racing.

Zillzaal disappointed in the Charity Mile, but that trip was too short for him and he might have been victim of second-run-after-a-rest syndrome.

Drawn 15 in the Summer Cup, Tarry and young rider Dennis Schwarz had little option but adopt tactics of scooting to the front – using up energy but banking on a mid-race breather before testing the weight-carrying capacity of the De Kock favourites in a dash for the line.

De Kock’s admirable charge Soqrat, carrying 60kg from No 14 draw, put in a courageous performance to get close to nabbing the flying Zillzaal (52kg). But he just failed, after running wide around Turffontein’s long uphill turn.

Ecstasy and agony. And there was more of both on a strange day in the old mining camp.

Racing operator Phumelela posted dismal annual financial results on the Friday, so a big, successful race meeting was called for. And it happened. But it was spoilt.

In the shadow of a turning ferris wheel, with skyscrapers of downtown Joburg as a backdrop, more than 13,000 people gathered to celebrate the gee-gees – prompting the venerable De Kock to recall the city’s golden racing days of the 1980s.

Event-management firm Campbell and Campbell knocked attendance figures out of the park following careful study of young people’s social habits and by leveraging the pulling power of “social pioneers” – aka social media influencers.

Whipping up glamour, embracing a party vibe and booking top band Freshlyground were part of a tasty recipe.

But this is South Africa. You can’t do such things without a tap on the shoulder and a reminder of the flip side of reality.

The downer came in the form of protest action by horse grooms from the adjacent stabling complex, who marched up the track, sat down on the turf in front of smart patrons in champagne marquees and asked for better wages.

The same thing happened at last year’s Summer Cup meeting, when the situation was defused by sweet talking. Not this time. Someone called the cops, who fired rubber bullets and had grooms scattering in undignified terror.

Racing was delayed by two hours. Phumelela apologised vaguely, but refused to say another word about a crazy incident that had everyone talking.

The UK’s Racing Post website splashed a headline: “Chaos at Turffontein as police fire rubber bullets….”

Back home, justified congratulations for a well-staged event rolled on through the weekend, into Monday. Race-day betting turnover was tremendous, with the Pick 6 pool hitting an unprecedented R12 million – especially good news after those Phumelela financials bemoaned a decline in local betting numbers.

Oh joy!

But what’s happening about the unhappy grooms told to voetsek? Sorry, no answers.

And then a story surfaced about an altercation behind the scenes of the big-day glamour. Officials allegedly told worried owners and trainers to voetsek, too – in even ruder terms. At least those worthies didn’t feel the sting of a rubber missile up the rear.

Racing’s a roller-coaster.

Look! Superstar Hawwaam is running at Turffontein on Thursday in a warm-up for the Cape Town season. Yay!

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