Cape’s Drakenstein Stud a surprise winner at highveld season awards

As a shock on the scale, it would probably rate a six out of 10. Cape-based Drakenstein Stud won a top award — that of Champion Owner — at the 2023 Highveld Feature Season awards held in Johannesburg on Saturday night.

The farm is used to winning awards in its home province of the Cape and the annual Equus awards in August.

However, this award will have surprised the farm’s matriarch, Gaynor Rupert, when the news was broken to her on Saturday night or Sunday morning.

That the stud was surprised seems likelier for there having been no representative at the function to accept the trophy. This is something usually handled by Kevin Sommerville.

One of Drakenstein’s big winners during the highveld season was their homebred four-year-old, Trip of Fortune, who took the R625,000 first cheque in the grade 1 HF Oppenheimer Horse Chestnut Stakes on April 1.

It proved a big evening for the Wernars family (owner Laurence) and trainer Johan Janse van Vuuren with their Argentinian-bred star, Puerto Manzano, capturing the Champion Middle Distance category as well as the most important award, Horse of the Season.

The three-man judging panel will not have had to spend much time on the latter category as Puerto Manzano won both the grade 1 Summer Cup in November and April’s grade 1 Premier’s Champions Challenge.

Master of Ceremonies Alistair Cohen did a first-class job, and revealed that the judges had spent considerable time on the category of Champion Middle Distance horse. There were five nominees here: Anfields Rocket, Bless My Stars, Desert Miracle, Trip Of Fortune and Puerto Manzano.

To the delight of the Wernars camp, the vote went in favour of Puerto Manzano which meant the five-year-old scooped three categories, along with Champion Older Horse and Horse of the Season.

Anfields Rocket missed out on the Champion Middle Distance category, but trainer Robert Maroun and Hollywood Syndicate ambassador, Anthony Delpech, were present to receive the trophy for Champion Three-Year-Old Colt/Gelding.

This was a category with six nominees including Billy Bowlegs, Eye Of The Prophet, Royal Victory, Son Of Raj and Union Square.

Earlier in the day, the Hollywood Syndicate had won the R200,000 WSB Ladies Mile with Going Up in a race where another of their fillies, Happy Chance, proved a big disappointment.

Trainer Weiho Marwing has an excellent record in the SA Derby and most pundits expected owner Steven Chetty would receive the trophy for the Champion Stayer category. That proved to be the case with the son of Duke Of Marmalade getting the vote over Arumugan, Future Pearl and Nebraas.

It was also a big night for Sean Tarry with the talented highveld conditioner making three trips to the winners rostrum. Most important of these was the Champion Trainer of the Season category, but he also captured the Champion two-year-old filly award with Mrs Geriatrix and the Champion Two-Year-Old Colt award with Lucky Lad.

The function was hosted by the Racehorse Owners Association, so it was fitting it was a memorable night for the CEO, Natalie Turner, who is the nominee owner of Mrs Geriatrix.

Sam Mosia won the Work Rider of the Season, and it was something of a surprise that he wasn’t present to accept his trophy.