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Johan’s Big Four ~ Ashleigh Hughes (Love Racing)

What is it that makes certain trainers rise straight to the top of their profession, and stay there? What do they have, that so many others don’t? Is it luck? Where one special horse ‘puts them on the map’? Perhaps some are talented horsemen, while others are hard workers? Is there a formula to this sort of success in training racehorses?

Girl On The Run winning the 1800m Gr3 Yellowwood Handicap, with Randall Simons in the irons.

Randall Simons (Left) Johan Janse van Vuuren (Right)

As I chatted to Johan Janse van Vuuren, I realised that, every one of those things have contributed to his immense success, in just 3 and a half years of training under his own name. His most successful raceday to date, was having a “Quartet” of feature wins on the Charity Mile raceday on 5 November 2016 at Turffontein Racecourse. The day’s win streak started off with Girl On The Run winning the 1800m Gr3 Yellowwood Handicap, with Randall Simons in the irons. Barely 2 hours later he was back in the Winner’s Circle with She’s A Giver, who won the 1400m Gr3 HSH Princess Charlene of Monaco Starling Stakes very easily, by 3.75 lengths, giving jockey Gavin Lerena the second of his 4 wins on the day.

She’s A Giver, who won the 1400m Gr3 HSH Princess Charlene of Monaco Starling Stakes ~ Owned by Laurence Werner

Laurence Werners pats She’s a Giver

A very long rain delay, pushed the start of the main feature, the R1 Million Gr2 Peermont Emperor’s Palace Charity Mile, forward by nearly two hours. It’s a unique concept for a race – there are 16 runners, who race over 1600m. Each horse is assigned a charity, as well as a local celebrity and media house, who do a lot of publicity and promotions for the race, in the lead up to the day. All the charities are given a donation, but the one associated with the winner, gets the lion’s share. The Janse van Vuuren yard had the favourite in the race, the Australian import, New Predator, who was again ridden by Gavin Lerena.

New Predator (Aus) powered to victory in the Charity Mile, having had a dream run throughout the race, sitting second on the rail around the turn, and having a clear run in the home straight. It was an extra special win for the jubilant Lerena family, as Gavin’s cousin, Kevin Lerena, who is the current South African Cruiserweight Boxing Champion, was the celebrity paired with New Predator. The Peermont Educational Trust Bursary Program was the beneficiary of the R100 000 first prize. It was a very emotional lead in for everyone, which due to a 2 hour rain delay, the owner of New Predator, Laurence Werners unfortunately missed, as he had had to catch a flight to London!

New Predator (Aus) winning the Charity mile ~ Owned by Laurence Werners

New Predator (Aus) winning the Charity mile ~ Owned by Laurence Werners

The very next race on the card was the Gr3 Graham Beck Stakes, a 1400m for 3yo colts and geldings. Johan’s horse Doosra, again ridden by Gavin Lerena, managed to prevail over the Mike de Kock trained Heavenly Blue (Aus), in a thrilling heads up, heads down battle to the line. Both Johan and Gavin had 4 feature race winners apiece, and both have described the day as being close to their most successful day at the races.

Johan’s horse Doosra, again ridden by Gavin Lerena, winning the Graham Beck Stakes, a 1400m for 3yo colts and geldings.

Johan’s horse Doosra, again ridden by Gavin Lerena, winning the Graham Beck Stakes, a 1400m for 3yo colts and geldings.

Your 4-timer of feature wins on Charity Mile Raceday must be close to your most successful day at the races? How did it feel, as the day was unfolding, to realise that you had gotten everything so spot on for each horse?

“I was actually quite relaxed on the day, as most of the preparations had gone very well. After our first win with Girl On The Run, I got slightly more confident. But then She’s A Giver won, and I got really confident with the other two colts, because I thought, on the day, New Predator and Doosra were my best two runners.”

And were there any challenges leading up to the day?

“Everything went really smoothly in the last two weeks leading up to the raceday, and the only slight hiccup we had was when She’s A Giver had a slightly elevated temperature the night before – it’s was just 38.4C, so I called my vets to come and evaluate her. They said there wasn’t much we could do, and we gave her some antibiotics, and reassessed her the next morning. She ate up well that night, and she responded to the treatment, and so we decided to take our chances and raced her”

Those sort of successful days are a long time in planning, and a lot of team work is involved. Who are the key members of your team, and what are their roles? “

Yes, I’ve got a lovely team of hard working guys working for me at the moment. My main Assistant Trainer in the yard is Clinton Naude, and he heads up the team. I also have Kingston, who is from Zimbabwe – he is excellent. He is in charge of his own yard, within my stable, and he is very capable. He would be able to train his own string really well, if he ever decided to take out his licence, as he is very clued up. I also have Randall Simons who rides a lot of work at home for us. He is very professional, and I value the feedback he gives me. Hennie Greyling also does a lot of work riding for us. The vets are also an integral part of my team. I like to treat horse’s injuries proactively, trying to prevent injuries and problems, instead of waiting for them to happen, and then trying to fix them afterwards. My owners tell me that I really like the vets a lot, but I have learnt so much from them, and I rely on them a lot. These guys all do their bit, and none of my success would be possible without their dedication and hard work.”

Who are your biggest clients, and what sort of relationship do you have with them?

“I have two big clients in my yard, Laurence Werners and Jaap van der Vendal, and they have both supported me staunchly from day one. I have a very good professional relationship with both of them, and they are actually quite similar, in that they are very straight and to the point, much like myself. And so I get on with them both really well and we understand each other, which make things so much easier. They have actually become more than just clients though, as they have grown with me and my yard.”

Are you involved in selecting the horses that come into your yard from the sales? Do you do all the legwork yourself, or do you have a trusted advisor or bloodstock agent who helps you? You were always very keen on studying and researching bloodlines and pedigrees.

”I still do a lot of studying of pedigrees, and I still really enjoy it. I am a great believer in certain crosses with horses – certain sire lines will match better with certain female lines. So when the sales catalogues come out, I go through the book and earmark the pedigrees which I know my clients will also like, and then we go to the sales to assess those horses’ conformations to make our final choices. I have always been a massive fan of Fort Wood as a sire, and now also as a broodmare sire, and there are a lot of really good new sires which I think cross very well with the Fort Wood mares. I do most of the selections of horses myself at the sales. Sometimes a client may ask me to go and look at specific horse for them as well. But after seeing all the horses with the pedigrees we like, I sit down with my clients to decide which ones we like, and are going to bid for.”

How did you start out in the industry? What ignited your passion?

”I’ve been involved with horseracing for most of my life – as long as I can remember to be honest with you. My late Grandfather had a few share in racehorses, and his brother was also a few mares, which he bred from. I don’t think they were too successful at it though. I used to go racing, from a young age, with my father and grandfather, and I used to study the Computaform a lot more than I ever studied anything at school! I could not wait to finish school every day, so that I could get down to the local tote to put my Place Accumulator on that day’s racing. I used to get a few Rand for our school lunches, but that was used to pay for the bets instead. We would study form during our first break, and then run the 3km down to the tote after school, to get there in time to place our bets.”

You became a licenced Trainer in 2013, after having a 13 year tenure as an Assistant Trainer to former Champion Trainer, Geoff Woodruff. What are some of the most important things you’ve brought forward from there?

“It was very easy working for Geoff. He was always very forthcoming his knowledge, and when he gave us instructions to do something, he was always happy to explain why we had to do it. One of the main things I learnt from Geoff, is that you have to be confident when you make decisions. If you feel something is right, you must go with your gut feel and do it. Don’t second guess yourself when it comes to difficult situations”

How many horses in your string currently? Are you taking a string down to Cape Town for the season?

“I currently have 120 horses in my string, but I would like to cut back slightly to between 100 and 110. I just feel that it’s a more manageable number for my team. No I am not taking a string down to Cape Town, but I have sent New Predator and She’s A Giver down to Brett Crawford, to look after for us, as he did so well with Brazuca last year for us”

Racehorse trainers are famous for having superstitions or lucky charms, or certain things which they do on racedays, what are yours?

“I am a fairly superstitious person, but there is nothing I specifically do on racedays. Laurence Werner’s wife Tessa is a big believer of the balance of feng shui, and she has identified me as a ‘number 1’, which makes me a leader, and I have the strong personality that goes with it. She’s given me a couple of tips to use this to my advantage, which includes me wearing either water or metal colours at races, the blues or greys, as that is supposed to make me stronger”

Do you have any advice for any young people aspiring to become a trainer one day?

“Horseracing is a very tough industry, and one thing I do know, if you are not committed, and if you aren’t prepared to put in the long hours, then it’s not really worth your while pursuing a career in racing. It consumes most of your life, most of your time, and it becomes a lifestyle more than a job. But hard work definitely pays off!”

 

 

 

A Wander Down Turffontein’s Memory Lane ~ Ashleigh Hughes (Love Racing)

In July 2016, Turffontein Racecourse was awarded a prestigious Blue Plaque, by the Johannesburg Heritage Foundation. Their vision is to preserve and protect our rich and varied heritage of Johannesburg and its associated social history, for the use and enjoyment of both current and future generations.” Of course my curiosity was piqued and a bit of research into the history of the racecourse, and surrounding areas, started me on an incredible journey back in time, into the history of horse racing in Johannesburg, and how it was thoroughly intertwined with the very beginnings of our beloved “City Of Gold”.

 

Old Grandstand 17 December 1931 - picture which was printed in 1979

Old Grandstand 17 December 1931 – picture which was printed in 1979

The name of the racecourse is often mistakenly thought to be associated with the grass surface that the horses race on, but the name goes back way further than the beginnings of horseracing. All the way back, in fact, to the original settlers from the Great Trek in 1838. When translated directly from old Afrikaans, Turffontein means “clay fountain”. It is listed as one of the original 20 settlers farms on the Witwatersrand, on the monument erected in 1988, to honour those first families who settled in the area. Abraham Smit owned the original farm called Turffontein, and in 1886, Paul Andries Ras, a descendant of another one of original settler families, bought the farm, when a rich gold reef was discovered in the area. The “gold rush” began in earnest by then, and much of the farm was pegged off by prospectors for mining. This new influx of people started to settle in shacks in what is now the Joburg CBD, and fortunes were made literally overnight, as the rich gold resources were extracted all over the area. With this burgeoning new wealth, gambling was a very popular past time, and with horse racing being already popular in many other mining towns, it was a natural progression for it to start in the new settlement too. The original racecourse had its finishing line roughly where the intersection of Eloff and Commisioner Streets is today, and the first Johannesburg Handicap over 2 miles was run on 17 June1887 – the winner had the rather ironic name of “Second”!

The popularity of racing in the new mining town grew significantly in just a few months, and in 1888, under the guidance of the very first president of the Johannesburg Turf Club, Captain Carl von Brandis, a new site was found just a few miles away, on the farm called Turffontein. Directly opposite the main entrance to the racecourse in Turf Club Street, is a road called Von Brandis, named in honour of the Captain who was so instrumental in the setup of this new racecourse. The Town Deep mine (later called the Village Deep) was also leasing a significant portion of the now Ras owned farm, and to this day the mining tunnels run deep underground, almost 1.5km under the racecourse. December 1888 saw the very first running of the Summer Handicap, which in its current form as the Gr1 Sansui Summer Cup over 2000m, is Turffontein’s premier racing event.

Oil painting of Captain Carl von Brandis, first president of the Johannesburg Turf Club in 1887 (Africana Museum, Johannesburg)

Oil painting of Captain Carl von Brandis, first president of the Johannesburg Turf Club in 1887 (Africana Museum, Johannesburg)

The enormous stakes offered at these early racemeetings attracted horses from all over the country, and Turffontein very soon became the hub of horseracing not only in Johannesburg, but in the entire country. But in 1899, the darkest period of Turffontein’s history began. The Anglo-Boer War broke out, which caused the indefinite postponement of many races, and the British designated the racecourse as a suitable site for what would become the biggest concentration camp on the Witwatersrand. Over 5000 Boer women and children were interred on the site, and even though there was an adequate water supply at the nearby Wemmer Pan, the conditions in the camp were atrocious. The British listed over 700 deaths in the camp, which was run from 1899 to 1902, and the bodies were buried on the nearby Kliprivier Berg farm, just 5 miles away. That site, known today as the Suideroord Concentration Camp Memorial, has a vast area dedicated to remember the people who died at the Turffontein concentration camp. The 150 year Great Trek Commemoration Memorial is also on this site.

Great Trek 150 Year Commemoration Monument at the Suideroord Concentration Camp Memorial site

Great Trek 150 Year Commemoration Monument at the Suideroord Concentration Camp Memorial site

When the war ended in 1902, it was back to business, as usual, for the Johannesburg Turf Club, but this time they had competition from a number of other turf clubs, which had sprung up in Auckland Park, Germiston (Gosforth Park), as well as in Benoni and Pretoria. Over the next two decades, Turffontein grew from strength to strength, and when the Prince Of Wales (Later King Edward VIII) did a countrywide tour in 1925, a decision was made to move a racemeeting from Auckland Park to Turffontein, as the new facilities were more suitable for a Royal Visit. The new grandstand was a very impressive 3 story structure. There was a vast staired viewing area from the ground level, leading up to a very elaborately decorated first floor viewing area. The two rounded balconies were beautifully preserved when the new grandstand was built in 1974, and they are still easily recognisable as the main feature of the entire grandstand.

1-grandstand-lead-pic

There is also a training facility at Turffontein, split into 2 sections. The newer wooden stables were built to accommodate the trainers moved from Newmarket and Gosforth Park, when those courses were closed down and sold. The brick barns and yards are much older though, and construction on these buildings was completed in 1979. But the training tracks in the centre of the racecourse have been around nearly as long as they have been racing there. Up until the barns were completed, trainers had their yards in the neighbouring suburbs. Their horses walked down the tar roads, to the training tracks, and gained access through a gate, opposite the intersection Of Turf Club and High Streets. Gary Alexander and Ormond Ferraris are the only two current trainers still at the training centre, who have been there since the brick stable yards were originally built. Gary’s induna Boyi Mbele, and Mr Ferraris’s induna John Sebeko have both been with their employers since they first moved into the training centre. Both Boyi and John are very close to retirement, but you’d be hard pressed to find two more competent horsemen – I’ve asked for their sage advice on many occasions!

Gary Alexander’s Induna Boyi Mbele

Gary Alexander’s Induna Boyi Mbele

Gary’s father Duncan Alexander got his trainer’s licence in the late 1970’s, after an illustrious career as a jockey. His stable yard was just 800m from the racecourse, next to the Turffontein Post Office in Stanton Road. The stables are still standing, with the corrugated iron reinforced walls still in place, although they are now used as a storage space and low cost housing. There are various other stable yards throughout the residential suburbs, which have all been repurposed, but are still the original structures – the building techniques of yesteryear have really stood up to the test of time. In 1980, the Alexander yard moved to the newly built stables, and Gary took out his own licence in 1982. He recalls horses having to walk to Gosforth Park to race. If they raced at the Vaal, they had to walk the horses down to the Springfield train station, to catch the train to Vereeniging to race! There was a gate on the north east side of the course, near the 1400m mark, allowing horses to walk down to the nearby Wemmer Pan, to take a swim or cool their legs. The stories of days of yore, are absolutely fascinating, and it is quite remarkable how things have changed in recent times.

Another fascinating site within the racecourse itself, is a small graveyard next to the irrigation dam, in the centre of the tracks. Four of the very best horses to ever race at Turffontein are buried there: Caradoc, Furious, Beau Art and Aquanaut. Each gravestone has a brass plate with their racing achievements displayed – a lovely tribute to these special racehorses. All four horses have restaurants named after them in the Turffontein grandstand, and both Caradoc and Beau Art were also Lead Horses for racedays, leading out the youngsters onto the track for each race.

Another fascinating site within the racecourse itself, is a small graveyard next to the irrigation dam, in the centre of the tracks. Four of the very best horses to ever race at Turffontein are buried there: Caradoc, Furious, Beau Art and Aquanaut. Each gravestone has a brass plate with their racing achievements displayed – a lovely tribute to these special racehorses

Four of the very best horses to ever race at Turffontein are buried there: Caradoc, Furious, Beau Art and Aquanaut.

The original Standside racecourse, is regarded by many as the best turf surface and fairest course in the country. It is a 2800m clockwise turf oval, with a 1200m chute for straight races. Around the turn, between the 1400m and 800m marks, there is a sharp rise which has a 1:15m gradient, and is known as the “Turffontein Hill”. It has caught many a new jockey out, if they allow their mounts to stride to freely up that hill! The newer Inside Course was completed in late 2002, and has a tighter turn, and a much shorter straight, very much like the now defunct Gosforth Park. Racemeetings alternate between the two courses, to allow time for the turf to recover.

When Newmarket Racecourse in Alberton closed down in 2005, night racing was transferred to Turffontein, and it is a tremendous way to spend a Tuesday night in the summer. There are various restaurants which cater for all pockets on racedays, which have traditionally been Saturdays since the inception on the racecourse, and it is a most delightful family outing on a weekend afternoon. The next two major racemeetings are The Peermont Emperor’s Palace Charity Mile Raceday, on Saturday 5 November, and the Sansui Summer Cup on Saturday 26 November. Restaurant bookings and general enquiries can be made through Isizwe Hostpitality on 011 681 1702.

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