The big announcement will be the crowning of the Horse of the Year at the Eastern Cape Regional Awards on Saturday evening in the Bold Silvano Room at Fairview Racecourse.
The equine and human achievements during the past Eastern Cape racing season will be honoured but that Horse of the Year Award is the one everyone wants. This is a very prestigious award for everyone involved with the winner and although the stables of top trainers Gavin Smith and Alan Greeff have been dominating proceedings for decades, they haven’t had as many Horse of the Year Awards as one would have expected. This shows that it is a very difficult award to win and many role-players will be waiting with bated breath for that name to be announced.
The winner will join legendary names on the roll of honour but there were also some lean seasons in which the judges were looking around for inspiration. “This is not one of those seasons,” the convenor of the judging panel, Henk Steenkamp, said. “There are at least a handful of horses who will be very worthy winners but the winner was a unanimous choice,” he added.
The categories and nominees:
Champion two-year-old filly: Idita; Joy And Peace; Luna Halo
Champion two-year-old colt/gelding: Fairy Knight; Questor; Vision Of Wonder
Champion three-year-old filly: Chere For Me; Ekoria; Tipsy Tina
Champion three-year-old colt/gelding: Heathcliff; Khaya’s Hope; Perfection
Champion older filly/mare: And We Danced; Phedra; Santa Theresa
Champion older colt/gelding: American Landing; Grazinginthegrass; Jaeger Moon
Champion stayer: American Landing; Jaeger Moon; Wildest Dreams
Champion sprinter: Cliff Top; Cruise Control; Phedra
All nominees are in the running for the Horse of the Year Award.
Special Awards:
Polytrack track filly/mare
Polytrack track colt/gelding
Feature season trophies are also awarded to the human achievers.
These include Champion Jockey, Champion Local Jockey, Champion Groom, Champion Trainer, Champion Work Rider and Champion Owner.