The Transformation of Grazinginthegrass
A Story of Patience and Change
Above: Patience has paid dividends with Grazinginthegrass (Photo: Pauline Herman Photography)
Grazinginthegrass was a one-time winner from 13 runs in April 2021. After his recent victory in a Pinnacle Stakes at Fairview, he now boasts 15 wins, with more on the horizon. His stake earnings are approaching R1.5 million. His story conveys a simple message: when a horse is at its happiest, it is likely to run to its best ability.
Grazinginthegrass had much going for him when he entered training with Mike de Kock in late 2019. He was a fine specimen with a good pedigree. As a son of Philanthropist (Kris S), a classic champion sire in Canada before joining Gaynor Rupert’s Drakenstein Stud, out of Candy Singer (Singspiel), he hailed from one of the most impressive female lines in the stud book. Candy Singer, a half-sister to the unbeaten racehorse and successful U.S. stallion Candy Ride (ARG), added further allure to his pedigree.
In 2006 De Kock and Form Bloodstock’s Jehan Malherbe, tasked with finding a good race filly for Drakenstein, happened upon Candy Singer on a trip to Argentina. At the time, Candy Ride has just gone to stud, but with no stud statistics at hand, the filly was acquired for less than she would have been worth a few years later.
Candy Singer distinguished herself as a proper filly. Trained by De Kock, she won five races, including the 2011 Grade 3 Jubilee Handicap, in which she defeated the Highveld star, Pierre Jourdan. De Kock said: “I remember that race in particular because my son Mathew was looking after Candy Singer at Randjesfontein while I was training our winter string at Summerveld.
“Mathew phone me on the eve of the race and he said, ‘Dad, Candy Singer will win the Jubilee, she is on top of her game’. She was talented but priced up at long odds for the race, 20-1 or more. I joked with young Mathew, who’d finished school just two years before the race: ‘Your balls haven’t dropped yet, but you call yourself a trainer and you want to start tipping to me?’. Candy Singer won very well, and Mat was vindicated. I started listening to him after that!”
Everyone at the De Kock yard was looking forward to working with Candy Singer’s colt foal and the trainer recalled: “Grazinginthegrass was showing a lot in his work, but he was a nervous type. Candy Singer was a little hot, but manageable. Her colt was problematic, so much so that we had to geld him before his first run. He walked from his stable to the training tracks in the morning and did what he had to do, but when he got to the races he was washed out from travelling.
“Whenever he got off the float at the racetrack he was a gibbering wreck. He intensely disliked travelling. This seemed to affect his performance. He managed a third place from his first three runs, then finished stone last in his fourth run and tailed off again in his fifth run, acting up and as nervous as they come. We managed to get him to the Vaal for a Work Riders Plate after that and won quite well, but the field was very weak that day, we got lucky.
“We tried racing Grazingthegrass fitted with pacifiers a few times and he posted one more place from his next seven starts. Eventually we decided to send him to Alan Greeff at Fairview. The partners stayed in – myself, Arun Chadha’s ASSM Syndicate and Noeline Malherbe and we hoped that a change of environment would help. Being at Fairview also meant that he wouldn’t have to travel on a float to the races. I am so glad we kept the faith. He’s been a soldier, an ATM. He wouldn’t have won again on the Highveld. The Pinnacle Stakes in Gqberha are much weaker and mostly without young, up-and-coming horses. Alan’s done a great job. Grazinginthegrass has had an easier task there, but it takes a huge amount of skill to keep horses like him ticking over. Alan has kept him in a confident groove and confidence does wonders.”
Greeff said he only realised Grazingthegrass had posted his 15th win when the race caller announced it last Friday. “He has been such a regular winner for us, I didn’t notice the number was that big already.” He is modest about this run of success and said: “The be all and the end all is that this horse hated travelling. I really haven’t done that much. A change is as good as a holiday and some horses just turn the corner. When he got here, I put him in a paddock for a few days like I do with all our new acquisitions. I discussed his temperament with Mike and decided to start from scratch.
“Grazinginthegrass settled down after a while. He only has about 200m to walk from his stable to the racetrack at Fairview so there is no travelling in a float. He is fairly calm these days. He’s had a few soundness issues like many other horses do, but generally he goes about his business with no hassles. He canters down to the start with ear muffs on and they are removed when he gets there.”
Greeff added: “Grazingthegrass has his set weight of 62kg in Pinnacle Plates, so we keep him in the Pinnacles. His rivals contest mostly handicaps. Their allocated weights go up and down with their ratings so we know what we’re dealing with. I’ve always thought he is better on the Polytrack, but his record shows his versatility. His main rival has been Gavin Smith’s Cherry Ano, who has beaten him up to 1600m, but not beyond that.”
Their rivalry will continue into next season, as both runners have miles left in the tank.
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Above: Gold Cup joy for Battleground connections (Left to right: Everisto Nyambo, S'manga Khumalo & Lucky Houdalakis)
Another highlight at Fairview last Friday was Drakenstein Stud’s Battleground’s victory in the R150,000 PE Gold Cup over 3,200m. This was a raid well-planned by Vaal trainer Lucky Houdalakis, who explained: “Drakenstein’s Kevin Sommerville and I discussed this race more than a year ago. The PE Gold Cup was one of the few trophies missing from Gaynor Rupert’s mantelpiece and we’d identified Battleground as the right horse to win it for his owner.”
Houdalakis said he had to change Battleground’s planned race schedule to aim him at the Gold Cup. “We wanted to enter this race off the lowest rating possible and everything fell into place. I told Kevin that the horse would be stronger this year, so we waited and missed a few suitable races along the way. But the plan came off, the job was done!”
This was Houdalakis’ second ever visit to Gqeberha and he said: “I came to the old Port Elizabeth once in the 1980s to ride a horse for Karel de Ridder and it won. I was a bit nervous this time. We arrived last Wednesday before the Gold Cup to oversee Battleground’s race and it was an unusual experience. The race day was very pleasant. I enjoyed the atmosphere, the dining room and the friendly people.”
Sommerville commented: “The PE Gold Cup was formerly staged over 3,600m and it’s a race Gaynor has always admired. It was the longest stayer’s race in the land and had black type status. That has fallen away, but it was still a famous race we hadn’t won. We were waiting for the right horse to have a crack at it. It also has a magnificent winning trophy. We like to plan the careers of all our runners so we can get the maximum black-type page exposure for the sales catalogues. We don’t mind travelling our fillies around the country for the right races. It has a bearing on their siblings, the brothers and sisters around them. The PE Gold Cup is still a nice race to win.”