Master Sabina is to run again this Sunday in the Gold Cup.  He is No 1 in the field because he is the most highly rated horse in the field, but as a result he also has to carry the most weight – carrying 60kgs while some horses in the race have far less weight than he does.  He is drawn well again, at 2 this time, and one hopes that Gavin Lerena will make better use of the draw on this occasion – I am sure he will.  The 3,200 metres could be a problem, although I don’t think so, because the last time he ran in the Gold Cup 2 years ago he was ridden very conservatively, towards the back of the field, and ran on for fifth.  If he is closer to the pace this time, and it is a faster pace, there is of course always the question as to whether or not he will stay, but I think he will.  So far in his career he has won from 1,160 metres to 2,200 metres and if he could add an extra kilometre onto that it would undoubtedly make him the greatest horse I’ve ever owned, although he probably is already that.  He has won 8 out of the 24 races that he has taken part in thus far.  

The e-Lan Gold Cup goes off at 4.20pm on Sunday, and I am sure it will be covered on the big channels as usual, and straight after that, and this is the final day of the racing season for South Africa, there is the Champions Cup over 1800 metres at 5.05pm.  In that race I have Baritone who is probably the second best horse I own at the moment and he will be trying a longer distance this time.  He is not well drawn – drawn at 13 out of 16 horses – and at 20/1 he is a bit of an outsider who has a bit of a breathing problem at the moment.  However well, or badly, he does he will be having laser surgery for his breathing after the Champions Cup, but he would not be in the race if he did not have a chance.  The hot favourite here though is Marinaresco who was an unlucky second in the Durban July and is weighted to win this race.  I am certainly hoping for a better day than the Durban July day, but racing, when it comes to big feature races, is never easy and one will have to hope that one wins some stakes, whether it is a win or a placing in one of the races.  The Gold Cup is for R1,25 million and the Champions Cup is for a total stake of R1 million of which first gets R625 000,00.  Typically speaking, in horseracing in South Africa, the winner gets 62,5% of whatever the prize money is, second gets 20%, third gets 10%, fourth gets 5% and fifth gets 2,5%, so it is generally quite easy to work out what amount you will be getting as long as you know the total stake.