Breeders Cup invite fuels ambitions

GIMMETHEGREENLIGHT’s stunning win in Saturday’s Gr1 L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate fulfilled one burning desire for owner Hassen Adams and simultaneously fuelled another.

There is nothing Adams wanted more than for Gimmethegreenlight to win a Grade 1 race and he commented during the presentation of trophies: “This horse is very special to me. I’ve been saying, please God, may he won a Grade 1 race. He’s a great racehorse and can become a great stallion one day.”

In winning, the Australian-bred colt secured an invite to the 2012 Breeders Cup World Championships to be staged at Santa Anita Park in Los Angeles, USA, on the first weekend in November. This rare honour was secured by the Rupert family, whose wine estate L’Ormarins is setting fresh standards with their sponsorship, exceptional branding and promotion of the Queen’s Plate.

“Thank you to the Ruperts,” Adams said. “Any group or family who invests so much money into racing have to be saluted.”

The prospect of contesting a race at the prestigious Breeders Cup festival has given Adams renewed vigour in his quest to resolve the pressing issues surrounding bloodstock exports from South Africa and he said: “Now that I can have a runner in the Breeders Cup I will push even harder!”

Trophy presentation: From the left is Johnno Snaith, Hassen Adams, Rayaan Adams, Gaynor Rupert and Dame Nicole Brewer. (Gold Circle).

Adams, in conjunction with the South African Department of Trade and Industry, Racing South Africa and a number of racing’s decision-makers, has been at the forefront of negotiations with the UAE Government in addressing the protocol imposed last year – an indefinite ban on the direct export of horses from Cape Town. The prevailing restrictions have already resulted in a number of South Africa’s best thoroughbred missing the 2012 Dubai Carnival.

Adams said: “I have very positive news. On Monday I will be receiving a letter from the Minister of Trade and Industry, addressed to Sheikh Mohammed, in which the South African government expresses their wish to export horses to the UAE, firmly supporting the racing industry.  I will be vetting the letter and passing it on to people like Mike de Kock and Peter Gibson for their views.”

Adams stressed the importance of these negotiations and, in reference to the possibility of putting Gimmethegreenlight on the world’s racing stage in November, added: “It’s all about creativity, about creating ambassadors for the sport.”

Adams concluded his victory speech by thanking Justin Snaith and his team for an excellent training feat. He praised Sue Snaith for finding Gimmethegreenlight and “begging” him to buy the smashing specimen. She said: “He was beautiful, even as a six month old weanling and he moved very well. He’s grown into a beautiful horse.”

Justin Snaith said that had “tweaked a few things” because Gimmethegreenlight had been most unlucky in the previous Gr1 races he had contested. “He’s found an extra two or three lengths and this made all the difference. I was confident we had a chance of beating Variety Club. It doesn’t matter that he lost all the other Grade 1 races. If I could have a choice of which Gr 1 race to win, I’d win just this one!

Special guest on the day was Dame Nicole Brewer, the United Kingdom’s High Commissioner to South Africa, representing Queen Elizabeth II.  She pointed out that there was roughly 200 days left to the start of the 2012 Olympic Games to be hosted in the UK, and confirmed England’s continued good relations with South Africa.

Dame Brewer invited South Africans – “all 48 million of them” to visit the UK during the Olympic Games to witness for themselves the all-round splendour of the British Empire. Not a bad idea if Queen Lizzie wouldn’t mind coming to the party with return tickets for a travel party of this magnitude!

The Queen’s Plate has come a long way since it was first run in 1861 in honour of Queen Victoria, and, with L’Ormarins behind it, it will remain an event steeped in royal history, first-class racing and true style.  Well done to all involved.