| Knock On Wood Lucky In The KZN Breeders Million Mile |
It was an emotional win for breeder George Rowles of Ivanhoe Stud as Knock On Wood took charge and flew to victory, winning the inaugural KZN Breeders Million Mile for owners, father and son Ormond and David Ferraris. Knock On Wood’s previous start in the Gr 3 Jubilee Handicap saw him place 5th by 4.75 lengths behind Eton Square earlier in June.
The Scott Brothers were on hand to present George with the Des And Robin Scott Floating Trophy, which will see George Rowles being the first inscription for the inaugural Million Mile. Robin Scott presented the trophy to George Rowles and gave a very moving speech, particularly with the great history Ivanhoe and Scott Bros have contributed to South African racehorse breeding. It must be mentioned that Paul Hart, who will be going to the London Olympics will be riding a horse sired by George Rowles’ stallion, Rocky Marriage.
Knock On Wood has now had 15 starts with 5 wins and 5 places – and with this win takes his earnings from R303 000 to R928 000. A 2009 Sibaya Yearling Sale graduate consigned by Ivanhoe Stud, he fetched R140 000 at the sale. His dam, Kiss Me Kate, has produced four runners and four winners, the last being an unraced two year old filly by Opera King named Katarina. From her four foals, they have produced 15 wins between them. Knock On Wood is a half-brother to Kismet and King William. An incredibly strong dam-line, this is the immediate family of Variety Club, Rhythmically, Secret Rites, Novenna and Monastery.
Coming off the false-rail, The Mouseketeer looked like he was going to hold on, but the four year old bay gelding by Muhtafal out of Kiss Me Kate (by Rocky Marriage/Northern Guest/Hobnob) took charge of the pack coming up the straight, with Black Wing trying to surge up, and held on for a 3/4 length second with last year’s KZN Breeder 1600 winner, The Mouseketeer not far behind him. The winning jockey was Bernard Fayd’Herbe, with Knock On Wood trained by Ormond Ferraris.
As always it was an outstanding day in Durban with the Stewards Room booked out for the KZN Breeders’ Race Day function, with a fantastic atmosphere that contained a lot of energy and excitement. Thank you must go to Koos De Klerk, Linda Norval and Keith Russon for organising an outstanding day and a sumptuous lunch. Following the Durban July theme of a Material World in order to bring awareness to the environment, a lot of florals were on display and Vibeke and Mike Meehan won Best Dressed Couple for the afternoon.
A tarot-card reader and a photobooth provided much fun and entertainment for the guests which included Tom Callaghan of the TBA, Roy Moodley and ex-Top Sport TV presenter Martin Locke amongst many of the guests and fellow breeders. A silent auction was well supported and raised a great deal of money for charity.
An added incentive was provided by the KZN Breeders Association and the chairman Koos De Klerk presented the first, second and third horses owners’ of each race, a redeemable voucher against the purchase of a KZN-bred registered yearling at the upcoming sale on Thursday and Friday – a great start to get involved in purchasing a KZN-bred with the chance to win the Triple Million Challenge.
The horses have moved into the venue at Suncoast and the yearling inspections begin from Monday.
Congratulations to George Rowles on a deserved win from the KZN Breeders, as well as to all the winning connections with horses on our KZN Breeders race day.
To view a gallery of the KZN Breeders Race Day, visit our facebook page KZN Breeders.
