Lafferty Gets Magic Job

www.gavelhouse.com
Australia (HQ): +61 3 9499 2229
New Zealand: 0800 888 440
South Africa: 071 175 3600

Lafferty Gets Magic Job

By David Mickleburgh March 14 2012

One of the most recognizable figures in South African racing Paul Lafferty, a trainer who has his yard at Summerveld Training Centre in Kwa Zulu Natal, is to become the country’s representative to Australia’s Magic Million sales operation.

Although Paul has a better than average record as a trainer he is best known as joint presenter with James Goodman (also a trainer at Summerveld) of the hugely popular weekly racing talk show Winning Ways as well as an anchor during the TV coverage of KZN’s race meetings.

^{Paul Lafferty}

While both Lafferty and Goodman are respected trainers it is their rapid fire, sometimes self-deprecating, humorous banter that the racing fraternity have probably come to appreciate more than their skills on the race course.

Paul’s new role is important to Australia breeders given the many millions of rands that South African owners spend each year at the Magic Millions and other sales in Oz. He defines his new job description as performing a PR role between Magic Millions and SA trainers and to organize visits by South African buyers to Australia.

South African horsemen are among the shrewdest in the business and for many years they have outbid Aussies in selecting some truly outstanding yearlings. In recent years they bought Igugu, a filly who by general opinion could compete against thoroughbreds anywhere in the world being a winner of SA’s premier race, the Vodacom Durban July, the Queens plate heroine Gimmethegreenlight, and Guineas winner Gold Chateau.

And South Africa may have just seen two new superstars from Australia perform under lights at Durban’s Greyville racecourse and both are owned by the country’s biggest owners Ingrid and Marcus Jooste who are also part owners in the huge Klawervlei breeding establishment. . In the first race over 1600 ms the first timer and favourite Main Dane (Fastnet Rock-Fusaichi Rose by Fusaichi Pegausus) after being sluggish out of the opens and trailing the field by 7 lengths when the horses entered the short (400 ms) straight scythed through the field and won easing up by almost 2 lengths. In the second event also over 1600ms the Jooste runner Northern Emperor (Holy Roman Emperor – Pharein by Phar Feather) fly jumped at the start and got left as well but still won impressively making it 4 starts unbeaten.. The pilot on both was champion Anton Marcus, the most analytical rider in the business, but after being left on both Australian imports, interviewer Paul Lafferty was prompted to enquire whether Marcus was adopting a new tactic! Marcus’ reply was an illustration of the man’s quality and humility. “In both cases I knew I had a lot of horse under me and all I had to do was to keep them balanced and they did the rest.”

Paul has been a regular visitor to Australia and is an inveterate world traveler having also trained in the USA, and will undoubtedly make a wonderful contribution.

About the Author

With over 50 years experience in most aspects of the thoroughbred industry in South Africa, David Mickleburgh brings a special expertise to the Gavelhouse team. His children, encouraged by their parents have all at one stage or another become professionally involved in the sport and today he has a son in the USA, a daughter in New Zealand and another in the Western Cape, all committed to breeding, selling or transporting of horses. David lives in Mooi River, in the heart of the Kwa Zulu Natal breeding community.