Igugu vs. Ebony Flyer

In the last few days, David Thiselton wrote a story quoting Anthony Delpech as saying that he would like the connections of Ebony Flyer to bring her to Joburg so that Igugu could have another go at her, as she was not at her best when beaten in the Cape Guineas and has improved. I was kindly asked by David to respond, which I did. The full text of what I wrote was unavoidably not printed at the Gold Circle website due to space constraints. I reproduce it below, because the manner in which is appears does give full justice to my remarks.

Mike de Kock's website also carried the abbreviated version.

Here is what I actually wrote to David:

Igugu obviously is a very, very good filly. Top drawer.

When connections like Mike de Kock and Anthony Delpech, who are not used to getting beat with a horse of Igugu's caliber, have a horse like her, they find it very difficult to accept defeat. They are competitors, so this is natural.

But just as the lightly raced Igugu did not enjoy perhaps the best of experiences or trips in the Cape Fillies Guineas, neither did the less lightly raced Ebony Flyer, on whom Bernard Fayd'herbe was still learning how best to ride her.

Ebony Flyer is a truly brilliant filly over 14000m to 1600m. These are the distances over which she is bred to be at her best.

My job as her racing manager is to maximize her strengths and place her when and where she can prove her true worth.

We have not been ducking competition. We ran her in the Queen's Plate against the top older runners in South Africa. That race was over 1600m, a distance at which we think is good for her. Seasoned veterans in racing thought we were whacko when we decided to skip the Paddock Stakes, a Grade 1 in which our filly would have been a short-priced favorite, to run in the Queen's Plate. But we have always been enterprising when presented the opportunity with a true Champion.

I understand that the de Kock/Delpech team would like to see Ebony Flyer come to Gauteng to race against Igugu over more ground than a mile. But I don't think that a distance farther than a mile would be in our filly's best interests.

Most importantly, however, is our goal for Ebony Flyer.

Originally, we had planned to export Ebony Flyer following her victory in the Guineas. Then we altered the schedule to try the Queen's Plate. We made another change when she ran such a good race in the Queen's Plate and the sponsors announced their plans to make the race a truly international event next year.

Naturally, being as interested in international competition as Team Valor International is and given that Queen's Plate sponsor Gaynor Rupert owns a third of Ebony Flyer, I decided it made sense to keep the filly in South Africa and point for that race next January. Even though January seems a long way off, the preparations for that race must be considered a long ways in advance.

Justin Snaith, who by the way thinks Ebony Flyer can run 2000m, wanted to give her a full season in Durban. However, my take on Ebony Flyer is that she runs best when fresh. So we will have a light campaign in the fall, concentrating on the Garden Province, freshen her again and get her ready for the Queen's Plate.

And by not bringing Ebony Flyer to Gauteng, we are not ducking a rubber match with Igugu.

A trip to Gauteng is not in the cards for the reasons I just explained regarding keeping her fresh and keeping her at a mile.

Very clever of Anthony to bring up that Igugu had been trucked all the way from Joburg to Cape Town and that it would be nice if the Ebony Flyer camp returned the favor.

He knows that our ownership is nothing if not sporting and game, so he is appealing to that aspect of our nature.

However, I know my job, I know my filly and I have my goal.

The ball, as they say, is in the court of Igugu, not Ebony Flyer, to seek a rematch, because we won and she lost.

So if they want us, they can find us in Durban in July in the Garden Province.

But since Igugu is bred to run longer than 1800m and will point for the remaining legs of the Triple Tiara, the chances of these two fillies ever meeting again is remote at best. De Kock and Delpech know this and this is why Delpech made the comments he did.

Championships should won on course, not in the press or on websites.

Our camp was thrilled to see the manner in which Igugu dispatched her field, because it served to underline the immense quality of our filly. Without Sham, we would never have known how good Secretariat was. Igugu flattered us. We wish the connections of Igugu all the best for continued triumphs. They have a great filly.

Barry

Thanks Barry and all the best to you and the connections of Igugu with your future stars, great for racing.

Awesome to still have both of them racing locally. They are so exciting to watch.

Barry Irwin Wrote:

---

> In the last few days, David Thiselton wrote a
> story quoting Anthony Delpech as saying that he
> would like the connections of Ebony Flyer to bring
> her to Joburg so that Igugu could have another go
> at her, as she was not at her best when beaten in
> the Cape Guineas and has improved. I was kindly
> asked by David to respond, which I did. The full
> text of what I wrote was unavoidably not printed
> at the Gold Circle website due to space
> constraints. I reproduce it below, because the
> manner in which is appears does give full justice
> to my remarks.
>
> Mike de Kock's website also carried the
> abbreviated version.
>
> Here is what I actually wrote to David:
>
> Igugu obviously is a very, very good filly. Top
> drawer.
>
> When connections like Mike de Kock and Anthony
> Delpech, who are not used to getting beat with a
> horse of Igugu's caliber, have a horse like her,
> they find it very difficult to accept defeat. They
> are competitors, so this is natural.
>
> But just as the lightly raced Igugu did not enjoy
> perhaps the best of experiences or trips in the
> Cape Fillies Guineas, neither did the less lightly
> raced Ebony Flyer, on whom Bernard Fayd'herbe was
> still learning how best to ride her.
>
> Ebony Flyer is a truly brilliant filly over 14000m
> to 1600m. These are the distances over which she
> is bred to be at her best.
>
> My job as her racing manager is to maximize her
> strengths and place her when and where she can
> prove her true worth.
>
> We have not been ducking competition. We ran her
> in the Queen's Plate against the top older runners
> in South Africa. That race was over 1600m, a
> distance at which we think is good for her.
> Seasoned veterans in racing thought we were whacko
> when we decided to skip the Paddock Stakes, a
> Grade 1 in which our filly would have been a
> short-priced favorite, to run in the Queen's
> Plate. But we have always been enterprising when
> presented the opportunity with a true Champion.
>
> I understand that the de Kock/Delpech team would
> like to see Ebony Flyer come to Gauteng to race
> against Igugu over more ground than a mile. But I
> don't think that a distance farther than a mile
> would be in our filly's best interests.
>
> Most importantly, however, is our goal for Ebony
> Flyer.
>
> Originally, we had planned to export Ebony Flyer
> following her victory in the Guineas. Then we
> altered the schedule to try the Queen's Plate. We
> made another change when she ran such a good race
> in the Queen's Plate and the sponsors announced
> their plans to make the race a truly international
> event next year.
>
> Naturally, being as interested in international
> competition as Team Valor International is and
> given that Queen's Plate sponsor Gaynor Rupert
> owns a third of Ebony Flyer, I decided it made
> sense to keep the filly in South Africa and point
> for that race next January. Even though January
> seems a long way off, the preparations for that
> race must be considered a long ways in advance.
>
> Justin Snaith, who by the way thinks Ebony Flyer
> can run 2000m, wanted to give her a full season in
> Durban. However, my take on Ebony Flyer is that
> she runs best when fresh. So we will have a light
> campaign in the fall, concentrating on the Garden
> Province, freshen her again and get her ready for
> the Queen's Plate.
>
> And by not bringing Ebony Flyer to Gauteng, we are
> not ducking a rubber match with Igugu.
>
> A trip to Gauteng is not in the cards for the
> reasons I just explained regarding keeping her
> fresh and keeping her at a mile.
>
> Very clever of Anthony to bring up that Igugu had
> been trucked all the way from Joburg to Cape Town
> and that it would be nice if the Ebony Flyer camp
> returned the favor.
>
> He knows that our ownership is nothing if not
> sporting and game, so he is appealing to that
> aspect of our nature.
>
> However, I know my job, I know my filly and I have
> my goal.
>
> The ball, as they say, is in the court of Igugu,
> not Ebony Flyer, to seek a rematch, because we won
> and she lost.
>
> So if they want us, they can find us in Durban in
> July in the Garden Province.
>
> But since Igugu is bred to run longer than 1800m
> and will point for the remaining legs of the
> Triple Tiara, the chances of these two fillies
> ever meeting again is remote at best. De Kock and
> Delpech know this and this is why Delpech made the
> comments he did.
>
> Championships should won on course, not in the
> press or on websites.
>
> Our camp was thrilled to see the manner in which
> Igugu dispatched her field, because it served to
> underline the immense quality of our filly.
> Without Sham, we would never have known how good
> Secretariat was. Igugu flattered us. We wish the
> connections of Igugu all the best for continued
> triumphs. They have a great filly.
>
> Barry

Brilliant response Barry and I totally agree with you . I am a HUGE fan of Ebony Flyer and backed her on all her runs . I am also a fan of Igugu but cannot see Igugu beating Ebony Flyer over 1400m or 1600m which I also think is Ebony's best trip . With all due respect to the mighty De Kock team , they really should be chasing Ebony for that rematch .

All they have to do is wait until next season,then they can meet in the races you mention above,but we all know where Igugu will be !

Must have hurt them seeing Ebony Flyers erse X(

Ebony Flyer holds the mantle of best 3 year old filly. No buts, no ifs, no maybe's. She is phenomenal.

ruffian Wrote:

---

> Ebony Flyer holds the mantle of best 3 year old
> filly. No buts, no ifs, no maybe's. She is
> phenomenal.


at the end of this current season igugu will be the best 3yo in the country no ifs and no buts ...im sure young snaith would love to take up delpechs challenge but her other trainer mr irwin is calling the shots

Pirates all they have to do is wait,or are they scared that Ebony Flyer will be even better next season?

Barry announced Ebony Flyers intended runs on here months ago so they have plenty of time to arrange a rematch!

The south african version of the rachael vs zenyatta race, the last horse that made me so excited was horse chestnut winning the met.
Ebony flyer will murder her in the garden province, I wonder what will be their excuse after that

both are awesome fillies......leave it at that, i say(tu)

Both are awesome but the question is which one is better!
Ebony flyer-1. Igugu-0

the only race they can meet in is the fillies guineas at greyville but the gauteng season slightly overlaps with natal so igugu might be recovering from one of her triple crown runs then she might go the group 1 woolavington race on daily news day then onto the july which is run on the same day as the garden province stakes...then she is off to dubai....ebony flyer can run in the fillies guineas the clairwood challenge over a mile which in my opinion is the equal of the queens plate and then the garden province stakes...its very exciting for racing to have 2 great 3yo fillies in the same year ..