Fort Vogue

It was interesting to see Fort Vogue in action yesterday. The horse went to the racecourse with an allegedly l-a-r-g-e reputation and came back a winner. Those are the bare facts of it.

Hopefully the connections will be telling us that he was only 60%-70% fit because -if what I saw yesterday was any yardstick- I would be looking elsewhere for the Class Champion of this generation.

Certainly he is a magnificent looking animal. But he is big. Very big. And bulky horses often lack the athleticism and the ability to quicken up speedily under pressure. Looking at him reminded me of two similar animals which have preceded him in recent years - Fort Defiance from the same stallion and Yard Arm. Both ended up as hard knocking front runners in order to play to their strength - they were relatively one paced gallopers. And I'm not using 'one paced' as a negative.

Despite the commentator suggesting that he won under and hands and heels ride I got the distinct impression that he had had enough at the finish and might have battled to withstand a more serious challenge than the one he encountered. I could not help but wonder what a previous champion such as Dynasty might have done to the same field at the same level of fitness..............

If I were fortunate enough to own this horse I would take it VERY slowly and pass altogether on the forthcoming Cape Season. I'd stay in the Cape this coming winter and campaign him hard as a 4 year old. With his kind of size I see only potential leg problems by putting his immature frame under Grade 1 pressures as a 3 year old.

I will be very happy to be proven wrong by master trainer Mike Bass.

Good post Garrick, I posted yesterday that Karl kept looking behind after the finishing post, but nothing was said during the interview, but I agree, will have to go easy on the monster!

Garrick..interesting post.
The Bass yard certainly rates this one but you make some excellent observations and comparisons.
People sometimes run away with rumours coming out of the yards which is why some trainers are very wary of talking up their youngsters.
The Bass yard have not done this...merely mentions that Fort Vogue shows really good promise.
One can never say with any certainty that a horse will train on or fulfill early promise and that is what makes this sport so interesting.
I remember last season, the stable was very excited about Air Combat and he came out and bettered a race record in his opening run in KZN but stagnated and at one point it seemed that he would not train on at all.This season he's come out as a 4 year old and looks a much stronger and more mature animal and I'll certainly keep my eye on him to win to win a graded race of some sort.
As you say, Bass is a master trainer and if he feels that Fort Vogue needs more time, he'll allow him to come on at his own pace as he did with Air Combat.

Information from the Bass stable with regard to Fort Vogue's run on Tuesday 18 November:


Raced up front in a small field and went on well in the straight to win a good race. There was a slight hiccup however as the bit slipped through his mouth soon after the start and he had to run the rest to the race with just the rein through his mouth and not the bit. Karl was of the opinion that he would have done a lot better had he had more control over Fort Vogue, so under the circumstances this was a very fine effort.

Another Wonder Lawn? Got ability, but maybe not the special one hoped for to recoup outlay. Ballsy owners though

whats 2.2 million rand compared to the dozens of imports that arrive here that cost 3 to 4 hundred thousand oz dollars which when multiplied by 7 is close to 3 million rand..nodoubt devu the 20 million raned horse wheres he today

More cash than brains?- Maybe. But they have blown the budget. They have gone BIIG. Punting at its best????

I think let's sit back and see what Fort Vogue has to offer...I'm hoping he's a top horse because that's ultimately what the sport needs.

absolutely perpetual,besides dancers and pocket we need champions..

I cant believe the scale of the hype around this horse, mainly due to the price tag. I am sure it is a decent sort, and will win it races, but confidently predict it will finish unplaced in the Selangor Cup next Sunday.
(note who K.Neisius is riding)

The 3yo that has run this week people should all be talking about is Lord London - now that IS a racehorse!


SELANGOR CUP (Grade 2)
For 3 year-olds at Condition Weights
0 7 JAMAICAN DREAM 58.0 103 A K Neisius Brett Crawfor
0 21 BUSH PIRATE 57.5 97 BA A Fortune Joey Ramsden
0 15 KINGS CROSS 57.5 100 A *A Domeyer Stan Elley
0 16 FLYING WEST (AUS) 57.0 94 A G Cheyne Basil Marcus
0 18 RUDI ROCKS 57.0 102 BA A Marcus Basil Marcus
0 17 LE DRAKKAR (AUS) 56.5 92 A M Byleveld Dean Kannemey
0 5 RUSHING WIND 56.5 84 BA C Puller Mike Bass
0 31 ASAAL'S MAGIC 55.5 83 A M Winnaar Piet Steyn
0 3 FORT VOGUE 55.5 87 A G Hatt Mike Bass
0 19 PIVOTAL BLUE (SNL) 55.5 83 A R Fourie Justin Snaith
0 9 QUI POINT 55.5 84 A G Behr Dean Kannemey
0 11 ZIZOU 55.5 88 A G Schlechter Michael Rober

dr who note that neisius just happens to be stable jockey to crawford plattner so i dont think he would like to rock the boat..

Yeah - i'm sure he cried himself to sleep last night because he couldn't ride FV.