TJ's Punters View

20/10/2026

South African Legends of the Turf — No. 4
Politician: The Champion Who Captured a Nation

For a few extraordinary years in the late 1970s, there was a name that seemed to be everywhere in South African racing. That name was Politician. He was not merely a successful racehorse who collected important victories. He became a public favourite, a horse whose appearances attracted enormous attention and whose performances created stories that were still being discussed long after the races were over.

Politician was a chestnut c**t by Oligarchy out of Ofa, a mare by the influential stallion Ribot. He was bred by the Scott brothers, who could hardly have known when the young horse was born that they had produced one of the defining racehorses of the decade. He eventually raced 31 times, winning 18 of those starts and earning R370,780 during his career, an enormous figure for the period.

His early career gave plenty of indication of what was coming. As a juvenile he won two of his three starts, but it was as a three-year-old that Politician began to establish himself as a genuine star. He won six of ten starts that season, including the Dingaans, Cape Guineas, Cape Derby and South African Guineas. Those victories placed him firmly among the country's leading horses.

There was one major prize that escaped him during that campaign.

The Durban July.

Politician finished fifth in the 1977 Rothmans July, a result that might have been disappointing for his supporters at the time. Yet instead of marking the end of his rise, it became part of the story. He returned to the track and continued developing into the formidable older horse that would dominate the South African racing scene.

His trainer was Syd Laird, one of the giants of South African training. Laird had already established an extraordinary Durban July record, having saddled winners including Kerason, Colorado King, Java Head, Mazarin and Yataghan. Politician would eventually give him his seventh and final victory in the country's greatest race.

The jockey aboard Politician was Bertie Hayden, another giant of the era.

Hayden became particularly associated with the horse and would ride him to some of the most important victories of his career. Their partnership was one of those combinations that seemed perfectly suited to big occasions. Hayden had already won the Durban July on Mazarin in 1971 and Yataghan in 1973 before partnering Politician to victory in 1978.

But before the Durban July came one of Politician's defining achievements.

The 1978 Cape Met.

By then Politician had become the horse everyone wanted to see. The race had also entered a new era, with J&B becoming the sponsor and the event taking on the name by which it would become internationally famous. Politician arrived as the major attraction and did not disappoint the enormous crowd.

With Hayden in the saddle, he won the race by three and a quarter lengths from Arion and Fast Piece, who dead-heated for second. It was a commanding performance and confirmed that Politician had become the dominant talking point of South African racing.

Then came the Durban July.

Politician carried 57 kilograms, a substantial weight in a race where every kilogram matters. He was trained by Laird and ridden by Hayden, and when the field went to the start, South African racing had one of its most anticipated champions attempting to complete the country's greatest prize.

Politician delivered.

He won the 1978 Durban July, giving Syd Laird his record seventh victory in the race. The victory also established Politician among the small group of horses whose names are permanently attached to the history of the July.

Yet the story did not finish there.

Politician returned in 1979 and produced another extraordinary season. Once again, the Cape Met became one of his major targets. Once again, Bertie Hayden was in the saddle.

This time, however, the victory looked almost impossible.

Politician was caught in a pocket during the closing stages and appeared to have nowhere to go. As the field approached the finish, Hayden finally found a route through. Politician accelerated dramatically and produced a late burst that carried him past Festive Forever to win by a neck.

The finish has subsequently become one of the most celebrated in South African racing history.

Hayden later gave much of the credit to the horse himself, describing Politician as a superstar and saying that the horse had effectively done the winning himself.

That victory also gave Politician an important place in the history of the Cape Met. He became the first horse to complete the Durban July and Met double in the same year, a distinction that remains one of the notable achievements in South African racing.

The horse's reputation was therefore built on more than one spectacular afternoon.

Politician won major races as a three-year-old. He returned as an older horse and defeated strong opposition. He won the Cape Met twice, captured the Durban July, carried substantial weight and repeatedly demonstrated the ability to produce something special when the pressure was greatest.

His importance also extended beyond his own victories. Politician became a symbol of an era when South African racing had enormous public appeal and its greatest horses could become genuine household names. Crowds came specifically to see him, and his reputation reached well beyond the regular racing public. Contemporary accounts describe him as the horse people wanted to see, with his presence helping attract huge crowds to the courses.

And then there was the name.

At a time when the country itself was going through a complicated and turbulent period, South Africa had a racehorse called Politician who was arguably more famous than many of the country's actual politicians. That coincidence became part of the horse's popular appeal and has remained one of the amusing footnotes to his story.

Politician eventually left the racetrack, but his place in South African racing history was already secure.

Sea Cottage had become legendary through an extraordinary story of courage and survival. Horse Chestnut became synonymous with dominance and an astonishing Triple Crown season. Jet Master built his reputation through sustained excellence over the mile.

Politician was different again.

He became the champion people wanted to see.

He won the races that mattered. He had the personality of a superstar, the performances to match it and a partnership with Bertie Hayden that produced some unforgettable moments. His 1978 Durban July victory and his remarkable 1979 Met finish remain central parts of South African racing folklore.

For a horse to become a legend, winning is not always enough.

Sometimes the horse has to capture the imagination of the public.

Politician did exactly that.

And decades later, his name still belongs among the true South African Legends of the Turf.

15/10/2026

Gavin Lerena: The Determination Behind the Champion

Gavin Lerena was never supposed to have an easy route into professional racing. He was born into a family with strong connections to horses, but that did not mean that becoming a jockey was a straightforward decision. In fact, one of the most interesting parts of his early story is that he was considered too tall and too heavy to become a jockey when he was younger. While many boys entered the Jockey Academy at around thirteen, Lerena eventually made his way there at seventeen, having already spent years around horses and developed a strong desire to make racing his career.

His father, Tex Lerena, had been a jockey before becoming involved in other areas of the racing industry, so Gavin grew up understanding what the profession demanded. He knew that being a jockey involved far more than simply getting onto a horse and riding fast. There were strict weight requirements, early mornings, constant travel, physical danger and the pressure of knowing that a career could be changed by a single fall. Even so, the attraction of racing remained strong enough for him to pursue the opportunity when it finally came.

Lerena was first licensed in October 2002 and rode his first winner on Waves of Argosy at Clairwood on 3 November that year. The horse was trained by Jeff Freedman, and Lerena was still only seventeen when he recorded the victory over 1,100 metres. It was an encouraging beginning for a young rider who had entered the professional system later than many of his contemporaries, but nobody could yet have known just how quickly his career was going to develop.

His apprenticeship became one of the foundations on which the rest of his career would be built. Lerena became South African Champion Apprentice for three consecutive seasons, and by the time he completed his apprenticeship he had accumulated an extraordinary number of winners. His total of 283 winners as an apprentice eventually surpassed a record that had been held by Michael Roberts for 34 years. Roberts was himself one of the greatest jockeys South Africa had produced, so breaking his apprentice record immediately gave Lerena a significant place in the history of the profession.

The achievement was not simply the result of natural ability. A young jockey has to learn how to judge pace, understand the strengths and weaknesses of different horses, position himself in traffic and recognise when a race is beginning to change. He also has to develop the confidence to make decisions quickly without becoming reckless. Lerena's early success suggested that he had developed that balance remarkably well, and trainers soon became increasingly willing to put important horses into his hands.

His first major Grade 1 successes followed as his career matured. One of the important horses of that period was Kings Gambit, with whom Lerena won the South African Derby in 2008. Four years later he returned to the same race and won it again, this time aboard Pomodoro. The South African Derby is one of the country's great classic races, and winning it twice established Lerena as a rider capable of delivering on the biggest stages rather than simply accumulating winners in ordinary races.

There were also opportunities beyond South Africa. During the 2011/12 season Lerena became Zimbabwe Champion Jockey, adding another national title to his growing list of achievements. He had already demonstrated a willingness to travel and take opportunities in different racing environments, and this became an important part of his professional identity. Racing in another country requires a jockey to adjust quickly to unfamiliar tracks, different riding styles and horses he may know very little about before the race.

The South African championship remained one of the major prizes that Lerena wanted to add to his career. He had come close before, but winning the title requires an enormous commitment because the leading jockeys have to travel continually in pursuit of rides. It is not enough to be successful at one particular course. A championship contender needs to be competitive across the country and capable of maintaining a high level of performance throughout an exhausting season.

In 2014/15, Lerena finally put everything together and became South African Champion Jockey. He rode 220 winners during the season at a winning percentage of approximately 19 percent, and in June alone he produced an astonishing 42 winners, setting a South African record for winners ridden in a single month. The Equus Awards subsequently recognised him as Champion Jockey of the Year, confirming that the season had been one of the outstanding campaigns of his career.

The championship was particularly satisfying because of how long Lerena had worked towards it. His career had already included apprentice records, major race victories and international success, but there had always been another rider standing between him and the national title. When he finally achieved it, the victory represented more than one successful season. It was the reward for years of travelling, riding through injuries and disappointments and refusing to let the setbacks define his career.

One of the biggest victories of that period came in the Gauteng Summer Cup. Riding Master Sabina for trainer Geoff Woodruff, Lerena produced a narrow victory in the Grade 1 race at Turffontein in November 2015. The Summer Cup was one of the most important races on the Highveld calendar, and winning it demonstrated that Lerena's championship season was not simply built around riding large numbers of ordinary winners. He was also capable of delivering when the pressure and expectations were at their highest.

Lerena and Master Sabina returned the following year and won the Summer Cup again, giving the jockey consecutive victories in one of South Africa's most prestigious races. By then he had established himself as one of the country's leading riders, and his international experience was continuing to grow. He represented South Africa in international jockey competitions and rode in several racing jurisdictions, including Hong Kong, Mauritius, China, Dubai, England and Zimbabwe.

One of his most memorable international achievements came in 2015 when he won the Longines International Jockeys' Championship at Happy Valley in Hong Kong. The competition brought together accomplished riders from around the world, with points awarded across a series of races. Lerena produced the results he needed in the final stages of the competition and emerged as the overall winner, another indication that his ability was not limited to the South African racing environment.

International riding also taught him something that would become increasingly valuable throughout the rest of his career. A jockey has to adapt quickly when he moves between countries and tracks. The horses are unfamiliar, the competition can be different and the racing conditions may require another approach. Lerena's willingness to travel gave him experience that could not be learned simply by riding the same circuit every week.

There were setbacks along the way, as there inevitably are in a jockey's career. Injuries are part of the profession, and even a relatively minor problem can keep a rider away from racing for weeks. A serious injury can affect fitness, confidence and championship ambitions. Lerena experienced his share of those interruptions, but he repeatedly returned to riding and worked his way back into competitive form.

By the time he reached the later stages of his career, his experience had become one of his greatest strengths. A veteran jockey has seen thousands of races and has experienced almost every possible situation. He knows what it feels like to be trapped behind horses, to have a mount change direction unexpectedly, to judge a finish incorrectly and to get the decision exactly right when everything is on the line.

There was still one particularly important race missing from Lerena's collection, however. The Durban July had been a major ambition throughout his career, and although he had ridden some of the country's best horses in the race, victory had remained elusive.

That changed in 2021.

Lerena was booked to ride Kommetdieding, an inexpensive horse who had developed into one of the most exciting performers in the country. The horse had cost only R55,000 when purchased at the Klawervlei Stud sale, making what followed an extraordinary story in itself. Lerena also faced the difficult task of riding at just 53 kilograms, meaning he had to work hard to reach the required weight for the biggest race on the South African calendar.

Kommetdieding had another problem. He had drawn the widest position in the field, leaving Lerena with the difficult task of finding a position without wasting too much energy. From the outside draw, the pair had to settle into the race and avoid becoming caught too wide, while still ensuring that Kommetdieding had enough left for the final stages.

As the field moved through the race, Lerena gradually brought his mount into contention. The horse responded when asked, and in the closing stages the race developed into a battle between Kommetdieding and Linebacker. Lerena kept his mount balanced and driving towards the finish, eventually getting Kommetdieding home by half a length.

For Lerena, the moment was about much more than another Grade 1 victory. He had spent years competing at the highest level, won the national championship and collected major races, but the Durban July was different. It was the race that captures the imagination of South African racing more than any other, and winning it gave him an achievement that had previously been missing from his career.

The victory also produced one of the great stories within the story. Kommetdieding had cost only R55,000, while trainer Michelle Rix became only the second woman to train a Durban July winner. Owner Ashwin Reynolds had backed a horse that many people could easily have overlooked at the sales, and suddenly that relatively modest investment had produced one of the most valuable victories in South African racing.

Lerena's ride was a crucial part of the achievement because the wide draw had made the race tactically difficult. He could not simply rush forward and hope for the best. The horse needed to be settled, energy needed to be conserved and the final challenge had to be timed properly. That is where years of experience become important, because a jockey who has spent thousands of races learning how horses respond under pressure is more likely to know when to wait and when to act.

Winning the Durban July did not bring Lerena's career to an end. He continued to ride major winners and remained one of the country's respected senior jockeys. His experience meant that trainers could still turn to him when they needed a rider capable of handling a difficult horse or a high-pressure race.

That longevity is one of the most impressive aspects of his career. Many jockeys have brilliant seasons, but far fewer remain competitive for more than twenty years. The physical demands of the profession are severe, while the constant pressure to maintain a very low riding weight becomes increasingly difficult with age. Lerena's ability to remain effective despite those demands says as much about his professionalism as any championship or Grade 1 victory.

His career has therefore been shaped by persistence. He entered the Jockey Academy later than most apprentices because he had initially been considered too big. He then broke an apprentice record that had stood for decades, became champion apprentice, won the South African championship, achieved international success and eventually stood in the Durban July winner's enclosure.

There is a satisfying symmetry in that journey, although Lerena's story is not really about destiny or a predetermined path. He was not guaranteed a successful career when he entered the academy at seventeen. He had to earn every opportunity, take every setback and keep working when the obvious route to success was not available to him.

More than two decades after his first winner, Gavin Lerena remains one of the important names of his generation. His record contains championship titles, international achievements, classic victories and a Durban July, but perhaps the most interesting part of the story is how long he had to keep pushing before some of those major ambitions finally became reality.

The teenager who was once considered too big to become a jockey eventually became a champion.

He did it the hard way, one ride at a time.

13/10/2026

South African Legends of the Turf — No. 3
Jet Master: The Champion Who Ruled the Mile

Some horses become famous because of one extraordinary race. Others build their reputations over several seasons, collecting victories until their names become impossible to separate from the history of the sport.

Jet Master belonged to the second group.

He was one of South Africa's outstanding milers and became particularly associated with the Cape's great racing circuit. His career brought together speed, consistency and the ability to perform at the highest level against some of the strongest horses of his generation.

Jet Master was bred in South Africa and was by Rakeen, a stallion who became enormously influential in South African breeding. His dam, Jet Lightning, also possessed a distinguished pedigree, and the resulting horse eventually became one of the most successful representatives of his family.

As his racing career developed, Jet Master established himself as a specialist over the mile. That description, however, can sometimes make a horse sound limited. In Jet Master's case, it meant something rather different. He possessed the speed to make his mark over shorter distances while also having the class and tactical ability required for major Grade 1 races.

His career included victories in some of South Africa's most important races, but the Queen's Plate at Kenilworth became one of the races most closely associated with his name.

The Queen's Plate is one of the country's great weight-for-age contests, traditionally attracting the best horses available over 1,600 metres. Jet Master won the race three times, placing him among the outstanding performers in its long history.

His first Queen's Plate victory came in 1998. He returned the following year and won again, demonstrating that his success had not been a once-off performance. In 2001 he completed the hat-trick, adding another Queen's Plate to an already remarkable record.

The significance of those victories becomes clearer when the opposition is considered. The Cape summer season regularly brings together horses competing for major championships, and the Queen's Plate has historically been one of the races where champions are tested against champions.

Jet Master repeatedly passed that test.

His victories were not limited to the Queen's Plate. He also won the Cape Guineas, Cape Derby and Gold Challenge, while establishing a reputation as one of the most accomplished horses of his era.

What made Jet Master particularly interesting was his longevity at the highest level. Many talented horses produce one outstanding season and then disappear from the scene. Jet Master remained competitive and continued adding major victories to his record.

He was eventually recognised as South Africa's Horse of the Year, an honour that reflected the breadth of his achievements rather than a single spectacular afternoon.

There was another side to his career that became increasingly important after retirement.

Jet Master went to stud and became a successful sire. His influence continued through his offspring, several of whom achieved black-type success, ensuring that his contribution to South African racing did not end when he left the track.

That is an important part of understanding a horse's place in racing history. A champion can disappear from the records once racing ends, or he can continue to influence the sport through breeding. Jet Master managed to do both.

His own racing career gave him the reputation of a champion miler. His stud career extended that influence into another generation.

The image of Jet Master that remains strongest, however, is the racehorse himself.

A powerful competitor over 1,600 metres. A horse capable of handling the pressure of major championship races. A multiple Queen's Plate winner who repeatedly returned to Kenilworth and delivered when the occasion demanded it.

In an era containing several exceptional South African thoroughbreds, Jet Master carved out his own territory.

He did not need a dramatic shooting like Sea Cottage.

He did not need a once-in-a-lifetime Triple Crown season like Horse Chestnut.

His reputation was built race by race, season by season, until the record itself became the argument.

Jet Master was a champion because he kept proving that he belonged among them.

And when South African racing historians talk about the great milers of the modern era, his name remains impossible to overlook.

12/10/2026

I am upset with the death of Hazy Dazy,
Was it preventable?
Was she raced to hard ?
Should the time between her last 2 races have been longer to give her time to recover from one race to the next?
I do know there were trainers that was surprised to see her run so soon again!
WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Send a message to learn more

10/10/2026

08/10/2026

Glen Kotzen: A Lifetime in the Thoroughbred Game

There are very few South African trainers whose lives have been so closely intertwined with horses that it is difficult to separate the man from the racing world around him. Glen Kotzen is one of them. His career has taken him from a childhood spent around horses in Zimbabwe and the former Rhodesia, through years of learning from established trainers, to the establishment of his own successful yard and, eventually, to some of the greatest victories available to a South African trainer.

Kotzen was born in Newmarket, Johannesburg, on 23 October 1965, but his childhood was spent largely in Zambia and Rhodesia. Racing was already part of the family environment, with his father having been a jockey, and Glen was introduced to horses from an early age. Even his name has a racing connection. His father had ridden a horse called Russian Glen, and when his son was born, he decided to name him Glen. It is a small detail, but it captures something about the path that lay ahead of him.

As a youngster, Kotzen considered becoming a jockey and was accepted into the jockey academy. His father, however, had doubts about whether he would remain small enough to maintain the weight required of a professional rider, and those doubts proved justified. Instead of pursuing a career in the saddle, Kotzen began to learn the other side of the sport, eventually discovering that his future would lie in preparing the horses rather than riding them.

That change of direction gave him the opportunity to learn the racing business from the ground up. Before becoming a trainer, he worked for several established figures, including Paul and Avril Gadsby, Trevor Laing and Ralph Rixon. His time with Rixon was particularly important, as he spent approximately seven years learning the intricacies of training racehorses and observing how an experienced professional prepared horses for different types of competition. He later spent two years working with Clodagh Shaw before deciding that he had acquired enough experience to establish himself.

Kotzen received his trainer's licence in 1985, but his rise was not an overnight success story. Like most trainers, he had to build his reputation gradually, establish relationships with owners and prove that he could turn potential into winners. His first recorded winner came with Golden Bush at Kenilworth on 22 February 1995, a relatively modest beginning when compared with the major races that would eventually become part of his career.

The years that followed saw the Kotzen stable steadily establish itself as a serious force in Cape racing. His understanding of horses, combined with the experience he had gained from other trainers, allowed him to develop an operation that was not simply dependent on one or two good horses. He was building something sustainable, and that became even more apparent when he and his wife, Kathi, established the Woodhill Racing Estate in the Paarl area.

Woodhill became much more than a training yard. It became the centre of the Kotzen family's life and eventually accommodated a substantial string of horses, extensive paddocks and facilities that allowed horses to be trained, spelled and rehabilitated within the same operation. Kathi became closely involved in the business, while their children grew up surrounded by thoroughbreds, racing staff and the daily routines of a professional training establishment.

For more than two decades, Woodhill was closely associated with the Kotzen name, and it was from there that one of the most important horses in his career emerged. Big City Life was bred and raised by the Kotzen operation and developed into an exceptional racehorse. In 2009, the grey son of Ideal World delivered the moment that every trainer dreams about when he won the Durban July at Greyville.

Winning the Durban July is regarded as one of the highest achievements in South African racing, and for Kotzen the victory was particularly meaningful because of the connection his family had with Big City Life from the beginning. He was not simply a horse that had arrived at the stable as an expensive purchase and been handed over for training. The Kotzen operation had played a role in breeding and raising him, which made the horse's success a deeply personal achievement.

Big City Life went on to win four Grade 1 races and became one of the outstanding horses associated with Kotzen's career. His Durban July victory, however, remains the performance most closely attached to his name, because the race has a unique place in South African racing and winning it can change the way a trainer is remembered.

Big City Life was not the only champion produced by the Woodhill operation. Princess Victoria became another exceptional representative of the stable and was named Equus Champion Two-Year-Old and Champion Three-Year-Old during her career. She won four Grade 1 races and demonstrated that Kotzen could develop high-class horses through different stages of their careers rather than relying entirely on a single successful campaign.

The stable also produced a succession of other feature-race performers, including Eyes Wide Open and Cousin Casey, while horses such as Capetown Noir added further depth to the record. Kotzen's success was not limited to Cape racing either, as he developed a satellite operation at Summerveld in KwaZulu-Natal to give his horses access to the province's major racing programme and the valuable Champions Season.

That ability to adapt has been an important part of Kotzen's career. South African racing has changed considerably since he became a licensed trainer, with racecourses closing, training centres changing, ownership patterns evolving and the economics of keeping horses in training becoming increasingly demanding. Trainers who survive for decades have to adapt constantly, and Kotzen has had to do exactly that while maintaining the standards expected of a major professional stable.

His approach to buying horses has also played a significant role in his success. Rather than simply competing for the most expensive or fashionable yearlings at every sale, Kotzen has often concentrated on identifying horses that he believes represent value. That requires a combination of pedigree knowledge, physical assessment and experience, because the horse that attracts the highest price at a sale is not necessarily the horse that will become a champion.

The ability to recognise potential before the wider racing public sees it is one of the great skills of a successful trainer. A young horse can look impressive in a parade ring and never develop into a top racehorse, while another that attracts relatively little attention can mature into a Group or Grade 1 performer. Kotzen's career has repeatedly demonstrated the importance of giving horses time and allowing them to develop according to their individual needs.

The trainer's relationship with his horses has always been central to his philosophy. Thoroughbreds are not machines, and two horses with similar pedigrees and ability can respond very differently to training. Some need patience, others thrive on racing, while certain horses require careful management because of physical problems or temperament. The trainer has to recognise those differences and adjust the programme accordingly.

That philosophy became particularly valuable during difficult periods in the industry. The Covid-19 pandemic created enormous financial pressure for South African racing, with owners struggling and racing operations facing significant uncertainty. Kotzen's business was affected like many others, but the Woodhill operation survived a period that forced many people within the industry to reconsider how they could continue operating.

The stable's resilience was demonstrated again when Kotzen reached an important personal milestone in July 2025. At Hollywoodbets Scottsville, Lock And Key gave him his 2,000th career winner, a significant achievement that represented decades of work in the saddle yard rather than a single successful season. The victory also carried an interesting connection because Lock And Key had been bred by Varsfontein Stud, the operation that would shortly become closely involved in the next chapter of the Kotzen story.

By that point, Woodhill itself was approaching the end of its remarkable association with the family. In January 2026, the Kotzens announced that they would be leaving the property after approximately 24 years, with Varsfontein Stud taking over the estate. For a family that had lived and worked there for so long, the move inevitably carried considerable emotional significance.

Woodhill had been the place where the children had grown up, where countless horses had been trained and where Big City Life had developed into a Durban July winner. It had become part of the identity of the operation, which meant that leaving was far more complicated than simply moving horses from one set of stables to another.

Yet racing is an industry that constantly demands adaptation, and the Kotzen operation moved into a new chapter at the Milnerton Training Centre. The change represented a return to an area with which Kotzen had long been familiar and offered the opportunity to establish the next phase of the business without abandoning the experience accumulated over decades.

For a trainer with such a long career, the statistics tell only part of the story. The 2,000 winners, the Grade 1 victories, the Equus champions and the Durban July triumph provide measurable evidence of success, but they do not explain how much work is involved in reaching those numbers. Behind every winner are early mornings, stable staff, veterinary decisions, race planning, difficult conversations with owners and the constant uncertainty that comes with putting a horse into competition.

A trainer can prepare a horse perfectly and still lose by a fraction of a length. A promising horse can suffer an injury just when its career is beginning to develop. An expensive purchase can fail to live up to expectations, while an overlooked horse can suddenly become a star. The ability to continue through those disappointments is as important as enjoying the major victories.

That is perhaps what makes Kotzen's career particularly interesting. His story has not been built around one lucky horse or one extraordinary season. Big City Life was undoubtedly the horse that gave him his most famous victory, while Princess Victoria and others added further distinction, but the broader achievement lies in the ability to remain competitive across generations of horses.

There is also a strong family element to the story. His own career began because of his father's involvement in racing, and later he created an operation in which his wife and children became part of the everyday environment. The racing stable became a family business as well as a professional one, and that helped shape the culture of the Woodhill operation.

The move away from Woodhill therefore closes an important chapter, but it does not erase what was accomplished there. The property will remain associated with some of the finest horses Kotzen trained, and Big City Life's Durban July victory will forever be one of the defining moments in the history of the stable.

What happens next is another matter, and that is what makes racing so compelling. A trainer can celebrate yesterday's champion, but the next morning there are horses waiting to be worked, entries to be considered and another race meeting on the horizon. The past provides experience, but it cannot win the next race.

Glen Kotzen now carries more than four decades of experience into his next chapter. He has learned from some of the industry's most respected trainers, built a major operation, produced champions, won the Durban July and reached 2,000 winners, yet the fundamental challenge remains exactly the same as it was when he saddled his first runners.

He still has to understand the horse in front of him.

He still has to find the right race.

He still has to prepare it properly.

And when the gates open, he still has to hope that everything he has done has brought that horse to the starting line at exactly the right time.

That is the life of a trainer, and Glen Kotzen has spent more than forty years living it.