South Africa
King can deliver another special Smith moment in Sprint
The one that nearly never raced can deliver again for young trainer.
He is a fourth-generation horse trainer from a family who has tasted plenty of success before, but for Dean Smith winning his first race at the highest level within a few months of becoming a trainer in his own right has still not quite hit home.
Some trainers wait a lifetime for a feature race winner and for many it never happens and when Kingdundee delivered took out the Group 1 World Pool Cape Flying Championship (1000m) at Kenilworth on January 10 at $34, it provided an unreal moment for this 25-year-old.
The chance of another comes again in the Group 1 TAB Computaform Sprint (1000m) at Turffontein on Saturday.
Smith took over head training from his father Gavin who passed away after illness in October.
Though sad the circumstances, Dean has got off to his own flying start keeping the family name in the winners' list with 42 winners and 85 placegetters in 332 starters.
"To be honest, it still hasn't kicked in properly," Smith said of the Cape Flying win.
"I was a bit shocked and lost for words when it did happen but it was obviously a special moment and something that I won't forget and cherish for a very long time. He is a special horse.
To say that the four-year-old's runs are well spaced is an understatement as his starts could have anywhere between six weeks and three months between them.
There is a good reason for that and it stretches back to the gelding's earliest days.
"He's got tons of ability but he is a horse that was given no chance as a foal," Smith said.
"They didn't want to bring him into training but then I got a call saying that if we couldn't get a float ready then we couldn't race the horse.
"So the float came, he came into the stable and we found him to be a very disorientated horse with really bad legs.
"He had long legs and a really long body with no girth, no shoulder, nothing. With the time we have afforded him, he has grown into this monster."
That monster has won eight of his 11 starts so far with two other minor placings who has shown versatility in being able to win from on or off the pace.
"He doesn't have the best of hind legs and he takes his runs hard so if you watch his action from the front, you'll see how his legs go in all different directions but that is how he runs," Smith added.
"We let him get over the runs and he does enough work at home to be fit for a race coming up. He doesn't need to run every month but he is all good, thankfully, and sound.
Hoping that Kingdundee copes well with the 14-hour road trip from their stable base to Turffontein, Smith is confident that his galloper is the one to beat.
Keywords: Dean Smith, Kingdundee, Turffontein, Computaform Sprint, World Pool
4/4/26 – Turffontein – Race 8
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