What’s In A Name? Tenango
One of the more eye-catching winners on L’Ormarins King’s Plate Day was the smart sprinter Tenango. Making only his 10th
Lucinda Woodruff
Lucinda Woodruff bristles at the notion that she’s been given an easy ride. Yes, she was born into racing royalty. Yes, she’s a princess in the Sport of Kings. Yes, she’s the daughter of Geoff Woodruff. Yes, she’s the granddaughter of Terrance Millard.
Yes, it’s a bloodline which is as blue as any you will get in South African racing.
But, that’s where it starts and finishes with a trainer rising up the ranks as she enters her 30’s and a new decade in her life journey.
“I’ve heard it all. The stereotype. Am I not ‘too young’ to be a competitive trainer? Have I been gifted things? The answer is always no. There are no shortcuts to the top, but I am determined to get there and prove a lot of people wrong about my journey. I am proud of what my dad and grandfather achieved and taught me, but when I started out it was on my own. I didn’t inherit a yard, which most people don’t realise.”
It’s another wild and wet winter’s day in Cape Town and in fact it’s past the middle of July. How many meetings have we had at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth up to this date in the last month of the 2023/24 racing season? The answer is nil. That’s right. Approaching the last week of the season we were still waiting for Wednesday the 24th for the next opportunity.
We are sitting indoors around the corner from the Milnerton stables where Woodruff Racing has a string of over 40 horses. Lucinda orders rooibos tea. It’s perhaps a little “off menu” given we’ve gathered in a coffee shop franchise. Then again, it points to her being her own woman.
It’s been a few weeks since the biggest moment of her racing career – Cafe Culture winning the Grade 2 Post Merchants on Hollywoodbets Durban July day. That victory was a milestone in more than one way. It was her first feature winner in her third season as a fully-fledged trainer. It was also her 17th winner of the 2023/24 campaign, which is one better than the 16 that dad racked up in his final season.
This has in fact been the best of her three seasons. She started with nine wins, followed that with seven and doubled that with 17. However, she has bigger expectations and ambitions for 2024-25.
“I’m 12th on the Western Cape trainers’ log at the moment. Next season I want to be in the top six. I managed to keep going in past seasons with dwindling stock but I’m now getting more stock to take it to over 60 horses. The five-year plan was to get to 80, from when I started three years ago.
“I have some nice youngsters who I have big hopes for this season. When I say youngsters I mean three-year-olds. I’m a trainer with the ambition of preparing horses for the classic races, the weight-for-age features, the L’Ormarins King’s Plate, the Cape Town MET and the Hollywoodbets Durban July. I’m now getting the stock to be able to do that, for which I am eternally grateful. Having said that, I love training sprinters, I find them very straightforward and I’ve had most of my success so far with them. Just look at Cafe Culture.”
Racing is a numbers game and Woodruff is trending in the right direction. She has a swelling yard, is coming off a season’s best number of wins, surpassed R1-million in stakes for the first time and had her first feature winner. Plus, she has a legend in her corner. “My dad joining as assistant is a massive boost, but I honestly want to be known as my own person. Woodruff Racing is an exciting place to be and owners can be assured that they’re going to have a lot of fun going forward.”
The established owners of James and Lee-Ann Drew and Mike Fullard have had plenty of that fun over the years and Lucinda gave them even more with the success of Cafe Culture, who has won seven of his last 13 races, including that Post Merchants feature.
“That day that Cafe Culture won was one of two days that I’ll always remember for the high it provided. The first was when I won the Western Province showjumping championships. And, if you had to ask me which came as more of a surprise – I have to be honest, it was the showjumping. It was my first 135/140m and my expectations were that I would finish closer to last than first. It was during Covid-19, so I was wearing a mask and there weren’t as many spectators as there would have been outside of the pandemic. Damn!” And she laughs. She takes a sip of her rooibos and her left “pinkie” is extended. “That’s a hand-me-down from my grandmother.” She laughs again.
Laughing suits her, as she has an infectious personality, but racing is a serious business. With the adrenalin rush highs come the sinking feeling in the chest.
“My first meeting as a fully licensed trainer in 2021 started relatively OK. My horse, The Second Wave, true to the name, ran second! But, the second meeting was disastrous! I had some nice youngsters and had prepared them hoping to give me a winner early on in my career. The first runner bled from both nostrils. I saddled another two that day. One started favourite and fractured his pastern. The third runner started second favourite and ran a dirty fourth.”
There was only one way that she could go from the most unfortunate of career starts. That only way is up and Woodruff is determined to smash through that glass ceiling this season.
She emphasises that while her dad has become her official assistant trainer, Woodruff Racing remains a small business in the broader sense. “Apart from the training aspect, my day job also includes all the admin and runnings of a business.
Basically everything apart from the accounts side of things.” So, when it rains, the world doesn’t stop. She had already reminded me that she couldn’t get away from the stables, where she’s been since the early, dark, cold, miserable hours, before 10.30am.
Not that she’s complaining. She started on her journey under no illusions. Success doesn’t come overnight, but she’s served her apprenticeship. It’s now time to properly announce her arrival.
Racing’s princess really is destined to become a racing queen.
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
More Posts
Owning One Stripe Is Surreal
Popular owner Rikesh Sewgoolam is still basking in the reflected glory of his wonder colt One Stripe’s victory in the
Ride Of The Month: Chad Little
The seventh in our popular series of the most eye-catching ride by a Cape-based jockey each month. We ask former
The Stories Behind Owners’ Colours: Lauren Snaith
Racing is a gift that keeps on giving and for many owners winning an Open Maiden still feels as special
Quick Links
© 2024 Cape Racing. All Rights Reserved.
KENILWORTH RACING (PTY) LTD REG NO. 2011/008903/07 IS LICENSED BY THE WESTERN CAPE GAMBLING AND RACING BOARD AND SUPPORTS RESPONSIBLE GAMBLING AND TRANSPARENT ACCOUNTING TO THE SOUTH AFRICAN FINANCIAL INTELLIGENCE CENTRE. NO PERSONS UNDER THE AGE OF 18 ARE PERMITTED TO GAMBLE. WINNERS KNOW WHEN TO STOP. SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL RESPONSIBLE GAMBLING FOUNDATION TOLL FREE COUNSELLING LINE 0800 006 008 OR WHATSAPP “HELP” TO 076 675 0710. GAMBLING ADDICTION IS NOT SELECTIVE. IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU.