As we count down to the J & B Met on 27 January 2007, we look at the career at one of its finest winners, 1994 victor Pas De Quoi.

The story of Pas De Quoi is a poignant mix of triumph and tragedy. By the time of his retirement, he had achieved much more than the average racehorse can ever hope to: he went to stud as a multiple Group 1 winner, having proven himself one of the very best of his generation. Yet, there was a sense of destiny unfulfilled; that his career could have been even more impressive, had a cruel fate not intervened to cost him what should have been the best years of his racing life.

Pas De Quoi belonged to a truly vintage crop. He was foaled in the same year as such top class performers as Ilustrador, Flaming Rock, Olympic Duel, Spanish Galliard, Face North, Divine Master and St Just: a group of horses who between them won just about every big race in the country. At one stage, though, Pas De Quoi was poised to be the best of them all.

A son of Roland Gardens out of the unheralded Anono mare Merci Beaucoup, Pas De Quoi made a winning debut in August 1989 over 1000m at Kenilworth. He then quickly worked his way through the lower ranks and on New Years Day in 1990 he won the 1600m Administrators Challenge Cup - one of the key trials for the Cape Guineas - to record his fifth successive victory, beating future J & B Met winner Divine Master.

By now there was a huge buzz in the Cape around this striking colt. It was still early days, of course, and it is always dangerous to hype a horse before he has properly proven himself, but it was not unrealistic to hope that here was a successor to the likes of Sea Cottage, In Full Flight and Politician. Pas De Quoi had not won his races by huge margins, but there was just that certain something about him, the effortless way he quickened when asked and the uncomplicated authority with which he imposed himself on his races.

There were huge expectations, therefore, when he lined up for the Cape Guineas at the beginning of February, in a race that his fans hoped would see him anointed as the next superstar of South African racing. Sent off a 17/10 favourite, he was not the only unbeaten horse in the field. Northfields colt Face North had won all three of his races and he was well enough backed at 6/1 to indicate that he was also considered a serious big race prospect. There was one crucial factor which would turn out to be decisive: Pas De Quoi was drawn 15 in a field of 16.

In the race itself, jockey Eric Chelin was unable to get the favourite across from his outside stall and was forced to race wide the entire way. Having been handy throughout, Pas De Quoi moved forward strongly in the straight, but Face North was travelling just as well along the rails, having enjoyed a dream run. The two fought out a rousing finish, but Pas De Quoi had simply expended too much energy early on and against a horse of Face North`s ability, it was too much of an advantage to concede. Face North held him off grimly in a tight finish to maintain his own unbeaten record and bring an end to Pas De Quoi`s. Despite the dreadful disappointment of defeat, the Pas De Quoi camp could remain defiant: make no mistake, Face North was a top class colt and would later win the Mainstay 1800 to prove his class, but there is little doubt that the draw had deprived Pas De Quoi of victory in the Cape Guineas. To many observers, therefore, Pas De Quoi had actually turned in his finest performance to date, albeit in defeat.

A month later, Pas De Quoi reappeared in the Cape Derby over 2000m where, somewhat surprisingly, he was not sent off the hot favourite that one might have expected. This was due to the presence of his unbeaten stablemate Jubilee Creek, who had shown from his juvenile days that he was looking for a bit of ground and had already won over this trip. Pas De Quoi, by contrast, had never raced beyond a mile and there were the inevitable stamina doubts. The two went off joint favourites at 22/10, but the race itself was a one-horse affair. Once Pas De Quoi was asked for his effort in the home straight, he cruised into the lead and won unextended by over three lengths. It was a hair-raising performance and such was the sheer class that he oozed that there must have been many in the crowd - and a number of television viewers as well - who were convinced that they were watching the future July winner in action.

Pas De Quoi claimed a significant victim in this race, although nobody knew it at the time: well beaten back in fifth place was relative unproven Argentine-bred named Ilustrador.

With Pas De Quoi having made up somewhat for the disappointment of the Cape Guineas, his future campaign was eagerly awaited, not least in KwaZulu-Natal where he was expected to be one of the star attractions of the upcoming winter season. He never made it to Durban that year. Not long after the Cape Derby, a horrifying piece of news rocked the racing fraternity. A vindictive groom, apparently taking revenge for having been dismissed, made a vicious attack on Pas De Quoi, slashing his legs and seemingly putting an immediate end to his career. Thankfully, the horse himself was saved, but it was a gross display of inhumanity that evoked memories of the shooting of Sea Cottage some 25 years earlier.

The winter season turned out to be a thrilling one, with Ilustrador proving the star turn with his remarkable sequence of big race wins from 1200m to 3200m, the highlight of which was the Rothmans July. The mind boggles - and the mouth waters - at the thought of him and Pas De Quoi having clashed at their peak. Racing was thus denied what might have been one of the all-time great rivalries of the turf.

Pas De Quoi returned to the track much quicker than initially expected: in late September 1990, after nearly seven months on the sidelines, he made a superb comeback over 1200m, beating the decent sprinter I`m Me. Hopes immediately flared that he had gotten over his injuries and that he was pretty much the same horse as before. However, it was a false dawn and the rest of his career would be a stop-start affair as he never regained full soundness and would spend plenty of time off the track.

The immediate future seemed promising enough though: his next start, in November was disappointing when narrowly beaten by Our Knight over 1900m, but that could be ascribed to the second-run-after-a-layoff syndrome. At the end of December 1990, Pas de Quoi took his place in the Queens Plate, a race which at one time had looked a natural prize for him. He had to settle for fourth, but considering he was beaten by horses of the calibre of Flaming Rock and Olympic Duel, it was hardly a disgrace and at least it showed he was still competitive in the big league.

Unfortunately, his troubles were about to recur and after this he had to be laid off for nearly a year.

He reappeared towards the end of 1991, ran a promising trial for the Queens Plate when third over 1200m but broke down in the Queens Plate itself. This time, he was off the track for 18 months and when he reappeared, things did not go as well as hoped. In six runs from July 1993 to New Years Day 1994, he only managed one place - a perfectly respectable second in the Champion Stakes at Greyville. He looked a pale shadow of his former self in the rest of his races, though, and the general consensus was that he had shot his bolt and his chance at greatness had long been lost. It seemed a perfect illustration of the old adage that injured horses don`t come back.

With this in mind, the 7-year-old Pas De Quoi was unsurprisingly sent off a 20/1 outsider for the 1994 J & B Met at the end of January. To outside observers, it must actually have seemed a pointless exercise to keep this once-promising horse in training and it is fair to say that many, if not most, in the crowd had long since forgotten the brilliance he had shown four years earlier in his classic season.

What followed was simply unbelievable. Master jockey Garth Puller gave the old warrior a typical Puller ride, turning for home last, some sixteen lengths off the leader. Gauteng raider Waitara who had been brilliantly prepared for this race made a bold bid for victory and looked a certain winner inside the final furlong. Suddenly, Pas De Quoi, showing the verve of a horse half his age, stormed up on his outside. Still, it looked as if Puller had left it too late, but in a breathtaking finish, the pair somehow got their noses in front to edge out the luckless Waitara. It was an incredible performance and in many ways it was the crystallisation of the dreams his fans had had when watching him win the Cape Derby over the same course and distance all those years ago.

The big question was whether the Met win had been a fluke and Pas De Quoi quickly settled those doubts when sent to Durban for the winter season. He kicked off with a storming run in the Drill Hall Stakes where, despite racing over a too-short 1400m, he flew up late to be touched off into an unlucky second place.

Next up, he contested the Schweppes Challenge and was well supported as he was bound to enjoy Clairwood`s 1600m. He quickened well when asked by Gavin Howed and fought on gamely to beat Queens Plate winner Take A Walk and the great miler Flaming Rock who had won the three previous runnings of this race and was still very much a force to be reckoned with.

Now the ultimate bid for glory beckoned: the July itself. It would be the ultimate fairytale if, after all he had endured in the past, he could win the biggest prize of all. As it turns out, the 1994 July turned out to be one of the most unfortunate and unsatisfying runnings of SA`s greatest race. US-bred Surfing Home who, like Pas De Quoi, had spent ages on the sidelines after being injured, set off at a strong gallop and continued to roll on gamely in the straight. Pas De Quoi, with Garth Puller back in the irons, had been perfectly placed just off the early pace, moved up promisingly in the straight and could visibly be seen to quicken in response to Puller`s urgings. At this point, disaster struck: Surfing Home, veering off a straight course, baulked Pas De Quoi causing him to check severely. In a flash, his chances had disappeared and although he rallied as best he could, Pas De Quoi had to settle for fifth, beaten less than three lengths as Surfing Home fought on courageously to win by a neck from fast-finishing outsider Space Walk..

It was clear from a single look at the replay that the interference had been material and that Surfing Home would be penalised accordingly. The inevitable objection that followed was upheld and Surfing Home was demoted to fifth. It was a cruel irony that Surfing Home and Pas De Quoi reciprocally ended each others bid for July glory. Both were tough and classy horses who had battled incredible odds to get back to the top of the tree. In a further - and much happier - twist of irony, Surfing Home would later redeem himself by winning the following years J & B Met.

While nobody could argue with the fairness of the July objection based on the video evidence, would Pas De Quoi have won with a clear run? It`s impossible to say and pointless to speculate, but he seemed to be unleashing a very powerful run when he was checked and there is a very strong chance that he would have not merely won, but done so quite convincingly had he not been blocked.

 The July must have been a bitter pill to swallow for Pas De Quoi`s connections, but there was still a chance to bow out on a winning note. On 13 August 1994, the now 8-year-old turned out in the Champion Stakes for his final fling. The field was very weak and he merely had to run to form. As usually happens when there is a small field, Pas De Quoi did not have it all his own way and suffered a scare from the game Crystals Garter, who pushed him all the way to the line. Afterwards, there was relief that Pas De Quoi had not fluffed his lines and he could head off to stud on a high note.

It speaks volumes for Pas De Quoi`s ability that despite landing four prestigious Gr 1 events, he is still considered a "nearly horse" and one who actually underachieved. At least, though, his late burst of glory in his final season ensured he would get at least some of the recognition he deserved. Due to his problems and his patchy mid-career form, the bare statistics do not make for fantastic reading, as he notched up too many unplaced runs and was beaten too many times to be considered a champion in the conventional sense. But look beyond the numbers and examine his career in its proper context and a different picture emerges. For this scribe at least, Pas De Quoi will be remembered as not merely a good horse, but rather as a great one. The J & B Met boasts so many outstanding winners on its roll of honour. The name Pas De Quoi is not out of place in such illustrious company.-Mark Anthony