Mark Anthony assesses the awards for the recently completed Highveld feature race season, presented at a ceremony hosted by the Racing Association at Rosebank`s Hyatt Regency Hotel on Saturday night.

Handicappers and selection panelists are probably the most maligned people in racing as they have the impossible task of trying to please a diverse body of people with often conflicting interests. The seven-man panel appointed for the Racing Association Highveld feature season awards did well enough however and while there may be the odd quibble about one or two decisions, few would dispute that they generally got it right.

The big equine award of the night went to Kings Gambit (SAF) and rightly so, as Lance Wiid`s charge is surely the most exciting horse in South Africa at the moment. The critical thing to note when viewing his thrilling victories in the SA Classic and Derby is that he is still a big baby with only six runs under his belt and there should be plenty of improvement to come . Without wanting to jinx the son of Silvano (GER), the sky is really the limit as long as he stays sound and the final product should be a truly awesome thoroughbred.

Kings Gambit had earlier won two other awards. He was pretty much a shoo-in for the champion 3-year-old male, a category that had an unnecessarily long nomination list. J J The Jet Plane was a worthy contender while Eddington was a reasonable call after his impressive Gomma Gomma win, but it should have stopped there. Imbongi, Lion`s Blood and Seventh Rock - top racehorses though they undoubtedly are - had failed to land a Gr 1, unlike the aforementioned trio. Then there was Pointing North who may arguably be the best of his age group that we have seen this season but in the context of these awards, he had not beaten anything of note on the Highveld.

Then there was the Champion Stayer award, which Kings Gambit claimed pretty much by default after his Derby win. It is a somewhat depressing state of affairs as the authorities have put together a very decent programme for stayers, comprising races such as the Gold Bowl, Caradoc Gold Cup, Racing Association Handicap, Aquanaut Handicap and Java Handicap. Any horse that had performed consistently well across these races would have been in pole position to claim the award, but this failed to materialise as these races threw up vastly differing results. The other nominees, Pacific Warrior and Santa were good value for their respective wins in the Gold Bowl and Caradoc Gold Cup, but did not have enough graded form beyond that to justify the award. The problem is not whether the best horse won here, as Kings Gambit is in a different league to the other two, but rather the fact that his Derby effort was a once-off stamina test and he will almost certainly spend the rest of his career racing over middle distances. It would be nice to see the award going to a proper, consistent stayer rather than a top-class middle distance horse whose sheer class carried him through in his sole long-distance race.

The juvenile awards were a walkover as Charles Laird`s star pair of  Merlene De Lago and Warm White Night were so superior to the rest that no other nominations were even announced for their categories.

The 3-year-old filly category was a vastly different kettle of fish, with no stand-out champion in the ranks. Out of five nominees, Glenrossal and Urabamba, two wonderfully game and consistent fillies, shared the award and they had certainly earned their votes after a string of good performances in feature race company. The Glenrossal team may argue, however, that in head-to-head meetings against Urabamba, they were 3-1 ahead and a case can be made for her to have taken the prize outright.

Champion Older Female was an interesting category as there were only two nominees and both race in the red and green of Team Valor. Stratos got the verdict on the back of an excellent hat trick of graded wins, culminating in the Gr 1 Empress Club Stakes, certainly the most competitive fillies event for the period under review. She`s On Fire, by contrast, only had the one graded victory to her name in the form of the Gerald Rosenberg, which would have counted against her, but dissenters will point out that Stratos failed in her only assignment against the males, while She`s On Fire was a gallant second in the Gomma Gomma. Either way, it was a case of two wonderful racemares and whichever way the decision went, one could only be genuinely happy for the recipient.

Champion Older Male attracted five nominees but Our Giant was always going to be the one to beat after his fine battling victories in the November Handicap (Gr 2) and Horse Chestnut Stakes (Gr 1), supplemented by a game third in the Summer Cup. Lest we forget, he also won the  listed Hyperion handicap before losing it on an objection, so his overall consistency and versatility set him apart from his rivals. It was nice to see sand king Narc get a nomination here, but Biarritz -for all his undoubted talent - Bound By Honour and Strategic News simply hadn`t done as much as Our Giant to have a serious chance of toppling him.

Our Giant claimed a double with the Champion Middle Distance Horse, a decision that must have surprised those in the Kings Gambit camp. Presumably, the logic was that the latter had only managed one middle-distance win, the SA Classic and his Derby victory should not count towards this category, whereas Our Giant had been consistent in several feature races over the appropriate range of distances. Eddington could just about pass muster as a nomination, but Stratos, for all her brilliance against her own sex, was pushing it and Strategic News was frankly a strange call as he had done nothing apart from his Summer Cup win.

Champion Sprinter deservedly went to J J The Jet Plane after his brilliant hat trick of wins in the Senor Santa, Man O`War and Computaform Sprint. He has pretty much beaten the best that the province could offer over both 1000m and 1200m and he is going to illuminate the racing scene in no uncertain terms if he maintains this level of form. Narc and Seventh Rock were reasonable contenders, but Mythical Flight, for all his undoubted brilliance, and Succesful Bidder, had not achieved enough in the required period to be considered.

The sand campaigners were honoured for the first time and Narc was duly crowned in this category even though he has not been seen in these parts for many a month. His brilliant win under top weight in the Emerald Cup, over a trip that stretched his stamina, must go down as one of the performances of the season and he is arguably the best sand specialist we have seen in this country to date. Fair Brutus is a formidable campaigner and his wonderful victory under 65,5kg will also go down as one of the year`s highlights while Naples has not as yet scaled the same heights as Narc but earned his nomination with a string of fine performances.

The awards for jockey, trainer and owner were decided on a points system and there were few surprises as Piere Strydom, Charles Laird and Ingrid & Markus Jooste scooped the honours. Strydom is riding better than ever at the moment, Laird is a consummate professional who delivers consistently under huge pressure and the Joostes have added a new dimension to South African racing with their string of Australian imports, their huge investment paying big dividends for the racing public who can get their pulses racing by watching exciting prospects such as Merlene De Lago and Warm White Night.

The Cohen family`s Odessa Stud picked up the breeders award, a tribute to the standard of excellence they have maintained so consistently for many a year.

There was an emotional build up to the awards ceremony itself as the big screen threw up a montage in tribute to various racing personalities who had passed on, starting with the Hennenman plane disaster of 20 years ago and culminating in the recent deaths of Buddy Maroun and Laurie Jaffee. It added a sombre note to the proceedings, but it was fitting that their memories be honoured as every individual mentioned had contributed handsomely to the rich tapestry that is South African racing and which brings so many thrills to so many followers of the sport.

Looking at the evening as a whole, there were murmurs from the odd malcontent about the slightly crowded venue, but it would be churlish to complain as the ceremony was slickly handled, speeches were kept tastefully brief and the catering staff delivered an outstanding level of service. Clyde Basel and his team can look back with some satisfaction on a successful night and indeed, a memorable feature race season.