Danie Toerien
While working on the Computaform racecard for Sunday 7 December at Turffontein, 4Racing tipster Brendan Gaillard noticed an anomaly: trainer Candice Dawson is no longer C Dawson, but C/T Dawson.
A quick phone call produced clarity.
Candice has officially been joined by her sister Tammy in the training ranks, as of Monday 1 December.
According to Candice, Tammy passed her trainers exam about a year ago, and the pair have decided that it’s about time they join forces officially.
Tammy, a former assistant-trainer to Mike de Kock and Geoff Woodruff, has been been Candice’s assistant for a number of years, but this coming Sunday the Dawson sisters will be saddling their first runner together – hence the C/T Dawson reference in the ComputaForm.
“Tammy was an assistant to Mike de Kock for probably around 5 years,” said Candice on Tuesday. She was also assistant to Geoff (Woodruff) for around a decade.
“She has been involved in racing for as long as I have – around 24 years – but I have now finally decided it’s time we walk the road together,” said Candice.
In a earlier interview a few years back, Candice described her sister as a natural horsewoman and a great judge. With De Kock and Woodruff respectively, she was part of a team that claimed 10 champion trainer titles between them.
On Sunday, the sisters will saddle Power Of Pearls in Race 4, a Maiden Plate for fillies and mares over 1160m.
This three-year-old Pathfork filly will be the first runner to go to post for the new Dawson-sisterhood, and Muzi Yeni will have the honour of taking instructions from two women.
They will also send out Jury’s Out in Race 6, a MR82 Handicap over 1600m, and Wild At War in Race 7, a MR96 Handicap over 1160m.
This article was originally published on TAB and is reposted here with permission.
