Jockey Aldo Domeyer joined an elite club at Kenilworth on Wednesday, booting home 6 winners from his six engagements.
The 29 year old, known as ‘Doey’ or ‘The Hitman’ to his legion of punting fans and friends, had ridden 4 winners on a card on a few occasions previously, but Wednesday was a new high.
Three of his winners were for the Sabine Plattner Racing Team.
The honour roll of jockeys to have achieved similar feats includes Jeff Lloyd, Piere Strydom, Felix Coetzee, Bartie Leisher, Anthony Delpech, Garth Puller , Basil Marcus, and internationally, the likes of Frankie Dettori and Richard Hughes.
Domeyer, well-known as the son of former SA champion Andrew Fortune, grew up on the mean streets of Elsies River near Cape Town and matriculated at the top of his class at Belhar Secondary School
He first joined the SA Jockey Academy in 2003 but was given his marching orders after 6 months when it was felt he ‘wasn’t good enough’. In 2007 he tenaciously forced his way back and landed up riding 200 winners in a top apprenticeship.
Domeyer ended the 2015/16 racing season inside the top 10 of the jockeys’ log having ridden 110 winners with a strike rate of 17% and a place strike rate of 58%.
He was the runner-up in the race for champion rider in the Western Cape and is a regular feature in the winner’s box in Port Elizabeth.
While his career highlight is his 2013 J&B Met win on Martial Eagle, he also has international experience having travelled to South Korea in 2011, riding the winner in the YTN Cup at the Seoul Race Park.