Jockey Aldo Domeyer’s perfect six at Kenilworth last week was not a record for number of winners ridden on a day in South Africa, although he might have been the first to ride a perfect six from six rides.
Aldo Domeyer – could be the perfect six record-holder (photo: hamishNIVENPhotography)
Jeff Lloyd has reportedly ridden seven winners in a day on three occasions in South Africa. He repeated this feat on November 30 last year in Australia, when having 11 rides on a 12 race card at Sunshine Coast racecourse..
Piere Strydom
South African record-breaking jockey Piere Strydom has ridden seven winners in a day twice. On one of these occasions – July 14, 1990 – he famously rode the Pick 6 at Gosforth Park, the only rider to have achieved this feat. He also rode the winner of the first race that day.
On the same day Strydom rode in a match race on the Azzie-trained Brainteaser, who was beaten by the Cliffie Otto-trained Divine Act, and also rode in two other races.
Harold ‘Tiger’ Wright
The first to achieve seven winners in a day in South Africa might well have been the legendary Harold ‘Tiger’ Wright.
In a nine race Rand Turf Club meeting held at Newmarket racecourse in Alberton on February 3 1960, Wright had eight rides and won on seven of them. Two of the winners were for George Azzie, the grandfather of current trainer Mike, two were for EJ Sparks and one each for ETC Passmore, DC Littlefield and R Ralphs.
Domeyer’s achievement does not constitute a Western Cape record either as Garth Puller rode seven winners at Kenilworth on 27 September 1980, when having a ride in all nine races.
Puller, who was SA champion jockey in the 1978/1979 season and is now a trainer, rode the first five on the card and also race seven and race nine. Four of his winners were for Peter Kannemeyer and three for Bert Abercrombie.
Basil Marcus
Basil Marcus achieved seven winners in a day on 3 December 1986 at Greyville where he rode in all nine races.
Marcus, a seven-time champion jockey in Hong Kong, also once rode six winners in a day in Cape Town while still an apprentice on 21 June 1975 where he had eight rides in an eight race card at Milnerton. Remarkably five of those winning mounts were by the great stallion Persian Wonder, who was duly crowned Champion Sire for the fourth time in succession at the end of the season.
Domeyer is currently in 15th place on the SA national log with 41 winners achieved at a strike rate of 17,01% and he has seven rides at today’s Kenilworth meeting.
www.goldcircle.co.za
