The ECHCU receives a cheque for R20,000 from the participating jockeys (from left to right: Greg Cheyne, Ryan Munger, Marco van Rensburg, Megan Hope, Mathew Thackeray and Craig Zackey – Piere Strydom and Callan Murray were unable to join for the team photo). (Photo: Pauline Herman)
On 12/13 May, Fairview Racecourse hosted a weekend of the East Cape’s best of both with a poly meeting on Friday – with the World Sports Betting EC Poly Challenge as its headline feature – and a full card of turf action on Saturday, with headline features of the Listed World Sports Betting East Cape Derby and Listed Dahlia Plate on Saturday.
A host of South Africa’s best riding talent descended on the Windy City to support the meeting and PE’s best export, Piere Strydom, used the opportunity to give back and fundraise for the local East Cape Horse Care Unit (ECHCU). He pledged R500 for every winner, R300 for every second and R200 for every third place over the two days and was joined by Callan Murray, Craig Zackey, Mathew Thackeray, Greg Cheyne and Marco van Rensburg.
The riders were joined by sponsors World Sports Betting, New Turf Carriers, No More Ants, Phoenix Warehousing Solutions, Fumigation Dot Com and Acoustic Insurance with Kevin Hunter’s Acoustic Insurance also matching everything raised by son-in-law Marco Van Rensburg, plus matching the funds raised by the highest earning jockey.
ECHCU Fundraiser – cheque presentation (photo: Pauline Herman)
It was a fantastic effort all round which raised R20k from the jockeys and R10k from the sponsors and resulted in a total of R30k for the ECHCU. Race caller Alan Schoeman handed over the R10k sponsor’s cheque and the participating jockeys all gathered together to hand over the fruits of their labour at Fairview’s meeting on Friday, 26 May 2017.
The ECHCU’s Megan Hope was overwhelmed. “Thank you to Piere Strydom for deciding to support us so generously and for sending out a challenge that added a lot of fun to the meeting. I have galloped my Thoroughbred down the beach at breakneck speed and it is an experience that will go with me to my grave, but these guys put their lives on the line every day, they get bunched in, knocked around, the horses get bumped – man, it’s dangerous! What I’m trying to say is, ‘wow, boys, thank you all so much for trying to get a winner for us on the day’. Also a huge thanks to all the sponsors that joined in and George Croucher for helping to coordinate it all.”
PE race caller Alan Schoeman presented the sponsors’ cheque and all the participating jockeys joined in to present their contribution to the ECHCU.
“I’m blown away,” says Megan gratefully. “We can do a lot with R30k.” Asked whether there are any specific projects that the money will be going towards, Megan answers, “Fodder is always my crisis – it’s a never-ending challenge of trying to source good quality fodder at a reasonable price.”
The other project is to build a dedicated exercise arena for which they need fencing material. “We cleared an area of alien vegetation and rubbish about 2 years ago where we would like to build a lunge ring and establish an area to exercise the horses and do a bit of basic schooling. We need 2m and 3m poles to fence off the area and if anyone would like to help towards this project, Cape Wire is a good place to source poles from. Those are our two main priorities at the moment.”
“Yet again, the racing industry have come up trumps. There are many people who naysay racing, but those are the very people that give me grist to my mill and I think that’s the important part. Thank you to everyone who participated, everyone who donated. We are very blessed.”
