Top Rider. Christophe Soumillion will be a crowd puller in Mauritius
An untimely suspension has cost Jeff Lloyd the captaincy of the Southern Hemisphere Team for next weekend’s International Jockey’s weekend to be held at the Champ de Mars in Port Louis Mauritius.
The Mauritius Turf Club holds the popular event annually, which brings the curtain down on their season.
One of the world’s oldest turf club’s celebrated its proud history and bicentenary in June this year.
Belgian born 31 year old jockey Christophe Soumillon is bound to prove a major drawcard and he captains the Rest Of The World Team, sponsored by UBP. The team includes Norwegian –born 24 year old William Buick, who holds dual Danish and British citizenship and French 21 year old Mickael Barzalona.
The latter, one of the youngest riders in this year’s competition, was retained by Godolphin on March 2, 2012, and has established himself as one of the world’s leading jockeys with a string of stunning victories.
The Frenchman shot to international prominence in June, 2011, as he celebrated his victory on Pour Moi in the English Derby at Epsom Downs, UK, by standing up in the stirrups crossing the winning line.
Then aged 19, he became the youngest jockey to win the premier British Classic since Walter Swinburn 30 years earlier.
Capetonian. Karis Teetan makes the trip to the island of his birth
The local hopes of Team Mauritius Bicentenary, sponsored by Phoenix, will be captained by Rai Joorawon and includes two names that South Africans will know well in Cape-based Karis Teetan and Gauteng jockey Nooresh Juglall.
Sponsored by Emtel, Team France will be captained by Stéphane Pasquier , who is supported by Olivier Peslier and Maxime Guyon.
Team Southern Hemisphere, sponsored by Bet Online/Play Online will be captained by Australian rider Noel Callow in Lloyd’s absence. The British-born Lloyd rode in South Africa in a similar competition this past weekend. Callow’s countryman Hugh Bowman and South African rider Johnny Geroudis make up the team.
The competition will be held on Saturday 1 and Sunday 2 December.
