Mzolisi Njengele broke the ice at just his second race ride at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth on Saturday when he got Casino Ace home to win the second leg of the 2023/24 Hollywoodbets Workriders’ Series.
Mzolisi, who works for winning trainer Ricky Maingard, had run third in the first leg of the series on Casino Ace at his personal debut, and was not winning the R120 000 Workriders Maiden Plate out of turn on a 4yo that looked overdue to escape the maiden ranks.
Mzolisi Njengele and Casino Ace finish best of all (Pic – Chase Liebenberg)
Riding with much more confidence and collection than on his debut in December, Mzolisi always had Casino Ace in the firing as Captain Cool and Consigliere took their turns up front for the first 800m of the 1200m contest.
Riding a balanced race, Mzolisi kept Casino Ace (5-2) at his task to beat early series log-leader William Bambiso on Tam’s Knight (4-1) by 1,50 lengths.
No time was taken.
Consigliere (33-1) showed good pace and encouraging improvement to run a further 1,40 lengths back in third.
Enjoy the replay:
Bred by Hemel ‘n Aarde Stud, the winner was purchased by Jaghorn Thoroughbreds for R80 000 at the 2021 BSA Cape Yearling Sale. He did a tendon early on and missed the Ready To Run Sale as a result of that, but even though very small in stature, has recovered well to win a race.
A winner of 1 race with 3 places from 6 starts for stakes of R111 888, Casino Ace will always have a place in Mzolisi Njengele’s heart on what was a special day in his career.
Mzolisi Njengele was a happy man after his first winner (Pic – Chase Liebenberg)
The Hollywoodbets Workriders’ Series has a R25 000 prize pool which will be shared amongst the top five riders on the final log. In addition, the riders will also receive the standard riding commissions.
Points are earned by individual workriders in each of the four races and to keep all stakeholders updated, Cape Racing will publish a log on the Monday following each of the races.
The next race in the series will be held at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth on 5 February and reaches what is bound to be an exciting climax on 17 February.
Follow all the latest Hollywoodbets Workriders’ Series news on blog.hollywoodbets.net and www.caperacing.co.za
