Piere Strydom
Multiple champion jockey Piere ‘Striker’ Strydom edged a step closer to his magical 5000 winner milestone at the Vaal on Thursday and is now just 31 winners away from achieving an extraordinary career mark. Despite the brilliant tactical display in the saddle as he got St John Gray’s Breathless home to win the sixth race, it wasn’t his most memorable day at the office – certainly not for some punter, anyway.
It is a sad downside of being plain brilliant that great jockeys like Piere and Anton Marcus have their mounts marked up at odds a good few points from reality than would ordinarily be the case if a mere mortal were riding the horse.
That is a burden that goes with being a magician.
Strydom went ‘missing’ on the 18 to 10 Carole Bouquet in the second race and the 13 to 10 Intandokazi in the third – both for Mike Azzie.
He reported to the Stipes that both Carole Bouquet and Intandokazi took no interest in running. Carole Bouquet was subsequently reported ‘not striding out on the left fore’ by the Vet and the same applied to Intandokazi, except on the right fore.
The 3 to 1 favourite Wishful Heart then ran a dirty third (they’re always dirty when they miss the Pick 6 and Bipot!) in the fourth race and then Johan Janse Van Vuuren-trained Princess Tantan could only finish fifth at 28 to 10 in the fifth.
Strydom then rode a tactical cracker (St John gave him full credit for the win) in the sixth on Breathless and then cried off sick, as he was feeling ill.
Ironically he missed out on a winning ride on Captain’s Diva in the eighth. His replacement Francois Naude added in the post-race interview that Piere suggested that this ride was ‘worth staying for ‘ – as I had actually finished my engagements by the sixth race.
Strydom commented after his winner – “If a horse hasn’t run on the sand previously, it makes no sense in playing god.”
Good advice. Let’s give him a break.
