One of our best ever – Piere Strydom
Multiple SA Champion jockey Piere Strydom is a man on a mission this season and his five glorious winners at Turffontein on Saturday were further manifestation that he has no equal in the saddle in this country. But he emphatically rejected any suggestions that he had changed his riding style as a possible contributing factor to his recent resurgence.
“That’s absolute nonsense. I ride every horse on its characteristics and in terms of the pace of the race. My two winners at the Vaal last Tuesday were both from the front and there was variety on Saturday too,” he said.
While the five win novelty factor may extraordinarily not be there anymore, as Strydom has achieved the outstanding tally on a day so many times in the past, he said it was still ‘very satisfying’.
Strydom’s genuine peak performance benchmark is in fact 7 winners on a day – a feat achieved twice already. He has also ridden 6 winners on four occasions.
On Saturday he won the first race for Sean Tarry on Hyaku (5 to 10), the fourth for Devin Little on Ruby Ruby (3 to 1), and then the balance for St John Gray – Don Vito (7 to 1), Norgay (2 to 1) and Mai Thaiga (3 to 1).
He has, per Monday 25 August, ridden 18 winners this season from just 52 rides- a win strike rate of over 34%.
He confirmed that he was not chasing the championship and that would only be incidental, if it happened.
When tackled on his purple patch and the real reasons behind it, he scoffed at any suggestions that one particular factor was at play.
He said that he was very happy to be getting a few more rides from a ‘wider range of trainers’, and this in itself, made a difference.
“I really have no idea why I am suddenly getting the support. You know trainers-they have their moments!” he laughed.
Three of his winners on Saturday were for St John Gray.
“I cracked one or two for St John and now he is giving me more rides. He is a good trainer and has some nice horses. I am really not complaining,” he said.
Striker also added that he was obviously very motivated and keen to achieve his 5000 winner target – he is currently on 4950 winners.
“Then I should maybe also mention that I have tweaked my agent’s remuneration package! She is far more incentivised and target driven now to get me quality rides and while she has always done a great job, in these tough economic times, performance driven delivery is what counts in any business!” he said with a smile.
He was recently quite critically vocal about the Vaal sand surface and we asked him whether anything had changed as we go into the Supreme Sand Season with the running of the August Stakes this coming Saturday.
“There is a slight improvement but not enough to suggest that we should be getting excited about it. It is a danger track and is just too biased. Full stop. You have to be handy and the draw is absolutely vital over the 1200m and 1400m. The sooner they get rid of it, the better,” he said.
But he added that the bias element created opportunities for punters and jockeys who did some homework.
“I spend plenty of time looking at past form with that in mind and that is often how I target my preferred rides. It should work the same for the astute punter,” he suggested.
On Saturday’s August Stakes, he said it was likely that he would ride his ‘old friend’ Across The Ice.
And the Emerald Cup?
“That is far ahead. Let’s get past this week! The weights for the Emerald Cup aren’t even out yet and then as I told you – get a bad draw and you may as well stay at home.”
