William Bambiso

William Bambiso

William Bambiso is one of the Cape’s finest work riders, who is a talent to watch for the future.
William is from Transkei, but has been riding work in the Cape since 1987. He first began with the late James Lightheart, and subsequently moved to Basil Marcus before he went to work for the Kannemeyer yard following Marcus’ departure for Singapore.

Bambiso has quietly been building a reputation as a top-class rider, and a man deserving of greater chances in the future. His statistics are staggering – Bambiso’s win strike rate is 33%! To date, William Bambiso has won no fewer than five work riders series, which is a remarkable achievement.  From only a handful of rides, Bambiso has notched up seven wins, and is one of the leading work riders currently based in the Western Cape.
He was second leading work rider, in the Western Cape, for the 2010-2011 season, and this season hopes to go one better.

Bambiso is one of the most accomplished riders ever to ride in the work riders series, promoted so effectively by WPOTA’s Rodney Dunn since 1980, started back at Milnerton in 1976.
Rodney has nothing but praise for William, saying, “He is a very accomplished rider. He is hard working and has worked for some of the best stables in the Cape. When working for the late James Lightheart, he was already doing the majority of work riding. James very seldom passed compliments about anyone but he raved about his style as a rider with good hands, and also about William’s commitment to the well being of horses. Other than his ability as a work rider, William is a very pleasant and friendly person. He is one of the best.”

William currently works as a rider for top Cape trainer, Dean Kannemeyer. Kannemeyer rates William very highly, describing Bambiso as” an exceptionally competent man, who is a top rider.”
A groom who had worked for a number of trainers before joining Dean, Bambiso was originally planning to go to Korea a few years ago, but those plans fell through. He is now a fixture in the work riders series held at Kenilworth.
While Dean provides him with most of his rides, Bambiso has also ridden horses for Piet Steyn, Mike Bass, Patrick Kruyer and Paul Reeves. William is a middle weight rider, with natural confidence.

This season, Bambiso, is seventh on the leading work riders list in South Africa. William Bambiso, however, is currently the leading work rider in the Western Cape for the 2011-2012 season.
His most recent victory came on the 18-1 shot Souwester, whom he rode a superb race on. Sitting at the back of the field, over the 1000 metre trip, William bought the filly with a late run to nab the favourite, Countess Isabella, on the line.
William, first joined the Kannemeyer yard back in 2010, and has regularly ridden some of Dean’s top prospects in their homework.

Kannemeyer thinks Bambiso is deserving of getting his jockeys licence, and rates him as at least as good as any of the recent apprentices.
He says, “William is a great judge of pace in a race. He will drop his horse out and give it every chance. He is also an extremely confident rider, which is often the sign of potentially top class jockey.”
Kannemeyer is eager for his work rider to progress further, and become a fully fledged jockey, but says that the system has its flaws. Bambiso will need to travel to Gauteng and join James Maree’s Work Riders Training Programme.
“I want him to stay in Cape Town, and don’t really see why he needs to go to Gauteng, when he is more accomplished already than many apprentices. I am still trying to find a way to help William, and, at the same time, ensure he stays in the Cape.”

He current looks after two horses in the yard, and says that Taipan is his favourite mount, and describes that son of Dynasty as a lovely horse, who is easy to ride.
He also rates Andile Nzongo as a top-class rider, who is one of the best work riders currently in Cape Town. William admits to not having kept track of all his winners, but says he has ridden plenty of winners. He would like to see more work riders series and riding contests take place.

A beautifully balanced rider, William Bambiso has a natural talent, and hopefully he can have the opportunity to ensure that he makes the most of his considerable ability and continues to develop his riding further.