Former SA champion apprentice and South Africa’s only female rider, Rachel Venniker has been called up as a replacement for the injured Piere Strydom and will partner KZN champion See It Again in Saturday’s R3 million L’Ormarins Gr1 King’s Plate at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth.
Strydom was injured in a fall at the Vaal on Tuesday and it comes as no surprise whatsoever that leading owner Nic Jonsson and trainer Michael Roberts have settled on the one person who probably knows the chestnut flyer better than anybody.
Rachel Venniker and See It Again – Grade 1 dreams alive on Saturday! (Pic – Candiese Lenferna)
The Jonsson Workwear-sponsored Rachel told the Sporting Post on Thursday that she felt sympathy for the veteran Strydom, but was ‘very proud’ to be getting a big race opportunity on one of her favourite horses.
Rachel’s first and only ride in the weight-for-age mile was aboard Speed Machine who was largely used as a pacemaker in the 2023 renewal, won by Al Muthana, who is back for more on Saturday.
She has won three races aboard See It Again, including his penultimate prep victory in a Pinnacle Stakes at Hollywoodbets Greyville.
“He has been based with Mr Roberts at Milnerton, and I have been travelling to work him regularly in the past few weeks. We wrapped up the prep on Monday and he is in terrific shape,” added Rachel, who will jet into Cape Town on Saturday morning. She has five rides on the day.
A victory for See It Again would be something of a fairytale for the Roberts-Venniker combination.
For the dual Grade 2 winning Rachel, opening her Grade 1 account will be a major goal. Her best previous elite level placing was a third in the 2024 WSB Cape Town Met on Without Question – who runs in the same silks as See It Again.
The L’Ormarins King’s Plate is off at 16h10 and is the fourth leg of the R1 million Pick 6 carryover, which commences in the fourth at 14h15 and is expected to reach R5 million.
