Winning Form’s 37 year old Richard David Fourie must surely be the best South African jockey, yet to win the national title.
At Hollywoodbets Scottsville on Sunday, the venue of his very first winner 20 years and two weeks ago, almost to the day, he registered his 250th winner in a season for the first time in his career.
The Carletonville-born rider booted Groovy Baby home for Dennis Bosch at the KZN Capital City circuit on 8 July 2003 for the first of his 2015 career winners.
He boasts the best win strike-rate – over 22% – of any jockey in South Africa this season, is also our leading Gr1 performer, top stakes earner, and has ridden to a 40% place strike-rate.
Richard Fourie guides Bristol Hercules to a smooth win over Captain Marsala (Athandiwe Mgudlwa) in the fourth on Sunday (Pic – Candiese Lenferna)
On Sunday, Peter Muscutt, a major supporter of the outstanding rider, saddled Richie’s 250 milestone winner.
The Boland Stud-bred Lancaster Bomber gelding Bristol Hercules produced an eyecatching effort to win at his third start.
Enjoy the replay:
After getting Cinnamon Blush home for Wendy Whitehead (who was reaching her own milestone of a half century of winners!) to win the penultimate race on the Hollywoodbets Scottsville card, the high-riding passionate hobby fisherman is now on 251 for the season and ‘only’ a matter of 21 winners short of fellow Winning Form stablemate Keagan de Melo (272) at the end of Sunday’s racemeeting.
The top gun has resigned himself to the mathematical impracticalities of reeling in the long-time pacesetter with only a week left of the 2022/23 term, and has already congratulated his colleague, who heads to Hong Kong in the new semester as a reward for his own herculean efforts this season.
In red hot form! Richard Fourie proudly wears his milestone cap on Sunday at Hollywoodbets Scottsville (Pic – Candiese Lenferna)
Having declared his intentions to go all the way next term, Richie has already taken a slight back-seat at the powerful Snaith HQ in Cape Town. It’s a brave move in any profession to relinquish a hold on a great job, but, ask any of the past national title-holders – regular travelling is the only way to achieve the goal.
And good luck to Grant van Niekerk, who harvested the opportunities coming his way in commendable style at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth on Saturday. It was quite a comeback, of sorts!
