Rouvaun Smit
If you tune in to the Epsom festivities on Saturday, 6 June don’t be surprised to hear a familiar voice. Velvet-voiced Cape eye in the sky, Rouvaun Smit will be calling the field home for the 2015 Gr1 Investec Coronation Cup.
In January 2015, Investec, sponsor of both the Epsom Investec Derby and the Investec Cape Derby, announced that they would be doing a commentator swop. They launched the initiative by bringing racing supremo Richard Hoiles to Kenilworth on 31 January to call home the field for the 2015 Investec Cape Derby. As Investec day has enjoyed increasing South African support over recent years, they will be treating British racegoers to some South African flavour from the commentary box this year.
Whirlwind
It is a whirlwind trip for Rouvaun and wife Rachelle, who unfortunately fractured her ankle just before they left and is having to manage the trip in a surgical boot. They arrived in England on Tuesday morning where the first order of business was a trip to Moss Bros for a set of top hat and tails for Rouvaun. They are managing press commitments around a bit of sight-seeing and got their first taste of English racing at Ladies Day on Friday, 5 June.
An understandably excited Rouvaun told the Sporting Post, “I am in absolute awe. Coming from our little corner of the southern tip of Africa to call at one of the world’s biggest race meetings is a dream come true. I don’t think it’s all quite sunk in yet. Naturally I follow the big races and horses from all around the world on TV and in print, but to see these horses in the flesh is something else. The best part is that we’re staying in a hotel right on Epsom Downs. Just being there, on that track, is what it’s all about for me.”
“All the guys at home have been really supportive and encouraging. I must also say that Andrew Bon has been wonderful. We go back many years and have always got on well. Before we left I rang him up and had a chat and he offered to help and show us around. He and Sarah have been going for years and know all the ins and outs. We’re staying in the same hotel and they’ve shown us the ropes.”
Gr1 Investec Coronation Cup
The Coronation Cup had 23 initial entries, but after final acceptances the field has whittled down to 4 and Rouvaun will be calling home the likes of globe-trotting Flintshire (runner up to Cirres de Aigles in last year’s race, second to Treve in the 2014 Arc and winner of the 2014 Hong Kong Vase) and the wonderful filly Dolniya, who beat Flintshire in the Dubai Sheema Classic earlier this year.
Any nerves about being on the world stage? “Luckily I know most of the Coronation Cup runners from following international racing. The only thing that’s giving me butterflies is the configuration of the course – and the fact that it’s furlongs and not metres! The other difference is that in South Africa most of us rely on binoculars – here they do most of their calling off TV, but of course the camera work is quite different. I usually prefer to trust my own eyes, but chances are I’ll call the race off TV.”
Wonderful hosts
“We fly back again on Sunday evening, so it’s a real whirlwind trip and there is so much to absorb and experience and take in, I have to pinch myself that it’s really happening. Investec and Johnno Spence and his team from JSC Communications have been absolutely fantastic. Every last detail has been taken care of for us – flights, itinerary, media accreditation, race day hospitality, right down to a UK SIM card for my mobile phone – it’s all gone seamlessly. They really have rolled out the red carpet and gone the extra mile to make it comfortable and an extra special experience for us. We feel really honoured to be afforded this opportunity.”
