Savanna Wants To Defy The Law Of Gravity On Saturday

First-time race rider Savanna Valjalo chatted to Gary Lemke recently ahead of Saturday’s R200 000 Okapi Ladies International at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth.

She rides Gravity for Justin Snaith in the twelve-horse field.

Savanna Valjalo partners Gravity for Justin Snaith in Saturday’s opener (Pic – Cape Racing)

To suggest that Savanna Valjalo has a competitive streak would be putting it mildly. Then again, as she says, “both my parents are also very competitive”.

As is her brother. Savanna and Brandon are twins, born 20 seconds apart on 11 July 1998 in Sandton, Johannesburg.

Who arrived first? “I did,” says Brandon, who became the first skateboarder to represent South Africa at an Olympics when he competed at the Tokyo 2020 Games. “I should have had a riding whip in my hand, I would have beaten you,” jokes Savanna. “I would have just ramped over you to be first,” her brother laughs.

I first met Brandon while on Olympic duty with TeamSA in Tokyo. He had pitched for the interview looking battered, but upbeat.

Wearing a cast covering his right wrist and forearm, he had competed in the men’s street event the day before. “Injuries are part and parcel of what we do. Other people damage their eyes by looking at a screen too much. We damage our bodies. “I’ve broken this wrist twice.” He then turned around and lifted his shirt. “Roasties,” he said. “You get used to it. You climb back on and go again.”

That energy and never-say-die spirit extends to his twin sister who will ride the fancied Gravity in the R200 000 Okapi Ladies International, a race modelled on the Glorious Goodwood Magnolia Cup, and which will kick start the L’Ormarins King’s Plate meeting.

We are standing in the Hollywoodbets Kenilworth parade ring and looking for a bit of shade on a sweltering late December morning.

Savanna is one of seven riders in the field of 12 who weren’t in last year’s inaugural Ladies International and she had typically been hard at work making the adjustments.

An accomplished show jumper from a young age, she is getting ready for her first race. And the Querari gelding Gravity, running in the colours of Cape Racing chairman Greg Bortz, Gina Goldsmith, who is heavily instrumental in making the Okapi International happen, and Leon Ellman, will be Valjalo’s mount. No pressure then.

We were also talking the day before the final field and draws were announced for the 1200m sprint down the straight. “In an ideal world, where would you want to be drawn? Against the rail on the inside, in the middle, or on the outside?” I ask. “It doesn’t really matter. I think the horses will be spread across the track.” She has drawn in the middle, gate No7 to be exact and comes into the race on a horse in good form, having finished runner-up in his last two starts around the Durbanville turn.

So, what brings Valjalo to this Ladies race?

“I’ve been show jumping for as long as I can remember, probably around 22 years? I’ve had some experience in a racing environment though because my dad is an owner and has shares in a few horses including (four-time winning filly) Feather Boa. I also have my first horse as owner, Twenty Drachmas, who broke his maiden in December!

“Then I heard about the Okapi Ladies International from Jonathan Snaith and I leapt at the opportunity. Jonathan then put me in contact with riding master Craog du Plooy. So, the first time I rode a racehorse was only a couple of months ago, and it was something completely new to me. But I’ve watched a lot of racing from the sidelines and always wondered what it would feel like to actually ride a racehorse.”

The 25-year-old also has a daredevil streak to her, like her twin, who is wearing a Red Bull cap of his sponsors. “Do you know that Red Bull doesn’t sponsor horse racing, or swimming?” Brandon says, matter-of-factually. Actually, I didn’t know. Like his sister, he is confident, which is something needed to succeed at the highest levels.”

As for the race itself, Savannah admits that her main mission “is just to have fun. To make sure I have a smile on my face, ride the horse nicely and give him the best chance. Obviously, the goal is to win the race. You’ve got to set the standards high, but ultimately it’s about the occasion and having fun.”

Valjalo is one of several lady jockeys in the field who have not ridden in an official race. But, she feels that her bond with horses is another thing that will stand her in good stead come Saturday.

“I think I understand horses a lot better than I necessarily understand humans,” she admits. “I feel that’s something to my advantage.”

And, as she speaks, I sense there’s something she’s hiding behind that deep confidence and A-Lister smile.

For someone who has been with horses for over 20 years, surely there must have been loss over that period?

“Yes,” she says. And then that smile disappears. “I have lost two horses. My pony died of old age and then a show jumper very close to my heart died at the end of last year. He is what brought me into racing.”

Tell us more about him?

“I called him Shaggy. His actual name was High Street Kensington. I got him as a young colt and I took him home. I keep all my horses at home, and I have four. But when I took him to shows he would get really nervous and unused to the number of horses there. So, I thought that it would be unsafe to him and others in that kind of atmosphere. I managed to get him some experience at Randjesfontein so that he could get used to other horses and a lot of distractions and things happening. But … at the end of last year he got colic and three surgeries later we couldn’t save him.”

I had noticed that her last Facebook and Instagram posts had been in November 2022, which is a long absence for a 25-year-old on social media.

The posts show pictures of Valjaro patting the horse with the big white face after completing a show jumping round. Another is a reel of her kissing him.

On Facebook she wrote: “My Shaggy…  No words will ever do your loss justice. Nothing could ever fill the void you left that I now feel without you here. You were so brave and fought so unbelievably hard for the past 3 weeks which were undoubtedly the worst weeks of your life and mine. I’m so sorry for all your pain and suffering my boy. This really isn’t how things were meant to be. We were still supposed to celebrate your 5th birthday and catch up on all the treats you missed out on, but I pray you are in your happiest place now my baby. You SO deserve it.”

There’s a pause and even the first sounds of silence in the parade ring. “I stopped riding competitively. And then I got contacted about this Ladies race and I decided to get competitive again, both in show jumping and racing. Shaggy has helped me pick up the pieces, get back in the saddle as they say.”

Shaggy will be on Valjaro’s mind when she puts her game face on and saddles up for the opening race on the L’Ormarins King’s Plate programme.

“I’m dedicating this race to Shaggy,” she says. “It’s also my older brother’s 31st birthday today (5 January), so hopefully I’ll be able to give him a birthday gift.”

Savanna Valjalo is presented by Vikki Lerena, Wilmien Fourie, Emma Oelz, Kayleigh Oakes and Chine van Niekerk (Pic – Cape Racing)

The photographer is waiting.

There are six ladies being lined up for the lens.

The photographer asks for one of them to be lifted and lie horizontally, trusting her colleagues to not drop her.

Guess who takes up the challenge?

• The Okapi Ladies International is off at 12h25.