S’manga Khumalo
Champion jockey S’manga ‘Bling’ Khumalo will be flying the flag on the world stage when he represents South Africa in the LONGINES International Jockeys’ Championship at Happy Valley Racecourse on 10 December 2014.
“I’ve wanted to ride in Hong Kong for a long time, and I’ve had a smile on my face ever since I got this invitation,” said Khumalo, who recently celebrated his 29th birthday and currently lies second on the national log. “To go out there and show your talent alongside jockeys you had admired from the TV screen really is something I never even dreamed would happen.”
S’manga was part of a 3-man team that represented South Africa at the inaugural meeting of the China Horse Club at Hohhot in September 2013 and also rode as part of the Rest Of The World Team in the prestigious 2014 Shergar Cup at Ascot, which he describes as “one of the proudest moments” of his career.
S’manga will jet off to Hong Kong to join fellow internationals Yuichi Fukunaga, Richard Hughes, James McDonald, Kerrin McEvoy, Ryan Moore, Irad Ortiz, Pat Smullen and Christophe Soumillion at the LONGINES International Jockeys’ Championship race meeting on Wednesday, 10 December 2014.
The Hong Kong Jockey Club has announced that the international visitors will also be eligible to ride in all the races scheduled for the LONGINES Hong Kong International Races – The Turf World Championships Meeting – to be held at Sha Tin on Sunday, 14 December.
S’manga promptly issued a challenge to Hong Kong trainers, saying “I’ll still be in Hong Kong for the LONGINES HKIR and if you want to see what S’manga Khumalo can do, I’m available!”
