The omission of South Africa’s greatest jockey of all time from the home team to face a strong international side in the Air Mauritius International Jockeys’ Challenge on 18 and 20 November is an interesting move on the part of the selectors.
Piere Strydom – still one of the greatest – even on his off days!
The excitement generated by the scoop of securing the legendary Frankie Dettori to captain the international team is bound to be tempered by the exclusion of the brilliant six-time national champion Piere Strydom from the SA side.
“So I’m not rated in the top 7 jocks in the country,” quipped Striker to Tellytrack presenter Dave Mollett in a post-race interview at Turffontein on Saturday, after a typically cracking winning ride from the front on Buckland.
Strydom, who rode at the recent Arc meeting in France, hit a career milestone mark of 5000 winners in November 2014, but has had his fair share of injuries in recent times.
Frankie Dettori – captains international team
He recovered from having broken his clavicle for the fourth time earlier this year but, while riding less, has lost none of his razor sharp judgement of pace and grace in the saddle that has made him an internationally respected rider.
Adding to the puzzle, the first leg of the international will be held at Fairview – Striker’s hometown. That in itself is a golden marketing opportunity fail on the part of the organisers, in our humble opinion.
What a lovely thought – Striker versus Frankie at Fairview!
Top jockey Anton Marcus declared his unavailability, thus further weakening the local team.
We are unlikely to get an answer on the Striker question from the selection panel.
That just doesn’t happen in horseracing.
South Africa
S’manga Khumalo (c)
Andrew Fortune
Anthony Delpech
Muzi Yeni
Gavin Lerena
Grant van Niekerk
