The gallant mare Tzigane looks well on track for a shot at the Gr2 Camellia Stakes on Champions Day after her breathtaking late dash victory to clinch top honours in the R250 000 Gr3 Sycamore Sprint
Sheer cucumber cool brilliance from the saddle and a gutsy never-say-die equine athlete with the heart of a lioness kept the 2015 Wilgerbosdrift Triple Tiara flame flickering at Turffontein on Saturday
An element of circumspection may be the prudent option – rather than a straight blind plunge on Lafferty’s champion Australian-bred first leg winner.
The restricted races poster girl should also relish the step up in distance to the 1800m for the first time and we fancy her to line up in the SA Oaks on 25 April as the SA Triple Tiara princess-in-waiting
“It has been a tough few weeks. Every time I thought I was ready to come back riding, I would find that the injury would be aggravated and the advent of pain would force me to step down from my riding engagements.”
Who is your choice to lift the SA Champion jockey title? Strydom at 3 to 1 or even a bit of Greg Cheyne at 12 to 1?
In a relatively low-key MR 92 Handicap on a quiet Tuesday at the Vaal, current SA champion jockey S’manga Khumalo piloted the Jay Peg gelding Orchestrated to a smooth win and in so doing, took a one win lead over his arch-rival Piere Strydom in the national jockey title race
Consultation with senior jockeys and trainers on matters that directly affect safety of horse and rider is a basic that needs to be adopted by both the National Horseracing Authority and the racing operators
The irony is that bad results and failed favourites costs the punter money – it costs Phumelela money – and it’s bad for the game. If we had lost lengths at the start there would have been a big story and fingers are always pointed at the jockey
Champion jockey Piere Strydom’s old-fashioned loyalty may have cost him at times in his illustrious career in the saddle, but Saturday was not to be one of those days!
The two different worlds of the veteran champion and the up-and-coming super talented youngster fighting for supremacy at the top of the South African national jockey log is the stuff of movie scripts
Finding the words ‘excitement’ and ‘insurance’ in the same sentence is as rare as breeding a Triple Crown winner!
