A product of the SA Jockey Academy, Rachel Venniker (22) is set to make history on Saturday as the first female to compete in the 2024 Hollywoodbets Durban July.
It’s a case of ‘if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again’ for this easy-going jockey who was all set to make her mark last year when an accident – one week before race day – dashed her hopes of riding in the 2023 Hollywoodbets Durban July.
“We were in the stalls, nearly ready for the gate to open, when my filly just reared up and I hit my head on the top of the gate. They said it was whiplash and I was booked off for two weeks. I was devastated,” she said.
Young Designer top 10 finalist models (from left) Abigail Paterson (designer Nontsikelelo Godlo), Cheri-Lee Thangalan (designer Krishan Ramdewu) and (far right) Sibu Ngema (designer Ndlozi Sineziwe) with the Hollywoodbets Durban July’s first female jockey, Rachel Venniker, in the parade ring after the official Gallops (Pic – Graham Daniel -Gameplan Media)
On Saturday, she rides the gelding Without Question, trained by Justin Snaith.
Rachel said the fact that she is the first female jockey to compete in the Hollywoodbets Durban July is not something that she focuses on. “It’s not a big deal,” she said in a very relaxed way.
And it’s precisely that temperament that may assist her to make history.
On the back of her recent success in the JWSB Cape Town Met in Cape Town, where she finished third, Venniker said she is confident that things may go well in a few days days’ time wjen she competes in Africa’s Greatest Horserace.
Jonsson Workwear owner Nick Jonsson is her sponsor. “I first met his father Benji at the SA Jockey Academy. Everyone loved him, so I was so proud when he (Nick) agreed to sponsor me,” she said.
Rachel rides for the Michael Roberts stable.
Earlier this year she won Saudi Arabia’s Invest Saudi International Jockeys Challenge Stakes making history overseas. She became the first South African female rider to win in the desert Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the first South African female to defeat male rivals such as Ryan Moore (whose mount ran third) and former Australian legend Damien Oliver (fifth).
It was her first trip out of South Africa and her first big-race win as a fully-fledged jockey, having just completed her apprenticeship a month earlier.
The value of the race – US $400,000 or R7,63m – is more than the purses of the WSB Met and the Hollywoodbets Durban July combined.
She rode British bred Cliffs of Fury, owned by Saudi Refaei Sanat Alghuraban and trained by Nawaf Fawaz.
Rachel has been on the back of a horse since she was four years old, was born in KwaZulu-Natal and lives at Summerveld. Both her parents were show jumpers and she simply wanted to follow in their footsteps.
In a male-dominated world, Rachel is unafraid of the dangers and challenges being a jockey can bring. She did say she has a few false teeth, and other injuries but would not change it for the world.
