Piere Strydom rode his 5000th winner in South Africa aboard Allegorical at the Vaal on Thursday and the horse was fittingly from the yard of Lucky Houdalakis, who trained the horse Strydom regards as the best he has ever ridden, J J The Jet Plane.
Meanwhile, the race for the National Jockeys Championships is building into an exciting duel between incumbent champion S’Manga Khumalo and Gavin Lerena. Anthony Delpech, Greg Cheyne and Strydom are all within striking distance of the lead, but are not chasing the title all out.
At the close of play yesterday Lerena’s single winner at Turffontein had put him on 143 winners for the season and Khumalo’s treble saw him close the gap to just one.
Khumalo, at only 30 years of age, has already achieved two of his career goals, winning the Vodacom Durban July and winning the Championship.
He said, “I feel that naturally any sportsman wants to be recognised as the best in his or her chosen profession and I am no different. My goals for the last couple of months of the season will be to ride as many winners as possible and to stay away from any and all injuries”.
In 2007 Lerena broke the record for the most number of winners ridden by an apprentice while serving his indentures, 283. He entered the last day of the 2011/2012 season on top of the log, but Anton Marcus pipped him on the post with two winners at the final meeting to his blank. That was a bitter blow but Lerena said, “I intend enjoying it this time without putting any unnecessary pressure on myself.”
Lerena’s official riding weight is 57kg to Khumalo’s 52,5kg which puts the latter at an advantage.
Strydom, whose treble at the Vaal on Thursday took him to 130 winners for the season and his career tally to 5074 said, “It’s always a tremendous feeling to be in contention for the title. It’s never my intention to chase championships as such, although if I end up close enough towards the end, I will definitely put in a good effort.”
By David Thiselton
