Equus Champion Gladatorian was the star of the show at the annual KZN Racing Awards which took place in the Classic Room at Hollywoodbets Greyville on Friday night. The Stuart Ferrie-trained son of Vercingetorix was voted Champion Horse of the Season and part-owner, recently retired Chief Executive Officer of Gold Circle/Race Coast KZN, Michel Nairac, was on hand to receive the trophy on behalf of his Mauritius-based partners.
Victorious in the Season-opening 1400m IOS Drill Hall Stakes (Gr2) in May and the 1800m Hong Kong Jockey Club Champions Cup (Gr1) on the final day of Champions Season at the end of July, Gladatorian also finished a close third in the 1600m Hollywoodbets Gold Challenge (Gr1) in June and rounded off his 5yo campaign with earnings of just under R3-million. Ferrie is now planning to send Gladatorian to the Cape, with the 2026 1600m L’Ormarins King’s Plate (Gr1) and the 2000m World Sports Betting Cape Town Met (Gr1) the obvious targets.
Gladatorian was also honoured as KwaZulu-Natal’s Champion Older Male and Champion Middle Distance performer. For Gladatorian’s regular pilot, Sean Veale, the 2024/2025 season proved a “break-through” year with Veale riding more than 100 winners for the first time in his career. Of these, 70 were recorded in his home province – enough to secure the popular Hollywood Racing-retained rider the honour of being crowned the Province’s Champion Jockey.
Gareth Van Zyl retained his Champion KZN Trainer title with 49 winners, comfortably clear of Dean Kannemeyer and Garth Puller who saddled 43 winners each on the East Coast. Van Zyl also played a major role in Hollywood Racing’s Asiye Phambili being voted Champion Sprinter & Champion Older Mare. In his care, the daughter of What A Winter won the Grade 2 Sceptre Stakes and Grade 3 Southern Cross during the Cape Summer, before being transferred back to Duncan Howells for Champions Season. In search of an elusive Grade 1 victory, Asiye Phambili was denied by the narrowest of margins in the SA Fillies Sprint at Hollywoodbets Scottsville before finishing a highly creditable third against the boys in the Mercury Sprint on the final day of Champions Season.
Dual Feature race winners, Quickstepgal and I Salute You, emerged as the respective Champions in the Two-Year-Old and Three-Year-Old categories. Quickstepgal is trained by Tienie Prinsloo and raced in the colours of Rakesh Singh but has now subsequently been sold to the Wernars family, while I Salute You hails from the Peter Muscutt stable. King Pelles, trained by Gareth Van Zyl, was a dominant winner of the Champion Stayers Award, having closed out his season with victories in the Tote Derby, the Durban Gold Vase and the World Pool Gold Cup.
The Champion Apprentice Award was shared by Brevan Plaatjies and Mxolisi Mbuto who each rode 14 winners in KZN, although Plaatjies’ additional winners around the country were enough to secure him the Equus Award as National Champion Apprentice. Hollywood Racing were crowned Champion Owners of KwaZulu-Natal while Wilgerbosdrift & Mauritzfontein emerged as leading breeders in the province for the second consecutive year.
In the special awards’ category, Tawanda Taruvinga was voted KZN’s Racing Personality of the Year. Tawanda’s infectious smile, fiery passion, creative talent, and effervescent personality have made him a popular figure amongst the local racing fraternity and a valuable asset to Race Coast KZN’s social media and broadcast teams.
Anita Akal presented her annual award to Race Coast KZN’s Marketing Executive Stephen Marshall, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the sport of horseracing in general and the success of Champions Season 2025 in particular.
2025 KZN Racing Awards:
Champion Two-Year-Old: Quickstepgal.
Champion Three-Year-Old: I Salute You.
Champion Sprinter: Asiye Phambili.
Champion Middle Distance: Gladatorian.
Champion Stayer: King Pelles.
Champion Older Female: Asiye Phambili.
Champion Older Male: Gladatorian.
Horse-of-the Season: Gladatorian.
Champion Apprentice: Brevan Plaatjies & Mxolisi Mbuto.
Champion Jockey: Sean Veale.
Champion Trainer: Gareth Van Zyl.
Champion Owners: Hollywood Racing (Nom: Mr A Delpech).
Champion Breeders: Wilgerbosdrift & Mauritzfontein.
KZN Personality of the Year: Tawanda Taruvinga.
Anita Akal Award: Stephen Marshall.
