With just days to go before the inaugural Flamingo Park Race Event in Kimberley, some dozen grooms are gearing themselves up to race for the first time ever.
As part of the Race Association of South Africa’s Work Race Programme, twelve grooms will ride in the first race on the card on 5 August – a first for Kimberley.
The Race Association of South Africa says the Work Riders Programme, which started in the Eastern Cape last year, will be rolled out throughout the country over the next few years.
Mphumelelo Mjoka (Nkosi Hophe)
The programme is aimed at providing previously disadvantaged people the opportunity to undergo training in the sport so that they can ride at a level equivalent to that of a professional jockey.
The race will afford the workers to receive the same prize money as that of a qualified professional.
In partnership with the City of Kimberley and supported by Phumelela Game and Leisure, the event spearheaded by Bosco Sports Management is aimed at developing horse racing knowledge and creating transferable skills as horse racing has been identified as a developmental node within the Northern Cape province.
The Flamingo Park Race event is aimed at introducing a new, high-quality experience to the Kimberley community and is an opportunity for Kimberley to raise its profile as a destination that is worth visiting.
Professional jockey Mpumelelo Mjoka is earmarked to attend the meeting. Mjoka who is in the fourth year of his apprenticeship, recently represented South Africa in the Prix Longines Future Stars Campaign in France where he came first.
Considering the popularity and rich history of the horse racing sport in South Africa, Kimberley is the best-suited host city for the Flamingo Park Race because of the racecourse that features an authentic dirt track – the only one of its kind in the country.
While all of the other horse racing events in the country have become an elite experience showcasing premium brands and lifestyle activities, the Flamingo Park Race event will be more of a multi-cultural and inclusive event that caters for varying tastes of horse racing enthusiasts as well as the Kimberley community.
In addition to the horse racing event, the day will be packed with various entertainment showcases for all aged groups and varying tastes.
Ten local entrepreneurs have been invited to promote youth businesses in the city and province at large.
This event is not exclusive to punters but serves to invite guests from every city in South Africa to visit Kimberley and communicate that all South Africans can get involved in the horse racing industry.
Children under the age of 18 enter for free.
