Aldo Domeyer is to concentrate once more on Cape Town – and in particular on his first-jockey job with Candice Bass-Robinson – after riding winners all over the country in the final few days of last season to achieve his objective.
Much has been made of his third in the national log earning him a place on the South African team to ride in Singapore next month but in fact his aim was focussed much nearer home.
He said yesterday: “I was trying to win the Cape jockeys championship which was decided on national winners’ basis. From this season, though, it is back to a Cape racemeeting only basis and Richard Fourie could be hard to beat in that.”
Aldo (Candiese Marnewick)
Domeyer rode 18 winners in the last 11 days of the campaign. For four of those days he didn’t ride but the other seven were scattered from Flamingo Park to Fairview and from the Vaal to Greyville.
He said: “I had a mountain to climb and I didn’t think I was going to do it but I don’t think I have ever been on a roll like this one.
“However I missed a lot of work, Candice has a lot of horses and I need to be fair to the clients so I won’t be doing all that again. I will go to Jo’burg to ride for Ashley (trainer wife of his father Andrew Fortune) when they need me but I doubt that I will go to other centres for them.”
The new season began on just the right note for Paul Reeves at Durbanville yesterday when the consistent Photocopy benefitted from a positive ride from Donovan Dillon to finally get his head in front where it mattered.
Reeves, 51 on Tuesday, reckons this could be just the first of several wins, saying: “He has been frustrating but he is still a big baby and he has always shown so much. He has a future.”
Justin Snaith only waited until race two to start the ball rolling in his bid to land a third trainers’ championship and younger brother Jonathan reckons punters should make a note of the Richard Fourie-ridden Margrethe.
He explained: “She is a bit light so we will probably stick her away for a bit but she has a lot of scope and is definitely one to follow. Over 1 400m and a mile she will be even better than this.”
African Night Sky has joined Mike de Kock and is in quarantine prior to being campaigned in Dubai. Fred Crabbia’s Winter Series winner started favourite for the Durban July but suffered more than any other horse from the long delay at the start. By the time the runners were eventually loaded all he wanted to do was gallop as fast as he could and Grant van Niekerk found him impossible to settle. He finished an expensive fifth.
* Michael Clower won with four of his five selections at Durbanville yesterday.
By Michael Clower
