Jockey, assistant trainer and Riding Master Stephen Jupp’s career in racing has spanned five decades and he will thoroughly deserve his retirement which starts at the end of this month.

Jupp was one of the top riders of his day in an era when the competition was ultra tough.

Top jockeys Robbie Sivewright and Charlie Barends, upon seeing young Jupp playing junior soccer at the Kingsmead football club, suggested to his father he apply for the South African Jockeys Academy due to his tiny physique.

In 1972 Fourteen-year-old Jupp had never sat on a horse before but gelled with them immediately, although the Academy itself in that day was tough due to a prevalence of bullying. It took him just three months to be workriding and nine months later he had his first ride at Clairwood on the Jackie Gorton-trained Saving Grace, which finished unplaced.

His first winner was in his fourth ride on the Eileen Bestel-trained French Doll at Scottsville. Looking back he regards Scottsville as his favourite track. He recalled, “It used to have a dip at about the 1400m mark where you disappeared from view and the bend had a reverse camber so it wasn’t an easy course but I once rode five winners in a day there.”

Jupp was indentured to small-string Clairwood trainer Joe Goss, but was in demand and had 1500 odd rides as an apprentice for 156 winners, seven of them for Goss.

Among those was the Brian Cunningham-trained Amazing Grace, who in 1975 became the first filly to win the Grade 1 Smirnoff Plate. As an apprentice he also won the Kings Cup and the In Full Flight Stakes and finished second in the Gold Cup aboard the Jackie Bell-trained Compass Star.

The Oppenheimers wanted to buy the indentures from Goss but the latter refused and Jupp believes in retrospect that was probably a blessing in disguise.

However, upon becoming licensed he joined the Newmarket-based Oppenheimer stable, whose trainer was John Gorton.

The Oppenheimer’s good sires Free Ride and Wilwyn had been replaced by Ribofilio, who did not throw much, so they went through a relatively dry spell and soon closed their Newmarket stable and began using a number of trainers.

He did win the SA Oaks twice for the Oppenheimers though with Grease Paint and Torpedo Boat and also won the Jubilee Handicap for them. He went on to win the latter race three times in succession.

He had plenty of support and his big career wins which sprang to mind were the Grade 1 SA Guineas on Crimson Waves, the Racing Digest 1900 on the one-eyed Bluffing, he twice won the Grade 1 Ok Gold Bowl, on The Monk and Honey Chunk respectively, the SA Derby on Kadarko, the Keith Hepburn twice, on First City, owned by Bles Bridges, and on Susan’s Dream, and he also won the Grade 1 SA Fillies Sprint on the latter, and he won the Grade 1 Natal Derby twice, including on Fire Arch.

However, he said his best memory in racing was his victory on the Roy Magner-trained Leopard Strike in the first million rand race in SA, the Bloodline Million.

He recalled, “Leopard Strike was the most expensive horse in the race, costing R250,000, and I was so confident I told Roy Magner to put his wages on.”

His best finishes in the July were third on Violero and fourth on Tickets And Tax and he finished third in the Met twice, on Brief Affair and Bluffing respectively.

Jupp’s career was cut short when he injured his back in a fall at Randjesfotein one morning at the age of just 38.

He had ridden with a selection of South African greats like Gerald Turner, Martin Schoeman, Raymond Rhodes and David Cave in Johannesburg, Michael Roberts and Johnny McCreedy in KZN and Garth Puller and Karl Neisius in the Cape, among many others.

He said, “In Johannesburg a trainer could throw his colours in the jockeys room and would not mind who picked them up. In KZN Muis (Roberts) was different division and was just about unbeatable at Greyville.”

He remembered the Cape trainers, Terrance Millard, Theo de Klerk and Jackie Bell as being top class and in Johannesburg he had ridden for the like of Ormond and David Ferraris and Jean Heming and he named Clairwood trainer Jackie Gorton as “a legend”.
Jupp also rode in Mauritius for five months for Sir Guyton Duval and had a number of winners.

Top trainer Charles Laird offered Jupp a job a year after his retirement from the saddle.

He was assistant to Laird for eleven years, including in his SA Championship-winning year, and ran his KZN satellite yard at Clairwood before Laird moved down from Johannesburg. He was thus associated with many great horses like Vodacom Durban July winner Hunting Tower, Lion Tamer, Warm White Night, Oracy, Rebel King and many others. He recalled Laird as being a master of planning target races for horses, no matter whether they were top class or lesser thoroughbreds. He said the other key to his success was the “hard-working Anton Marcus.”

Upon Clairwood being closed, Jupp applied for a position as riding master at the Academy and was there for six seasons. “I loved teaching the youngsters,” he said.

Drumming in “the basics” was his first goal. He mentioned current champion jockey Lyle Hewitson as being easy to work with as “he had good manners and listened, he was not a big shot.”

Donovan Dillon, Callan Murray, Keagan de Melo, Ashton Arries, Eric Ngwane and Serino Moodley are other talented riders he has worked with and he mentioned Khanya Sakayi as a rider who had become prominent among the claiming apprentices due to “sheer hard work.”

Jupp’s son Calvin followed him into jockeyship but had to stop due to an ankle injury and his other son Darren has a fire protection company where Stephen might now help out in while enjoying his retirement.

By David Thiselton

Joey Ramsden, whose horses have been under a post-vaccination cloud for the past fortnight, intends to break cover with two runners at Kenilworth on Saturday – Made In Hollywood (Liam Tarentaal) in the Protea Toyota Bellville Conditions Plate and Fours A Crowd (Francois Herholdt) in the 1 000m fillies handicap.

He ran nothing at last Saturday’s Kenilworth meeting and he scratched all his remaining runners the previous Saturday after Bountiful Strength had finished several  lengths last in the first, saying that his horses had not been right since they were vaccinated.

Ramsden said yesterday that Made In Hollywood’s race “looked too good to miss” and, asked if his vets had come up with an explanation for the horses running below form, he said: “I didn’t really bother investigating because you could look to the ends of the earth and still not find anything.

“Instead I took the advice of William Haggas who said ‘Walk them for a week and make sure you are somewhere else at the time so you don’t sit there looking miserable!’

“I am not saying that it is a virus – I hate that word – but the horses are just not right.”

The only Cape Town-based one he has raced since Kenilworth on August 18 is Fresnaye who drifted from odds-on to 14-10 when starting favourite for the Jockey Club Stakes at Fairview last Friday.

She finished third but ran quite some way below the form she showed when third in both the Cape Fillies Guineas and the Paddock Stakes.

Ramsden hit out at the officialdom that trainers have to go through with African Horse Sickness vaccinations, saying: “What makes it worse is the whole export protocol.

“They just can’t handle the volume of people wanting to vaccinate. I try to get it out of the way in one hit but I spent over two weeks with my applications in and sometimes they don’t even answer the phone.”

Anton Marcus, 34% strike rate so far this season, will be back in Cape Town on Saturday for four Ridgemont rides (Depeche, Marion Belle, Engage And Beware for Brett Crawford plus Silver Plains for Eric Sands).

He also partners Goodtime Gal and Master Of Spain for Mike Robinson.

By Michael Clower

Apprentice jockey Mpumelelo Mjoka is expected to be out of action for a very lengthy period following his fall during training at Randjesfontein last week.

Mjoka came off his mount at Randjesfontein on Wednesday morning and hit the barrier rail which is made of steel.

He was taken to the Sunninghill Hospital where he was diagnosed to not only have dislocated his knee but there was also quite a lot of nerve damage as a result. The 21-year-old had to have two operations to correct the problem and at one stage there was a thought that this injury could be career threatening.

However, after a second operation the doctors were able to save his leg and it looks as if we will see Mjoka back in the irons but he could be out for as long as two years.

Mjoka often rides for Mike de Kock’s stable and on his website, mikedekockracing.com, the former champion trainer called for the rails at Randjesfontein to be replaced with plastic ones.

Speaking about the injury De Kock added: “Mpume is a positive young man, which will help with his recovery, but he’ll be out for a long time and it’s a blow to his career.”

– TAB News

Whisky Baron put up a sensational performance on his first run for William Haggas to take a close second in the Ladbrokes Celebration Mile at Goodwood on Saturday.

This Group 2 was the 2017 Met winner’s first run since it all went pear-shaped in the Jebel Hatta in Dubai in March and he was almost totally ignored in the betting at 20-1.

Dane O’Neill settled him at the back until starting to ride him three furlongs out. The Australian-bred stayed on really well in the final furlong to take a half-length second to the 11-8 favourite Beat The Bank.

Craig Carey, racing manager for Ridgemont and the Kieswetter family, said yesterday: “The horse ran a cracker. He looked almost outpaced early but he really kicked on at the end for a good second. It was a fantastic effort to come back like that.”

Andrew Balding intends stepping the winner up to Group 1 for the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot and said: “We will also look at Hong Kong in December. The owner is keen to go there.”

Plans for Whisky Baron have yet to be finalised and Carey said: “William says that the horse needs further. He wanted to see how he came through this prep run but I am sure he will now be studying the programmes over the next few days.”

Majestic Mozart may not have been one of the most impressive winners at Kenilworth on Saturday but seemingly his is a name it could pay to remember.

Candice Bass-Robinson, not one to mistake her geese for swans, told Fee Ramsden: “He is one of the better horses in the yard and I think he is a really smart colt. He will keep improving.”

Jonathan Snaith similarly spelt out the future strengths of Rip It Up after Richard Fourie’s mount had led from two furlongs out to justify 15-10 favouritism in the Sons Of Hygiene Maiden. He told Stan Elley: “This five furlongs was far too short. The horse has a bright future, particularly when he gets up to 1 400m and a mile.

The winner carries the increasingly successful colours of Nick Jonsson that were also carried to victory on Konkola in the Jockey Club Stakes at Fairview on Friday, giving  Snaith Racing its third successive victory in this Listed race.

The winner was backed from 11-1 to 113-20. Fourie, who secured a dream run up the inner, reported: “The pace was quite stagnant early and our other horse (Esteemal) ended up taking the lead. She made it a real pace and from there on I found myself looking at the dangers – and I was going so much better than them.”

Donovan Dillon, who rode a first and last race double on Saturday on the Paul Reeves-trained Pippielangkous and Durty Nelly for Mike Robinson, has been suspended for a week (August 30-September 5) for going too slowly!

The stipes took a poor view of the way he steadied the pace on Margot Fonteyn after taking it up after 300m in the 2 000m handicap at Kenilworth on August 11. Some of those behind were hampered as a result.

Falsely run races are the bane of punters’ lives and are a prime cause of form upsets at Kenilworth where the south-easter – or rather sheltering from it – is so often a determining factor in the strength of the gallop.

But attempting to legislate against them is akin to trying to roll a boulder up the side of a mountain. The majority of Cape Town trainers don’t like to see anything but proven front-running specialists making the running, whether the south-easter is blowing or not.

The trainers believe that most horses do better coming from behind. In addition there is a real risk that a front-runner will win by too far and shoot up the handicap as a result.

Jockeys have to please their employers if they want to stay in business, and – somewhat understandably – they view the consequences of displeasing them as far more serious than a week’s enforced holiday.

* Michael Clower did not attend Kenilworth on Saturday following an eye operation during the week.

By Michael Clower

With the classy live entertainment getting a major nod of approval from an enthusiastic audience, KZN racing honoured their star achievers at a glittering function held at the Greyville Convention Centre on Friday evening.

The winners:

2yo Filly

• Inverroche

2yo Colt

• Cue the Music

3yo Filly

• Fiorella

3yo Colt

• Monks Hood

Sprinter

• Sommerlied

Older Male

• It’s My Turn

Older Filly

• Sommerlied 

Middle Distance

• Fiorella

Stayer

• It’s My Turn

Horse Of The Year

• Do It Again

Groom Of The Year

• Isaac Mwalese

Owner Of The Year

• Mario Ferreira

Jockey Of The Year

• Anton Marcus

Apprentice Of The Year

• Ashton Arries

Breeder Of The Year

• Summerhill

Trainer Of The Year

• Dennis Drier

KZN Personality Of The Year

• Phillip Fourie

Ride Of The Season

• Lyle Hewitson

(Redberry Lane – Garden Province Stakes)

Anita Akal Award

• Garth Puller