David Thiselton

The legacy of seven-times Champion stallion Jet Master is still felt strongly in South African racing and two of his sons, Master Of My Fate and Lance, produced Gr 1 winners last season.

Master Of My Fate’s Gr 1 winners were Betway Summer Cup winner Atticus Finch and Golden Palm and Jan van Goyen, with the latter pair being named Equus Champion two-year-old filly and Equus Champion two-year-old colt respectively.

The only horse to have beaten Golden Palm to date is her Alan Greeff-trained stablemate Anotherdanceforme and the latter is also by Master Of My Fate.

Anotherdanceforme is unbeaten and ended the season with a fine win in the Gr 2 SplashOut Golden Slipper, where she beat Quickstepgal, who is by Vercingetorix out of a Jet Master mare.

Quickstepgal went on to be named KZN Champion two-year-old, having won the Gr 3 Strelitzia Stakes and the Listed Devon Air Stakes.

Lance produced Quid Pro Quo, the Equus champion two-year-od filly from the 2023/2024 season and she was also named the 2023/2024 KZN Horse Of The Year. Last season Quid Pro Quo won the Gr 2 Betway Dingaans, beating the boys easily, before disappointing when a half-a-length third in the Gr 1 Wilgerbosdrift Gauteng Fillies Guineas. Piere Strydom had called her the “best filly I have ever ridden” after the effortless but devastating turn of foot she had shown in the Dingaans.

Spumante Dolce (Vercingetorix) and VJ’s Angel (Gimmethegreenlight) were the conquerors of Quid Pro Quo and Spumante Dolce then became the talking horse.

However, Spumante Dolce and VJ’s Angel were beaten 12,75 lengths and 7,50 lengths respectively in the facile Gr 1 Wilgerbosdrift Gauteng Fillies Classic winner, the Joe Soma-trained Fiery Pegasus, who is by Captain Of All filly out of a Jet Master mare. Fiery Pegasus then went on two win the Gr 2 Wilgerbosdrift SA Oaks.

Quid Pro Quo has meanwhile gone overseas and her career will be eagerly followed by South Africans as she had become the darling of the SA turf before that last shock defeat at odd of 4/10.

Jet Master’s influence is also seen through one of the most exciting young sires, Hawwaam, who is out of Jet Master’s Equus Champion broodmare, Halfway To Heaven.

This season Hawwaam, whose first crop have just turned three years old, has had three impressive winners. His Tony Peter-trained filly Perfect Miracle won on debut by 6,50 lengths over 1160m at Turffontein Standside in a time that was more than a second faster than the other maiden on the day. At Hollywoodbets Scottsville Hawwaam’s Dean Kannemeyer-trained Hawwaam colt Hah Lah Lah won by 2,50 lengths on debut over 1200m and looked to be full of class.

There can be no denying that the late Jet Master was one of the greatest thoroughbred stallions ever bred in South Africa.

His stud impact was immediate as he was Leading Sire of 2YOs in 2004-2005, beating the great Captain Al in stakes earnings despite the latter setting a new record for individual winners in a freshman season.

Jet Master has headed the Leading Broodmare Sires premiership on four occasions.

Of Jet Master’s 658 foals to race, 512 (78%) found the winners’ enclosure at least, and 75 (11%) were stakes winners.

He had 22 individual Grade One winners including such Equus Champions as Pocket Power, J J The Jet Plane, Mythical Flight, In The Fast Lane, Past Master, and Yorker.

The charismatic son of Rakeen also left his mark on the international stage, with his son J J The Jet Plane winning all of the 2010 G1 Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Sprint, 2009 G3 Al Quoz Sprint, 2011 G2 Al Quoz Sprint and 2009 Listed Leisure Stakes.

Jet Master also sired Singapore champion Lizarre, while his globetrotting daughter River Jetez was victorious in the 2011 G2 Balanchine, and finished second in both the 2011 G1 Dubai Duty Free and 2011 G1 Singapore Airlines International Cup.

Jet Master left a lasting impression on the  Met, with his offspring Pocket Power, River Jetez and Past Master winning the Met from 2007-2011 in a remarkable show of dominance.

South Africa’s Joint Horse Of The Year in 1999, Jet Master was an eight-times G1 winner himself.

His daughters have already thrown more than 50 stakes winners including champions and exciting young sires Hawwaam and Jet Dark, and fellow champions Lady In Black, Edict Of Nantes and Rainbow Bridge. The latter, one of three G1 winners produced by the Jet Master mare Halfway To Heaven, was Horse Of The Year, Equus Champion Older Male and Equus Champion Middle Distance Horse of 2020-2021.

Besides his son’s who have had recent success at stud, his July winner Pomodoro has produced two Gr 1s and was a leading first season sire. Pomodoro is also the sire of Rule By Force, who ran third to Atticus Finch in last year’s Gr 1 Betway Summer Cup.

Atticus Finch, Golden Palm and Jan can Goyen joined Sentbydestiny, Zarina and champion Tempting Fate as G1 winners sired by Master Of My Fate.

Jet Master’s late son Skit Skizzle also produced stakes winners and so did Royal Air Force.

Warren Lenferna

Promising apprentice Brevan Plaatjies had a red-letter day at Hollywoodbets Durbanville yesterday, riding his first treble. He kicked things off in Race 1 with Marketa from the Greg Ennion yard. Coming from an awkward draw, he rode her to a cozy win. He then recorded his second victory in the very next race aboard the usually lightning-fast Elusive Winter. This time, he rode the gelding a bit more conservatively, judging his winning run to absolute perfection. The last leg of his treble came in the sixth race with Country Time for The Social Squad and Paul Reeves, making it a good time for Plaatjies at the “Country Course.” A day he will never forget.

INSIDE VOICE SPOKE LOUDLY

There were some other noticeable performances on the day as well. Vaughan Marshall, Richard Fourie, and Hollywood Racing were in the winner’s enclosure for the third race with the progressive Inside Voice. She was returning from a 14-week rest and can only build on this victory. She could end up being anything.

OPENED THE JETS

Jet Force was highlighted in the “Racegoer” page in the lead-up to this race, with the suggestion that “he could have more to offer.” And more he did. He was well-backed in the betting market, ridden to perfection by Grant Van Niekerk, and won in the manner of a truly talented racehorse. His rider mentioned in the post-race interview with on-course presenter Vicky Minott that he was still a “baby” and would strengthen up even more. One of his owners, Dennis Le Breton, had flown into Cape Town the night before from Mauritius and headed directly to Hollywoodbets Durbanville for race day. He was all smiles. He and his partners could have plenty more success with this son of Master of My Fate.

THIS MAN IS GROWING UP

Better Man held off the cheeky challenges from King’s Quest in race 5 to win a gutsy race, proving that he is on the up. The form of his last run suggested that he could follow up straight out of the maidens. He relished the 1800m trip he got for the first time.

LOW FLYING FOR LOWVELD LILY

Richard Fourie rode Lowveld Lily impeccably from a wide gate to secure the 7th race. She is a nicely bred filly that is clearly on the up. She ran on well from off the pace to get her nose down right where it mattered most, denying Angel’s Oasis victory. The last race was landed narrowly by Black Eagle. He, too, seems very progressive.

It was a fabulous day of racing with plenty to take note of.

Please Note: South African Quartet Pools with fractional betting offered at Hamilton, Kempton and Lingfield (UK) – 03 September 2025

David Thiselton

South African champion jockey Gavin Lerena is living in limbo at present as he awaits the outcome of his appeal on August 18 against the severity of the sentence in the Jason Gates whipping incident.

He was looking forward to riding this week as he had to take time off for the inquiry and then had to sit out a suspension, but he had to book off yesterday’s Vaal meeting as he is down with the flu.

He described his championship winning season as having been mentally tough, especially due to the Gates incident, and expanded, “I stayed off social media, but my family really took it to heart and it wasn’t easy for any of us.”

He described the build up to the incident, his spur of the moment reaction and the immediate aftermath.

He said, “I had three winners the previous day, including Rascova winning a Gr 1, but it was a scorching day and after eleven rides there was a late night flight, so I was feeling a bit mentally fatigued. Jason’s mount carried me out six horse-widths from the top of the straight to where the incident happened. He had switched his whip to the right hand and his horse was going straight. He then changed it back to the left hand and began whipping when there was no room to whip. He struck my filly on the chest and then struck me on my arm. I was angered especially by my filly being hit on the chest and thereafter the whip could have gone anywhere, it could have even hit me in the eye. My reaction was spur of the moment, it is fight or flight.”

However, as quickly as the pull up Gavin was already thinking, “Oh my goodness, what have I just done.”

The next day he issued a public apology for his “out of character” reaction.

He and Jason chatted about a week later and agreed upon it being a dangerous sport and they needed to have respect for one another. They agreed to move on from the incident too.

However, keyboard warriors did not allow the tightly knit Lerena family to forget about it.

Furthermore, Gavin did not know where he stood for a long time.

He added, “The inquiry was also tough as it was three days long and I had to represent myself … had I taken a lawyer I would not have been able to appeal. I had to face nine legal people on my own.”

He continued, “Other than that, I had a fantastic season. I enjoyed my racing and I enjoyed the people I rode for. I didn’t have the East Cape, so I had to be extra smart to get as many winners as I could and I was very blessed. There’s been a couple of seasons lately that I’ve wanted to go for it, but it’s got to all fall into place and I was very fortunate to get support in Cape Town last season … I’ve never had that before.”

Gavin had a fall out with one of his main guv’nors, Johan Janse van Vuuren, at the beginning of the season, but they later made up.

Gavin said, “It is quite funny when you look back at it, because it was something so stupid. But it lit the fire inside me.”

The support in Cape Town included partnering the top class Vaughan Marshall-trained One World colt One Stripe.

Gavin said winning the prestigious Gr 1 L’Ormarins King’s Plate on One Stripe had been the highlight of his season.

He said, “Winning the Guineas was great, but the King’s Plate has aways been a race I’ve wanted to win. It’s not easy with a three-year-old, but he was up to the task.”

One Stripe had a lot of ground to make up at the top of the straight, but Gavin said, “I was going really well. I knew I had so much horse under me. He sometimes hits a flat spot and you’ve got to help him through it, but when he’s ready and you’re ready he gives you an amazing kick. I never felt like I was going to lose the race to be honest.”

Gavin’s daughter had broken her arm the previous night and the family had to make a late night emergency trip to the hospital, so he arrived on course with about three hours sleep.

Gavin rates One Stripe as up with the best he has ridden, but he said keeping the ride overseas was not going to “be easy”.

Gavin showed true grit in his first championship in 2014/2015, because always in the back of his mind in a tight tussle with S’Manga Khumalo was the heart-breaking memory of three years earlier when ousted by one win by Anton Marcus on the last day of the season, despite entering that meeting one win up. However, Gavin scored a record-breaking 42 wins in June 2015 to pull clear and obliterate that bad memory forever.

This season had a different challenge, as already mentioned.

He said chasing a championship was physically taxing too, with flying being the worst of it.

Gavin said as a jockey he was always improving.

He said, “In this sport you’re always learning new things and evolving. I have always been confident in the saddle, but your race riding and use of different tactics improves. Our racing’s changed quite a lot as well, fifteen years ago, we went a good, strong gallop, but a lot of races today are canter-sprints.”

Gavin said he always had a plan A, B and C going into a race.

He revealed, “I try to work out how a race is going to pan out and the bottom line is you’ve got to have a horse where the horse is happy. It’s no use forcing a horse to be two lenghs closer than he wants to be.”

His wife Vicky is a racing TV presenter and that has helped.

He said, “She found me a lot of winners just by watching the race and saying you’ve got to get on that one next time.”

Gavin’s agent Wade Viljoen also did a fine job finding good rides through the season.

DAVID THISELTON

SANELE MCHUNU has made giant strides as Race Coast’s Zulu horseracing commentator and has already commentated two Hollywoodbets Durban Julys with the feed going live on Supersport as well as on to the normal Gallop TV stream.

It all started for him when he landed a job as a cameraman for Gold Circle back in 2015. He said, “I was so privileged when I started my job as I was working closely with the presenters Kevin Shea, Warren Lenferna, Deez Dayanand and Sheldon Peters. They were sending me to

take their bets, so I started learning about betting and about the horses and I started grasping all the information related to punting. I couldn’t always rely on them to give me tips, so I started studying form so I could take my own bets. I would say I am an average punter. I do have my good days and I do have my bad days. “My best moment was when the Candice Dawson-trained filly Sentbydestiny won the Gr 1 Premiers Champion Stakes. She was running against big horses like Tempting Fate, who was the short-priced favourite, but I liked her and picked her and she won paying R25.20 on The Tote.”

Sanele was given an opportunity to be the first Zulu commentator in the country last year and jumped at it.

He said, “I had to teach myself, there was nobody to teach me, but I studied the Zulu commentaries in other sports to find a model that would appeal to a Zulu audience.”

He continued, “I had a number of practice commentaries using my phone to record myself, so I could see if I was doing well. I sent those videos to a couple of people to critique me and

they gave me some pointers. Sheldon and Deez were two of the critics. They gave me some good feedback that I learned from because it was a new thing for me. The critique made it a little bit easier, because I was doing it for the first time and so could afford to go wrong and I was going to learn from that.”

Sanele’s first live commentary was in May last year and a couple of months later he was doing his first Hollywoodbets Durban July.

He does his commentaries from the old SABC box at Hollywoodbets Greyville, which is directly below the main commentary box used by Craig and Sheldon Peters and is next door to the judge’s box. He said, “It’s the biggest racing event in the whole continent, so obviously you have to be nervous. Doing it for the first time and knowing that for the first time you’re going to an audience that has never heard you before, like the Supersport audience,which is a big platform, it was nerve-wracking.”

However, the commentary went very well, particularly as he screamed “ORIENTAL CHARM!”

in the final stages and his last words were that Oriental Charm had beaten Cousin Casey, the

one-two in a typically frantic July finish.

“I received some good feedback after that,” he said. However, he was sweating on the result and explained, “The most challenging aspect of the race was there were two horses with the same silks and the same caps, except the one had a little white pom-pom on which you couldn’t see. They were Cousin Casey and Future Swing and I did manage to call Cousin Casey second, but after the race I jumped up to look at the results board because I was thinking what if it was actually Future Swing and I was calling Cousin Casey? I was relieved I got it right.” By the time the next Hollywoodbets Durban July had come around commentating was starting to become second nature. He is no longer a cameraman and is now dedicated to his knew role as commentator and studio presenter as preview shows for all meetings are also done in Zulu.

He said, “I give it more time now and I study more colours. I follow the horses all over the

country to make it easier when it comes to the Champion’s Season, because there are raiders from Cape Town and from Jo’Burg, so you have to follow racing in the whole country. I also know the colours from around the country now.” In the 2025 July he once again emphasised the name of the winner in the closing stages. He rattled off the top five in the running at the 200m mark and correctly called the first five past the post, The Real Prince, Eight On Eighteen, Selukwe, Royal Victory and Madison Valley, despite their being some small margins between some of them. Sanele emphasised the name of the winner in true Zulu soccer-style commentary fashion, a deep guttural roar that makes it very exciting for the listeners. He said about this year’s Hollywoodbets Durban July, “I think it went well this year, it was for the second time and yes I had to improve. There were two good horses battling each other in the finish, so it was a very nice race to commentate.”

Sanele is fast becoming an institution in KZN racing with his commentaries on Gallop TV for

every meeting and other platforms for the big ones. He has become one of the most recognisable faces in KZN racing and is going from strength to strength. He looks to be a fine role model and there are sure to be some potential future commentators who have been inspired by his exciting calls.