S’manga Khumalo: the black jockey shaking up South African horse racing. Photo: The Guardian
A general belief among racing fans is that the South African Jockey Academy is not producing jockeys as good as those of yesteryear, but the facts tell a different story.
It would appear that with a younger batch of licensed jockeys that includes the like of S’manga Khumalo, Grant van Niekerk, Gavin Lerena, Richard Fourie, Karis Teetan, Bernard Fayd’herbe, Raymond Danielson, Muzi Yeni, Brandon Lerena, JP van der Merwe, Aldo Domeyer and others, South African race riding is in a very good state of health indeed.
There are also some very promising riders that are still doing their time in the Academy. They include Nooresh Juglall, Donovan Dillon, Keagan de Melo, Julius Mariba, Collen Storey, Craig Zackey among others.
Piere Strydom, the most prolific jockey in South African history and current champion, has commented favourably on the youngsters who are coming through.
However, he is of the opinion that the young riders of today are finding it tougher to break through, one of the reasons being that jockeys’ careers are generally longer than they used to be.
A quick glance at the national log of last season bears this out as the top five – Strydom, Anton Marcus, Robbie Fradd, Sean Cormack and Anthony Delpech – are all in their forties and showing no signs of stopping, meaning they will continue to monopolise most of the best rides.
It also proves that age matters little in this sport and could even be an advantage for, as the adage goes, one never stops learning about horses. However, those top five jockeys took advantage of the opportunities they were once given and it will be up to the youngsters to do the same. – Gold Circle
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