S’Manga Khumalo becomes the first black jockey to win the Durban July when winning on the Sean Tarry-trained Chris van Niekerk-owned Silvano gelding Heavy Metal ten years ago. (Picture: Gold Circle).
S’Manga Khumalo’s career took off after he had become the first black jockey to win the Durban July in 2013.
His confidence soared and, coupled with the talent he had always possessed, he became a major force virtually overnight.
He was crowned South African champion jockey the following season (2013/2014) and repeated the feat in the 2015/2016 season.
Khumalo grew up in the poverty stricken township of Kwa-Mashu outside Durban.
Horses were not on the agenda until talent scouts from the South African Jockey’s Academy visited his school, Mzuvele High.
He joined the Academy in the year 2000.
“The first time I got on a horse they said I had a natural seat and everything was right,” he said.
He was initially scared of horses. However, there was tremendous camaraderie at the Academy and his contemporaries helped him overcome the fear.
He had his own style from day one, and his low seat is these days unmistakeable to South African fans.
His first race-ride was for Clodagh Shaw on Bronze Apollo at Clairwood Park over 1200m on November 26, 2002, and he finished ninth.
His first winner came in Zimbabwe.
It was his tenth ride and he remembers phoning his mother beforehand to tell her he was riding, so it was a special moment when he booted home Lightning Don for the Lisa Harris yard.
“It was the most incredible feeling,” he recalled.
His confidence picked up during his stint in Zimbabwe.
Gauteng Academy master Robert Moore saw him riding in Zimbabwe and liked his style. He recommended a move to Johannesburg.
“That was certainly the best move of my life and I am eternally grateful to Robert Moore,” said Khumalo.
He rode mainly for Alec Laird and Sean Tarry on the Highveld.
“Everything picked up from there and I was also travelling all the time to Port Elizabeth and Kimberley.”
Khumalo ended his apprenticeship with 104 winners in total, including 50 winners in his final full season.
In the next three seasons he rode 60, 61 and 63 winners respectively.
He occasionally showed glimpses of what was to come.
In August 2006, he rode a five-timer at Flamingo Park.
In January 2008 he rode the Jackpot at Fairview, booting home four Mitchell Wiese-trained horses.
In the same season trainer Tyrone Zackey gave him a chance on two classy sorts, Warrior Man and Singing Sword.
Unfortunately, the promising Warrior Man was sold and exported before the Highveld classic season.
However, Khumalo ended the season in buoyant mood and said, “To become champion jockey is my aim. I have the ability and must now just put my head down and try harder.”
Zackey and another trainer Joe Soma also predicted big things for him, but did not have the numbers to provide him with many feature opportunities.
So, it was much of the same for Khumalo in the 2008/2009 and 2009/2010 seasons, in which he rode 64 and 57 winners respectively.
However, his big breakthrough finally arrived on March 26, 2011, when St. John Gray put him on the filly Dancewiththedevil in the Gr 1 HF Oppenheimer Horse Chestnut Stakes. She thrashed the boys that day. Just over two weeks later Khumalo rode her to another emphatic victory in the Gr 1 Laurie Jaffee Empress Club Stakes.
Sandwiched in between those two big wins, Khumalo made a trip to Kenya, where he won the Kenya Derby on a South African-bred horse.
His confidence was boosted and his strike rate rose.
The world seemed to be at this feet, but alas, on June 25 2011, when his tally for the season stood at 85, he had a nasty fall at Turffontein.
He was laid off for over four months and the injuries also plagued him in the initial stages of his comeback.
He even considered hanging up his boots in March 2012, but a retired jockey and mentor talked him out of it.
The pep talk must have had an effect, because he still managed to finish the season on 52 winners.
The 2012/2013 season was to be a life-changer.
He won Johannesburg’s biggest race, the Gr 1 R2 million Sansui Summer Cup, aboard the Joe Soma-trained 16/1 shot Wagner, then followed it by winning the R2 million President’s Champions Challenge, on the Sean Tarry-trained Chris van Niekerk-owned 40/1 outsider Heavy Metal.
Ten weeks later he partnered Heavy Metal to that historic Durban July victory.
He dedicated the July win to his icon, Nelson Mandela, and also to his “pillar of strength”, his mother.
He has never looked back.
Two weeks after the July, Khumalo rode the first five legs of the Pick 6 at Turffontein, including the Jackpot.
That was probably the day the public changed their perception of Khumalo. He not only had the big match temperament to ride a July winner, but also the ability and the hunger, like an Anton Marcus, to boot home winner after winner when given the opportunities. Those are the ones the public adore.
He finished the season on 73 winners.
He was now receiving more support from Tarry and other top trainers.
A four-timer at Turffontein on August 8 of the new season was followed by a five-timer at Flamingo Park on August 12.
He kept up a punishing schedule, riding in Johannesburg, KZN, Port Elizabeth and Kimberley and ended the 2013/2014 season National Champion Jockey with 185 winners, 42 clear of his nearest rival.
The wins included two Gr 1 victories aboard the Gavin van Zyl-trained Along Came Polly and the Tarry-trained Carry On Alice respectively.
However, there was disappointment too. An injury prevented him from riding in the July. Even worse, was the 60 day suspension he was handed for a ride aboard a first-timer at the Vaal on November 5. Many viewed the suspension as unfair and unfounded and after a drawn out legal process, and a witness retraction, it was eventually changed to a R75,000 fine.
Khumalo set a new personal best of 198 winners in the 2014/2015 season, but finished second in the championships to Gavin Lerena. However, he had now established himself as first call rider to Sean Tarry. He had a number of feature race wins during the season. The likely highlights were riding three Gr 3 winners at the SA Classic meeting, riding two Gr 2s winners on Champions Challenge day and winning another Gr 1 sprint on Carry On Alice. He also rode in the Shergar Cup at Ascot and the International Jockeys Challenge at Happy Valley in Hong Kong.
Khumalo had always been known for his powerful finish, but it was in the 2015/2016 season that he became the complete rider, and this was partly due to mentoring given by the legendary jockey Felix Coetzee.
Khumalo’s 243 wins saw him recapture the championship, 33 clear of his nearest rival. The highlight was Champions Day at Turffontein when riding the Tarry-trained pair Cloth Of Cloud and Carry On Alice to respective Gr 1 victories and the Tarry-trained Trophy Wife to a Gr 2 win. Later, he achieved a long held ambition by winning the Gr 2 eLan Gold Cup on the Mike de Kock-trained Enaad.
However, despite the increase in professionalism, his season was marred by a major blunder at Fairview on June 24. He made the cardinal sin of standing up in the saddle a few strides before the line on a horse which had the race in safekeeping and, to everybody’s horror, another horse surged through and beat him.
He took the 60 day suspension on the chin on this occasion.
He said, “Something like that has to happen before you can learn from it.”
He gave himself a complete holiday during the two month suspension as his body needed a rest from the hectic riding and travelling schedule he had kept up for three seasons.
He returned on October 8 the following season and rode 143 wins that season at a strike rate of 16.67% and had three Grade 1 wins.
However, the next two seasons were interrupted as he decided to have corrective surgery relating to the operation he had on the broken leg back in 2011.
In 2017/2018 he had only 43 wins at a strike rate of 11.03% and he had no Grade 1 wins.
In 2018/2019 it improved to 64 wins at 11.81%, but once again he went empty-handed in Grade 1s.
He showed signs of coming back into his own the following season and this coincided with an excellent new jockeys agent he employed, Monty Mariemuthoo.
He rode 95 wins at 11.23% in the Covid-19 interrupted season.
He did not have any Grade 1 wins that term, but did add a second Gold Cup victory in a season which was extended into August. He rode a brilliant front-running ride on the Gareth van Zyl-trained 40/1 shot Paths Of Victory.
In the 2020/2021 season he was back to his best. However, what was most pleasing to see was him enjoying his riding more than ever.
He finished third on the log on 155 wins at a strike rate of 17.73%.
The season culminated in his first Grade 1 win for sometime on the Justin Snaith-trained Jet Dark in the Champions Cup at Hollywoodbets Greyville.
It was another momentous year in 2021/2022 as he had 171 wins at 14.65% and three Grade 1 wins.
Jet Dark with S’manga up produced one of the all time great L’Ormarin’s Queen’s Plate performances.
S’Manga also won the Pongracz Cape Flying Championship on the Mike Azzie-trained Bohica.
However, those two big wins were overshadowed by a truly great ride on the Mike de Kock-trained Sparkling Water to land his second July. He worked out a plan before the race and it panned out perfectly.
It was another milestone moment because it gave a famous set of colours, the black with a scarlet cap of Mary Slack, a first win in the country’s premier horseracing event.
It was also the inaugural running of a Hollywoodbets-sponsored July.
This season S’Manga is third on the log with 105 wins at 16.83%.
He rolled back the years earlier this month by winning a Grade 1 with his old guv’nor Sean Tarry, the Wilgerbosdrift SA Fillies Classic with Bless My Stars.
He continues to be one of the most sort after jockeys in the country, especially for the big races.
S’Manga Khumalo would hold his own anywhere in the world.
