S’Manga Khumalo and the star filly Quid Pro Quo (Candiese Lenferna Photography)
S’Manga Khumalo’s ride on the Barend Botes-trained Quid Pro Qui was the voted as the Emperor’s Palace Ride Of The Month for the month of July.
Of those who voted for Khumalo the first one drawn out of the hat to win the lucky prize was Kevin Wearing.
Congratulations Kevin!
He wins a one night stay with breakfast at the Peermont Mondior Hotel at Emperor’s Palace.
Below is the Turf Talk description of Khumalo’s fine ride as well as a video replay.
3. S’Manga Khumalo on the Bardend Botes-trained Quid Pro Quo in the Gr 1 Douglas Whye Thekwini Stakes over 1600m at Hollywoodbets Greyville
Khumalo had brought this star filly from off the pace in both of her previous two starts to win the Gr 1 Allan Robertson Championship over 1200m and the Gr 2 Zulu Kingdom Explorer Golden Slipper over 1400m. She now had a wide draw and fans expected Khumalo to drop her out again. However, she had lost a shoe on the way to the start and had to run unshod in front. There was also the promising Lock And Key in the field and she is a handy sort. So Khumalo trusted in the filly’s class and took her right up to the vanguard. She was initially one wide but she then got a tow from a horse who came around her. Khumalo’s judgement proved correct because she relaxed well and found enough in the straight to beat the Golden Slipper runner up Fatal Flaw by 1,40 lengths with the rest of the field a further 2,90 lengths back.
