The middle distance to staying type Zeus finished fourth in last year’s Betway Summer Cup and was 19th on the final log this year so should get into the final field (JC Photos)
The first jockey declared in the Betway Sumnmer Cup is Rachel Venniker for the Fabian Habib-trained Zeus.
This is signicificant because it puts an end to any speculation about who will be riding the favourite, the Michael Roberts-trained See It Again.
Rachel is stable jockey for Roberts and rides See It Again for almost all of his work, but Piere Strydom is his incumbent race rider and looks now to be a certainty to be aboard for the Summer Cup.
Rachel rode See It Again in his last race, which added fuel to the speculation.
However, owner Nick Jonsson’s words of a couple of months ago that it would be “frankly foolish” not to keep the legend on at his home ground have been shown recently to be full of foresight because Strydom has been riding to a strike rate on the Highveld this season of 30.19% and at Turffontein Standside he has had 53 rides for 19 wins, a strike rate of 35.85%.
Strydom’s riding has not dimmed at all with age and if anything has got better, because as it has so often been said when dealing with horses one never stops learning.
Strydom is known for always leaving something in reserve in his horses, which has left many a jockey and punter surprised when his seemingly beaten mount fights back. This characteristic of his has been more evident this season than ever before, not to mention all the others skills in his armoury.
