Muzi Yeni’s 2500th career win was fittingly in a feature race aboard the Justin Snaith-trained Landoftherisingson (Picture: Wayne Marks)
Muzi Yeni reached a milestone 2500 career wins at Hollywoodets Durbanville on Saturday when he won the Listed Settlers Trophy over 2000m on the Justin Snaith-trained Landoftherisingson, who provided Mauritzfontein-based stallion Danon Platina with a fifth stakes winner.
Yeni made it 2501 wins in the next race on the Snaith-trained She’s My World (One World) in the Gr 3 Schweppes Diana Stakes in a particularly good ride as he overcame the widest draw of all in the 12 horse field on the 40/1 shot.
Yeni might be short in stature, but he is deceptively strongly built and he not only has a heart as big as the great outdoors, but he is also a fierce competitor who doesn’t give an inch.
He has been admired by many a top trainer for many a year not only for his good seat and riding skills, but he is also a fine racing tactician and is particularly good at overcoming poor draws, with his ride on She’s My World on Saturday being a good example.
His competitive nature has got himself into trouble on occasion, but at present he seems to be in a fine space.
Yeni has been able to keep up a relentless schedule year after year.
Looking at his last ten completed seasons he has had well over 1000 rides a season in every one of them except for the COVID-19 effected season.
In the 2015/2016 season he had 1342 rides and was 5th on the table with 166 wins, with only the champion Khumalo having more rides (1350).
In 2016/2017 he had 1295 rides for 120 wins and 9th on the log with only Craig Zackey (1400) and Ryan Munger (1352) having more rides.
In the 2017/2018 season he had 1448 rides for 150 wins and 2nd place on the log with only champion Lyle Hewitson having more rides (1470).
In the 2018/2019 season he had 1821 rides for 216 wins, failing by three wins to take the title from Hewitson.
In the 2019/2020 curtailed season due to COVID-19 he had 839 rides for 79 wins, which gave him 8th place on the log and only champion Kennedy with 1165, Chase Maujean (852) and S’Manga Khumalo with 846 had more rides.
In 2020/2021 he had 1180 rides for 151 wins and was 3rd on the log with only the champion Hewitson having more rides (1699).
In 2021/2022 he had 1417 rides for 159 win and 5th place on the log with only champion Warren Kennedy having more rides (1609).
In 2022/2023 he had 1327 rides for 149 wins for 4th on the log with only champion Keagan de Melo having more rides.
In 2023/2024 he had 1494 rides for 191 wins with only record-breaking champion Richard Fourie having more rides (1649).
Last season he was out with injury for two months but still had 1164 rides for 145 wins with only Craig Zackey having more rides (1421).
In those ten completed seasons Yeni had 13,327 rides in all, an average of 1333 per season, and he had 1526 wins, an average of 153 per season.
His overall strike rate for those ten seasons was 11.45%.
This season he has had 26 wins for a strike rate of 12.87%.
Yeni has won 17 Gr 1 races, 16 in South Africa and one overseas.
His first Gr 1 win was on the Joe Soma-trained Happy Landing in the President’s Champions Challenge in 2011.
In 2012 he won the Gr 1 Champions Cup on the Greg Ennion-trained Master Plan.
He won the Gr 1 Allan Robertson in 2014 on the Mike de Kock-trained Alboran Sea.
He won the Gr 1 Thekwini Stakes on the Duncan Howells-trained Lauderdale in 2015.
He won the Gr 1 SA Classic on the Joe Soma-trained Lobo’s Legend in 2018.
He won the Gr 1 Premier’s Champions Challenge on the Robbie Sage-trained Coral Fever in 2018.
He won the Gr 1 SA Fillies Classic on the Paul Matchett-trained War Of Athena in 2021 and completed the SA Triple Tiara on that champion filly.
He also won the Gr 1 Woolavington 2000 on War Of Athena in 2021.
He won the Gr 1 HF Oppenheimer Horse Chestnut Stakes and the Gr 1 Premier’s Champions Challenge with Got The Greenlight in 2021.
In 2022 he won the HF Oppenheimer Horse Chestnut Stakes again, this time with the Paul Peter-trained MK’s Pride.
He won the Gr 1 Daily News 2000 with the Mike de Kock-trained Safe Passage in 2022.
He won the Gr 1 Golden Horse Sprint with the Corrie Lensley-trained Alesian Chief in 2022.
He won the Gr 1 Betway Summer Cup with the Nathan Kotzen-trained Royal Victory in 2023.
He won the Gr 1 Premier’s Champions Challenge with Royal Victory in 2024.
He won the Gr 1 Hollywoodbets Gold Challenge on the Mike de Kock-trained Dave The King in 2024.
Yeni has the distinction of riding the last ever winner in the 180 year history of Singapore racing. He rode the winner of the Gr 1 Singapore Gold Cup, the David Kok-trained Smart Star, in the last ever race at Kranji racecourse.
Muzi is yet to win the Hollywoodbets Durban July, but has placed on numerous occasions. Yeni finished second with Got The Greenlight in the 2020 July, third with the same horse in 2021, third with Safe Passage in 2022 and third with Royal Victory in 2024, fourth with Royal Victory in 2025 and he has also had another fourth and a couple of fifths.
Yeni was educated at Hunt Road Secondary, before earning his matric at the South African Jockey Academy.
As an apprentice he rode 75 winners. In the 2007/08 season, his first as a fully fledged jockey out of the academy, he rode 36 winners. The following season he rode 57, and 97 in the 2009/10 season. He then broke into the top 10 in the 2010/2011 season, finishing third on the national log with 133 winners.
He has South African colours. He rode for Team SA for the first time in the International Jockeys’ Challenge in 2010. He won the Turffontein leg of that Challenge.
He represented Team SA in the Premier Gateway Challenge in Singapore in September 2018.
Muzi’s confidence has built year by year.
With his notable success for the yard of champion trainer Justin Snaith, who have used him often recently, his dream of being champion jockey could well materialise in the near future.
