Corne Orffer after winning the Gr 1 Cape Guineas on the Brett Crawford-trained Kilindini, a ride for which he received widespread praise (Picture: Chase Liebenberg)
Piere Corne Orffer has joined the burgeoning Michelle Rix yard as stable jockey.
The Milnerton-based yard has grown in numbers in the space of a year from 18 horses to 50.
Michelle said, “We were trying to find a jockey who would fit into the yard and who wasn’t attached to any other yard, so we gave it a bit of thought and Corne’s name came up and he was available. He was the obvious choice as he has got a lot of experience, he has BMT and he gives good feedback. He has done well over the years with Brett Crawford and with Andre Nel. It all happened quckly and we agreed instantly. It was the right time for ourselves and also the right time for Corne.”
Corne is 45 years old which is not old for a jockey by modern standards.
According to Sahorseracing.co.za he had 76 wins as an apprentice and he has had 790 wins as a fully fledged jockey.
He had a successful seven year stint with Brett Crawford and the highlight for him was winning the Gr 1 Cape Guineas on Kilindini.
His highlight for Andre Nel was winning the country’s most prestigious staying race, the Gr 3 World Pool Gold Cup on Master Redoute, a horse on whom he also won the Gr 3 New Turf Carriers Western Cape Stayers.
Corne has won five Gr 3’s this decade and also won one Gr 2, the Athonij Rupert Wyne Premier Trophy on the Vaughan Marshall-trained Rascallion.
He went close to big race glory last year when finishing second in the Gr 1 L’Ormarins King’s Plate on the Piet Botha-trained Montien.
He has also ridden with success in Mauritius, finishing third on the log in 2007.
He has had a quiet season to date as he is not attached to a yard at the moment, but his last two full seasons in SA have yielded returns of 43 wins at 13.07% in the 2023/2024 season and 43 wins at 10.78% in the 2024/2025 season.
Michelle said about the yard’s recent growth, “We have restructured the business through pure grit and hard work, it has become a 24-hour job, that’s what you have got to do to build things up and it seems to have worked. A lot of support has come from Turf Talk and also from Jonathan Bloch, he has been a massive supporter and has brought new people into the yard.”
The likes of Francis Carruthers and Braam van Huysteen are also now strong supporters of the yard.
She said, “We have 26 two-year-olds. The two-year-olds are very nice and represent sires such as One World, Master Of My Fate and What a Winter. It has been nice to have been able to handpick the ones we wanted and we will also be getting support to buy at the forthcoming Sales, so we have a lot to look forward to with our two-year-olds.”
The yard has a patient approach with their two-year-olds and do not push them.
Michelle said,” We will make sure our two-year-olds get the right footing here in Cape Town.”
She continued, “We have 13 older horses in training, including the like of Elusive Winter (a six-time winner rated 104), and Handsome Prince. Both are owned by Westward Bloodstock, whom we are privileged to have in our yard and Fiona (Carmichael) is a wonderful friend. Time For Love, who won a Gr 3 on WSB Met day as a six-year-old, is also a stable favourite.”
This year’s Race Coast Sales Premier Yearling Sale in March will be particularly exciting for MIchelle, because it will see the first Kommetdiedings up for auction.
Kommetdieding became only the seventh horse in history to win both the Durban July and the Met and Michelle and her father Harold Crawford became the first small yard to win the July since Eric Antelme did it with Gondolier in 1985.
She said she had deliberately stayed away from looking at too many Kommetdiedings on the farms, knowing she would have had a biased view, and she would like to rather be able to compare them to other yearlings at the Sales.
Michelle Rix is a fine horsewoman who has proved she can take horses to the top and it is good to see the exciting times the yard deserve have now dawned.
They are definitely a yard to follow.
