Anita Akal was honoured at the Friday night Hollywoodbets Greyville meeting last week after announcing her retirement after 55 years of providing superb photographs for the racing industry.
The KZN-based Anita’s influence will not be lost as she has for a few years shared her position with her daughter Anneke Akal Kitching and watch this space soon for a story about Anita’s colourful career in racing.
But for the moment there was some irony when the Hollywood Racing-owned horse the mother and daughter were given the honour of naming, i.e. Kitchakal, has been retired this week.
Kitchakal (pictured above) was a useful gelding who only just failed to win the Non-Black Type Newlands Stakes over 1400m at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth on one occasion.
The now seven-year-old Master Of My Fate gelding won four races and reached a high of a 92 merit rating.
However, she is unlikely to have been the best horse Anita was associated with.
That honour might well have gone to the Elevation gelding Versailles, whom she part-owned. She recalled nearly dropping her camera when Versailles flew up to finish second in the 1984 Durban July!
