Turf Talk Newsletter – 09 September, 2026

The colours Vibe Check carries today, white, red stars with green sleeves and cap, once belonged to a famous KZN racing  family who won the July with the colours on  two occasions (Picture: Race Coast)

Dennis Durrant, a jockey and trainer of many years standing, was at Summerveld on Tuesday and when conversation turned to the recent appearance of Chris Saunder’s old colours in a big race he reminisced about the last July in which those colours were carried to victory, although for him it was the July that got away.

The famous white, red stars and green cap colours of father and son combination Douglas and Chris Saunders, who were both chairmen of the Durban Turf Club, were famously carried to victory in both the 1967 and 1969 Julys.

In 1967 the Fred Rickaby-trained Jollify carried them to a dead-heat with the immortal Sea Cottage and in 1969 they were carried by the Fred Rickaby-trained Naval Escort, who was ironically a half-brother to Sea Cottage.

The colours became prominent in the Champions Season this year when carried to victory in the Gr 2 Omoda Golden Horseshoe over 1400m by the Vaughan Marshall-trained Vibe Check (Querari).

The colours are owned today by Irishman Seamus Burns, whose family own the renowned Lodge Park Stud in County Kilkenny, breeders of such greats as New Approach.

Dennis recalled, “in 1969 I won the Derby (The Natal Derby) on Naval Escort and in his next race I ran second to Home Guard in the Guineas (SA Guineas).”

Home Guard established a South African record in the latter race as he made it eleven runs unbeaten, a record that still stands today.

Dennis has a vivid recollection of the Guineas and said, “I was sitting about fourth or fifth on the rail with a double handful and I looked left and here’s James Maree running about three or four wide on Home Guard, so I said to myself, ‘I’ve got you.’ But as we came into the straight he did what Muis sometimes did and went for an early run. He went and I had to wait a few seconds to get out and he only beat me by half-a-length. Naval Escort was catching him, so I was a bit stiff.”

He continued, “Naval Escort had just won over a mile-and-a-half and the mile of the Guineas was just like a prep run for the July. I was retained by Fred Rickaby at the time and after the weights came out he said to me, ‘You’ve got two or three weeks to get your weight down and then you can ride him in the July, think about it.’ But Naval Escort had been set 47,5kg and I had been riding for 19 years and had never ridden that light ever before. I had ridden a lightest of about 52,5kg, but I had to take off a few pounds by sweating, running or playing squash to ride at that weight as I naturally rode at about 56kg. I did think about it, but realised that if it had come to July day and I couldn’t make the weight they were going to take me off, so I made up my mind that I wouldn’t be able to do it. Alan “Snowy” Reid was our apprentice and we put him on.”

Alan had earlier won the King’s Cup on Naval Escort, carrying 47kg.

Naval Escort started at 6/1 for the July, with the unbeaten Home Guard, who had to carry 52,5, going off favourite at 2/1..

Naval Escort won the race,  defeating Home Guard by three-quarters of a length.

Snowy Reid, 57 years later, remains both the last apprentice and last teenager to win the July.

He still lives in the Hillcrest/Waterfall area, but is no longer involved in racing.

 

Alan “Snowy” Reid is led in after winning the July on the Fred Rickaby-trained Naval Escort (newspaper cuttings)

 

Dennis actually never had a July ride.

However, he recalled in 1957 riding  a horse called Success for Terry Ryan over a mile at Clairwood and he said, “He ducked off the course and yet he still dead-heated with Migraine for third. Two weeks later at the same course I was riding Success and Freddy Byrnes, Joe Byrnes’ younger brother, was riding a horse for Neville Pearce called Last run and the horse fell. My horse jumped, but he hit his legs and fell and that was him out of the July. A few weeks later Migraine won the July, a horse we had dead-heated with despite me having ridden a bad race.”

Dennis later worked for George Rowles on his farm in Waterfall for 42 years. He was initially his trainer and said, “He never told me what to do. *I had 1200 races and won 200 and had 680 places. We had 1000m tracks, sand and grass, and they were uphill and that’s why we had a lot of winners. I had to stop training when they built what is today the Watercrest Mall, which was on his farm, as they built over some of the training tacks. After that I broke in the yearlings for him on the farm.”

Dennis recalled one memorable purchase at the Sale in his early years as a trainer.

“We bought a horse called Northern Queen (New South Wales) chiefly for stud purposes (Rowle’s stud farm called Ivanhoe was in Nottingham Road). She had won six races in Jo’Burg mainly over sprints and I ran her a couple of times and then Colin Buckham (the handicapper) phones me one day and says, ‘Dennis it’s the Natalia Stakes coming up, 2000m (Gr 1), do you want to nominate Woodland Glade. So I say, ‘No, she has gone to stud, nominate Northern Queen.’ It was a top field with Festive Season, Sistematic etc, top fillies. So, I went to George Rowles and said, ‘Mr. Rowles I have just nominated Northern Queen for the Natalia Stakes’ and he says, ‘What distance?’  I say, ‘2000m’ and he says, ‘WHAAAT!!'”

Dennis continued, “She was 20/1, Billy Harvey rode her and she won by 2,50 lengths. They had never tried her over the trip before. But when a horse is fit, and our track was a grueling uphill track, then it pays dividends.”

The farm is no longer, but Dennis still lives in  the same house in Waterfall he has lived in for over 50 years.

Meanwhile, Vibe Check, will be followed by many this season. He looks to ooze class and the stalwart trainer Vaughan Marshall is sure to get the best out of him.

Tho9se famous colours will bring back memories for many if they have more big race success.

Beset (orange cap) is out in front in the Listed Ardilaun Hotel Irish EBF Oyster Stakes on Tuesday (via Racing TV).

Cape Breeders

Paardeberg Stud’s resident sire Expert Eye made headlines at Galway on Tuesday when his daughter Beset won the Listed Ardilaun Hotel Irish EBF Oyster Stakes.

Always travelling strongly close to the pace, she was committed two out and quickly had things under control en route to a convincing success from stablemates Chablis and Galileo Dame.

Part-owner Kevin Blake revealed a Group 1 target for the winner.”We’ll swing big now and the Prix de Royallieu on Arc weekend fits with the timing,” he explained. “After that, we have Champions Day at Ascot and there’s also a Group 1 in Germany in November. I wouldn’t like to rule out bringing her back in next year, as fillies who like soft ground are so hard to find.”

Out of the Galileo mare Beshayer, Beset was crowned Ireland’s Champion Older Female (Long) in 2025.

The five-old has three Listed wins to her name, with Beset having won five times in total.

Her G1 Breeders’ Cup Mile winning sire Expert Eye, whose progeny also include such group winners as Entrancement, Juniper Berries, Snellen and Witness Stand, had also enjoyed success at Kempton Park on Saturday where his son Exposure won the William Hill London Mile Series Final Handicap (Series Final -Qualified horses Only).

Royston Ffrench eating vegetable noodles (Credit: Edward Whitaker (Racing Post))

 

Jockeys: The Hidden Reality – Living Hungry

Home » Featured » Jockeys: The Hidden Reality – Living Hungry

Following on her editorials, ‘What We Don’t See…Insights Into The ‘Glam’ Life Of The Jockey’ published 6 July 2026 and ‘When Winning Doesn’t Feel Like Winning’ published on 27 July 2026 on the Sporting Post website, Michele Wing (MSc, Brunel University London) provides more insights in another instalment of her series, entitled ‘The Hidden Reality’.

 

There is a moment on raceday when everything comes down to a number.

In the weighing room, a jockey picks up the saddle and steps onto the scales.

Around the weighing room are the clerk of the scales, other jockeys waiting their turn, trainers and stipendiary stewards. The clerk calls the carded weight and checks it against the reading on the scales.

If the jockey is under, lead is added. But if he is over, he has to put up overweight.

Another jockey steps up.

Another carded weight is called. It is a familiar routine in horseracing. Precise. Repetitive. Almost clinical.

One jockey interviewed in the research put it starkly:

“I am more concerned about getting on the scale… than I am about the horses I’m booked to ride.”

What happened before the scales usually isn’t visible. The meal that was skipped, the food that was carefully measured, the water that wasn’t drunk and the hunger that had to be ignored.

For a jockey, making weight is not simply about a number. It shapes what they eat, what they drink, how they prepare and, sometimes, how they eat with their family.

Most people don’t have their livelihood tied to a number on a scale.

But for a jockey, they do.

Perhaps this is where the story begins.

Not with the weight itself.

But with what it takes to live with it.

The Number

Unlike athletes who compete in weight divisions based on their own body weight, jockeys do not choose the weight they compete at. Rather, the weight they must carry is assigned to the horse under the conditions of the race.

For jockeys who have to work to make that weight, it is not simply a matter of stepping onto the scales and reading the number.

But then comes maintaining it.

Again. And again.

The Body

The assumption can be that because jockeys are small in stature, low weight comes naturally to them. But being small and sustaining a racing weight are not necessarily the same thing.

The jockey still has to be strong enough to ride, fit enough to work and alert enough to make split-second decisions repeatedly across a race meeting.

The body has to perform.

And it has to make the weight.

Even then, the number on the scale is not simply the jockey’s body weight. The saddle and other riding equipment are included in the weight carried, so the body itself has to be lighter still.

Two of the best-known examples of what jockeys have sometimes asked of their bodies came in the Durban July.

In 1987, Garth Puller lost 10.5 kilograms in just two and a half weeks to reach 49 kilograms for the Rothmans Durban July, following a strict diet of brown rice and stewed apples. He rode the unbeaten Bush Telegraph to victory.

More than three decades later, Gavin Lerena reduced his riding weight from 57 to 53 kilograms in four weeks ahead of the 2021 Vodacom Durban July. He won aboard Kommetdieding from the widest draw, 18, in his first victory in the race.

Their stories became racing history. But the daily negotiation with weight usually doesn’t.

That negotiation follows the jockey home.

The Dinner Table

Food is something that has to be calculated.

One jockey described trying to make a small meal appear more substantial:

“I tried eating off a small plate to fool myself my meal looked normal.”

Looked normal.

One partner of a jockey with a young family described what happens at home:

“We don’t eat like normal families. I make dinner for the family and then a separate meal for him … like a small piece of plain white fish or chicken breast and a few steamed veges. It’s tough to try and come up with tasty meals when he can only eat so little … every calorie counts.”

There is no racecourse in this description.

No scales.

No weighing room.

Just a family sitting down to dinner.

Yet the requirements of racing are at the table with them.

“When you eat as little as we do, you end up living in constant hunger.”

And the effects of hunger do not necessarily stay at the dinner table.

“When you’re not eating, your social battery goes flat … I find myself grumpy even with those I love.”

“Food becomes your enemy … it’s like living with a life sentence.”

The Raceday

Then comes raceday.

A jockey may have spent days restricting food and water before arriving at the track. Once weighed out for a ride, even eating or drinking can become a calculation, especially when a lighter ride may still be ahead.

One jockey put it starkly:

“I think we must be the only sportsmen who compete whilst being dehydrated.”

As one jockey put it:

“Boxers weigh in 2 days before a fight and can eat after, where we weigh in immediately before each race.”

And if a later ride is at a lighter weight, drinking becomes another calculation:

“If it’s a hot day with a full book of rides, you sweat terribly but can’t drink if you have a light ride later in the meeting.”

One jockey described becoming so dehydrated that his ears would block, making it difficult to speak to owners in the parade ring because his own voice sounded amplified in his ears.

And still, the jockey rides.

Still performs.

Still weighs in for the next race.

The weight is made. The ride is taken. The race is run.

From the outside, that looks like discipline. Professionalism. Competence.

And it is.

But competence can conceal the cost.

“Wasting can flick a switch and put you in a bad mood no matter how disciplined you are.”

One of the jockeys interviewed was 57. For some, managing weight can become part of a working life that spans decades.

While the body changes, the number remains.

The jockey turns up.

The jockey weighs in.

The jockey rides.

The jockey does the job.

And everyone gets used to seeing it.

What It Takes

Something can be difficult and still become normal.

Perhaps the next time you watch a jockey go out to ride, the picture will look much the same.

The horse.

The silks.

The number.

The jockey settling into the saddle as the field moves towards the start.

But perhaps you will see something else too.

The meals behind the number.

The hunger.

The discipline.

The years.

The family sitting around a dinner table where one plate is different from the others.

The number tells us what the jockey carries. But it doesn’t tell us what it takes to carry it.

Honorine’s Gimmie (Gimmethegreenlight) makes it a four-timer for Dean Smith ands a treble for Craig Zackey on the Fairview Poly on Wednesday (Picture: Pauline Herman)

Craig Zackey rode a treble for Dean Smith on the Fairview poly on Wednesday and Smith had one other win to make it a four-timer on the day.

By the end of the day they were both sitting on top of the East Cape tables in this early stage of the season.

Smith is on 17 wins in the East Cape this season, which puts him joint top with the reigning champion Alan Greeff.

He has done it at a strike rate of 16.35%, while Greeff has a strike rate of 20.73%.

Zackey is on nine wins in the East Cape at 33.33%, two clear of Kyle Strydom and three clear of Muzi Yeni.

Smith and Greeff are now just two wins behind Justin Snaith in the Lucky Fish Championship.

Yan Ting Qaada Leung is third from teft, pictured at the recent opening of the International & Female Apprentice Dormitories at the South African Jockey Academy (Candiese Lenferna Photography)

Yan Ting Quaada Leung has impressed all and sundry at Summerveld with her neat riding style in which she looks naturally comfortable riding with short stirrup straps and the Hong Kong apprentice is set to make her race-riding debut on Sunday at Hollywoodbets Scottsville.

She said yesterday at Summerveld, “I am very excited and hope I can ride good races. I have two rides for Mr Puller, one for Mr Stu (Stuart Ferry) and one for Mr MJ (Odendaal) and I can claim 4kg, so all of my rides have a little bit of a chance.”

Yan Ting has ridden in barrier trials in Hong Kong before.

She has already been riding for about three years.

She learnt from one of the best, Felix Coetzee, a legend in Hong Kong who has done sterling work as the chief riding instructor at the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s Apprentice Jockeys’ School.

Her meeting on Sunday kicks off with the Garth Puller-trained hard-knocking New Predator colt in the first race, a 1200m maiden plate, and Puller said, “Yan Ting looks like she is quite competent. We have put a pair of blinkers on Arkadin and I am hoping for a nice run from him.”

Her next ride in the second, a D Stakes race over 1000m, is on the MJ Odendaal-trained Canford Cliffs mare Clickbait. This five-year-old has pace and is 2,5kg better off at the weights than any of the other runners even if ignoring Yan Ting’s claim, so she must have a fine chance.

Then in the sixth race, a C Stakes race over 1000m, she rides the speedy five-year-old Stuart Ferrie-trained Act Of War gelding Luneluck. He is 3.5kg out with the best weighted runner under the conditions of the race, but on the other hand is only half-a-kilogram out with the best weighted male runners and Yan Ting’s claim will alleviate the weight disadvantage. Stuart said, “He loves the Scottsville 1000m and has a winning chance.”

Her final ride is in the last race, a Class 4 handicap over 1200m, where she rides the Garth Puller-trained five-year-old Mambo In Seattle mare Your Ladyship. Garth said, “It is not easy to find a draw for her and I would prefer going around the turn over 1200m for 1400m, but down the straight she should be competitive.”

Yan Ting’s parents will be watching live from Hong Kong.

Charming Cheetah has been tipped to win the third, a Gradfuation Plate over 1200m (JC Photos)

A Graduation Plate over 1200m is the highest rated race at the Vaal meeting today in which high draws should be favoured in races down the straight considering there is just ma two metre false rail on the outside rail.

The race provides a good opportunity for Charming Cheetah. The officially best weighted runner, the Irish-bred six-year-old No Nay Never gelding His Majesty, has been disappointing in SA to date and has not raced since January, so might need it. The second best weighted runner Master Spy is a big galloping type who likely needs further and the third best-weighted Titans Of The Turf has run disappointingly since his excellent close up third in the Gr 2 Umkhomazi Stakes as a juvenile. That leaves Charming Cheetah as the next best weighted runner and he is officially 5,5kg better off with the rest of the field. His last three runs have not been that inspiring, but the blinkers were off for those three runs and are now back on, so it should see him bouncing back. Tromp L’Oeil looked to be a horse with a bright future before a well below par last run. However, he was found to not be striding out and he now gets cheekpieces on and Gavin Lerena takes over in the irons. He could be the main danger.

The first leg of the Pick 6 is an uninspiring maiden over 1700m and One Eye On Dubai looks a nice type and should enjoy the step up in trip, but does have a tricky draw of six out of six. Imyourhuckleberry stayed on well for third when stepped up to 1600m last time and should be in the shake up over a step up in trip, although the draw of five out of six is tricky. Midnight Show should also be in the shake up.

In the fifth race over 1700m Frangipani has been in fine form and from a middle draw in a small field should go close over an ideal trip. Anahita is also in fine form and goes for a hattrick over a suitable course and distance. She is drawn one outside of Frangipani, so the latter gets the nod. Into Dancing is another runner who is in good form and she should go close from pole position. Surprise Party will finish ahead of her on paper if their last clash is taken into account, so Surprise Party also has to be considered. First Wish has good Fairview and Zimbabwe form so must be in with a shout.

In the sixth race over 1700m Future Red won a cracker over 1800m in her second Highveld start and this former Cape horse should be right there from a plum draw off an attractive 73 merit rating. Pretty Analia is known for her strong finishes from off the pace so can be in the shake up if finding a good position from a tricky draw. Eight Hats won impressively in her penultimate start and if able to overcome a wide draw could be in the shake up. Flying World starts off handicapping off a reasonable mark from pole position and should be right there. Bright Comet won well last time and Gavin Lerena is up from a good draw off an 84 merit rating. Xstatic can’t be ignored from the in form St. John Gray yard.

In the seventh race over 2400m the one to beat could be Samuel Sharpe, who has run well over this trip before and has a good draw and a light weight with the 1,5kg claim of Blaine Marx-Jacobson also being a plus point. Futurewolff has won over this trip twice before and Craig Zackey is an eyecatching booking. Dark Silver is an honest and consistent sort who is interesting stepped up to this trip for the first time being by SA Classic winner Heavenly Blue, although his dam was by Pathfork earned from 1000m up to 1400m.

In the eighth over 1000m Sistership won well last time over 1000m at Hollywoodbets Scottsville and this Rafeef half-sister to Rulership should be a big runner off a 75 merit rating. Tempranillo always has to be considered over this trip as he is quick, although he has to overcome a three point raise for his win last time. Mrs Stormiatrix is capable of better than last time.

The last race over 1200m could see Zoombomber returning from a layoff to go close from a nice high draw over an ideal trip. Nkandla Gold is in good form and has a nice high draw too and Segeant Soqrat can’t be considered after a nice maiden win.

In the second race over 1200m Up And Up could fight it out with Berry Lancer.

In the first over 1200m Shiraz Glow ran well last time and could be the one to beat.

Tempranillo has been tipped to win the 8th race (JC Photos)

Vaal Thursday 10 September 2026 – Comments by Brendan Gaillard

Race 1

BELLFLOWER and SHIRAZ GLOW could build on improved career-best efforts to have a say in the outcome. However, a bigger threat will likely come from newcomers GREENHILSOFJAMAICA, SONGFEST and MADISON COUNTY. Watch the betting for clues.

Race 2

WILLOW CHARM, TWO TIGERS and BERRY LANCER have the form and experience to play leading roles. SMOKING GUN has also shown enough to be competitive and could do better with blinkers removed. UP AND UP and MULHOLLAND DRIVE fit a similar profile so are best kept onside. DANCE FOR DARLING was all at sea on debut but made good late headway once the penny had dropped and that experience would have done him good, so it could pay to follow his progress.

Race 3

TROMPE L’OEIL blotted his copybook last time but was found to be not striding out, so he could atone for that disappointment provided he has overcome that issue. CHARMING CHEETAH has the form and experience at this level to pose a threat, especially with the blinkers refitted. HIS MAJESTY has yet to shape on South African soil but could do better after a rest during which he has been relocated and gelded. TITAN OF THE TURF is out of sorts but open to any amount of improvement in first-time blinkers.

Race 4

Well-related import ONE EYE ON DUBAI made an encouraging debut over 1200m and will have more to offer over this extended trip with that experience to count on. IMYOURHUCKLEBERRY and MIDNIGHT SHOW are closely matched on recent form and have shown enough to expose any chinks in the armour of the selection.

Race 5

INTO DANCING lost little in defeat when a close-up third over 1600m in her hat-trick bid last time out. She got going too late on that occasion so the extra 100m should be more to her liking, even under a point penalty. FRANGIPANI fits a similar profile and should play a leading role. SURPRISE PARTY is closely matched with that rival on the form of a recent 2000m meeting, so the latter warrants respect too. Returning FIRST WISH and progressive ANAHITA complete the shortlist.

Race 6

FUTURE RED, one of four last-start maiden winners making their handicap debut, has improved since relocating to the Highveld. She opened her account against male opposition recently and should have more to offer in her peak outing against same-sex opposition. FLYING WORLD, BRIGHT COMET and XTATIC could be leniently treated off their opening handicap marks so warrant the utmost respect. Hard-knockers EIGHT HATS and PRETTY ANALIA can also make their presence felt.

Race 7

CULTURATI and DARK SILVER are closely matched on the form of recent 2000m meeting. The former will be better suited to this extended trip, while the latter is an unknown quantity over this distance so is best kept onside. Veteran FUTUREWOLFF is distance suited, has solid form at this level, and should have a say in the outcome off a reduced mark. Maturing 4yo stayer SAMUEL SHARPE fits a similar profile and will appreciate the extra 400m after a pleasing third last time over 2000m. His rider’s 1.5kg claim could make all the difference.

Race 8

TEMPRANILLO was rewarded for consistency with a last-start course-and-distance victory at this level. She carries a 3-point penalty but could improve sufficiently in first-time blinkers to follow up. Like the selection, MRS STORMIATRIX is unbeaten over track and trip. The latter was not herself against male opposition last time but should fare better in her peak outing back in same-sex company. Last-start winners SISTERSHIP, SURREAL SONG and veteran RAINING RUBIES are also competitive off their current marks.

Race 9

HEMISPHERE bounced back to form in a stronger contest last time with the blinkers refitted in his first outing for this yard. He carries a 2-point penalty for that performance but should capitalize on this drop in class with his rider’s 2.5kg allowance and the headgear retained. NKANDLA GOLD, TIME WILL TELL and JET CAT are consistent hard-knockers with solid credentials at this level. They should make their presence felt. SERGEANT SOQRAT is probably better over 1000m but has to be respected on rececnt form. MISS RIVER DANCER, BEAUTIFUL ONE and SPY STORY complete the shortlist.