Turf Talk Newsletter – 22 May, 2025

Picture: George “Titch” Lariviere wins the July on Gifted in 1929.

The name Lariviere is not well known in South African horseracing circle’s today, but was at one stage synonomous with the game and was in fact synonomous with the country’s biggest race, which is today known as the Hollywoodbets Durban July.

Dennis Lariviere, an octogenarian from Howick, is determined to attend the July of 2029 together with other members of his family in recognition of the 100th anniversary of his father George “Titch” Lariviere riding the Durban July Handicap winner, the W Jackson-trained British-bred Gifted, in 1929.

Dennis Lariviere’s memorabilia includes this framed picture of his father winning the 1929 July.

In 1933 George’s brother Ernest “Tinkie” Lariviere won the Durban July Handicap aboard the PC Henwood-trained Legacy.

The day three members of one family made the frame in the July with Ernest Lariviere winning on Legacy, George Wilkins on third-placed Fateh Singh and George Lariviere, brother of Ernest and brother-in-law of George Wilkins, on fourth-placed Reel II.  

Dennis revealed that his father was champion jockey at some stage during his career.

He said in those days he believed there was only one meeting per week and it was on a Saturday, so jockeys only traveled to the other centres when there was a major race. Nevertheless, Geore Lariviere also won the Durban Gold Cup in 1930 on Artist Glow, beating the 1928 Durban July winner Glen Albyn, he won the Met in 1932 on a French-bred called Reel II and he finished second in the Johannesburg Summer Handicap of 1927 on Silver King.

George Lariviere’s Met and Gold Cup winners, Reel II and Artist Glow respectively.

George Lariviere thus only just failed to do a career grand slam of South Africa’s four biggest races (the Gold Cup was probably second only to the July in prestige for decades, despite it’s Gr 3 status today).

He was a much sought after jockey and also finished a narrow second in the 1935 July on the favourite Monsieur Jean, who was denied by a neck by a fast-finishing Eccentric.

George Lariviere rode until 1939, which was the year the war broke out, but his retirement was due to increasing difficulty in keeping his weight down.

He took up training, but later, due to his outstanding horsemanship, was appointed assistant starter of the Durban Turf Club.

He passed away in 1951 at the young age of 40.

Dennis still has the newspaper cutting of the tribute to his father, in which he was called the “Prince Of Jockeys.”

Dennis inherited the gold-plated miniature of the Gold Cup his father won in 1930, although today it resides with his younger son in Australia.

“Tinkie” Lariviere became a trainer, while Dennis’s aunt, his mother’s sister, married a jockey called George Wilkens, who won the Gold Cup in 1931 on the British-bred Le Vin Chaud. His miniature Gold Cup also resides with his younger son in Australia.

Three family members made the frame in the 1933 July, with Ernest Lariviere on the winner Legacy, George Wilkins on third-placed Fateh Singh and George Lariviere on fourth-placed Reel II.

George Lariviere’s July winner Gifted probably holds a July record. He was only taken off the boat on January 20, 1929, and the July was his first race in South Africa. He thus shattered all preconceived ideas of how long it takes an English horse to acclimatise and he is also likely the horse in the race’s history who has returned from the longest layoff to win it.

Dennis has rubbed shoulders with many a July winner in his time.

He was at school at St. Agnes with Aubrey Roberts, who rode the 1962 July winner, Diza. Also in that same St. Agnes class was Noel Gleeson, who married John Gorton, who won the July in 1967 on Jollify in the famous dead-heat with the immortal Sea Cottage. And a further member of the class was Cynthia Payne, whose famous brother David Payne is one of only three people in history to both ride and train a July winner, riding 1968 winner Chimboraa and training the great In Full Flight to victory in 1972.

In addition, Dennis’s father-in-law was Eric Ballance, the official photographer at all KZN courses between the 1950’s and mid 1970’s and he used to provide all of the photos for the Duff’s Turf Guide.

Dennis also recently bumped into the well known racing owner and administrator Bill Lambert, who lives in nearby Hilton. Bill’s father Frank Lambert owned Diza, who was in fact the last Pietemaritzburg-based horse to win the July.

Dennis actually played a part in Aubrey Robert’s career. Due to his connections in the sport he introduced Aubrey to trainer George Askew. Aubrey later became apprentice to Terry Ryan.

Dennis recently touched base with Hollywodbets Brands and Communications manager Devin Heffer, having discovered he was at he same school as him, Marist Brothers in Durban. Dennis’s one nephew is a friend of Hollywoodbets owner Owen Heffer.

Dennis revealed he enjoys the “atmosphere” of horseracing and he watches channel 240 on occasion, but he does not partake in betting.

He is looking forward to that big day on the first Saturday of July in 2029, when he can honour his late father, whom he knew for only seven short years but of whom he is justifiably proud.

Nobody who knew otherwise would have believed the Bridget Stidolph-trained Global One mare Samoa was a couple of months away from being an eleven-year-old as she stormed home from off the pace to win a 1000m handicap by 2,80 lengths on Thursday  the Vaal Classic track and she gave Gavin Lerena a six-timer in the process.

Samoa ran off a merit rating of 60 and was backed in from 7/1 to 9/2.

It was her 105th and final start and was an emotional victory for everybody involved, especially considering the recent passing of Bridget’s assistant trainer Sean Patterson, who would have done a lot of workriding on Samoa.

It was the first time Gavin Lerena had scored a six-timer.

However, he said if there had been one winner for the day he could have chosen to have it would have been Samoa.

He then paid an emotional tribute to Sean Patterson.

Gavin has ridden nine winners in two days, having had a treble at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth on Wednesday, and he has thus stormed into the lead in the national jockeys championship.

He is on 212 wins achieved at a strike rate of 26.67%, while Craig Zackey is on 209 at 17.80% and Richard Fourie is on 207 at 25.65%.

The jockeys who went on strike at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth on March 26 and have not signed AOG’s (admission of guilt) after being handed R100,000 fines, half of which is suspended, were in a NHA inquiry on Monday.

JP van der Merwe, Richard Fourie and Oswald Noach were the only three who signed AOGs.

The inquiry on Monday did not reach a conclusion, so a new date is being set to conclude it.

The strike was about an interim suspension handed to Grant van Niekerk for negative comments he made on public TV about the suspension and fine he received for his ride on All Out For Six in the Big Cap.

Van Niekerk was given 21 days and a R50,000 fine for that ride.

He was then given a 90 day suspension, with 60 days suspended for three years, and a R100,000 fine, with R75,000 suspended for three years, for the aforementioned public comments.

However, Van Niekerk has appealed both charges.

Meanwhile, Andrew Fortune has been on suspension and hence the inquiry date about his ride on Cherry Oh Baby on May 7 has not yet been set. A date for the inquiry will be set when he returns to race-riding on Saturday.

Gavin Lerena has appealed against the charge of 90 days with 60 suspended and a R200,000 fine with R100,000 suspended regarding the WhipGates affair.

Jack Milner

Rain has been descending across the Eastern Cape and that has resulted in a waterlogged turf track at Fairview.

Friday’s racing was set to take place on that surface with a couple of feature races on the card but with penetrometer readings varying between 26 and 40 resulting in an inconsistent going, the decision was taken to move the meeting to the Polytrack.

All times and distances remain the same.

As a result there have been a number of scratchings.

In most cases this is unlikely to have too much of an influence on the outcomes of the races but the move is likely to work very well for Mercantour who lines up in Race 6, the Fairview 1400 (Non-Black Type) over 1400m.

Alan Greeff and Richard Fourie team up with this five-year-old gelding who arrived in Greeff’s yard as a six-time winner from 31 starts and it only took him three runs at Fairview to get off the mark.

The Var gelding did so in style, drawing clear to an impressive 3.25-length win over Speed Racer on the Fairview Polytrack over 1200m.

That was only his second run on the Polytrack, and he clearly enjoyed it, so he looks hard to beat, although he has yet to win over the distance.

However, the way he finishes off his races over sprint distances suggests that the course and distance may suit him better this time.

Earlier on the card, the Justin Snaith-trained Wild Applause should prove a solid banker for all permutations. The Vercingetorix filly lines up in Race 2, a Maiden Plate over 1200m.

Although still winless after eight starts, she has finished second on three occasions and has been running well for jockey Muzi Yeni. She looks tough to beat.

She is untried on the Polytrack.

Jack Milner’s selections

Race 1: 1 Danish Dynamite, 6 Silvan Mistress, 9 Zumsee, 2 Darlingbudsofmay

Race 2: 1 Wild Applause, 11 Star Of Elena, 5 Dancing In Winter, 3 Midnight Music

Race 3: 14 Royal Kingdom, 1 Green Okra, 12 Star Trooper, 2 Pyro Edition

Race 4: 13 Perfect Trust, 4 Hugsandhighfives, 2 Kilmonivaig, 3 Smashing

Race 5: 3 Cliff Top, 9 Speed Racer, 1 Anuschka’s World, 6 Forest Spy

Race 6: 1 Mercantour, 3 Silver Falcon, 4 Bush Tracker, 5 Gimme’s Laddie

Race 7: 7 Trip To Maputo, 1 Three Rocks, 4 Gimme’s Lassie, 2 Gocekwithlove

Race 8: 5 Volare E Mambo, 9 In The Green Zone, 11 Courageous, 6 Got The Fever

BEST BET

Race 2: 1 Wild Applause

VALUE BET

Race 4: 13 Perfect Trust

BEST SWINGER

Race 3 1×14

BIPOT

R40

Leg 1: 1

Leg 2: 1

Leg 3: 1, 14

Leg 4: 2, 3, 4, 8, 13

Leg 5: 3, 9

Leg 6: 1, 3

PLACE ACCUMULATOR

R144

Leg 1: 1

Leg 2: 14

Leg 3: 2, 3, 4, 13

Leg 4: 3, 9

Leg 5: 1

Leg 6: 1, 4, 7

Leg 7: 5, 9, 11

PICK 6

R1920

Leg 1: 1, 14

Leg 2: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 13

Leg 3: 1, 3, 9

Leg 4: 1, 3

Leg 5: 1, 2, 4, 7

Leg 6: 3, 5, 6, 9, 11

JACKPOT 1

R192

Leg 1: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 13

Leg 2: 1, 3, 9

Leg 3: 1, 3

Leg 4: 1, 2, 4, 7

JACKPOT 2

R120

Leg 1: 1, 3, 9

Leg 2: 1, 3

Leg 3: 1, 2, 4, 7

Leg 4: 3, 5, 6, 9, 11

Journalism (red cap) has nowhere to go but Umberto Rispoli is about to force him through a non-existant gap (MJC Photo). 

‘Quit Riding Him Like A Rented Mule’: Steve Asmussen Slams Umberto Rispoli’s Preakness Ride

Ultimately, Asmussen blames the rough riding he sees in all races, including this year’s Kentucky Derby, on a lack of attention from the stewards

Chelsea Hackbarth (Paulick Report)

Hall of Fame trainer Steve Amussen is still hopping mad over the rough riding that occurred in this year’s Preakness Stakes. His contender Clever Again seemed to get the worst of it, slammed into the rail by eventual winner Journalism, checked hard by jockey Jose Ortiz, and eased home to finish last.

There has been much public debate over which jockey was at fault for the incident: was it Umberto Rispoli aboard Journalism trying to go through a hole which wasn’t there, or was it Flavien Prat aboard Goal Oriented turning in and trying to pin him against the rail?

In Asmussen’s mind, there’s no debate. He blames Rispoli for putting the horse in a dangerous situation.

“I strongly believe that Prat’s horse turns in when he gets hit in the ass,” Asmussen told Steve Byk’s At The Races radio show this week. “That’s what happens when you get hit in the ass; if your ass goes one way, what direction does your head go? I mean, come on.

“He had the most horse, and he had the best horse in the race, and he won the race by a half-length. He was loaded. He had a shot to go out at the three-eighths. I guess he didn’t think he had enough horse to go around them, so he better get lucky and get through.”

Asmussen said that since Rispoli had a chance to avoid being pinned against the rail altogether, by going around a trio of horses at the three-eighths pole, there was simply no reason for putting himself, his horse, and other horses and riders in danger.

“Quit riding him like a rented mule!” Asmussen exclaimed. “I spoke with Robby [Albarado] about Curlin a million times, with Florent [Geroux] about Gun Runner, but I can’t imagine. Maybe they’ve got another one back at the barn, a replacement for him.

“How would you like to be Luis Saez and get taken down on Maximum Security in the Derby, and then watch that go official?”

Ultimately, Asmussen blames the rough riding he sees in all races, including this year’s Kentucky Derby, on a lack of attention from the stewards. There was an inquiry into the Preakness stretch run, but no change was made to the order of finish. Details about potential sanctions against the jockeys are expected later Thursday or early Friday.

“I think it’s on the stewards,” said the trainer. “What we’re under to get a horse to run, and how sound they are, who they’re gonna let run here, there, and the other. I mean, that’s hard enough to keep ’em going in a straight line carrying their own weight. How about you quit letting them run into each other?

“At no point is what actually is happening being addressed. It’s commented on, but it’s never addressed. They’ll pull you up on the carpet over a licensing issue or something like that, but putting people and horses in danger, ‘Oh, I don’t see nothin’.’

“You question any of them, and ‘How dare you show that amount of disrespect?’ How about show a little respect to the horses, the reason we’re all here. Can’t we do better?”

As for Clever Again, Asmussen is extremely concerned that the lightly-raced colt could exit his Preakness Stakes run with “some PTSD.”

“How’s he going to feel with horses on his outside going forward?” the trainer asked. “We’ll do our best to ease him back into it, but I think when you go to working him in company and changing sides, we’re gonna have to be crossing those roads when you come to them. I think right now we’re just extremely concerned with his physical condition, and I think if we can get him feeling 100 percent, that’ll help with his mental condition.”

Picture: City Of Troy became Aidan O’Brien’s tenth Epsom Derby victor last year.

Epsom Derby 2025: O’Brien Sets Another Teaser Ahead of Blue Riband Event

By James Franklin (worldinsport.com)

Top Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien has left sports bettors scratching their heads after leaving five horses in the 2025 Epsom Derby on June 7.

The Lion In Winter, Delacroix, Lambourn, Puppet Master and Shackleton are O’Brien’s quintet of contenders for the Group 1 event next month.

Like the unpredictability of bingo, determining which horse has the best chance of winning the race for O’Brien is tricky.

In some respects, identifying which ball will be next out of the chute may be easier than making a definitive call on O’Brien’s runners.

O’Brien has won the race on ten previous occasions, including the last two editions with Auguste Rodin and City Of Troy.

They both ran poorly in the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket before returning to form with a vengeance in the Derby.

The Lion In Winter finished sixth in the Dante Stakes at York on his seasonal reappearance, sparking a significant shake-up in the betting market.

The horse drifted out to 6/1 for the big race, but has subsequently been backed in to 5/2 following some positive comments from O’Brien.

He indicated before Dante that the horse would improve for the run and believed he would be in perfect shape to show his proper form in the Derby.

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“We always thought what happened at York with The Lion In Winter could happen, but he needed to run if he was going to go to the Derby,” O’Brien said.

“We were very happy with the run. He jumped, he was fresh and things didn’t work. He would have probably been a good third but he got stopped halfway down the straight.

“If he hadn’t jumped into the bridle and wanted to tear off early, that would have been another couple of lengths.”

While the script over the past two years is a useful indicator of The Lion in Winter’s chances, it would be foolish to underestimate stablemate Delacroix.

He landed the Leopardstown Derby Trial last time and had subsequent Chester and Lingfield winners Lambourn and Puppet Master behind him in the Ballysax Stakes at the same course.

The three-year-old son of Dubawi has never been out of the first two in seven career starts, and his greater experience could be crucial at Epsom.

Charlie Appleby’s Ruling Court could be the biggest threat to O’Brien’s hopes of winning the Derby for a record-extending 11th time.

The 2000 Guineas winner is stepping up to twelve furlongs for the first time, but Appleby feels he is classy enough to handle the extra distance.

Appleby previously won the race with Masar (2018) and Adayar (2021) and is eager to add another Derby success to his career CV.

Epsom Derby 2025 Entries
Al Wasl Storm – Owen Burrows
Damysus – John & Thady Gosden
Delacroix – Aidan O’Brien
Green Storm – Charlie Johnston
Lambourn – Aidan O’Brien
Lazy Griff – Charlie Johnston
Luther – Charlie Fellowes
Nightime Dancer – Richard Hannon
Nightwalker – John & Thady Gosden
Opportunity – William Haggas
Pride of Arras – Ralph Beckett
Puppet Master – Aidan O’Brien
Purview – DK Weld
Rogue Impact – James Owen
Rogue Millions – James Owen
Ruling Court – Charlie Appleby
Sea Scout – Simon & Ed Crisford
Shackleton – Aidan O’Brien
Stanhope Gardens – Ralph Beckett
Tennessee Stud – Joseph Patrick O’Brien
The Lion In Winter – Aidan O’Brien
Too Soon – Gary & Josh Moore
Tornado Alert – Saeed bin Suroor
Tuscan Hills – Raphael Freire
Wimbledon Hawkeye – James Owen

Which trainer became the first in North America to have 10,000 wins?

Picture: The picture gves away the answer.