Turf Talk Newsletter – 31 July, 2025

Striker Signs Off On 5621 Wins

Piere “Striker” Strydom’s final career winner was the St. John Gray-trained and homebred Bezrin gelding After Hours (JC Photos)

Piere “Striker” Strydom’s last day as a professional rider saw him add two more winners and end his glittering career on 5621 wins, a record for a South African jockey.

His strengths were seen in both of his wins.

In his first ride of the day on the Sean Tarry-trained Vercingetorix gelding Xenophon he waited patiently after finding second place from a tricky draw in the maiden over 1200m, but at the same time did not let the pacemaker Power Of Pearls get too far ahead, as the latter had made a fine debut so if ready after a six month layoff she had the capability of winning the race. Piere timed his run to perfection and made his move just before the 200m mark, sweeping past Power Of Pearls and winning by 4,60 lengths to convert 5/10 favouritism.

Tarry thanked the owners Anthony and Angela Beck for allowing him to run Xenophon at a time of the year he would not normally have run him. He had identified this horse as giving Striker a good opportunity at his last meeting and it was fitting the legend had a winner in one of South Africa’s most famous sets of racing silks, the “brown with a white V bib and white cap with brown spots” colours of the Beck family, originally owned by the famous owner/breeder Graham Beck.

In Piere’s next ride he finished unplaced on Nkwenkwezi, who did not make progress in the straight after finding a one wide position with cover in fifth place, having jumped from a wide draw.

The last win of Striker’s career was on the St. John Gray-trained seven-year-old Bezrin gelding After Hours and after dictating from draw one in the 1450m contest Piere left something in reserve in his usual canny fashion. When the challengers came he used the reserves to repel them and win by a length to convert 17/10 favouritism.

After Hours usually comes from off them, so Piere feared St. John would not be liking what he was seeing, but he stuck to what he thought was the right thing to do after finding himself in front. He spoke of the many winners he had had for St. John and their on and off times, but he was clearly very grateful for the winner and heaped praise on the man who owns and breeds the horses he trains and as Piere quipped “he sometimes rides them too.”

In Striker’s last ever professional ride he led on the Mike and Adam Azzie-trained What A Winter filly Summer Winter, but she was swamped late and finished a 3,45 length fourth.

Eight of the races at the nine race Vaal Classic track meeting were named in Striker’s honour, namely:

Piere Strydom 5600 Winners And Counting Juvenile Plate;

Piere Strydom Member Of 300 Wins In-a-season Club Maiden Plate;

Striker And JJ The Jet Plane Take On Hong Kong In 2010 Maiden Plate;

London News – Strydom’s 1996 Durban July Triumph Maiden Plate;

Tudor Rullah 1990 Strydom’s Greatest Ride Maiden Plate;

Champion’s Day Six – Strydom’s Unforgettable Haul Fm 82 Divided Handicap;

Striker’s Seven Wins In A Day, Twice In His Career Mr 72 Handicap;

The Legend Piere Striker Strydom Rode The Pick 6 In July 1990 Fm 76 Handicap;

The other race on the day was run in memory Of Barend Botes.

Piere reached the career 5000 win mark when winning the Gr 2 Selangor Cup over 1600m at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth on the Joey Ramsen-trained Act Of War on November 22, 2014.

Then on May 14, 2015, he reached 5000 wins in South Africa aboard the Lucky Houdalakis trained Allegorical.

His overseas tally was 72 wins.

Among those was the Gr 1 Hong Kong Sprint on 12 December, 2010, which he regards as the most memorable victory of his career and it was on the horse he regards as the best he ever rode, J J The Jet PLane.

Striker was off for over a year from April 2021 to June 2022 and rode a winner in his fist comeback ride on the Justin Snaith-trained Nexus.

His comeback was intended to be in order to get eleven more wins and retire when he reached 5500 career wins.

However, he became associated with some top horses and spoke of how difficult it was to call it a day in such circumstances.

He ultimately accumulated another 132 wins in his comeback and that included four Gr 1 wins, two on the Michael Roberts-trained See It Again, one on the Mike de Kock-trained Humdinger and one on the Brett and James Crawford-trained Fatal Flaw.

Piere’s riding seemed to get better and better as he got older and this is shown in the statistics.

In his first full season back he had 17 wins at a strike rate of 8.42%.

In his second full season back he had 42 wins at 16.87%.

In the season completed today he had 69 wins at a strike rate of 23.88% which was only behind the strike rates of Gavin Lerena and Richard Fourie on the national log.

Farewell Striker and thank you for the wonderful memories!

Record-Breaking Snaith Dominant - Local Campaign Likely For Eighteen

Eight On Eighteen is resting back in Cape Town and is pictured enjoying himself in a paddock at Futura Park. (Picture Supplied).

Justin Snaith landed the National Trainers Championship for the sixth time and for the third time in succession and his 2024/2025 earnings of R31,013,601 (excludes restricted stakes) were a new record, smashing Sean Tarry’s previous record of R27,999,563 set in the 2015/2016 season.

Snaith is threatening to become as dominant in this championship as he is in the Cape Championship, which he won this season for the 13th time in succession.

His nationwide earnings were R14,811,005 clear of the R16,202,596 earnings of second-placed Alan Greeff and are R15,603,907 clear of the R15,409,694 earnings of third-placed Sean Tarry.

Snaith scored 170 wins nationwide, which is identical to the number of wins accumulated by Alan Greeff.

Snaith’s first national championship in 2011/2012 actually came one season before his first Cape championship as Mike Bass and Joey Ramsden were powerful forces in the Cape in the first decade of this millenium and beyond.

However, he has not relinquished his grip on the Cape Championship since landing it for the first time in 2012/2013.

This season his earnings in the Cape were R23,187,869, well clear of Candice Bass-Robinson and Vaughan Marshall, who were in second and third place respectively with earnings of R10,457,600 and R10,127,494.

Meanwhile, the likely Equus Horse Of The Year Eight on Eighteen is resting, but plenty of research has been done by Snaith and connections in to planning his future.

Jonathan Snaith said that after a thorough review of the travel requirements for competing in Dubai, Saudi Arabia and other countries a local campaign was being favoured for the time being.

He said, “While a final decision has yet to be made by his connections, it’s more probable that Eight On Eighteen will remain in South Africa for the upcoming season, with the 2026 L’Ormarins King’s Plate and WSB Cape Met as potential targets, before considering an overseas campaign. He’s a lightly raced colt with immense potential, and all plans will be made with his best interests in mind – both as a racehorse and a future stallion.”

Fourie, Snaith, Tarry, Drakenstein And Bomber The Gr 1-Winning Leaders

Richard Fourie’s nine Gr 1 wins constituted 33,33% of the 27 Gr 1s available during the season. (Candiese Lenferna Photography)

Justin Snaith led the Gr 1 count among the trainers this season, landing five Gr 1s with two different horses as Eight On Eighteen (Lancaster Bomber) landed three Gr 1s and Double Grand Slam (Vercingetorix) two.

Sean Tarry had the most individual Gr 1 winners with his trio Cosmic Speed (Querari), Legend Of Arthur (Lancaster Bomber) and Mia Moo (Vercingetorix) all landing one Gr 1 apiece.

Alec Laird landed two Gr 1s with two different horses, Atticus Finch (Master Of My Fate) and Fire Attack (Fire Away) and so did Mike and Mathew de Kock with Dave The King (Global View) and Jan van Goyen (Master Of My Fate), Dean Kannemeyer with the full brothers Gimme A Prince (Gimmethegreenlight) and The Real Prince (Gimmethegreenlight), Glen Kotzen with Rascova (Lancaster Bomber) and Good For You (Legislate) and Alan Greeff with Direct Hit (Canford Cliffs) and Golden Palm (Master Of My Fate).

Vaughan Marshall landed two Gr 1s with one horse, One Stripe (One World) and Brett and James Crawford also landed two Gr 1s with one horse, Fatal Flaw (New Predator).

There were single Gr 1 wins for Joe Soma with Fiery Pegasus (Captain Of All), Fabian Habib with Confederate (Fire Away), Stuart Ferrie with Gladatorian (Vercingetorix), Tony Peter with Buffalo Storm Cody (Buffalo Bill Cody) and Corne Spies with William Robertson (Rafeef).

Lancster Bomber was the leading sire of Gr 1 winners for the season with his three individual Gr 1 winners winning five Gr 1s between them.

Vercingetorix also had three individual Gr 1 winners in the season and they landed four Gr 1s between them.

Master Of My Fate also had three individual Gr 1 winners, each landing one Gr 1 apiece.

Fire Away had two individual Gr 1 winners each winning one Gr 1 apiece.

Gimmethegreenlight also had two individual Gr 1 winners who won one Gr 1 each.

One World had one Gr 1 winner, One World, and he won two Gr 1s.

New Predator also had one individual Gr 1 winner, Fatal Flaw, who won two Gr 1s.

Sires who had one individual Gr 1 winner of one Gr 1 race were Rafeef, Global View, Legislate, Querari, Buffalo Bill Cody, Captain Of All and Canford Cliffs.

Richard Fourie was the leading Gr 1-winning rider with nine Gr 1s, which consituted 33,33% of the 27 Gr 1s available, Gavin Lerena had five Gr 1 wins, Craig Zackey had four, Callan Murray had three and there was one each for Piere Strydom, Chad Little, Sean Veale, Calvin Habib, Ryan Munger and Andrew Fortune.

The leading breeders of Gr 1 winners was Drakenstein Stud who bred three individual Gr 1 winners (Eight On Eighteen, One Stripe and Legend Of Arthur) who won six Gr 1s betwwen them.

Varsfontein Stud bred three individual Gr 1 winners too, Double Grand Slam, Atticus Finch and Golden Palm, who won four Gr 1s between them.

Highveld's Chief Starter Reluctantly Retires

The last start for both Piere Strydom and Herman van der Westhuizen (picture via youtube)

Herman van der Westhuizen, the Highveld’s chief starter, also had his last day in his position today as he has reached the mandatory retirement age of 65.

He has been working at the start for 40 years and felt he had a good few years left in him.

He said, “it’s very sad. I still feel I’m good enough to do the job, but I’m 65 and I’ve got to retire.”

Herman joined the South African Jockey Academy in 1975.

He was a jockey for a few years, but had to give up as he got too heavy.

He recalled, “I began working at the start in 1985 as a a handler, it was a job Mr Curling organized for me. I was a handler until 2010 and then became the assistant starter.”

He later became the head starter.

He also used to ride work for the like of Ormond Ferraris, Charles Laird and Gary Alexander, but a bad fall ended his career in the saddle.

He said of the future, “I’m still going to be with the horses, schooling horses and everything for starting stalls, and I hope to get a job with a trainer as a stable employee so I can do more work with horses. I really enjoy the game, enjoy the horses and a lot of the people in the game.”

Chief stipe Ryan Hutchinson said about the retiring starter, “These guys you don’t just replace overnight. It takes many years of training. They’ve got to learn the body language of horses. They’ve got to accommodate the jockeys as best as they can. It’s not an easy job. And these guys are lost to the industry because it’s mandatory retirement, unfortunately. We would love to hold on to them, but these days come around.”

He concluded, “I think Herman is privileged to share the platform on the same day as Pierre Strydom, who is a real legend of our industry. All the best to Piere and Herman in their future endeavours.”

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Strydom, Zackey/Nieuwenhuizen, Lerena, Janse van Vuuren Doubles

Famous Lady (Talk Of The Town) gives Craig Zackey and David Nieuwenhuizen a double together (JC Photos)

Piere Strydom was one of a few double scorers at the Vaal today.

Craig Zackey and David Nieuwenhuizen combined for a double, Gavin Lerena had an individual double and Johan Janse van Vuuren had an individual double.

Lerena ends the season as national champion jockey for the second time and his 277 wins for the season, 18 more than second-placed Richard Fourie, were achieved at a strike rate of 24.80%.

Zackey was in third place on 247 win at 17.38%.

Strydom had 69 wins at 23.88% for 11th place on the log.

Janse van Vuuren had 50 wins at 15.92%.

Nieuwenhuizen’s double was welcome as he only had six wins during the season, but this respected Gr 1-winning trainer will hopefully bounce back next season.

Bank Street Looks A Livewire On The Poly

Bank Street’s only career win was at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth last May, but he has been tipped to win the ninth on Friday night at Hollywoodbets Greyville (Picture: Chase Liebenberg)

Devonne Govender (Race Coast)

Hollywoodbets Greyville hosts a ten-race programme this Friday, 1st August, kicking off the new racing season. The first race jumps at 15:10, with the final race scheduled for 20:25.

The Stuart Ferrie-trained Bank Street appears to have an outstanding chance of winning, with Serino Moodley aboard in race nine. The stable will be riding high after winning the HKJC Champions Cup (Grade 1) with Gladatorian last Sunday.

Bank Street ran on strongly to finish third from a wide gate and should be right in the mix again from a slightly better draw.

Teerex, from Wendy Whitehead’s stable, offers good value in this contest. Although he drew the widest barrier, he is capable of making an impact if he overcomes the draw. He travelled well in his last start and only lacked clear running at a crucial stage, so he must be included in all bets. With a bit of luck, he could very well win.

In race one, Emoyeni will be the firm first selection. The M J Odendaal-trained son of Rabada has been holding form well and finished strongly behind City Of Love last time out. A bold showing is expected.

Other horses to watch include Captain Clever, who is likely to improve after a decent provincial debut, as well as El Capitan, who is never far back, along with the consistent performer Carnarvon.

In race five, Record High impressed when winning his last start from a wide draw, he showed plenty of determination when powering home under Cole Dicken. Trained by Wendy Whitehead, this son of Gimmethegreenlight has every chance from the ace gate.

However, the race doesn’t end there. The Siboniso Ngcobo trained Eventidor will attempt to secure his fourth consecutive victory. Despite a challenging draw of 11, his recent form has been outstanding, so he must be included in all bets.

In the lucky last, Isikwishikwishi finished second in his previous outing, travelling smoothly into the straight before being edged out by Rollo The Viking late. He now gets the ace draw as well as the drop to 1200m so will be a major contender.

The main danger could come from She’s A Machine, from Stuart Ferrie’s yard. She ran a decent race last time and, from a good draw, will have a big say.

Overall, it looks to be a highly competitive card throughout and the Pick 6 could return a healthy dividend as there looks to be plenty of value available.

Cape Stallion Lands A Goodwood Gr 2

Expert Eye gelding Witness Stand after winning the G2 HKJC World Pool Lennox Stakes over seven furlongs under Hollie Doyle (Picture: Goodwood Press And Media)

Cape Breeders

Paardeberg Stud’s G1 Breeders’ Cup Mile winning sire Expert Eye enjoyed a big payday at Goodwood on Tuesday.

His son Witness Stand downed a top-class to land Tuesday’s G2 HKJC World Pool Lennox Stakes. In the process, the four-year-old claimed the biggest win of his career to date.

Trained by Dr Richard Newland & Jamie Insole, who were enjoying their first group winner on the flat as a partnership, Witness Stand raced prominently over the seven-furlong trip before kicking into a clear lead under Hollie Doyle.

William Haggas‘ Lake Forest attempted to run down the leader from off the pace, but he never looked like laying a glove on Witness Stand, who kept on well to score by two- and three-quarter lengths, with last year’s winner Audience back in third having been unable to go with the front pair in the straight.

The son of Expert Eye could now be set for a step up to Group 1 level, with connections eyeing a possible trip to France for the Prix de la Foret at Longchamp on Arc Day.

Insole added: “It is lucky that I put him in the Group 1 Prix de la Foret this morning. That is looking like a pretty good idea now. He is in the Hungerford Stakes but will have to carry a penalty in that now, so we will see.”

Whilst victory was straightforward for Witness Stand, there was plenty of drama even before the gates opened, with the two-time Lennox Stakes winner Kinross forced to be withdrawn after being kicked by Audience, while soon after the start, Royal Ascot winner Noble Champion was pulled up by Kieran Shoemark.

In landing the Lennox Stakes, Witness Stand made it four wins from 16 starts, with the gelding having also won the 2024 Listed Dubai Duty Free Cup Stakes.

He is the second group winner for Expert Eye in recent times, with the son of Acclamation also responsible for 2025 G3 Boyle SportsMeld Stakes winner Snellen.

Today's Question

What is unusual about Goodwood racecourse?

Picture: A scene from the popular annual Glorious Goodwood meeting.

FIELDS, Friday, 1 August

Hollywoodbets Greyville poly

Today’s Question Answer

For the long distance races at Goodwood the runners run the wrong way down the straight before going on to a loop that takes them out into the countryside before coming back to the straight.