J J The Jet Plane, rated by Piere Strydom as the best he ever rode (Picture: Gold Circle)
In part 2 of the series soon to be retired Striker was asked about the best horses he rode and his best racing memories and also about his favourite racecourse and fiercest rival and he touched on the greatest trainer and jockey debate.
He said, “The best horse would probably be JJ The Jet Plane. He had good gatespeed and enough speed to be in touch and then had a kick. At the 600m or 500m when all the other horses were off the bit he would still be cruising. There was also Jet Master and Gimmethegreenlight and London News. Goldmark had the best action of any horse I rode. He used to float. It didn’t feel as if his legs hit the ground, so it didn’t feel like a gallop, it was smooth.”
His two best racecoure memories were the Lucky Houdalakis-trained J J The Jet PLane winning the Gr 1 Hong Kong Sprint on December 12, 2010, and his first Hollywoodbets Durban July win on the Alec Laird-trained London News on July 6, 1996.
J J drew what turned out to be a great draw of eight in the Hong Kong Sprint over 1200m at Sha Tin.
The pacemaker Dim Sum was just one stall wide of him, while the speedy legend Rocket Man was just two inside of him.
Strydom was able to settle J J one wide in fourth place behind the cracking pace set by Dim Sum with Ultra Fantasy and Rocket Man in second and third respectively.
Turning for home Rocket Man angled out and with J J joining him on his outside and an almighty duel ensued.
Rocket Man had the edge until the final stride.
Striker then produced his famous magic in the finish, extracting a final lunge that saw him just get his nose in front.
It was a great moment for South African racing, because the Singapore-based Rocket Man was trained by ex-pat South Afican Pat Shaw and was owned by South African Fred Crabbia.
Striker said, “The way the race just worked out, you couldn’t have planned it any better. I don’t like to ever say ten out of ten, but that was close to a ten out of ten.”
He said about the first of his four July wins, “It was especially memorable because it was the 100th running. I remember at the traditional Friday night cocktail Henk Vos was there with his big painting and there was one spot left for the 100th winner and I can still remember saying to someone that I think my picture’s going to be up there. And it happened!”
“London News was a lekker horse to ride because he had gate speed, a lot of natural speed and he would travel right up there in front and he had a good kick. But at the top of the straight I thought with a light weight let me just let the reins go a bit and get a length or two for the short straight. But he accelerated way quicker than I had expected and that’s when he made up three or four lengths on the field. Obviously it was going to tell at the end and he was stopping quite badly at the end. I heard the horses coming and I was just hoping for the line and he held on. But I was a little bit doubtful whether he did hold on, because the angle obviously favours the outside horse (Sleek Machine, ironically ridden by Doug Whyte, who badly wanted to win as owner Laurie Jaffee took him off London News after his defeat in the Cape Guineas). So I was a bit worried but his ability got him through and he was made for Greyville. When the numbers came up there were almost tears and I was shouting and screaming, I think the whole grandstand heard me!”
Piere’s favourite racecoure might come as a bit of a surprise to some.
He said, “You know, it’s going to sound funny, but the Vaal is probably the nicest course in South Africa and the simple reason is because it’s flat, it’s wide and there are no funny little gaps, if I can call them that.”
“Why I’m saying that is because Turffontein would have been great had it not been for the downhill pull up, which makes it unpleasant. Even the international jockeys when they rode here questioned how they could make a track with a downhill pull up like that. The horses get tired or they start getting lazy when they pull up and then they stumble. Numerous jockeys have fallen there and had breakages over the years. And then also as you go down that hill, you’ve got the gap where they go out the gate and sometimes they duck out at the gate. I’ve seen jockeys going at pace going through the rails there. So it’s unfortunate, but it is not nice.”
He continued, “Hollywoodbets Kenilworth is a great track, but you’ve got the crossover. Horses will sometimes duck for it or dig their toes in or shy away from it.”
“Hollywoodbets Greyville has the best vibe. But when when you ride there with appies, who are learning learning the trade it has it’s difficulties and if you don’t get a position or you don’t jump well, you have often lost your race already.”
He mentioned Borrowdale as being a very good track, but for it’s rails and steel poles.
He remembered Douglas Whyte as being his fiercest rival.
He said, “He was very hungry to win the championship when we were both going for it the one year just before he went to Hong Kong. We were going head to head for probably about nine months into the season and then one day I realized I’d fallen behind a few winners and I hadn’t seen him ride any winners. So then I found out he was riding at Kimberley. So it made me keep up by having to ride Kimberley as well. Then a month later I saw that I’d fallen behind again and then I see he had started riding Zimbabwe, because in those days Zimbabwe counted, so that made me ride in Zimbabwe as well. I think I beat him by about eight, nine or ten wins in the end, but it was really so much traveling. But it just shows where being competitive and hungry for the game can get you (Douglas Whyte went on to win a record 13 Hong Kong Jockey Championships). In fact, when I rode with Doug we would actually box one another in during a race. If I knew he had a winning chance or he knew I had a winning chance we would actually ride to keep the other one in the pocket. After a while you just accepted it, because I knew I was going to get him back and he knew he was going to get me back.”
Piere felt the best trainers and best jockeys should simply be judged by their results.
However, he added, “In golf it is just you and your golf club and the same with tennis etc, but as a jockey or trainer you are working with a horse, so it is difficult to judge.”
He said, “This Longines best jockey in the world thing is a lot of rubbish. If you’re not based in Europe, Hong Kong or Japan and you’re not exposed to those big races you have no chance.”
He continued, “Looking at the greatest jockeys, Frankie Dettori is probably one of the best, but he’s traveled the world. What about some of the jockeys who have just been stuck at home and people didn’t realize how good they were?”
