Rachel Venniker had helped Joe Soma work ride some of his horses at Summerveld over the last two or three weeks and when she was walking past one morning he told her the ride was still available on Red Saxon for the Hollywoodbets Durban July and would she like to take it.
Red Saxon was all at sea in his first run at Hollywoodbets Greyville and Soma had been looking for a rider with more experience of the tight city course than the horse’s regular rider Julius Mariba.
Of course she jumped at the opportunity and will thus become the first woman to ride in the July.
That is an incredible achievement for somebody who only had her first ride in a professional race just over twelve months ago.
She admitted that being one of the riders in this year’s July final field of 18 had not really sunk in yet.
She said, “It is every jockeys dream to ride in the July and I used to day dream and imagine what it must be like. But it was always a distant dream and I didn’t think it would happen.”
Asked when she started believing it could happen, she said humbly, “When my name went down!”
Rachel had seven rides as a workrider in 2019 and 2020 for one win and a place.
As an apprentice in the professional ranks she has ridden 69 winners at a strike rate of 12.68%.
51 of her winners have come at the Hollywoodbets Greyville venue and 12 of those have been on the turf track.
She confirmed the Hollywoodbets Greyville turf circuit was her favourite track.
She said, “It suits my riding style. The straight is long enough to be able to ride at a comfortable pace and there are not too many ups and downs to negotiate.”
She is well aware of the climb from the July 2200m starting point to the Drill Hall, a hill many an inexperienced rider at Greyville has underestimated and thus used up too much energy early.
She said the more well known hill, which climbs from halfway around the turn to the top of the straight, was a gradual one which horses could handle, although she added one had to be careful not to use up too much energy improving position at this stage.
She not only has an affinity with the course but also with the horse.
She said, “I had been following Red Saxon in Johannesburg. I just always liked the look of him.”
Rachel said the butterflies had already started, but added the nerves would never become overwhelming.
“It will be important to just treat it as another race,” she said.
However, she plans meticulously for every race and will do the same for this one.
She will not only sit down with Joe Soma to discuss the race in detail but also sit down with her guv’nor and mentor Michael Roberts.
The latter will obviously also provide her with some insight into the July from a jockey’s point of view and some advice on how to ride it.
Red Saxon has drawn 14 and she is happy with that.
She said, “I think it might work in our favour.”
The July is known as race where not an inch is given so being drawn 14 allows one to be out of the early jostling.
Recent Julys have also shown higher draws to be favourable, because horses are able to build momentum into the straight as opposed to those who are stuck behind horses towards the inside.
The enormity of what Rachel has achieved might have sunk in at the Hollywood Durban July gallops yesterday morning.
Many of the big crowd who pitch up are not regular fans and the horses and jockeys are looked at in wonderment.
Rachel’s parents are not going to attend July day and instead will gather with friends and tune in while enjoying a braai.
One can only imagine how big the butterflies will be for them when the traditional massive roar of the crowd heralds the start of South Africa’s most exciting two-and-a-quarter minutes of sport.
Picture: Rachel Venniker being led in by her guv’nor Michael Roberts after winning recently on Luna Eclipse. (Candiese Lenferna)