Well done Gold Circle- Piere Strydom

“To succeed at the highest level a jockey must have unwavering dedication and commitment to his career. That’s the only base to start from. Complete focus and hard work is essential.” The words of South Africa’s most decorated jockey, Michael Roberts.

Piere Strydom may not have 11 South African Jockey titles behind his name, but there is no doubting his dedication and commitment as he notched the 5000th winner of his 32-year career in the saddle aboard the crack colt Act Of War at Kenilworth on Sunday.

Piere started his riding career at the South African Jockey Academy in 1982, and like Roberts, his first career victory came at Scottsville aboard Saadabad for Johnny Nicholson.

Over the years Strydom garnered the nickname “Striker” for his deadly timing when riding a finish, getting up when all thought he was beaten. One of his most memorable races was the 1990 Joseph Dorfman Memorial at Gosforth Park aboard the Jean Heming-trained Tudor Rullah. Graeme Hawkins was calling the race. “With 200m to go he was 20 lengths off the pace; the only horse that couldn’t win! Piere says 15 but I reckoned it was 20, and he got up on the line.” Three short-heads separated the first four past the post.

Piere is well known for his perfect balance and ability to judge pace, whether it be from the front or producing his mount at just the right moment to collar the leaders and another career highlight came on 14 July 1990 when he rode seven winners on the card, including the Pick 6. But for Piere, JJ The Jetplane’s win in Hong Kong was the cherry on top.

“Our luck started with a good draw. The start was not the greatest but he soon recovered to get a position close to Rocket Man. We started putting pressure on Felix Coetzee early up the straight, which forced him to make a move on Rocket Man. At that stage I could determine how much we had left in the tank and knowing Felix had made his move I realised it was going to be close but I could get there. The finish ended up being a lot closer than I had hoped for, proving the class of both horses.”

Piere will be Gold Circle’s invited guest at Greyville Racecourse on Friday, 5 December 2014, where he will be available to sign autographs.

Well done Piere !