RIDER Cup teams

Jockey Grant van Niekerk has pulled out of the Western Cape Eagles team taking part in the inaugural Interprov Rider Cup at Greyville on Saturday, July 18.



Van Niekerk declined to fulfil his commitment at the eleventh hour and has been replaced by Donovan Dillon.



Karl Niesius and Bernard Fayd’Herbe were approached but already had prior riding engagements and Dillon was selected in light of his pending relocation to Cape Town at the end of the month.



Four riders each from KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng and the Western Cape respectively will represent their provinces and compete for total prize money of R100 000.



Greyville patrons will be in for a treat of world class riding and topping the bill will be the R750 000 Gr 1 Mercury Sprint to be run at Greyville for the first time since the sale of Clairwood. Included in this field are Horse of the Year, Legislate and Tsogo Sun Sprint winner Captain Of All.



“The intention is to make this an annual Interprovincial Challenge that showcases the best of the best on Mercury Sprint day,” said Gold Circle’s Racing and Marketing Executive Graeme Hawkins. “This is something we have wanted to do for a while now.”



The final teams are:



Western Cape Eagles

Greg Cheyne

Donovan Dillon

Richard Fourie

Corne Orffer



Highveld Hawks

Raymond Danielson

S’Manga Khumalo

Gavin Lerena

Piere Strydom



KZN Falcons

Sean Cormack

Anthony Delpech

Anton Marcus

Muzi Yeni

Die kapenaars wen die besigheid loshande :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

The last time i checked, muzi ws 4th or 5th on the national log... Dnt think stewy nor de melo are near him..
Is deserves his place...hard working and can ride like a demon..as well can ride 52.... Yeni can ride

Meet the riders

Cheyne





Cheyne’s career got off to a slow start, drawing a blank in his first year as an apprentice and scoring only a single victory the following year. However, his career then took off and he has ridden over 1350 winners since 1994 including Big City Life who won the Vodacom Durban July in 2009. He has ridden internationally having spent time in Hong Kong and Singapore.

DILLON




Donovan Dillon is one of the rising stars of South African racing. Head Boy of his year at the South African Jockey’s Academy, he recently came out of his time and was judged good enough by Charles Laird to be entrusted with Ice Machine for his first ride in the Vodacom Durban July. He rode his first winner for racing legend Michael Roberts and his first winner on ‘July Day’ earlier this month when riding a superb race on Easy Lover for Duncan Howells. Dillon is a member of the Western Cape team courtesy of the withdrawal of Grant van Niekerk and of his imminent move to Cape Town at the end of the month.

FOURIE






Fourie is shortly bound for a second term in the highly competitive Hong Kong arena and has an exceptional record since starting his riding career just 13 years ago. He has notched over 900 winners in this short time and has cracked the century mark for a season on four occasions with 143 in the 2013/14 season. He suffered serious injury when Jet Explorer fell in last year’s Rising Sun Gold Challenge but has fully recovered and is in great form.

ORFFER





Scored his first winner as an apprentice aboard World Party in 1998 for Ashburton-based trainer Des Egdes. He then moved to the Highveld where he was apprenticed to Ormond Ferraris and then Michael Azzie. Orffer has had a rollercoaster ride through injury but did well in a recent stint in Mauritius before returning to South Africa as replacement for an injured Glen Hatt who at the time was Brett Crawford’s first call rider. After Hatt was forced to retire Orffer took over permanently. A natural light weight rider he has a great pair of hands.

DANIELSON




Danielson is having his best season ever in the saddle and at the time of writing had cracked his first century of winners in a season. His biggest wins to date have come aboard French Navy, winning the Gr 1 SA Classic and the Gr 1 Daily News 2000 aboard the Sean Tarry-trained gelding. His mounts have earned over R11 million this season.

KHUMALO




Current Champion Jockey and the first Black rider to win the Vodacom Durban July when scoring aboard Heavy Metal for trainer Sean Tarry in 2013. He has ridden over 950 winners after starting his first year as an apprentice with a blank. He rode 8 winners the following year before blossoming with 50 winners in his third year. His mounts have won over R18 million in stakes this season and is one of the most sought after riders on the circuit.

LERENA




Champion apprentice beating the legendary Michael Roberts’ record for the most number of winners as an apprentice, Lerena is now Champion Jockey elect having pulled well clear of the hard-chasing current Champion S’Manga Khumalo. Lerena has ridden over 1200 winners since starting his apprenticeship in 2002 and looks to have an almost unassailable lead in this year’s Jockeys’ Championship.

STRYDOM



One of the greatest riders to have ever graced the turf, Strydom has ridden over 5000 winners in his riding career that started in 1986. He has ridden in over 24500 races. He has won 73 Grade 1 races and has been Champion Jockey on six occasions. He has won the Vodacom Durban July twice, on London News in 1996 and Pomodoro in 2012.

CORMACK





Cormack has cracked a century of winners in his last three seasons and was the regular rider of the super mare Beach Beauty. Cormack is the first call rider for the Dennis Drier yard. Weight problems early in his career almost saw him giving up on a career in the saddle but after a spell in the doldrums his career picked up in 1998/99 season when he won 57 races. His current tally stands at over 1300 winners.