International Jockey Challenge.

Greg have to agree - I wish the international jocks could experience the Met and July. I wish the public could be exposed to the international jocks.

Perhaps this event should be held in the Cape next year to compare whether the area is the real problem.

They say location, location, location. Casino's are well placed, but this race course is not.

Putting it bluntly Al, I don't see how this race day benefits SA racing, I am not sure what is being achieved spending all that money?

If the event was well supported, well positioned (safe) and only top horses were on display perhaps Africa could have an event on the scale of Dubai's. There is nothing wrong with thinking global. The execution has to be correct though. (No I'm not talking about wwhen you leave Turfies at night)

A truley international event can only benifit SA racing. We need restrictions to be lifted so that horses can arrive and leave with ease. The african continent needs an international event

Don`t know how acurate the article is(sure i noticed a few mistakes)but the day made the UK press Hours ago,which surely helps to promote South African racing?

Printed on the Racing post..


South Africans too strong for Dettori's visiting team
By Michael Clower2.38PM 22 NOV 2009

Report: South Africa, Sunday

Turffontein: International jockeys' match

THE South African jockeys proved too strong for the Frankie Dettori-led international team for the second successive year at Turffontein in Johannesburg on Sunday.

In a carbon copy of the 2008 contest, the home team won three of the four match races before Richard Hughes saved the visitors from a whitewash by landing the Phumelela Gold Handicap (the last of the four) with a well-judged late run on Jack Sparrow.

However, Dettori was a close second on fellow 6-1 chance Emir and earned the most points (40) to take the award for the top jockey.

Hughes said: "Two strides from the line I thought Frankie was going to catch me but my horse is a brave little lad and he pulled out a little bit more."

The hero for the South Africans was Gavin Lerena, who broke Michael Roberts' record when riding 283 winners in a singleseason as an apprentice. He landed an 18-1 double on Winter Cruise and Jet Flyer.

Dettori tried to make every yard on the hard-pulling Roman Times in the Racing South Africa Handicap and the way he looked back between his legs as he turned into the straight suggested he had plenty in the tank.

He promptly set sail for home but Lerena pounced late on Winter Cruise to rob him of victory.

Dettori promptly high-fived Lerena, much to the winning rider's delight.

Lerena said: "For a youngster like me to ride with Frankie Dettori and all these greats is awesome."

With points down to 12th place, the final score was 208 for the South Africans and 188 for the visitors.

Mick Kinane and Jimmy Fortune both rode a fourth but Seb Sanders didn't trouble the scorers.

The South Africans had the better of the draw but knowledge of the horses also playeda big part.

Anton Marcus, successful on Muamba, had also ridden the filly on her previous start and reported to trainer Mike Azzie that she ran too freely with blinkers on. He suggested that they should be taken off for this race.

Hughes also availed himself of local advice. He consulted Johnny Geroudis who won on Jack Sparrow last time and took his tip to delay his challenge as late as possible.

Hibs we had this event last year, what good did it do for SA racing...nothing or maybe someone can give me an answer?

Lets be honest here, this event is staged to please all the fat cats it has no impact on the local punter or owner in SA...??

AL you have a valid point, international horses competing here would certainly draw the crowned....but the stakes??

SA racing is a waste of time where the British market is concerned. I know loads blokes from the Far East and they will bet on anything 24 hours a day. They don't touch the South African racing.

Greg is correct its only for the benefit of those who have the money and also those liked to be photographed with the stars so that they can stick it in their "do you know who I know" CV

Greg , appeasing Corporate racegoers and businesses is a must,look how hard it is to attract new sponsors and owners.

Like they do in shops and Supermarkets with loss leaders,to try and attract new customers.

Im sure those that decided to attend enjoyed them selves more than a normal race day?

JACK MILNER - "IT’S a dream come true." Those were the words of Gavin Lerena after finishing the International Jockeys’ Challenge as the leading rider at Turffontein on Sunday.

The meeting was originally scheduled for Saturday on the standside track but the weather caused a shift to yesterday on the inside track. The clouds finally dissipated and racing took place.

The South African contingent of Anton Marcus, Piere Strydom, Felix Coetzee, Anthony Delpech, Richard Fourie and Lerena won the four-race contest with 208 points against the 188 points acquired by the European squad of Frankie Dettori, Richard Hughes, Jimmy Fortune, Seb Sanders, Mick Kinane and Halis Karatas.

Lerena was top rider with 55 points while Hughes finished second on 46 points. Third was Dettori (40 points) and fourth place went to Marcus, who because of scratchings only had two rides, on 39 points.

The irony is that Lerena was originally the first reserve and only got into the SA team when Kevin Shea pulled out to ride Eagle Mountain in Hong Kong. However, the young rider displayed not only fine riding skills, but big-match temperament to win two of the races in tight finishes and scored a third-place finish in Race 8 on Freiburg.

"It’s awesome for a youngster like me to ride against Frankie and the best jockeys in the world. To win it is a dream come true,’’ said Lerena.

This could also be a watershed moment in his career as a victory of this calibre will give Lerena the confidence to realise his full potential.

Perhaps his most important win came in Race 5 when he brought home Winter Cruise for Sean Tarry. Dettori rode Roman Times for Weiho Marwing and knew he had a horse who stays all day. With nobody keen to go to the front Dettori chose to set a moderate pace and halfway up the final straight it looked as if he had the field cold. But Lerena got to work on Winter Cruise and got his nose in front on the post.

"Frankie rode a brilliant race,’’ confirmed Lerena. "He went very slowly the whole way but that played into my hands. Mr Tarry said to ride him quietly coming into the straight and when he’s balanced, to get stuck into him. It’s nice when it works out.’’

Lerena was back in the winner’s box in Race 7 where he dished out the same treatment to teammate Delpech as he had to Dettori. When Delpech brought Gunner Girl from the back of the field to hit the front with just 75m to run the Brett Webber-trained runner looked home and hosed.

But along came Lerena on Jet Flyer and, as he did two races earlier, got up just short of the line to earn his second win. "Nobody gave me a chance when I was a youngster so I decided to give one to Gavin,’’ quipped Delpech later.

SA captain Marcus got the ball rolling for the local team when winning Race 4 on Muamba for Michael Azzie. The SA rider took the filly to the front and kept her rolling to hold off Apple Princess (Fourie) and Romantic Girl (Karatas).

The final leg produced the most exciting finish of the day with just 0.75 lengths covering the first five runners home. In the end it was Hughes who got the nod on Jack Sparrow, just holding off Dettori on Emir while Lerena claimed third spot aboard Freiburg.

Fortune also smiled on two of the jockeys as they struck up a friendship. SA champion jockey Andrew Fortune and his Irish counterpart, Jimmy Fortune, obviously hit off during the week together and as Jimmy said: "Andrew, you certainly had me laughing the entire week.’’

Well guys its late on a Sunday night, but had a magic day and sorry not more people were at the track to enjoy, I met the jocks and what a pleasure top class racing well done to the organisers.





MICK AND HIS MISSUS




MJ ODENDAAL AND HIS GIRLFRIEND,HOPING TO BE BACK IN THE SADDLE SOON

Just read that Article from the Racing post again,Frankie finished 3rd on 40 points and not first and when did Gavin Lerena ride 283 winners in a single season?

The solution is to have a global series - there should be a leg in Dubai, USA, UK , France Australia,Ireland etc as we have in F1 - you need the backing of Godolphin (Atjebi should have been first on the list for invites) If you have a global series you can get global sponsorship and increase the stakes for the day - The final should be held in Dubai in carnival time. This won't get people to the races locally - the only way to do that is to find a new audience (forget looking at the current crop of punters - they are old and tired - myself included) You need to address the masses asap - There is a bookmaker in the JHB city centre the shop is full but there is only one person working on racing the other eight tellers are there for soccer - this suggests that there is a strong gambling community that needs to be tapped into - how one does this is another story - advertising is the key - If you want turnover to rise you cannot sell the same product to a dwindling market and expect it to rise - best to go mainstream - forget 94.7 and 702 - aim for Kaya, Metro the Sowetan etc or you will never get new punters. PUNTERS are the key to the survival and growth of the sport not owners. If you can grow your punter base your owner base will grown as punters decide to take the step into ownership. I received a pricing of advertising rates from the Independent Newspapers Gauteng last week - a full page add in the STAR costs R155 606.40 ex vat. I'm not sure of the readership but I remember the Sowetan being around 2 million per day - If you were a sponsor would you rather take out a full page add or pay to sponsor a race day? I know what i'd do ... I'd like to know how many people in the tabs could name you the sponsors of yesterday's event or tell you what product they sell. Racing should be SPENDING a good chunk of daily income on mainstream advertising(outside of the racing pages) or like Hillbrow it will die a slow agonising death(the diehards that failed to move to Sandton and Midrand soon found they'd have to close down shop while those that sold out before the crash were rewarded) The first port of call should be to get the daily P6, PA and Jackpot dividends highlighted on radio/tv/front page in the mass media as it was before(pay for it if you have to). In today's woeful economy people are looking to get out via a dream so provide them with hope. They need to know that R6 could net you R400k etc. Common greed or desparation will perk the intrest of the future punter and as they say ' and away they go'. No magic wand needed just sell the dream. As a fan there was nothing better than watching those jocks ride - watching a finish with horses spread across the track (rather than bunched against the rail) the placement was top class so the actual event highlighted the sporting side of racing - the empty stands highlighted the punting side.(before my detractors have a go at me for only suggesting this now I sang this song to all and sundry including various top people at Phumelela and the RA and have never changed my views on the subject)

Here her Mr H - Well put.

The betting shops are full of soccer punters because of the sport not only the punting.

The more punting that gets pushed without highlighting the sport of racing the quicker it will die.

Huge opportunity missed yesterday to highlight the sport. Agree with Greg a lot of money spent on a few people at the track. What about those at home who cant make the event. Granted some of the footage was superb but it was limited. We follow everything else the world does surely we should be looking at going Breeders Cup, Dubai World Cup etc in terms of coverage. You must make the public want to attend.

Look at what Jono Snaith did for the queens plate last year. I now want to attend that event one day. From the scraps of coverage that I saw yesterday, nothing makes me to excited about attending yesterdays event, as much as I would like to see Frankie and co.

One of the chief problems with racing is the fact that spectators are pretty much far removed from the action. We see the last bits of a finish, hence the need for alternate entertainment at racing events. There is no easy fix for this particular problem though, unless you have a "floating" stadium that moves with the action. (think big)