New sponsor for listed Secretariat stakes
Passionate racing man Keith Waterston's company Advance Fire Systems will be sponsoring this year's Listed Secretariat Stakes.
Passionate racing man Keith Waterston’s company Advance Fire Systems will be sponsoring this year’s Listed Secretariat Stakes to be run at Turffontein on December 6.
Advance Fire Systems provides the whole range of fire protection solutions from fire extinguishers and fire hydrants to automatic sprinkler systems, deluge spray systems, smoke detection and more.
The Secretariat Stakes is a 1 400m event for three-year-old horses and has been won in the last few years by the brilliant international Grade 1 winning sprinter Shea Shea and the SANSUI Summer Cup winner Wagner.
Keith’s brothers Gary and Russell were both popular and prolific heavyweight jockeys on the Highveld through the 1980s and 1990s.
Keith, while never being light enough to have joined them, has been a lifelong fan of the sport and continues to own horses. Such is his love for the game that in March this year he lent his name to a Conditions Plate race.
Gary now heads up the Gauteng branch of the South African Jockeys Academy (SAJA), and is becoming renowned for his ability to take apprentices to the next step after the basis they have been provided with at Summerveld.
Keith is married to Gail, who is coincidentally the sister of Summerveld’s SAJA riding master, Stephen Jupp. Gail is a partner in Advance Fire Systems and is also a passionate racehorse owner, and their son Dean works for Advance Fire System doing AutoCAD and has a share in a baby called Supa U with Lucky Houdalakis.
The Waterston name once echoed regularly around Highveld race tracks, so Advance Fire Systems is a fitting sponsor for a race named after one of the world’s all-time greatest racehorses.
