Community of Overvaal host rural horse race for amateur jockeys and horses
Winners of all the races will take part in the upcoming Dundee July as this race was part of the preparations.
The small farming community of Overvaal hosted the Imizamo Yabagibeli Rural Horse Race on Sunday, 3 March, with amateur jockeys from the Gert Sibande Region taking part.
The race, called Umtelebhelo, was officially opened by the chairman of the province, Mr Joshua Shabalala.
A total of six races took place on the day.
The first race was the Grade 9 category and the horse, Khuzani from Msukaligwa, took first position, walking away with a prize of a blanket.
Mashonisa came second and G-String came third.
The second race was in the Grade 8 category and featured 14 horses.
Mpangele from the Dr Pixley Ka Isaka Seme Municipality walked away with the prize in first place. Icilongo came second and 1818 came third.
The third race was the Grade 7 horses and 14 horses took part.
Mgnuni from Msukaligwa took first place, earning the prize of a goat. Majazi came second, and Concrete settled for the third position.
Race four saw Grade 6 horses taking part and Isikebhe from Dr Pixley ka Isaka Seme came first. Basket came in second and Nkonjane rounded off the podium finishes.
Only five Grade 5 horses took part in the fifth race and Waskom came out on top, earning a goat for a prize. Msobo came second and Maskandi came third.
In the last race, only two Grade 4 horses featured and Icanawe defeated Mzansi to take first place.
Winners of all the races will take part in the upcoming Dundee July as this competition was part of the preparations.
The sport is an old tradition in rural communities with the amateur jockeys rearing their horses to compete in the races.
