Champs off to a cracking start in new season

Racing’s newly crowned champions continued on their winning ways as a new season got underway this week.

The game might be taking a breather from elite competition, but the show goes on.

The 2023/24 season ended on Wednesday 31 July and its leading lights reflected on a memorable period – as the game in South Africa gained strength and vitality following the existential scare of the early ’20s.

The next morning it was time to saddle up to face challenges ahead.

Vaal and Durbanville

The first day of 2024/25 featured two race meetings – one at the Vaal and the other at Durbanville.

Newly crowned champion jockey and record-breaker Richard Fourie continued his plunder with three wins in Cape Town. Fourie took just a couple of days off after Sunday’s Gold Cup Day at Greyville, where he capped a momentous 12 months with a 377th victory – completing a tally that is likely to stand for many years.

Justin Snaith, who narrowly defended the national trainer title, also clocked up a treble at the Durbanville fixture.

And it was three on the board for stallion Gimmethegreenlight, celebrating his third sires’ championship and second title in a row – with two of his progeny winning at Durbanville and one at the Vaal.

Leading breeder Wilgerbosdrift & Mauritzfontein registered two wins, one at each venue; while the champion owner, Gaynor Rupert’s Drakenstein, had a sole success – courtesy of Fourie and Snaith with the filly Charlotte Bronte, who landed the last race at the country course.

Speaking of owners, Greg Bortz and Gina Goldsmith, victorious in the country’s premier race, the Hollywoodbets Durban July, got off to a good start when Stated, a colt they own in partnership with fellow prolific owner Nick Jonsson, broke his maiden.

Punters – the people who really matter – had a mixed start to the new season, with several fancied horses fulfilling expectations at the Vaal but a few bombs dropping down south.

The winners of Durbanville Races 5, 6 and 7 had starting prices of 40-1, 20-1 and 50-1 – which resulted in a Pick 6 carryover. The Race 6 Quartet paid a tidy R60,657.

Some final statistics for the 2023/24 season:

STALLIONS
(name, origin, stakes won)
Gimmethegreenlight (Aus) R30.7m
Vercingetorix (SA) R28.4m
Querari (Ger) R16.6m
Master Of My Fate (SA) R15.6m
Rafeef (Aus) R14.1m

BREEDERS
(name, wins/runs, stakes won)
Wilgerbosdrift & Mauritzfontein (266/2266) R32.7m
Drakenstein (173/1257) R30.8m
Varsfontein (140/1163) R22.2m
Klawervlei (159/1655) R17.0m
Ridgemont (134/981) R15.7m

OWNERS
(name, wins/runs, stakes won)
Drakenstein (54/355) R13.9m
Hollywood Syndicate (117/918) R13.1m
Sabine Plattner (16/60) R7.1m
Nick Jonsson (32/195) R7.0m
Wernars family (51/329) R7.0m