How a singing jockey won the Gold Cup

It’s a long and winding road around Greyville, the triangular-shaped racecourse in the urban jungle of Durban.

A lot can happen on such a long journey, as many a favourite for the Gold Cup has found. And, if you listen carefully, you might even hear the ghostly song of a long-dead jockey.

This 3,200m event sees the horses start at the 400m pole and pass the finishing post and cheering crowds before they set out to complete a full lap of the course. It’s an epic race and one that has written a dramatic narrative in South African horse racing. On Saturday, one thing is certain – more lore will be made.

For many a long year, no one wanted their horse to start as favourite for the Gold Cup. Being top of the boards was the kiss of death with, incredibly, just one favourite winning in the first 60-odd renewals – one that struck an uncommon tuneful note.

The record of favourites has improved in the past decade or so – notably when training titans Terrance Millard and Mike de Kock came on the scene after 1980. The former posted a record seven Gold Cups, while the latter’s tally thus far is four.

The last decade saw an unprecedented sequence of four winning favourites – It’s my Turn (2018), Hermoso Mundo (2017), Enaad (2016) and Wild One (2015).

Of course, It’s My Turn is currently favourite to notch the double in Saturday’s big race.

However, the shadow of the “roughie” still hovers. In 2011 Aslan won at 45-1 and in 2013 Jeppe’s Reef was an unloved victor at 25-1. Last year saw 20-1 shot Dynasty’s Blossom dash punters’ well-laid plans as she claimed the golden urn full of red roses for her connections.

That aforementioned lone favourite of the early years was a horse called Golden Jewel, who won in 1969 – trained by George Azzie and ridden by the late great Marty Schoeman.

The story goes that Golden Jewel was looked after by a stable hand who talked and sang to his charge all day, to keep the beast calm and content. Trouble was, the horse enjoyed the warbling so much that he became grumpy and went on strike when the groom wasn’t crooning away on the actual racetrack.

So, Schoeman was persuaded to add singing to his considerable riding talents during races – which gave Golden Jewel the lift needed to easily win the famous marathon and break the favouritism jinx.

Saturday’s race won’t have musical entertainment or the usual throng of racegoers in the Greyville stands – thanks to the lockdown crowd ban. The racing operators have lamented this as they thought it was the 100th running of the Gold Cup and a festive occasion would have been most appropriate.

Well, it seems might be in luck, with some calculations showing it’s just the 99th renewal. There was no Gold Cup in 1942, during World War 2.

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