International Jockeys’ Challenge

A team of top international jockeys will face off against the cream of South Africa’s riders in the two-day RACING IT’S A RUSH International Jockeys’ Challenge on Friday and Saturday next week, 13 and 14 November.

Ruling champion jockey Gavin Lerena will lead the South Africans, while Kieren Fallon captains the international side.

The International Jockeys’ Challenge comprises four races each at meetings at Fairview in Port Elizabeth on Friday and Turffontein on Saturday.

There is a ballot for mounts in each of the Challenge races and runners are seeded beforehand in an attempt to ensure both teams have roughly the same calibre of rides overall.

Points are awarded as follows: first – 30; second – 15; third – 12; fourth – 10; fifth – 8; sixth – 7; seventh – 6; eighth – 5; ninth – 4; 10th – 3; 11th – 0; 12th – 0. If a jockey does not ride in a race, he gets seven points.

The team that scores the most points wins the Challenge and there are awards for the top rider in each leg and the top rider overall.

South Africa has won five of the seven International Jockeys’ Challenges since the concept was reintroduced by Phumelela and the Racing Association in 2008.

Profiles of the South African riders:

Gavin Lerena: Captain. Age – 30. Riding weight – 57kg. SA champion 2014-15; SA champion apprentice 2004-05, 2005-06; Zimbabwe champion 2011-12. Has ridden for South Africa three times in the International Jockeys’ Challenge, winning the Bronze Saddle in 2009. Has won nine Grade 1 races, including the Cape Derby on Ertijaal this year. Has ridden in China, Dubai, Harare, Hong Kong and Mauritius and has set several records in SA, including the number of winners in a month (42 in June this year) and the number of wins in a year by an apprentice (283).

Greg Cheyne: Age – 39. Riding weight – 53kg. Third on the SA jockeys’ log last season. East Cape champion jockey three times. Makes his International Jockeys’ Challenge debut. Has won six Grade 1 races in South Africa, including the Mercury Sprint on Captain Of All this year as well as the 2009 Vodacom Durban July on Big City Life and the 2008 Gold Cup on Desert Links. He has ridden in Zimbabwe, Mauritius, Germany, Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Macau, winning the Group 1 Malaysia Sprint and the Malaysian International Jockeys’ Challenge.

Anthony Delpech: Age – 46. Born in the Seychelles. Riding weight – 52kg. Has ridden in all seven Challenges and was leading rider last year. SA champion in 1998-99 and 2002-03, and set a record for number of wins in a season in 1998-99 (334). Is No 1 SA rider for Mike de Kock. Has won 34 Grade 1 races in SA and many more overseas. Four Grade 1 wins this year – the Gold Cup (Wild One), the SA Oaks (Pine Princess), Computaform Sprint (Alboran Sea) and Empress Club Stakes (Majmu). Has ridden in Japan, Mauritius, Dubai, Hong Kong and Singapore.

S’manga Khumalo: Age – 29. Riding weight – 52.5kg. Second on the SA jockeys’ log in the 2014-15 racing season. SA’s first Black champion jockey in 2013-14. Has ridden in the International Jockeys’ Challenge three times and captained the team to a 269-point victory last year. Nine Grade 1 wins in his career include the SA Fillies Sprint on Carry On Alice this year, as well as the Vodacom Durban July (Heavy Metal, 2013) and the Summer Cup on Wagner (2012). He has ridden in the UK, Australia, Hong Kong, China, Kenya, Mauritius and Zimbabwe.

Anton Marcus: Age – 45. Riding weight – 55kg. Seventh on the SA jockeys’ log in 2014-15. Champion SA jockey four times: 1999-2000, 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12. Has ridden in the International Jockeys’ Challenge five times,  captaining the SA team three times for two wins. Has ridden nearly 90 Grade 1 winners in SA including six this year in Captain America (Horse Chestnut Stakes), Legal Eagle (SA Derby), Seventh Plain (Gold Medallion and Golden Horseshoe), Same Jurisdiction (Garden Province Stakes) and Rabada (Premier’s Champion Stakes). Has competed internationally in Dubai, England, Hong Kong, Mauritius and Singapore.

Piere Strydom: Age – 49. Riding weight – about 52.5kg. Fifth on the SA jockeys’ log in 2014-15. Champion SA jockey six times: 1990-91, 1992-93, 1993-94, 1997-98, 2000-01 and 2012-13. Has ridden in every International Jockeys’ Challenge and captained the SA team to victory in 2013. Has ridden more than 5,000 winners internationally and at home including 44 local Grade 1s. His sole victory at the highest level this year came on Siren’s Call in the SA Fillies Classic. He has ridden with distinction in Hong Kong, Australia, Dubai, Turkey and the UK.

The international riders:

Kieren Fallon (Ireland): Captain. Age – 50. Riding weight – about 51.5kg. Champion jockey in the UK six times: 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2003 and 2003. Relocated to California in the USA towards the end of last year and returned home last month. He has won nearly every top feature race in Ireland and Great Britain as well as the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in 2007 and the Arlington Million in Chicago. His feature winners this year include the Group 3 Meydan Sprint in Dubai on Sir Maximilian. He has also ridden in Australia, Germany, Hong Kong and Italy.

Pat Cosgrave (Ireland): Age – 33. Riding weight – about 56kg. Irish champion apprentice in 2003. Known as a master when it comes to riding sprinters and he counts among his three Group 1 wins, victories on Society Rock in the Golden Jubilee Stakes (2011) and Markab in the Betfred Sprint Cup (2010). Has ridden for Mike de Kock in Dubai. Has won 78 races in the UK this year, including two Group 2s winners for trainer William Haggas – the Great Voltigeur Stakes on Storm the Stars and the Lowther Stakes aboard Besharah.

Robert Havlin (Scotland): Age – 43. Weight – about 54.5kg. Will be remembered by local racing fans as the jockey aboard Gregorian, who inflicted a first career defeat on our own Soft Falling Rain in the 2013 Hungerford Stakes. Makes his debut in the International Jockeys’ Challenge. Has won 59 races in England this year, including three Group 2s – the DFS Park Hill Stakes on Gretchen, the July Stakes on Shalaa and the Italian Oaks on Lovelyn. Has also ridden in Italy, France, Dubai and Switzerland.

Aurelien Lemaitre (France): Age – 26. Weight – about 51kg. An up-and-coming France-based jockey competing in a tough school that includes legendary Christophe Soumillon. Rode Group 3 winner Rosso Corsa at Longchamp in May this year, one of his over 40 wins from about 430 rides this year. Attached to the yard of the former champion jockey Freddy Head, the brother of leading trainer Criquette Head-Maarek, although not as first jockey. Has ridden in the UK and Germany.

Eduardo Pedroza (Panama): Age – 41. Weight – about 55kg. Attached to the powerful yard of twice German champion trainer Andreas Wohler. Has won the German Flat Jockeys’ championships four times and has nine Grade 1 wins to his name, eight of them for Wohler including this year’s German Oaks on Turfdonna. Has ridden in Panama, Germany, Mauritius and Australia.

Hayley Turner (England): Age – 32. Weight – about 51kg. The first female to consistently be among the leading jockeys in the UK and the first woman to ride 100 winners in a season there. Has won feature races in the UK, Germany, Japan and the USA. She was part of the all-girls winning Shergar Cup team this year. This meeting will reportedly be her last riding engagement before retiring. She is due to join racing broadcaster At The Races. Rode in the International Jockeys’ Challenge in 2010.