Nothing fishy about Fourie’s fantastic five

When Richard Fourie is booked to ride at a race meeting, fish in the Indian Ocean breathe a metaphorical sigh of relief. When he’s out in a ski-boat, riding the sea swell, his fellow jockeys are the ones audibly exhaling.

The keen angler has hooked into rare form in recent weeks, culminating in him landing five winners in nine races at Scottsville’s sprint festival on Saturday. Three of those victories were in Grade 1 races – a feat very few jockeys in the world have matched.

That came on top of four winners the previous day at Fairview, making his tally 13 in a week and 26 in three weeks. Those 26 came from just nine meetings, for an average of nearly three per meeting.

Fourie will finish runner-up to Keagan de Melo when the South African jockey championship wraps up on 1 August, but if he maintains this form and ups his travel itinerary in the new season it’ll be hard for any colleague to deny him his first national title.

Excitement

Interviewed after winning Race 1 on Saturday, Fourie was asked about his Eastern Cape foursome the day before. “That was yesterday. Let’s focus on a new day,” was the slightly nervous reply.

You couldn’t blame the ace for trying to manage the pressure of having to ride a handful of highly fancied horses on the Scottsville card. And with each successive winning interview, viewers could discern rising excitement and tight lines losing their tautness.

The first of his Grade 1 triple for trainer Sean Tarry was diminutive juvenile filly Mrs Geriatrix in the Allan Robertson Championship and festive scenes in the winner’s circle – with a gaggle of happy women from the Magic Lady Syndicate of owners and breeder Peter Blythe proud as punch with his second Grade 1 in a long career – blew away some tension.

Then it was the extraordinary performance of the colt Lucky Lad in the Gold Medallion, who was drawn wide, raced green, hung inwards and still beat the country’s best two-year-old runners by more than five lengths.

“He has the feel of a quality animal,” observed Fourie. “I was in front early and he pricked his ears. I feared the worst, but he just kept up the momentum. He’s a beautiful horse.”

Princess Calla

Those were thumping victories, but the best was to come. Princess Calla galloped away from a strong field in the SA Fillies Sprint and the triumphant jockey declared later that she was the “easiest” of the lot.

Fourie had a chance for an unlikely Grade 1 four-timer, but his mount Rio Querari flopped in the Golden Horse Sprint – as principal rival De Melo raced home aboard the Dean Kannemeyer-trained Gimme A Prince.

This gave De Melo a third winner on the card, meaning the two top jockeys won eight of the nine contests.

Announcements about what these stars will ride in the Hollywoodbets Durban July is eagerly awaited.