S’manga Khumalo forced to give up Durban July ride

Khumalo made history in last year’s R3.5 million race by becoming the first black jockey to boot home the winner in what is largely considered Africa’s greatest horserace when booting Heavy Metal home.

The rider, affectionately known as “Bling” because of his peroxide blonde hair, failed to recover from a concussion in time for today’s event. The jockey picked up the injury earlier this week when booting home the winner of the first race at the Vaal on Tuesday afternoon.

He fell off his mount shortly after passing the post.

Khumalo was booked for seven rides at the Durban July today and at the time of publishing replacement jockeys, particularly for Whiteline Fever in the headliner, had not been named.