Warm hearts, starry eyes, beer … and winners at the Charity Mile

The Peermont Emperors Palace Charity Mile race day at Turffontein on Saturday will see a whopping R1 million handed over to 16 charities.

The racing will be pretty good, too, with five features races on the card.

Plus, 16 celebrities are tasked with adding their shine to matters at Joburg’s famous city race track – aka The Big T.

Wait, there’s more: also on course is the Joburg Beer Festival – where the Rugby World Cup final will be screened and a free craft beer can be quaffed.

The main event is the Charity Mile itself, a Grade 2 contest that carries a purse of another R1 million and always attracts a top-class field.

This year’s event has been thrown wide open with the scratching of the ante-post favourite Buffalo Bill Cody. This colt would have been a banker option for many exotic bets on the day, but that was not to be. Punters are challenged to look a bit harder for a potential winner of the big race.

Zillzaal, from the all-conquering Sean Tarry yard with popular jockey Piere “Striker” Strydom in the irons, is the new bookmakers’ favourite at 5-2. The Mike de Kock-trained Barahin, ridden by young star Callan Murray, is next on offer at 7-2.

But every single runner has a plausible case for winning.

The Charity Mile was once known as the Germiston November Handicap (from 1972), and before that the Lion Export Stakes (from 1963), and was run at the old Gosforth Park racecourse.

Famous winners have included Welcome Boy (1979), Foveros (1981), Jungle Rock (1986), Northern Princess (1989) and Jamaica (2005).

But the greatest champion was the grey Wolf Power (1982 and 1983), a mighty miler who had the nation in his thrall for years.

The race became linked to charity in 2006. Since then, millions of rands have been distributed to good causes, while the race victors have included Soft Landing, Our Giant, Pierre Jourdan, Royal Zulu Warrior and Hat Puntano.

Hotel group Peermont, racing operator Phumelela and others have stepped up each year and the needy – from schools in disadvantaged communities to animal welfare groups – have benefitted from the generosity.

Each of the 16 runners is paired with a charity and with a celebrity – the latter to be a public face and provide some friendly rivalry and pre-race banter. The winning horse’s charity gets a cheque for R150,000; the second R100,000, while prizes go down to R50,000 for 16^th. No one loses in this race!

The joy, excitement and tears of the winners are the most touching moments in horseracing annually.

Pupils from beneficiary Welamlambo Primary School in Tembisa recently visited Turffontein to check out the track on which “their” horse, KwaZulu-Natal raider Tristful, will do battle with his rivals.

“They’re very excited to be part of the Peermont Emperors Palace Charity Mile,” said Sipho Sibiya, principal of Welamlambo. “We are very grateful for the sponsorship of Peermont as not only have they donated books but they have also enabled us to build and refurbish our playground.”

But, cometh the hour, the thousands of racegoers at Turffontein will be focused on finding a winner. Calculations for the Charity Mile are made tougher due to some in-form horses being drawn wide – a disadvantage over the 1600m trip.

Ultra-consistent Zouaves, trained by Geoff Woodruff – a veteran who boasts a sparkling record on the first Saturday in November over the years – must start from the widest gate. Marchingontogether, from Gavin van Zyl’s Summerveld yard outside Durban, will be just two slots away in No 14.

By contrast, Barahin has No 4 stall and Zillzaal No 7.

History buffs, remembering the feats of Wolf Power all those years ago, might feel a sentimental pull towards fellow grey Infamous Fox. The gelding is talented enough to win, has a handy draw at 6, and is good punting value at 13-2.

Mike Moon’s selection:

3 Infamous Fox, 2 Barahin, 8 Chijmes, 4 Zillzaal

Mike Moon

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