Serino Moodley
Serino has been in smart form of late and his services are in high demand. He is especially strong in a finish and booted home seven winners from his 50 mounts with a further seven in second. He also made successful raids on the Highveld where he teamed up with Summerveld-based trainer Lorenzo Karriem.
Serino is Gold Circle’s Jockey of the Month for January.
Robbie Hill
Robbie Hill has one of the smaller yards in Summerveld and while he generally flies under the radar one can never discount his runners. Robbie was a top jockey in his riding days and was for many years associated with training legend Dennis Drier. Robbie only saddled five runners in December for two wins and a second at a 40% strike rate. A R1 win bet on each of his runners would have returned a R12.70 profit.
Robbie is Gold Circle’s Trainer of the Month for December.
Rachel Venniker
Rachel Venniker walked off with a number of awards at the end-of-year South African Jockey Academy speechday, a few days before she lost her apprentice tag to become a fully fledged jockey. She had already ridden over 200 winners as an apprentice and rounded her time off with six winners at a healthy 17% winning strike rate and over 50% of her rides finishing in the money.
Rachel is Gold Circle’s Jockey of the Month for December.
Western Cape-based Richard Fourie continues to dominate as he hunts for rides around the country with his agent, former NHA handicapper Ken Nicol picking the plums. Fourie banged home 14 winners in KZN in November but local rider Tristan Godden has also hit a purple patch. He went through a lean spell, as most in this sport often do, but is now riding at the top of his game. He has always been a talented rider but seldom gets chances on the big stage. However, he has built up a relationship with seasoned trainer Mike Miller and together they have been having their fair share of success. Tristan rode seven winners in November at a 16% winning strike rate.
Tristan is Gold Circle’s Jockey of the Month for November.
Mike Miller had one of the best days of his training career at Hollywoodbets Scottsville when he saddled five winners on the eight-race card. It is not unusual for a jockey to have a five-timer but it is exceptional for a trainer. Mike is known for being a wizz in starting his two-year-olds early and is currently second on the KZN trainer log with 17 winners, one behind Alyson Wright. Mike has also had particular success at Hollywoodbets Scottsville with 11 of his total coming on the Maritzburg course.
Mike is Gold Circle’s Trainer of the Month for November
Richard, second to Keagan de Melo in the national jockey championship last season, is making a concerted effort to go one better this term and is currently in a title race with Muzi Yeni. He tributes much of his success to his agent, former NHA handicapper Ken Nicol, but he has received solid support from local trainers and from his 47 rides he booted home 15 winners, six more than local rider Serino Moodley.
Richard is Gold Circle’s Jockey of the Month for October
MJ Odendaal is a genuine character among the training ranks and is not your conventional dresser, shirt on or off, and his enthusiasm is contagious. He was a talented rider in his day and he knows his way around a racehorse. He has a small stable and from just 16 runners he saddled three winners and four seconds for a 50% win/place strike rate.
MJ is Gold Circle’s trainer of the Month for October
Here’s good news for TabGold customers who take Trifecta bets on races in Australia, the UK, Ireland and France.
Commingled Trifecta pools with Tote Ireland will be offered on all Irish races for the first time from this Friday and simultaneously the unit cost of commingled Trifecta bets on Australian, UK and French races will be reduced from R2 to R1. The unit cost of the Trio on French races also drops to R1.
Commingled Trifecta bets on racing in Australia, France and the UK were introduced last month.
The benefits of commingling Trifecta pools with host totes (Tabcorp in Australia excluding thoroughbred venues in Victoria and South Australia; PMU in France, the UK Tote and Tote Ireland), as opposed to local pools, are many more Trifecta betting opportunities on races in those countries and bigger pools, which in turn afford TAB customers the chance to win bigger payouts.
Summer is around the corner in Australia, meaning it’s time for the scorching Perth Summer Carnival to kick off with five consecutive Saturday’s making up The Pinnacles at Ascot. Day One has two major highlights with firstly, the G3 $300,000 WA Champion Fillies Stakes for three-year-old fillies over 1600m. In recent years, this race has been a launching pad for superstars from the west and a key lead up to the G1 Northerly Stakes in three weeks. Arcadia Queen won in 2018 before winning multiple Group 1’s and Kay Cee placed in 2019 before winning the Northerly Stakes. The Placid Ark Stakes has had its prizemoney boosted to $500,000 in recent years and provides an opportunity for up & coming three-year-old sprinters to make a name for themselves. The undercard includes the G3 R.J. Peters Stakes offering a last chance to qualify for next weeks Railway Stakes plus the G3 Colonel Reeves Stakes and Listed Jungle Mist Classic for sprinters.
Western Mail (Lochie Taylor & Scott Embry cover the feature races and feature stories for the first day of the Pinnacles)
Trackwork Interviews
