SIPHESIHLE HLENGWA

Apprentice Siphesihle Hlengwa, ‘Spare’ to his mates, had a cracking month, winning seven races and in the process losing his 4kg claim as he passed 20 career winners. His wins came at a tidy 15% strike-rate, equal to that of log-leading rider Keagan de Melo who also had a good month locally with 11 winners. Siphesihle is largely being mentored by former top rider Garth Puller who was responsible for most of those wins and the likeable youngster is starting to repay with interest.

Siphesihle is Gold Circle’s Jockey of the Month for November.

MALESELA KERATILE KATJEDI

Malesela Keratile Katjedi Is the son of the late LJ Katjedi. Young Katjedi  has taken the racing industry by storm with his immaculate manners, willingness to learn and ever increasing riding ability. He conducts himself in a professional manner in his work place and speaks eloquently in his post-race interviews.

His statistics for the month of October are encouraging which bodes well for his future. Well done Keratile for being elected jockey of the month.

JABU JACOBS

Apprentice Jabu Jacobs is Gold Circle’s Jockey of the Month for February.

Jabu’s four winners, three in a single afternoon at Hollywoodbets Scottsville, and his 50% win/place strike rate makes him one of the more sought-after apprentices. A polished rider, his 4kg claim makes him an added attraction for trainers. Jabu has ridden 12 career winners so far this season and last month a R1 win bet on all his rides will have yielded a tidy profit of R72.

Pleasant and hard-working, Jabu fully deserves the recognition.

SERINO MOODLEY

Gold Circle award for jockey of the month of January goes to Serino Moodley.

Serino is only recently out of his time as an apprentice and has made the most of his opportunities since becoming a fully fledged jockey. He booted home nine winners in January at a decent strike rate of just under 17%. For a R1 stake on each of his mounts you would be in profit by R26 as opposed to log leader Anton Marcus who would see you R8 in the red, given that he rides mostly short-priced horses.

Well done Serino.

ANTON MARCUS

With a win/place percentage of 73.91%, Anton Marcus has been the punter’s friend leading into to the festive season break and it is difficult to look past him for December’s Gold Circle’s Jockey of the Month award. 15 winners from 46 rides at a strike rate of 32.6 % is outstanding in anyone’s books and that coupled with 12 seconds and four third placings says it all. He had strong opposition from Keagan de Melo, 11 winners, and National Log leader Warren Kennedy, eight winners, both with a winning strike rate over 50 percent.

Well done Anton on a fine month.

STUART RANDOLPH

The Gold Circle Jockey Award for the month has been awarded to Stuart Randolph

Humble and respectful but forceful when it comes to booting his mounts home, Stuart has established himself as one of the most respected senior riders in South Africa and can be proud of the fact that he is one of the less than 100 members of the very exclusive “July Club” – jockeys that have ridden a winner – Power King in 2015 – in Africa’s greatest race.

In a career spanning just over 30 years, Stuart found himself in an era that included some of the greatest jockeys this country has produced and top rides were hard to get. However, he had shown his talent and with firm support from trainer Tony Furness to whom he was apprenticed and who gave him the sound advice of “keep it clean and work hard”, he proved his ability to mix it with the best and quietly went about riding well over 1 000 winners whenever they had the ability to feature.

A quiet, gentlemanly nature has earned him the respect throughout the racing industry and he continues to produce the winners – six during the month with another 15 of his rides

finishing in the money.

Well done Stuart.

WARREN KENNEDY

The Gold Circle Jockey Award for the month has been awarded to Warren Kennedy

There is no doubt that Warren is the man of the moment among the riders in South African racing and he is certainly taking advantage of every opportunity he gets.

He has been in action in the country for a long time having ridden his first winner, Broadway Boulevard, at Arlington in Port Elizabeth in August, 2003, competing over the years against some of the greatest riders this country has produced. Getting rides was not the easiest thing for the son of the former jockey, the late Terrance Kennedy, but determination and dedication ensured that his day would come.

Now he rides the crest of the wave and a whole bag full of winners confirming the fact that he has always had the talent, he just needed the opportunity. This month he rode 14 winners, nearly double that of his nearest rivals, with another 21 of his 42 mounts finishing in the money.

An excellent performance so well-done Warren.

KEAGAN DE MELO

The Gold Circle Jockey Award for the month has been bestowed on Keagan De Melo

Racing has been through its annual transitional period from the Winter Season in KwaZulu-Natal to the start of the Spring season on the Highveld and with other routine processes taking place the number of rides available everywhere have been limited and it’s tough out there.

Jockeys are looking for rides wherever they can get them and Warren Kennedy is on a winning mission and tops the local log for the month. However, Keagan returned some impressive results in relation to his rides in KwaZulu-Natal during the month with five winners and six other placings from just 21 rides – a win strike rate of almost 25% and a win-place rate of just over 52%.

Keagan is fortunate in having regular support from good stables but accidents can upset matters and while Keagan took a bad tumble at Scottsville recently, one might say he has bounced back well.

Well done Keagan

RAYMOND DANIELSON

The new season has started and the big horses have been put on ice with the lesser lights being given a chance to earn their keep. The month also saw a change in the availability of some top jockeys making way for additional opportunities for other talented riders.

Raymond has generally operated on the Highveld but has snapped up rides in KwaZulu-Natal during the month where he enjoyed six winners and 10 placings from just 22 rides giving him a win percentage of nearly 30% and an overall win-place success rate of 72%.

South Africa boasts some of the best jockeys in the world but many highly-talented riders don’t get the opportunities they deserve. Riders like Warren Kennedy and Raymond have that talent and are making the most of the situation. They both deserve the honour but Raymond just gets the short-head decision.

Well done Raymond.

ANTON MARCUS

The Gold Circle Jockey Award for the month of June has been awarded to Anton Marcus.

It might be said that Anton gets the best of the rides and he certainly has an advantage to a degree. But one cannot claim that the 44 horses he rode during the month were all superior to the others and his opponents never had a chance.

Of those 44 horses he rode, through his tactical ability and riding talents he steered 12 into the number one box and another 14 into the placings at a winning percentage of just on 28 and an incredible win-place success rate of 60%.

His successes included the Grade 1 Daily News 2000 on the very difficult individual Hawwaam for Mike de Kock and his talent, dedication and professionalism is worthy of acknowledgement with the award this month.

Well done Anton.