David Thiselton

NOORESH JUGLALL’S passing has been difficult to accept for many in racing but in the aftermath South African industrymen all had similar sentiments about a man whose professional approach never compromised his humble nature and polite and friendly demeanour. 

Juglall’s best achievement in South Africa was riding the Ormond Ferraris-trained Cherry On The Top to Triple Tiara glory.

He also rode two Graded winners for five-times national champion trainer Sean Tarry and the latter said, “Nooresh was affiliated to our yard from his early days as an apprentice at Clairwood and I was very fond of him because of his mannerisms. He was kind, polite and humble but at the same time was very strong, he had an aura about him. He had the world at his feet and is a massive loss to the industry and it is a tragedy for his family. You can’t put it in words and it happening to a salt of the earth person who added value wherever he went makes it even harder to accept. As a rider, to have been entrusted by a trainer of the stature of Ormond Ferraris while an apprentice to partner a Triple Tiara winner says it all. The two Graded winners he had for us were aboard The Mouseketeer and Purple Diamond and were the pinnacle achievements of both horses’ careers, so he must have given them perfect rides (Grade 2 Emerald Cup and Grade 2 Durban Golden Horseshoe respectively).”

SA Jockey Academy (SAJC) principal Graham Bailey recalled, “He was goal driven, hard working and well mannered so there was no doubt from the word go he was going to be successful. He signed his race-riding papers at the end of 2009 and within three months had ridden his first winner on the Roy Magner-trained Shine The Gold on March 16, 2010. It is an extremely sad time and he is a huge loss to the industry and an incredible loss to his family.”

Juglall was selected by the Mauritius Turf Club for enrollment at SAJC and they covered the costs. He was SA champion apprentice in 2011/2012 and 2012/2013 and broke the record for the most winners by an apprentice in a season in the latter term, 101. That was also the season of his Triple Tiara success.

Donovan Dillon was two years behind Juglall at the Academy and said, “We rode together in an apprentice international in Qatar, I was riding for South Africa and he was riding for Mauritius. We went out for dinner together on all three nights and became good friends. He was a humble down to earth person but no pushover, a true champion.”

Juglall was particularly close to contemporaries Keagan de Melo and Tristan Godden and the latter pair were distinctly  emotional during the guard of honour held at Hollywoodbets Greyville on Sunday.  

Juglall rode many winners for the Mike and Adam Azzie yard and they said, “The Azzie Racing Team pays tribute to a remarkable young man with the determination to not only become a champion jockey but more importantly to make a statement that a ‘small town boy’ can achieve anything with the right mindset, credo, self-belief and ambition. From the very beginning, Nooresh made it apparent that he was on a mission, not only for himself but for his family and his country, both of which were always paramount in his heart and mind.”  

Legendary jockey Piere Strydom rode against Juglall in Mauritius and said, “I didn’t get to know him well on a personal level but he was the sort who would open up to anyone, a very friendly and likeable person. He was a very good rider but what was so nice about him was after an interference issue he was always humble and never aggressive. He had a nice gentlemanly spirit.”

Mauritian Georgie Buchanan, a KZN-based racing owner, is very saddened. She recalled Nooresh arriving in his red jodhpurs to ride work for the Corinne Bestel yard as an apprentice at Clairwood. She said, “I said you must have got those from Mauritius and from that day we always had a chat in French whenever we saw each other. He then went up to Johannesburg and we lost touch but I go over to Mauritius quite often and it was so exciting to bump into him at the training track on occasion and catch up. Then his little big brother Tejash (younger but bigger than Nooresh) arrived and we said we must put him on Blaze Of Silk. We were thrilled when he finished third. But it was very exciting when we put him on again a couple of months later. Nooresh was in KZN and traveled up to Scottsville especially to watch his little big brother and he won the race! “

Juglall rode successfully in Singapore from 2014 to 2019. 

He is the reigning champion jockey in Mauritius. 

David Thiselton

THE lack of a KZN Vodacom Durban July contender was lamented when the betting first came out but that all changed at Hollywoodbets Greyville today when the Gareth van Zyl-trained She’s A Keeper powered home in the Grade 2 World Sports Betting 1900 under Warren Kennedy.

The four-year-old Gimmethegreenlight filly was admittedly carrying only 50kg and beat two rank outsiders in Matterhorn and Shavout but the conditions of the Vodacom Durban July state that the winner of the WSB 1900 is given “preferential consideration for inclusion in the final field”.

Under the conditions of the WSB 1900 the winner can only be raised six points, which means she will go up to a 96 and as things stand will be a whopping 11kg under sufferance in the big race.

However, the handicappers have had their hands tied by conditions and guidelines for just about everyone of her five wins and she proved today she is a lot better than her rating.

She was officially 4kg under sufferance with the two best weighted horses in today’s race, Trip To Africa and Doublemint, and beat them by 5,50 and 9,15 lengths respectively, and she was 2,5kg under sufferance with her chief market rival, fourth-placed Crown Towers, and beat him by 4,60 lengths.

Kennedy dropped She’s A Keeper out from a wide draw and took her to the rail.

Crown Towers enjoys striding out either in front or behind a strong pacemaker but his chances of doing either were scuppered by Shareholder on his inside rushing to the front and then slowing it up.

Crown Towers eventually ended up in behind Blackball, who had come around to sit on the flank of Shareholder, but he had not been able to use his big stride to stretch the field so could only plug on for fourth.

Meanwhile, She’s A Keeper, who was second last of the horses on the rail, used her terrific turn of foot at the top of the straight and burst through the centre to strike the front at the 300m mark.

She appears to have two similarities to her paternal half-brother Got The Greenlight, that terrific turn of foot being the first of them, and, like him, she seems to take her foot off the pedal once she has hit the front. She won more easily than the 0,90 length margin suggests as she was running around a bit in the closing stages, which was what she had also done when winning the Listed WSB Scarlet Lady over 1750m in her previous start.

Nevertheless, Matterhorn, who ran on from last down the inside, and Shavout, who ran on from off the pace down the outside, will be warm orders in their next respective handicap starts, having given the winner 4kg and 2kg respectively and being beaten just 0,90 and 1,70 lengths.

She’s A Keeper was bred and is owned by the Missing U Syndicate, whose nominee is the pedigree guru Rob Knuppe, and his partner in the syndicate is Jonathan Connellan.

Gareth van Zyl, whose young career already includes a win in Durban’s second most famous race, The WSB Gold Cup, can now look forward to his first runner in the Vodacom Durban July. This is some feat considering She’s A Keeper only made her debut in mid-December this season.

Earlier, She’s A Keeper’s Scarlet Lady form was franked when the third and second horses, the Wendy Whitehead-trained Keep On Dancing and the Vaughan Marshall-trained Scented Mistress, finished first and second respectively in the Listed KRA East Coast Cup over 2000m. Kennedy also rode the winner in that race.

Vodacom Durban July champion Do It Again had put in a good pipe-opening run in the previous race when just getting up to win a Pinnacle Stakes event over 1600m under Richard Fourie.

David Thiselton

The racing world especially in the Southern African juridictions is reeling in shock after the tragic passing of twice South African champion apprentice Nooresh Juglall after a horrific racing accident on Saturday in his home country of Mauritius and any news of racing success on that day is tinged with sadness.

However, it must be recorded that Paul Peter and Warren Kennedy combined to win the Listed Syringa Handicap over 1600m at Turffontein Inside with the ever improving Var filly Way Of The World while earlier the promising Johan Janse van Vuuren-trained Puerto Manzano marched on with another eyecatching victory.

Way Of The World led in her previous start over 1450m and fought off the challengers to win cosily in the end so it seemed she would have a chance of staying the 1600m trip but her wide draw was a concern.

However, in the end none of the inside drawn horses wanted the lead so Kennedy was able to get to the front without using up any extra fuel.

She then dictated although the favourite Wylie Wench was sitting behind her ready to pounce.

However, Way Of The World kept on rolling gallantly in the straight and always had the measure of Wylie Wench.

The latter did make late inroads to be beaten just a length in her first run since breaking the Vaal Classic track course record when winning the Grade 3 Acacia Handicap on February 27.

She received a seven point raise for that win but that was not enough to explain the close proximity of the Syringa Handicap’s third-placed Querari Ferrari, whom she had beaten by eight lengths in the Acacia. So Wylie Wench should come on a lot from Saturday’s run.

Way Of The World started this season a one-time winner merit rated 71 and is now a seven-time winner and due another raise from the 93 rating she ran off yesterday.

Earlier Puerto Manzano showed off his big stride in the straight after coming from a handy position to win a Pinnacle Stakes event over 1800m under Gavin Lerena. Johan Janse van Vuuren said post-race that he was in two minds whether to run the gelding in the Daily News 2000, but it was unlikely. The Argentinian-bred by the Group 1 Hollywood Derby-winning sire Seek Again (Speightstown) has raced seven times for five wins and two seconds and strikes as one who will stay further although the Hollywood Derby is only over nine furlongs and he is a half-brother to a Grade 1 winner over a mile.   

THE jockeys formed a guard of honour and rode with black arm bands at Hollywoodbets Greyville yesterday in memory of their colleague Nooresh Juglall who passed away in hospital after a fall at Champs De Mars racecourse in Mauritius on Saturday. He was 29.

The accident happened as the runners crossed a road over the track in the 990m Gr3 Noble Salute Cup.

Jockey Benny Woodworth, riding Golden Tractor, was also involved in the accident, but thankfully escaped with just a serious elbow injury.

A Mauritius Turf Club report stated that Golden Tractor was new to the Champ de Mars track, and as virtually all first-timers at the course do, he skipped the crossing which is just before the entrance to the final straight.

Juglall’s mount Rule The Night which was following Golden Tract could not avoid Golden Tractor and both came down.

Nooresh was a product of the South African Jockey Academy and was Champion Apprentice for two years in 2012 and 2013.

 He was a talented rider and one of his many South African successes was winning the Triple Tiara on Cherry On The Top for Ormond Ferraris and the Gold Cup on Dynasty’s Blossom for Brett Crawford.

He rode successfully in Singapore for a few years before returning to his native country Mauritius.

Nooresh is survived by his wife Chaaya and young family, as well as his father Satanand, his mother Kavita, his sister Sweta and younger brother Tajesh, also a product of the SA Jockey Academy and rides in Mauritius.

Andrew Harrison

IF Warren Kennedy has any say, She’s A Keeper will be his mount in the Vodacom Durban July come July 3. Beaten only once in her career, the Gareth van Zyl-trained filly turned it on in style to win the Gr2 WSB 1900 at Hollywoodbets Greyville yesterday.

Ironically, it was the race that got Belgarion into the July last year and his defection yesterday when favourably weighted cleared the way for She’s A Keeper.

Whether Belgarion would have won or not is a moot point but the fact that two rank outsiders, Matterhorn and Shavout, chased her home will be food for thought. But they were also at the bottom of the weights and no slouches in their own right.

Lightly raced Matterhorn will also surely have done enough to garner an invite into the VDJ starting line-up.

Justin Snaith was all doom and gloom about his stable’s chances in this year’s VDJ given the handicapping even though Do It Again could not have had a better prep race in his build-up to the big race. Given the conditions of the Pinnacle Stakes, Do It Again seemed assured of a comfortable victory but Sir Michael gave him an unexpectedly tough race that should have done a lot to blow away any cobwebs.

It was a courageous effort from the dual July winner who had not found the winner’s enclosure for nearly two years, but also a powerful ride from Richard Fourie who got his mount’s head down when is counted.

Sir Michael was possibly a touch unlucky as he was caught in traffic at the top of the straight and Do It Again was given a chance to wind up, but he did go past Do It Again and looked a winner 100m out.

But the champion dug deep and it was a win full of merit.

A quirky filly, Keep On Dancing has not been the easiest but Wendy Whitehead has done marvels to get her to settle down and her patience paid off with a black type victory in the KRA East Coast Cup (Listed). Warren Kennedy produced her with a perfectly time run. As he intimated post-race, she has a tremendous turn of foot but it has to be timed as she tends to ‘empty out’ if sent for home too soon.

Mark Dixon’s yard has been going through a lean spell with viruses and dodgy blood pictures so it will have been with relief that Prince Tyrion broke the ice with an end-to-end win in the second. Athandiwe Mgudlwa had his mount out quickly and with the stiff tailwind helping him home, Prince Tyrion kept on all the way to the line.

It’s been something of a slow start for apprentice Kaidan Brewer and he had only one winner behind his name before he rode a cracking race aboard Burning Wings for Glen Kotzen. Sitting in off the pace, he got Burning Wings to quicken through a gap to win in fine style.