Muzi Yeni was the face of South African racing at Markopoulo Racecourse in Athens on Sunday and did not let his supporters down.

The meeting in Greece was sponsored by Phumelela and it appears to have been an extremely successful day. Even early rain failed to put a dampener on an outstanding event.

The party representing Phumelela was headed up by International Executive Director John Stuart.

Since January Greek punters have already had the opportunity to bet into South African pools in the over 1,000 OPAP (who run betting in Greece) agencies that offer horseracing betting.

Yeni has become a favourite with Greek bettors and the likeable South African jockey did not let his supporters down. He was hailed as a “grand ambassador for South African racing”. There were six races on the card and Yeni rode in five of them, fittingly winning the main race of the day which was named The South African Races Cup.

The organisers at Markopoulo Racecourse are in the process of setting up a winners’ lounge adjacent to the foyer area and the framed Phumelela saddle cloth and photos will be the first “winners’ photo” to be hung up in that lounge.

TABNews