New Turf Carriers have come on board as sponsors of the 2017 Rider Cup Interprovincial jockeys’ challenge which is due to take place at Scottsville Racecourse on Saturday, 9 July 2017.

Based on the National Jockeys and Apprentice logs as at the end of May, invitations will be sent to riders from each of the provinces with the leading jockey in each of the jurisdictions being appointed the Captain of his team. “The top three riders in each province at the end of May (based on National statistics) will qualify for automatic invitations but the fourth member of each team will be a “Captain’s pick”, which represents a change from previous years’ team selection,” said Gold Circle’s Marketing Executive Graeme Hawkins. “There are sometimes unforeseen circumstances which could lead to a deserving rider not having ridden enough winners to qualify automatically and the onus will now be on the Captain to extend a personal invitation to the fourth member of each team,” he added.

The Highveld Hawks are the defending champions while the KZN Falcons won the inaugural Rider Cup in 2015. The Cape Eagles have finished second in both previous events and will be looking to set the record straight this year.