Happy hunting for Hawks
CHAMPIONS: HIGHVELD TEAM RETAIN THE RIDER CUP TITLE AT SCOTTSVILLE Marcus is top jockey at the meeting.
Despite not having the best of rides in this year’s New Turf Carriers Rider Cup Interprovincial Jockey’s Challenge at Scottsville yesterday, the Highveld Hawks managed to retain the title they won last year by just five points.
It all came down to the last race as the Hawks sat on 111 and the KZN Falcons on 105. Even the Western Cape Eagles could have won it with a big showing in the last leg as they were sitting on 93 points.
There was a last minute change to the Highveld Hawks as S’manga Khumalo was injured at Turffontein on Saturday and apprentice Lyle Hewitson stepped in as his replacement and joined captain Gavin Lerena, Marco van Rensburg and Craig Zackey.
Lerena certainly led from the front as he finished fourth in the first leg on Luckdragon, won the third leg on Sonar Active (10-1) and then forced his mount Chamber Maid, after a slow start, to touch off Anton Marcus and Princess Analia to claim second place in the last.
“Well done to all the boys,” said Lerena at the medal presentation. “We have a young team and we were the underdogs. But we had a plan and did the best with the rides we were given.”
There was a pleasant surprise for the Highveld team in the first leg when Zackey won on Hard To Play (12-1), a first-timer from the Wendy Whitehead yard.
The local team hit back in the second leg when Anton Marcus won on Eyes Wide Open (18-10) from the Glen Kotzen yard with Anthony Delpech running second with Lucky At Last (8-1).
But Lerena’s win in the third leg and his brilliant effort to get up for second place in the last, saw the Highveld Hawks finish the day with 150 points, with the KZN Falcons on 145 and the Western Cape Eagles on 121 points.
Marcus was the top rider on the day on 60 points, Lerena was second on 52, while the third spot was shared by Zackey and MJ Byleveld from the Western Cape Eagles. They had 36 points each. Delpech was stood down after the third leg in which he finished third on 12-10 favourite Rock Of Africa and his place in the final leg was taken by Stuart Randolph.
Lerena said that he has picked up the ride on New Predator in next Saturday’s Grade 1 Mercury Sprint over 1200m at Greyville. “After that I will be going back to the UK to complete my contract,” he added.