Fortune’s title charge hampered
VETERAN jockey Andrew Fortune (pictured) will undergo knee surgery this week, but on the bright side he is only expecting to be out for three weeks.
Fortune had made recent inroads into Gavin Lerena's lead in the National Jockeys Championships, but he now admits a top five finish would be a good result.
Meanwhile, Greg Cheyne, who is in second place on the Jockey's log, did not lose much ground to Gavin Lerena during his three week injury layoff as the latter has been through a rare dry spell.
Fortune booked off his rides on Saturday due to swelling in the knee and cancelled his rides for Monday's meeting at Flamingo Park.
However, he did ride yesterday and notched up his 100th winner of the season. The years of attrition from jockeyship has led to arthritis in the knee. He has no cartilage left in the joint. The op will be in order to clean the knee out, i.e. to get ride of the bone chips etc. Fortune recently copped a ten day suspension for a riding misdemeanour and will take it while recuperating.
Title a two horse race
The jockeys title looks likely to be a two horse race between Lerena and Cheyne, although stalwarts Anton Marcus, Anthony Delpech and Richard Fourie would all be within striking range if any of them decided to chase the title.
Lerena ended the weekend still locked on 110 winners, the number he has been on since February 28. It is amazing by his standards to not have had a winner for the whole of March to date.
Cheyne was two winners off the lead at the time of his nasty fall on Nebula on February 25 at Kenilworth, an incident which saw him laid off for three weeks. He made his comeback on Friday at Fairview. A winner there plus another winner at Kenilworth on Saturday put him on 106 for the season, just four off the pace. Fortune rode eleven winners during Cheyne's absence and has surged into third place on the standings.
He was philosophical about the pending layoff and said, “After years of riding there is wear and tear on the body, it is going to happen, and you just have to take it on the chin. But a top five finish will still be an accomplishment, I will be turning 50 in about two months time.’’
Fortune started the season like a greyhound out of a trap. He was generally riding at four centres, Gauteng, Kimberley, Cape Town and Kimberley, and was 24 winners clear midway through October. However, a filly he was riding on October 13 at Turffontein reared over backwards and the consequent injury put him out for seven weeks. By the time he had returned on December 2, Cheyne had gone top of the table, although the latter’s 58 winners had him only one winner ahead of Fortune. Lerena at that stage was six off the pace.
However, Fortune then curtailed his schedule and by the end of last month had dropped 21 winners off the pace, which was now being set by Lerena.
Both Lerena and Cheyne ride in Port Elizabeth on top of their home bases of Gauteng and Cape Town respectively.
They both commandeer excellent support wherever they go. However, Cheyne has the upperhand in PE as the first call rider to Alan Greef, who is well clear in the Eastern Cape Trainers Championship.
Marcus and Delpech both ended last weekend on 95 winners and Fourie, who had a treble at Kenilworth on Saturday, was on 92. However, none of this trio appear to be chasing the title.
Craig Zackey had a treble at Turffontein yesterday to move ahead of Fourie on to 93 winners and sixth place on the log.
The jockeys who has had most rides this season, Muzi Yeni, is in eighth position on 91 winners. Apprentice Lyle Hewitson is 9th on the log on 85 winners.
Khumalo
Reigning champion S'Manga Khumalo served a 60 day suspension at the beginning of the season and is in 10th place on 80 winners, so is probably too far back to mount a challenge.
Table topper Lerena proved two seasons back that he is lethal when the pressure is on. In June 2015 he set a SA record for the number of winners in a month, 42.
Of those 42, 12 were at Turffontein, nine were at Fairview, eight were at The Vaal, six were at Scottsville, four were at Flamingo Park and three were at Greyville, which is an indication of how taxing it is to chase the title. However, those winners saw him forging clear of Khumalo, who had been level with him at the beginning of that month.