Fallon, Turner booked for Jockeys’ International
ARRANGEMENTS: COMPETITION TO TAKE PLACE AT FAIRVIEW AND TURFFONTEIN ʂ Wainstein wants to ensure there will be strong opposition this year.
Kieren Fallon and Hayley Turner - two jockeys who have made plenty of headlines in their careers - will be the star attractions in the International team which takes on South Africa in meetings at Fairview and Turffontein in mid-November.
It will be Turner’s second visit as she came here in 2010 and she will be riding in her last few races as she intends to retire at the final UK meeting of the season at Doncaster next month.
So her racing farewell is set to take place here and hopefully the draw of rides will be kind to her.
Discussing her decision to retire, Turner said: “I get plenty of rides and I’m paying my mortgage. But being a jockey isn’t a job, it’s your lifestyle and it’s difficult to have a work/ life balance.”
“I just find I’ve done so much (40 winners this season), what a way to finish it and then let’s go and take on something else.”
Turner has been signed on by At-The-Races as a pundit. “I’ll be very rubbish to start with. At least people that are watching will understand if I mess up a few times.”
Racing Association chairman, Larry Wainstein, who organises this annual international event, also released two other names for the international side. They are Frenchman Christophe Lemaire, who won the 2011 Melbourne Cup, and Panamanian Eduardo Pedroza who has won the German jockeys championship four times.
There was criticism last year that the international side was a weak one. “We will ensure they field a decent team this year,” said Wainstein.
This year Fairview racecourse in Port Elizabeth has been selected as one of the venues, replacing Cape Town.
“We wanted to give the series a different spin this time so Port Elizabeth has been given the opportunity,” said Wainstein. He added that it was likely some of the races would be contested on the Fairview Polytrack.
The Fairview meeting will be held on Friday 13 November with the teams flying to Johannesburg for the second leg at Turffontein on Saturday 14 November.
Champion jockey, Gavin Lerena, will captain the South African side which will also include S’manga Khumalo, Anthony Delpech and Greg Cheyne. The names of the other two “wildcard” jockeys will be released shortly.
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Ormond Ferraris is one of the most respected trainers in the game and - in recent seasons - it’s been the fillies that have excelled for his stable.
At Turffontein last Saturday, he saddled another “female sex” double with Lazer Star and Marmalady - the latter the more impressive of the two.
While it’s some feat for Lazer Star to chalk up seven wins from nine outings, she needed all Weichong Marwing’s expertise to justify her position as favourite.
Marmalady, on the other hand, simply cruised to victory in her race and - in the post-race interview - I knew I was on dangerous ground suggesting she could be a force in next year’s Durban July.
Naturally, Mr Ferraris responded with the predictable “slowly, slowly”, but this long-range forecast might turn out better than last year’s tip, Cagiva.
Nevertheless, I think Marmalady has a lot going for her. Saturday’s distance was the same as the July (2200m) and - admittedly receiving 6kg - made the well-regarded Deo Juvente look ordinary.
Her sire, Duke Of Marmalade, made big news in the UK last month when his daughter, Bright Verse, won the final classic of the season, the St Leger at Doncaster.
Duke Of Marmalade stands at a fee of R100,000 at Drakenstein Stud in the Cape.
If you told a UK or Irish breeder you could send you mare to him for 5000 pounds they would think you were joking.