Treble up for Ngwane
APPRENTICE Eric Saziso Ngwane clinched the first treble of his riding career at Scottsville on Sunday on A P Strike, who ironically also provided him with his first ever ride back in April last year.
It is fitting that A P Strike is trained by former jockey great Garth Puller as he taught both Ngwane and Jose Barnes the ropes for over a year before they had entered the South African Jockey’s Academy.
Both youngsters came from Merewent, the suburb neighbouring the now defunct Clairwood racecourse, where Puller used to train.
Puller, now at Summerveld, still guides Ngwane in tandem with the tutelage the latter gets from the Academy’s riding masters.
He said, “He has a very bright future, I won’t allow his head to get too big, it is important if you are going to make it to not think you are too big for your boots.
He is lacking in experience, so still has one or two faults, such as not getting out of the pens quickly enough and not securing a good position quickly enough, because obviously the apprentices can be a bit intimidated, but he makes up for it with his good hands and balance.”
Ngwane rode five winners last season at a strike rate of 6,76%. He rode A P Strike to a 1,75 length third at odds of 33/1 on his race riding debut over 1200m at Scottsville on 15 April last year.
This year he has added a further 22 winners at a strike rate of 10,28%.
It had taken A P Strike more than two years to drop from a merit rating of 75 after his maiden down to a mark of 58.
However, he was backed in on Sunday from 10/1 to 4/1 and found a good finish after being handy throughout to win by 0,5 lengths from outsider Dreamy Forest.
The win gave Puller a weekend double having sent out Suzie’s Arrow to win a Maiden under Anthony Delpech at Greyville on Friday night.
Ngwane made full use of his 2,5kg claim in the slightly soft conditions on Sunday and had earlier won a maiden over 1200m on the Julie Dittmer-trained Lockheed Star and a fillies and mares handicap over 1200m on the Chris Erasmus-trained Cayenne.
Academy riding master Laurence O’Donoghue said, “He’s a very well balanced rider and should go a long way if he stays level headed. He is a natural lightweight and shouldn’t pick up any more weight as he is already in his early twenties.”