Hawks to swoop on their prey?

The Hawks will be taking on the Eagles and the Falcons and racegoers will get an opportunity to watch three teams of the country’s top 12 jockeys compete in the inaugural Interprov Rider Cup at Greyville Racecourse on Saturday, July 18.

The Highveld Hawks have a particularly strong team and will be represented by champion jockey elect, Gavin Lerena, with strong support from current champion S’Manga Khumalo, former champion Piere Strydom and recent Daily News 2000 winner Raymond Danielson.

The Western Cape Eagles will fly with the internationally experienced Richard Fourie and Greg Cheyne along with Grant van Niekerk and Corne Orffer.

The KZN Falcons will swoop with former champions Anton Marcus and Anthony Delpech and top riders Muzi Yeni and Sean Cormack making up their quartet.

Bernard Fayd’Herbe was originally pencilled in for the Western Cape team but has to honour contractual obligations at Kenilworth on the same day while Anthony Delpech has been laid low by a heavy bout of flu but will hopefully be back in the saddle come next Saturday.

“We are always looking for ways to promote and add entertainment to our racedays and this format has proved successful in the past,” said Gold Circle’s Racing and Marketing Executive, Graeme Hawkins. “It will give racegoers the opportunity to watch the best jockeys in the country go head-to-head and the bragging rights that go with winning the Interprov Rider Cup will hopefully add a competitive edge to the races.”

In order to give all riders an equal opportunity, the horses in each race will be ceded by a panel of form experts into four categories of three from top to bottom. The riders from each team will get a chance to ride in each category with the choice of horses done by ballot. This will give each rider a chance to showcase their skills on the best and the worst.

All riders will carry the owners’ colours but will be distinguished by different coloured caps. The KZN team will wear black caps with the Western Cape blue and the Highveld red.

The riders will contest four races, including two Listed features, with points being allocated as follows. 20 for first 16; 14; 12; 10; 8; 6; 5; 4;3;2;1 with 7 points for a scratched ride. Because of the narrow band of points allocation it is hoped that competition will be close and contain a little “needle”.

National Horseracing Authority

Racing Statistics: Current season up to 2015-07-08

Catagory: Jockeys

W.Cape

Mr B R Fay D'Herbe De Maudave 383 75 19 67 43 71 66 6478750 8637438
Mr G van Niekerk 499 72 14 66 64 119 64 4524650 7240400
Mr R D Fourie 406 66 16 70 50 95 69 3524562 5455250
Mr G M Cheyne 458 63 13 57 61 92 59 2922888 5056738
Mr K W Neisius 502 55 10 61 48 113 55 2366012 4240125

Kwazulu-Natal

Mr A C Delpech 467 108 23 87 62 92 74 6054062 9601625
Mr A Marcus 322 100 31 59 45 56 80 7506250 9533250
Mr S N Cormack 447 78 17 68 71 78 66 4929688 7300562
Mr K de Melo 613 70 11 84 44 118 51 3623438 5987862
Mr S Randolph 496 56 11 48 56 108 54 4987500 6551425

Central Provinces

Mr G J Lerena 784 157 20 106 103 164 67 8854688 13344725
Mr P J Strydom 571 136 23 88 73 105 70 11865000 15451650
Mr S Khumalo 730 127 17 113 98 124 63 7578125 11896925
Mr G Wrogemann 653 59 9 54 51 143 47 2633125 4299125
Mr W Marwing 322 58 18 42 34 64 61 3851875 5523125

E.Cape

Mr G M Cheyne 421 80 19 72 52 64 63 3395000 4829175
Mr R Danielson 341 51 14 40 34 64 55 2352050 3295525
Mr M A Yeni 373 47 12 59 38 83 60 1861875 3046850
Mr G L Funeka 406 38 9 31 42 74 45 1463300 2401912
Mr K H Zechner 398 38 9 29 33 52 38 1597500 2351712


South Africa
Mr G J Lerena 1044 203 19 142 130 223 66 11824688 17652412
Mr S Khumalo 1168 188 16 161 139 188 57 11920175 18137900
Mr G M Cheyne 926 151 16 132 116 166 61 6917888 10773038
Mr A C Delpech 652 150 23 115 80 127 72 11170312 17490850
Mr P J Strydom 650 146 22 105 82 121 69 13077688 18710738
Mr M A Yeni 1179 136 11 147 138 253 57 5857112 9930188
Mr A Marcus 418 127 30 69 61 71 78 13123125 16147250
Mr S N Cormack 696 120 17 106 95 128 64 7940938 12112388
Mr R Danielson 758 103 13 82 69 129 50 7636738 11498888
Mr G van Niekerk 667 95 14 73 81 153 60 5425900 8590425
Mr R D Fourie 539 92 17 87 65 120 67 5678312 8259700
Mr B R Fay D'Herbe De Maudave 501 91 18 80 55 93 63 8960000 12254712
Mr K de Melo 711 76 10 95 56 131 50 4148438 7358412
Mr J P van der Merwe 893 66 7 90 100 178 48 3226875 6235175
Mr W Marwing 355 63 17 45 34 74 60 5267500 7359350
Mr K H Zechner 879 63 7 73 71 133 38 3201250 5657412
Mr G Wrogemann 654 59 9 54 51 143 46 2633125 4299125
Mr S Randolph 524 58 11 49 57 114 53 5081250 7064800
Mr K W Neisius 518 55 10 64 50 114 54 2366012 4415175
Mr L M Van Rensburg 600 53 8 64 56 127 50 2592812 4451225
Mr I Sturgeon 848 52 6 71 72 154 41 2785625 6188550
Mr P C Orffer 436 52 11 37 45 102 54 2490350 4065300
Mr A Domeyer 446 51 11 48 56 95 56 2413750 4071525
Mr M J Byleveld 611 50 8 52 59 132 47 2511250 4650262
Mr A R Forbes 432 44 10 50 51 74 50 2306250 3688825