The veteran jockey will call it a day at his favourite racecourse in South Africa — the Vaal.
A bog-standard Thursday fixture at the Vaal might seem an unlikely setting for six-time champion jockey Piere “Striker” Strydom to bid farewell to the game he has graced for four decades.
However, the modest venue on the banks of the river is his favourite racecourse in South Africa and – for all his many big-race glories – it is workaday, bread-and-butter fare that has filled his bag of more than 5,600 career wins.
One of the cardinal rules of effective gambling is to keep emotion strictly out of the equation. That’ll be impossible in this situation. Only the perverse and mean-spirited won’t be hoping the great man signs off with a winner, or two, three…
He has four rides on the day, for trainers with whom he has had long associations, and all four horses have winning chances. None, though, look home and hosed.
Races
Strydom gets his historic day started in Race 3, a Maiden Plate named “Striker & JJ The Jet Plane Take on Hong Kong in 2010” in honour of what everyone – including himself – regards as his greatest performance: victory at Sha Tin in the prestigious Hong Kong Sprint aboard Lucky Houdalakis’s incredible speedster.
Xenophon, a three-year-old filly trained by Striker’s old friend Sean Tarry, isn’t in the league of “JJ”, but she is a progressive sort likely to start as favourite.
On Xenophon, he’ll wear the famous Beck family silks of brown and white, which he carried to victory many times – including on Free My Heart in the Queen’s Plate.
Clinton Binda will probably not bother giving riding instructions before Race 5, in which the old master partners Nkwenkwezi.
This filly is a plucky trier, having delivered six runner-up prizes and two thirds in her 11-race career thus far. Some punters are put off by a “seconditis” record, but others will surely pile on at odds of around 3-1.
The main danger comes from Babette’s Feast (5-2), who looks suspiciously like a De Kock yard juvenile “bomb”.
Strydom can then have a nice cup of tea – and maybe even some cake (so long forbidden) – before going out for his penultimate assignment.
After Hours, saddled by St John Gray for Race 8, is a seven-year-old veteran having his 95th run, so horse-rider understanding could be in play. The gelding (7-2) is as game as they come but – like his rider – is no longer in his pomp. A two-year-old stablemate, Palace Prince (5-2), could be too sprightly for the old toppies.
Race 9 is the curtain call and there’ll be a standing ovation no matter where the horse finishes.
Young Adam Azzie gets the privilege of hoisting up Striker for the last time – onto one-time winner Summer Winter.
There’ll be sentiment aplenty, but when it comes to the crunch there’ll be no standing back for a Striker victory parade. So, which rival might spoil the show? Imported filly Deal Maker would seem to be the most likely party pooper.
