King takes his Crown!
An absolute cracker of a race day was held at Turffontein Racecouse on Saturday, 26 April, when Louis the King raced into ‘equine immortality’ and the hearts of the public when becoming only the second horse, ever to win South Africa’s prestigious Triple Crown and banked his owners a R2million bonus courtesy of Phumelela Gaming.
Owner Louis van der Vyfer, his father, Tiaan, and singer Steve Hofmeyer hold the trophy won by Louis The King following the horse’s victory in the R2-million SA Derby at Turffontein on Saturday. As a result of his victory Louis The King became only the second horse in South African history to capture the SASCOC Triple Crown, which carries a R2-million bonus.
The course was a flurry of activity as the 16 000 strong crowd eagerly cheered home Louis the King whilst partaking in the success of the Intercontinental Village and the plentiful activities that were on offer. The culmination of the Triple Crown Polo Finish competition saw three extremely excited race goers each presented with the keys to their brand new VW Polo Vivo’s.
Seafood Paella, Balkan Burgers and traditional Italian cuisine were just some of what was on offer at the various food stalls that were put on by the 10 nationalities that partook in the Intercontinental Village. Each participating nationality nominated a charity and it was this pairing that drew one of the runners in the SA Derby for their share of R150 000, it was the Portuguese charity, Bienvenu Shelter who took first place and along with it R40 000.
The gorgeous Miss South Africa, Rolene Strauss, 5fm’s Nicole da Silva and celebrated fashion designer JJ Schoeman were amongst the well healed who took in the palpable atmosphere that the day had to offer.
Organisers were clearly pleased with the success of the 2014 event, “It couldn’t have gone off better” commented Phumelela’s Marketing Manager Michael Varney, “what with Louis the King taking the Triple Crown, the enormous turnout and the increase in turnover of 20% year on year”
