3 minute read
Gold Coast-based Jeff Lloyd, a cult figure in South African racing, has been included in the home team to take on a star studded overseas team in the annual International Jockey Challenge this weekend.
Photo by Racing and Sports
The annual challenge will start with a meeting at Turffontein on Friday night and finish at Clairwood on Sunday.
The second leg was originally scheduled to be held at Greyville but inclement weather over the past three months has resulted in new turf laid over the course proper not recovering enough to allow racing.
Lloyd has been riding Hong Kong and Australia since 2008 but takes every opportunity to return to South Africa. On his last visit home he finished third on Chesalon in the G1 Vodacom Durban July and won the G1 Golden Horseshoe on War Horse for trainer Corne Spies.
The home team will be captained by current South African champion jockey Anton Marcus with team members Gavin Lerena, Piere Strydom, Anthony Delpech, Jeff Lloyd and Muzi Yeni with S’Manga Khumalo as reserve.
Last year’s team consisted of Marcus as captain along Weichong Marwing, Delpech, Strydom, Felix Coetzee, Yeni and reserve Sherman Brown.
The International team won last year’s Challenge for the first time in four attempts and this year will have a distinct Irish flavour with five Irish-born riders.
Richard Hughes will again captain the side that includes Jimmy Fortune, Tom Queally, Jamie Spencer and Seamie Heffernan. They will be joined by the Singapore sensation Joao Moreira.
Last year's team comprised of Hughes, Spencer, Olivier Peslier (France), Andrasch Starke (Germany), Fortune , Queally and emergency reserve Karis Teetan (Mauritius).
Each day of the Challenge comprises four races. Traditionally the points scoring system is 30 for a win, 15 for second, 12 for third, ten for fourth, eight for fifth and then seven, six, five, four, three, two and one for the remaining places.
If a jockey doesn’t have a ride due to a card scratching, he is awarded seven points. To balance the chances of the two teams, the runners in all of the Challenge races are seeded beforehand by a panel of racing experts.
The subsequent draw awards one team with the mounts seeded 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11 and the other team with the mounts seeded 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12.
The points of each leg are added together to obtain the overall winner and there is also an award for the top rider of each day and for the top rider overall.
