Expect some special awards for a special season at this year’s East Cape Racing Awards evening.
Achievements on the race track during the recently concluded 2024/25 season will be honoured at the awards ceremony on a date soon to be announced.
It was an extraordinary season for racing in the province. The East Cape made an enormous impact on South African racing with some outstanding performances.
Leading the way was the Alan Greeff stable, which won graded races all over the country.
Greeff has the three best two-year-old fillies in the country: Golden Palm, Direct Hit, and Anotherdanceforme in his yard.
They all won graded races in the same season, something that is very seldom achieved in world racing.
Greeff also saddled the East Cape’s first Hollywood Durban July runner since 2004 in My Best Shot. My Best Shot became the first horse to win all three legs of the East Cape Sophomore Challenge this year.
Jockey Richard Fourie made regular trips from Cape Town to the Fairview track in Greenbushes to ride mostly for the Greeff stable.
He also had an incredible season, demolishing his own record of 119 for the most wins in a Fairview season. Fourie’s new record is 139 wins, an astonishing number.
It is no surprise then that the Greeff representatives will have their hands full carrying all the silverware back to the stable after the awards evening.
Even when one pushes the Greeff heroics aside, there were other wonderful performances which could have made it a special season on its own.
Trainers Jacques Strydom and Zietsman Oosthuizen reached exceptional milestones with some of their horses.
Strydom broke the Western Cape stranglehold on one of the province’s most prestigious races, the Algoa Cup, by winning with Firealley.
Before this victory, Surfin’ USA was the last local horse to win the Algoa Cup. Surfin’ USA was also trained by Strydom, which makes Strydom the only local trainer to win the Algoa Cup in 20 years.
There was a unique achievement by Oosthuizen with the horse (then) eight-year-old El Romiachi. El Romiachi was a winner in his 100th track appearance, not something one witnesses every day.
Oosthuizen and El Romiachi took it even further. The horse went on to win his next two races, his career runs number 101 and 102!
Early in the season, we also had the first winner of all three legs of the popular East Cape Poly Challenge – the Cape Town visitor King Regent.
And don’t forget that trainer Gavin Smith also had a brilliant season. He saddled 116 winners, one of only three in the country (Justin Snaith and Greeff the others) to pass 100 winners.
The next Fairview meeting is this coming Friday on the Polytrack.
