WHEN you spot a wonderful looking race horse in the parade ring at the Fairview track, the chances are good that Lunga Gila is close by.
The horses in the care of Gila always look a million dollars and it is not his fault when those horses run a below par race.
Gila’s horses are always fit, look the part and are ready to run a good race.
The man from the Transkei has been working with racehorses since his teenage days. He is a respected horseman with a wealth of knowledge.
These days the assistant trainer is doing a fine job in looking after the successful Fairview satellite yard of KwaZulu-Natal conditioner, Kom Naidoo.
Gila developed his skills with long stints in the yards of trainers, Mitch Wiese and Glen Kotzen, and is known for his work ethic. He expects his co-workers to work as hard as he does.
The jockeys know when they ride for Gila they must follow his instructions and they must be on top of their game.
“I am trying my best,” was his modest response when people congratulated him last Friday after producing two winners for the Naidoo stable at a very competitive meeting.
“I like it when a jockey does what I tell him to do. It also helps a lot when a jockey gives you good feedback after a race,” Lunga explained.
“Then you know which things you have to work on to get the best out of the horse.
“Jockeys make mistakes sometimes but when they take responsibility for that, everyone can work as a team to get things right the next time the horse runs.”
Punters can hardly leave a runner of the satellite yard out of their bets these days, which is a huge compliment for Gila’s hard work.
Another trainer whose hard work paid off at last Friday’s meeting, is Zietsman Oosthuizen.
Oosthuizen also saddled two winners and the saying of “when the going gets tough, the tough gets going”, seems to be very appropriate in his case.
The big man had a very busy time leading up to the meeting, but to get away with two winners made it all worthwhile.
In less than a week he had race meetings at Fairview and in Johannesburg and attended the Yearling Sales in Cape Town.
Another big man who is receiving a lot of accolades in racing circles is Bobbo, as he is affectionately known. He has been doing a stellar job at the Fairview starting stalls for many years but received a lot of attention after a video in social media recently.
It is usually no easy task for the handlers to get those stubborn, big thoroughbreds safely into the starting stalls.
“What will we do without Bobbo,” asked trainer Jacques Strydom on his Facebook page when he posted a video of the big man scrumming a horse into the stalls.
The immense strength of Bobbo even drew the attention of former Cheetahs rugby coach, Peet Kleynhans, who commented, “I have never seen such strength.”
Hopefully for Nelson Mandela Bay Racing, Bobbo is not lured back to the rugby field because, what would we do without Bobbo?
