THE Strydom family from Gqeberha is a household name in South African horse racing.
Hekkie and his sons, Pieré and Jacques, have enjoyed many highlights in various roles in the sport since Hekkie qualified as a jockey in 1964.
Last Friday, at Fairview, was another red-letter-day for the family – especially for Jacques and his son, Kyle. Jacques, as the trainer of the two-year-old filly, Chere for Me, and the 20-year-old Kyle, as the jockey, combined for a memorable victory.
Kyle, the current national apprentice champion, won a listed race for the first time in his young career.
“It is an honour and privilege to ride my first listed winner for the stable of my dad,” the former Pearson High learner said afterwards, in his typically humble fashion.
It was also a victory for the underdog, as Chere for Me had to beat the fillies from the bigger stables, including the Cape Town visitor, Certainly, which arrived in Nelson Mandela Bay for the East Cape Fillies Nursery with a huge reputation.
For trainer, Jacques, also one of the filly’s part owners, these are exciting times as he will now carefully have to plan the way forward for the talented filly. Chere for Me not only won the race, but she also completely destroyed her opposition with a sensational run.
With this victory, Jacques proved that he is still one of the best trainers in the province and Kyle again showed off the skills one would associate with a much more experienced jockey.
Although the Chere for Me victory was the special one, Kyle also won two races for other stables on Friday, with Divine Odyssey and Storm Chaser.
They are horses he has special relationships with, as he has now won four races in a row on Divine Odyssey, and three in a row with Storm Chaser.
In pulling off these victories, Kyle showed his wonderful temperament as the pressure was on to produce the goods.
Kyle is based in KwaZulu-Natal, where he is the head boy at the South African Jockey Academy, but he tries to get to the meetings in his home town whenever he can.
The action returns to Fairview this coming Friday when the Guineas and the Sprint Cup are the highlights.
The meeting of eight races starts at 12:35.
