S’manga Khumalo finished outside the Top 5 on the National Jockeys’ log last season for the first time in five years after suffering an injury interrupted campaign, during which he underwent knee surgery.
Nevertheless, he rode 70 winners all told and achieved an impressive 16% Win strike rate – bettered only by Top 3 riders Craig Zackey (17%), Richard Fourie (25%) and champion Gavin Lerena (25%) – to go with a 46% Place rate.
Khumalo, champion jockey in the 2013/14 season, has quickly set about making up for time lost last term by starting the current campaign as he means to go, with three winners from eight rides in the first week of August. And he’s expected to greatly add to that tally at the nine-race Vaal Classic track fixture on Thursday 14 August.
The Mike & Adam Azzie-trained Winds Of Grace is Khumalo’s first port of call in Race 2 over 1500m and, after back-to-back seconds over 1450m, this Act Of War filly should break her duck and open Khumalo’s account on the day.
In Race 5, Khumalo is reunited with Fanie Bronkhorst’s Open Highway, a last-start winner over 1400m. He has ridden the son of Var in three previous starts for a win, a second and a fourth-place finish.
Bronkhorst’s five-year-old gelding wasn’t winning out of turn under Lerena last month and a three-point penalty for that success shouldn’t prevent Open Highway from following up over 1600m.
Erupt gelding Obsidian appears the pick of Khumalo’s rides on the card and the progressive four-year-old trained by Johan Janse van Vuuren is good value to complete a hat-trick in Race 6 over 1600m.
Obsidian has won three of his last four starts, two of which were under Khumalo, including a wide-margin 1600m handicap victory on Turffontein’s Inside track.
Van Vuuren’s charge copped a hefty eight-point rise for that performance but Obsidian made light work of the handicapper’s assessment when winning over 1400m last time under Lerena. The extra 200m with Khumalo back aboard will suit and a further four-point increase seems unlikely to halt Obsidian’s winning momentum.
Clive Robinson
