Few casual racing fans truly appreciate the rigors of being a jockey which is a stressful and dangerous profession. Horseplayers are quick to criticize a woeful ride without quite understanding the difficulties of race-riding. Jockeys are subjected to serious pressure throughout their careers, with some handling the demands of their job better than others as many fall by the wayside.
Sandile Mbele is a talented young rider who, like all of his colleagues, is not immune to the peculiar challenges of being a jock. It was heartening to see him emerge from a recent personal slump and celebrate two fine feature race wins this weekend.
Mbele, who is modest and quietly spoken with a bright smile, saw nothing remarkable in his victory on Point of Sale in the listed Ibhayi Stakes in PE, “It was easy, given her light weight.” Indeed, the daughter of Var was cleverly placed by trainer Glen Kotzen against the colts, coming in with just 50,5kg’s and comfortably getting the job done.
However, Mbele’s ride on Kenilworth Cup victor, Mercurana was world class, and his exhilaration afterwards was a pleasure to witness. This half brother to Marinaresco was an unconsidered outsider in the 3200m slog after hardly setting the course alight at his previous 14 starts, plodding to just two wins over modest opposition. But he clearly relished the test of endurance, scything through a narrow gap coming from last with 100m to run, to mug Swift Surprise on the line.
There is fine margin between being fool-hardy and brave – Mbele was certainly courageous and inspired to go for the tiny gap, driving Mercurana to a surprise score. Hopefully, this young jock will find the right support from experienced mentors within the industry and cultivate the much-needed inner strength to fully utilize his talents and enjoy a long, fulfilling career.
It was gratifying to see last term’s outstanding juvenile, Basadi Faith (speed score 104) bounce back to best. She was one of the most eye-catching winners over the weekend when sprinting clear at Turffontein.
Others to get nice figures on the Highveld included Spiritofthegroove (s/s 97) All Of Me (s/s 97) and Dan the Lad (s/s 95.) Down in the Cape, ever-dependable Photocopy (s/s 97), feisty Phil’s Dancer (s/s 95) promising Potalo Palace gelding, Katak (s/s 92) and run-away winner, Savea (s/s 91+) also did well.