Lyle Hewitson – took the honours
Kearsney College matriculant Lyle Hewitson was crowned winner of the Workrider’s Challenge series at Turffontein Racecourse on Saturday after a thrilling tussle with Charles Ndlovu that went right down to the wire.
The matriculant earned R20,000 for his efforts, Charles Ndlovu earned R10,000 for finishing second and Francis Semela earned R5,000 for finishing third. Samuel Mosia earned R5,000 for being the leading rider in Saturday’s meeting.
The points system awards 10 points for first, seven for third, five for third and three for fourth and Hewitson was locked in a gruelling struggle with Charles Ndlovu throughout the three legs of the series, which consisted of three dedicated eight-race meetings.
This culminated in a thrilling finale as Hewitson led by just four points going into the last race of the series on Saturday, meaning there would virtually be a match race within a race.
Ndlovu’s mount Regency Romance overtook Hewitson’s Grand Opera in the closing stages, but it was all in vain as he only finished fifth.
Hewitson thoroughly deserved the title as he rode eight winners in the three meetings at a strike rate of nearly 45%. He had ridden a double from four rides in the first leg of the Challege series on October 23 and a memorable four-timer from six rides in the second leg on February 3. Even then he still had to make up a six-point leeway on Saturday as Ndlovu had achieved consistent results in the first two legs.
Lyle Hewitson won the Workrdier’s Challenge – 2nd Charles Ndlovu, 3rd Francis Semela
Hewitson closed the gap to one by winning the first race on the Mike Azzie-trained Hot August and took the lead when riding a fourth place finish in the second race. His win on the Gavin van Zyl-trained Rascality in the fourth race took him into a seven point lead, but he was forced to hold on grimly when a fourth place finish by Ndlovu in the fifth race closed the gap to four points. Both riders scored blanks in all of the last three races.
Kearsney College’s headmaster Elwyn van den Aardweg was thrilled upon hearing the news and commented “Lyle is proving to be an all-rounder of note having just achieved 50 caps for the school’s first hockey team. The boys and staff alike are behind him in his racing endeavours and we continue to keep a close eye on his fantastic progress”.
Mosia earned 32 points on Saturday through two winners, a second and a third. Hewitson earned 88 points in total during the series to Ndlovu’s 84 and Semela’s 63. Hewitson will receive an award for Work Rider of the Season at the annual Racing Association Highveld Feature Seasons Awards held on May 16 at Turffontein.
