The outstanding late charge specialist Gogetthesheriff has joined the ranks of East Cape racing’s most popularly followed equine heroes.
Names like Hear The Drums, Sugarcube Baby, and more recently Crown Of Gold and the top filly Yoshie are some that come to mind. And the son of Go Deputy was at it again at Fairview on Friday when chalking up his eleventh win.
Gogetthesheriff scored his 11th win
The reigning Polytrack Horse Of The Year was denied a historic victory in the inaugural PE Poly Triple Crown when going down under a length in that thrilling climax back in May, but carrying a hefty 62kgs in the R94 000 Pinnacle Stakes on the turf, he came home powerfully under a terrific ride by Ryan Munger to beat the 8yo Russian Mig by a half length.
“The Sheriff beat a horse rated 90. Maybe the handicapper will drop his rating!” was the cheeky suggestion by a thrilled trainer Jacques Strydom, whose Dad Hekkie coincidentally saddled the runner-up.
Piere Strydom – complimented Ryan Munger
The victory was a Strydom family affair, with Jacque’s multiple SA Champion jockey brother Piere present on the crowded winner’s podium.
“That was a great ride by Ryan (Munger). I’m not sure if I would have had the confidence to ride him like that. It is certainly a lot more exciting viewing a good ride from the stands than in the saddle,” joked Piere.
Although Gogetthesheriff was a handful in the pens, the glorious outcome was lauded by owner Freddie van Onselen, who paid a similar tribute to Ryan Munger on his outstanding ride.
And Striker wasn’t the only legend present.
Van Onselen thanked former Springbok great Danie Gerber for being his lucky charm.
Danie Gerber in full flight
Gerber was inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame last year alongside other South African legends like Danie Craven, Kitch Christie and Frik du Preez, in recognition of his contribution to the game.
While it feels like yesterday for many of us, it has been almosts a quarter of a century since we we watched the explosive centre, who played 24 test matches for the Boks, scoring 19 tries between 1980 and 1992.
In the dark days of isolation, he scored 177 first class tries, playing for several teams, including Eastern Province, Free State, Western Province and also club rugby in Italy.
The evergreen 6yo Gogetthesheriff has now won 11 races from 30 starts with 10 places. He took his stakes earnings to R707 900.
He was bred by Lammerskraal Stud and is by Go Deputy out of the seven-time winning Centenary mare, Trojan Belle.
