In his short career, trainer Lunga Gila has been something of a nomadic groundbreaker. He has moved around, some may say almost restlessly, and things haven’t been easy.
But at Fairview on Friday he was seen kissing the green grass after saddling his first double since moving back to Gqeberha from Cape Town.
An elated and thankful Lunga Gila goes on his knees after the second leg of his double! Journalist Henk Steenkamp looks on (Pic – Pauline Herman)
A Transkei-born horseman who started as a Groom, Lunga learnt the ropes from top men like Mitch Wiese, Glen Kotzen and Kumaran Naidoo, before breaking new ground both in the Eastern and Western Cape as the first black trainer to run his own yard.
It’s been a tough 2025 since Lunga packed his bags at Futura Park down in Philippi after saddling his last runner at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth on 4 December last year. After a year in the Fairest Cape, he moved back to the Eastern Cape for his family but the winners have been hard to come by.
That all changed when he broke the ice on 25 April when the One World filly Midwicket shed her maiden at 16-1 under Sandile Khathi.
And on Friday he celebrated a double for owner Patrice Latour, partnered by Sporting Post-sponsored Louis Mxothwa.
First up was Sound Of The Sea (4-1), a gelded son of Talk Of The Town, who registered his second win in the MR 74 Handicap.
Two races later it was Always Shining(9-2), a Pomodoro gelding who looked overdue to shed his maiden and got the better of the luckless 8-10 shot Golden Grey
Louis Mxothwa rounds off the Gila double on Always Shining (Pic – Pauline Herman)
Born and bred in the Eastern Cape, Lunga started his own stable two seasons ago at Fairview.
In his debut 2022/2023 season at Fairview he ended with the third highest win percentage.
Anyone interested in supporting the stable can contact Lunga on the Facebook page of Lunga Gila Racing Stables.
On a quiet afternoon for the traditional big-hitters, Sharon Kotzen also saddled a double, while the fast improving Malesele Katjedi grabbed a personal double, having ridden 8 winners in his last 3 racemeetings!
The next Fairview racemeeting is on Friday 9 May.
