Kuda-sponsored Lyle Hewitson became the first jockey to hit a century of victories this season when he steered Capernaum to victory for trainer Zietsman Oosthuizen in The second at Fairview on Monday.
Lyle with some big fans – Rocky Agrella and Dad Carl (Pic – Candiese Lenferna)
One race later he clocked up another winner when Dancing Girl franked a good third-place debut beginning of December with a victory to give the Oosthuisen/Hewitson combination a quick double.
Tabnews reports that according to Oosthuizen, he very much left the tactics in the running of Race 3 to Hewitson, after they had decided that if there wasn’t much pace in the race, the jockey would make his own.
This strategy paid off as this Soft Falling Rain filly outran Leader Of The Pack by a length.
“She’s a big filly,” said Oosthuizen after the race. “She’s as long as a train. Well done Lyle and thanks for the double.”
He added that he believes there’s still a lot to come from this filly, so it could pay to keep a close eye on her career.
“She’s still very immature, but I think we are going to have a lot of fun with her,” said Oosthuizen.
Capernaum, a three-year-old Querari gelding, shed his maiden tag on his fourth outing on the Polytrack in PE.
Capernaum has not set a foot wrong since moving to PE from the Highveld. Despite battling to find his feet first-time out on the poly, he managed a third place, beaten all of 6 lengths by Moon Game.
His next two outings saw him beaten by less than a length on both occasions before yesterday’s convincing 3.5 length victory.
“Very blessed to be in this position and for getting all the support,” said Hewitson after the race, the first jockey to hit 100 winners this season.
After the race meeting, Hewitson boasts a 23-win lead over Greg Cheyne, who fills the second spot on the jockey championship log.
The somewhat unlikely pairing of Oosthuizen and Hewitson is working like a charm this season. Their record now shows five wins and seven places from 18 runs, resulting in a 67% win-place success rate.
It was also an historic day for the Strydom-family as jockey Kyle Strydom rode two winners for his father, Jacques Strydom, and one for his grandfather, Hekkie Strydom.
