Cape-based jockey Grant van Niekerk celebrated his 34th birthday on Monday in what has been a trying season and would enjoy nothing more than to ride a Hollywoodbets Durban July winner on Saturday.
Grant van Niekerk – 34 today (Pic – Chase Liebenberg)
Grant has been booked on Sean Tarry’s first reserve Litigation in Saturday’s 129th renewal of the Hollywoodbets Durban July. Reserves remain ‘alive’ until 08h15 on Friday.
So Grant’s July dream is still quite a distant one at this point and he says he would not like to benefit by somebody else’s disappointment of having their horse scratched. He has two other rides on the day for the Azzies.
The enigmatically talented rider has three second places to his credit in the big race dating back to 2012, when as a young apprentice, he came within a heartbeat of glory on Tyrone Zackey’s Smanjemanje, only beaten by the superior experience of Piere Strydom on Pomodoro.
Pomodoro (Piere Strydom) holds off Smanjemanje under Grant van Niekerk in 2012 (Pic – Supplied)
Four years later Grant was again in the forgettable second box, and on the receiving end of Strydom’s genius, when The Conglomerate overcame a wide draw to hold off a fast-finishing Marinaresco, who would go on to win the 2200m contest a year later under Bernard Fayd’herbe.
In 2021 the again frustrated Van Niekerk had to eat runner-up humble pie again when the gutsy Linebacker was beaten by popular Kommetdieding, in the hands of current champion title chaser, Gavin Lerena.
Grant has only ridden a single winner in the three months since 26 March this year – the day at Hollywoodbets Durbanville that largely derailed his season.
On his current situation, Grant told the Sporting Post that he remains positive and will keep plugging away.
“It’s a big wheel. We all get our turn to spend time on it at some point. Here’s wishing everybody a wonderful day on Saturday.”
Tote betting opened today – here are the various exotics:
- Race 1 (11h45):
First leg of JACKPOT ONE. Likely pool R750 000.
- Race 2 (12h25):
First leg of BIPOT ONE. Likely pool R750 000.
- Race 3 (13h05):
First leg of PLACE ACCUMULATOR. Likely pool R2,5 MILLION!
- Race 4 (13h40):
First leg of PICK 6. R2 MILLION carryover, likely pool R15 MILLION!
- Race 5 (14h20):
First leg of JACKPOT TWO. Likely pool R2 MILLION!
- Race 7(16h00):
Hollywoodbets Durban July QUARTET. R1 MILLION carryover, likely pool R10 MILLION!
- Race 9 (17h40):
First leg of JACKPOT THREE. R500 000 carryover, likely pool R3 MILLION!
