Near wreck for punters as Khumalo refuses to ride favourite

There’s a recent American drama series titled Departure which begins with a train crash at a level crossing killing 60 passengers.

Before the running of Saturday’s Topbet Mike O’Connor Spring Challenge at Turffontein, punters looked set for their own version of a train wreck with S’manga Khumalo, rider of the favourite William Robertson, seen in deep conversation at the start with the course veterinary surgeon.

Khumalo was clearly unhappy with his mount — something also spotted by course commentator Alistair Cohen — and it looked likely that William Robertson would be withdrawn.

However, there was another twist in this drama with the vet ruling the horse  fit to run. Khumalo’s response was instantaneous with the popular jockey stating he wasn’t prepared to ride the horse.

So Muzi Yeni was summoned as substitute jockey and he rode for all he was worth over the final 200m to get Corné Spies’s charge home in a driving finish with the KwaZulu-Natal raider, After The Rain.

One has to feel Khumalo was fully entitled to take the stance he did. He probably feared he could be injured and that punters might not get a true run for their money.

That After The Rain — with a merit rating 21 points inferior to William Robertson — nearly beat a five-time winner suggests William Robertson ran way below his best. Still, his win took the gelding’s career earnings over R1m.

Bingwa, who contested a number of top races last term, ran a creditable third and his performance will have delighted trainer Johan Janse van Vuuren.

Mercantour, the only three-year-old in the race, finished fourth to suggest he will be a force when back among his own age group.

Saturday’s feature race was named after charismatic bookmaker and administrator Mike O’Connor who was shot dead during a robbery at his premises in Northcliff 10 years ago.

Trainer Mike de Kock took the first two places in the supporting feature — the Joburg Spring Fillies & Mares Challenge — with Humdinger holding off her stablemate, Desert Miracle, in a finish again involving Khumalo.

Riding Desert Miracle who was returning from a 30-week absence, Khumalo cut through the field and — 200m out — her backers must have said they were headed for the payout queue.

However, Humdinger, racing in the colours of the International Racing Club, refused to throw in the towel and jockey JP van der Merwe managed to hit the wire still in front.

De Kock remarked correctly that “Humdinger’s value has gone up dramatically” and she’s proving a bargain buy after being bought for R180,000 as a yearling from Ridgemont Highlands.

At Durbanville, Candice Bass-Robinson gave notice that her stable is set for a successful Cape season when saddling a treble at the country track.

In an interview before the grade 3 Hollywoodbets Diana Stakes, Bass-Robinson said her trio of runners would battle to beat the hot favourite, Chansonette. However, jockey Corné Orffer got a great finishing run out of Santa Maria to take the R118,750 first cheque.