Strydom fans wondering why ace jockey left out of SA side
Jockey Piere Strydom’s omission from the SA side for November’s Air Mauritius International Challenge meetings at Fairview and Turffontein has been greeted with dismay by racing fans. The team announced at the weekend was S’manga Khumalo (captain), Andrew Fortune, Anthony Delpech, Gavin Lerena, Muzi Yeni and promising Cape rider Grant van Niekerk. "So I’m not rated in the top seven jockeys in the country," was Strydom’s response to his exclusion when interviewed after winning the second race at Turffontein last Saturday. He was referring to the fact that Anton Marcus — previously an automatic choice — had turned down the invitation to participate. One could liken the decision to Barcelona opting to leave out star player Lionel Messi from a Champions League final. In an editorial on their website, the racing newspaper Sporting Post commented that "the excitement generated by the scoop of securing legendary jockey Frankie Dettori to captain the international team is bound to be temper...
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