By Henk Steenkamp
Ten-time East Cape champion jockey Greg Cheyne will make a welcome return to the Fairview Polytrack on Friday. After winning a tenth EC title at the end of the 2021/22 South African season, Cheyne emigrated to the United Kingdom where he joined William Haggas’s Somerville Lodge Stables in Newmarket.
Cheyne and trainer Alan Greeff formed a formidable combination for many seasons at Fairview and Greg will again link up with the stable on his South African visit.
“Greg is in South Africa for what you can call a working holiday,” Greeff said. “He is keen to see everyone at his old hunting ground and I have enough runners on Friday for him to take a few rides. This will also help him to keep ticking over,” the trainer explained.
In six of the eight carded races at the Poly meeting, Cheyne will be riding for the Greeff stable. Cheyne won the EC title for the first time in 2006. He rode a record 116 winners in the EC season of 2018/2019.
The Poly meeting starts at 12:30. Cheyne is not carded to ride in races one and six.