OFF THE RECORD #30

The Unseen Heroes:  South Africa's Dedicated Horse Racing Photographers

Horseracing photography is far more than just “aim and click”. On-course photographers brave the elements year-round to capture every finish of every race in South Africa, providing essential images for racing fans and the media. They also offer additional photographic services to owners, breeders, trainers, and jockeys, helping to preserve rare and cherished memories.

Our local industry has been served over many decades by a number of accomplished photographers whose names are etched in the annals of the sport, including Ken Wilkens, Charles Faull, John Lewis, Anita Akal, and HF Kenney. A new generation has emerged in the digital era, and while technology has simplified their duties, each new race still demands as much concentration as the previous one. Like any other craft, photographic methods and skills evolve with individual effort. As competition intensifies, higher standards are continuously set.

Above:  The JC Photos team, from left to right: Carol Grobler, Jeanne Cordier, Brenda Scheepers and Mavis Zodwa

Among the current group of racecourse photographers, Johannesburg-based JC Photos has been around the longest, by far. Teenage friends Jeanne Cordier and Carol Grobler worked in different departments of the same photo lab in Alberton in the 1980s. They had a chance meeting with Computaform’s erstwhile photographer Steve Green, who introduced them to racing.

Jeanne recalled, “In those days, racing was overseen by stewards of individual turf clubs who called the old Highveld Racing Services one day and requested assistance for Mr. Kenney. He was a man alone, responsible for photography across four racecourses during a time when racing was booming and there was a massive demand for photos.

“Looking back today, it's almost unbelievable how prolonged and cumbersome the process of delivering a single photo was. First, we had to take our film rolls to a lab for development. Often, we waited at the lab for hours if clients were in a hurry. Next, we had to place our negatives on a lightbox and separate the many average shots from the good ones. Our cameras lacked sophisticated functions like auto-focus, so we used two, sometimes three rolls to get three or four good shots. Selected negatives were then returned to the lab for prints. The whole process, including framing, could take up to 10 days. Today, we can complete it in a day or two.

When Kenney began scaling down, JC Photos brought Brenda Scheepers onto their team in 2009. Additionally, their former cleaning lady, Mavis Zodwa, has grown into an important member of the team. “Mavis has been with us for 15 years. She took a keen interest in helping to identify the positions of runners at different stages of a race. We use CCTV replays and technology to add these details to Computaform’s database. This information is essential for race data students. Mavis now also backs up as a photographer.”

JC Photos operates from a home office equipped with digital monitors, two large high-resolution printers, and framing equipment – a one-stop shop for their clients. They’re all horse lovers, and Jeanne said, “Being so close to these beautiful thoroughbreds rubs off. We get emotional when we see the joy of owners celebrating in the winner’s enclosure, and we cry like babies when horses are injured.”

The JC Photos founders snapped every Triple Crown winner from Horse Chestnut to Malmoos and every Triple Tiara winner from Igugu to War Of Athena. “They were standouts, along with this season’s star filly, Gimme A Nother, a very special horse to photograph,” said Jeanne.

Above:  Candiese Lenferna with Durban July favourite, Green With Envy

In the Last Outpost, racing lovers are proud and privileged to enjoy the services of the talented workaholic Candiese Lenferna, the official Gold Circle photographer, and the artistic Anneke Kitching, daughter of long-serving Anita Akal.

Candiese started fiddling with a camera while she was riding horses at 11 years of age and took random photos of them. The seed was planted, and in 2011 she jumped at the opportunity to write a regular column for KZN Breeders. She started taking photos at stud farms and, discovering she was good at it, decided to hone her craft.

In 2015, Candiese was approached by the TBA to take photos at their auctions, and a year later stepped in at Gold Circle with a short stint as course photographer, which later turned into a permanent appointment. “The first thing I discovered was that an ordinary camera would not be good enough for the photos I desired. I had to learn fast, and upgrading my equipment was essential.” Today, she uses a Canon R6 Mark 2 camera and has captured many sensational shots, leading to two Equus Media Awards for Still Photography.

Candiese said that she and the late Charles Baker had many interesting discussions on pedigrees and that, as a result, she developed a massive interest in studying bloodlines. Being married to fellow racing enthusiast Warren Lenferna has fuelled their shared passion for the industry. They own a share of Judgement Day, a potential high-level handicapper, and have enjoyed their share of winners with Coldhardcash and Ode To The Ocean.

Candiese has raced and photographed at Epsom, where she attended the Derby, and Sha-Tin in Hong Kong, an experience she described as priceless. She admires the work of award-winning UK photographer Ed Whittaker and US-based Michele Macdonald, whom she hopes to catch up with in San Diego in November. She said, “I photographed our former star Princess Calla from her first win on the Polytrack at Hollywoodbets Greyville in July 2020 to her last win, the 2024 Majorca Stakes last January. I will be going to the Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar, and we’re hoping she’ll take her place in one of the races on the day.”

Above:  Anneke Kitching

Anneke Kitching also had a camera around her neck when she was 11 old, when her mom Anita snuck her through the racecourse kitchen at HWB Greyville and taught her the tricks of the trade, often from an out-of-sight position near the finishing line. “Kids weren’t allowed on course in those days, but a young Sheldon Peters and I were regulars with our parents. We couldn’t stay away,” Anneke recalled.

Bright and academically inclined, Anneke completed a three-year course in photography and then, remarkably, took several more years and qualified herself as a Chartered Accountant (CA). “My passion is travel and initially I freelanced as a photographer to fund annual trips overseas. Later I practiced as a CA for a while until my mom was injured in 2016 and asked me to stand in for her as on-course photographer. The short stand-in became permanent when I decided to focus my efforts on what I wanted to do and mom started taking a back seat. This also gave me a chance to balance my work and family life away from corporate hours.”

Anneke shares Anita’s deep passion for horses and the sport of racing. Like her mother, she is a busy-body, often seen running onto the track and crouching to get the best possible shots after a race. “I get much satisfaction from capturing rare shots, which can happen unexpectedly. Owners love those snaps that only come now and then – a smile, a gesture, an emotional reaction from the jockey, and so on. I am touched when they express their gratitude,” she explains.

She quipped, “I’ve worked at 31 Durban July race days. I am over halfway to mom’s record of 53 July’s. I want to get there, and I have a feeling she’ll be by my side most of the way. She is inexhaustible. I love the atmosphere of racing and the colourful people. The roar of the crowd when the July field jumps from the start gives me goosebumps, year after year. It is a special moment, and it was good even without the crowd during Covid. I have a habit of hugging horses, I can’t help myself. Even the losers walking around the ring get a hug on occasion.”

Above: Pauline Herman on Font Catch A Star

We move down the South African map to Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape, where free-spirited Pauline Herman is the go-to girl for everything photographic. Born into a family of racers – cars and motorcycles – Pauline said, “The Herman family has been racing anything they can lay their hands on for generations.”

Pauline is a biker herself, owning a Suzuki GSXR750, but her love for horses surpasses her love for mechanics. She lives on a smallholding with her mom, represents Epol as a brand ambassador, and both ride and compete in showjumping and dressage. “Mom’s horses are retired racers Chill Factor and Fat Cigar; I have Texas Tornado, Evermore, and a warmblood named Font Catch A Star, on which I’ve won three Eastern Cape Championships three years in a row.”

Pauline was hooked when she started racing with her friend Kerryn Coetzee (daughter of former trainer Kevin Coetzee) in 1999. “I enjoyed it so much I started ‘bunking’ school on Fridays so I could go to the track.” She was introduced to photographer Wally Strydom, who retired in 2012, and then joined Deon Botha of Coastal Photos as an assistant in 2016. “I started working for Deon on a Friday, but the very next day he died of a heart attack, and I was thrown in the deep end. Suddenly, I was the course photographer!”

She’s come a long way in the eight years since Botha’s passing and said, “It’s been a learning curve, but I’ve adapted and made it work so I can produce the best quality work for clients. My old DSLR camera needed some TLC just before the ‘Black Friday’ sale last year, so I killed my credit card and went mirrorless. I love what I do!”

Pauline said that Global Drummer, Barak, Cherry Ano, Grazinginthegrass, and Moon Game are horses she has a special affinity with. “I am drawn to the spunky ones, those with blazes and wall eyes,” she noted, referring to the unique, light-coloured eyes that give these horses a distinct appearance. She also has a few favourite photos, including a lead-in of Richard Fourie and Blonde Act, taken in pouring rain.

“The weather gets tricky here in Gqeberha. We have to switch from turf to poly now and then, and we have heavy downpours. My most frustrating moment was one rainy day when my lens misted, and my pics for a race came out all misty. But that’s how you learn!”

Above:  Wayne Marks

In the Western Cape, Wayne Marks shares the on-course duties with Cape racing’s young gun, Chase Liebenberg. Wayne said: “I worked as a commercial photographer before I started in racing, doing stills, products, weddings and corporate functions. There are split-second decisions to be made with every race. We normally pick up our cameras between 100m and 50m from the winning post. With auto-focus enabled, we have to pick the right horse to get the rights shot of the winner, before it gets to the post. Once the camera is lifted, you lose peripheral vision. Sometimes we have to rely on the race caller for pointers, especially when the runners are spread across the track. I focus on getting quality and angles correct.”

Wayne was the first racecourse photographer in South Africa to apply digital distribution of photos directly after every race and he said: “In 2013 I sensed some frustration among Cape owners and trainers. There was a ‘need for speed’, so I googled to see who was doing it elsewhere and couldn’t find anyone for advice. I trialled the idea myself, it worked and today everyone’s doing it. Our photos are edited right after each race and then mailed to various individuals and racing organisations. Things are much easier today with easy access to fast connectivity.”

Above: Liesl King at the White Turf Training Track in St. Moritz, Switzerland

Liesl King was originally a wildlife photographer. She transitioned into racing journalism and diligently bridged the gap between the two photographic disciplines. Her high-quality work has earned her international recognition. Locally, she played a crucial role in curbing the unauthorised use of horse photos by advertising agencies.

In 2007, while working for Racing South Africa, Liesl was tasked with delivering sales catalogues to prospective clients at the Dubai World Cup. Amidst the annual beehive of media activity, she saw an opportunity to write copy and send photos to various media agencies worldwide. Over the next decade, she built a portfolio of high-profile clients, including Bloodhorse, Australia’s Thoroughbred News, TDN, EBN, and Godolphin. Liesl has covered major race meetings in Dubai, Singapore, the US, the UK, France, Germany, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, and Hong Kong, with a stint at Leopardstown in Ireland secured for later this year.

Like Candiese Lenferna, Liesl holds great respect for Ed Whitaker and believes that excellence in photography goes hand in hand with excellence in equipment. She is a member of the Canon Club of Professionals, which offers traveling photographers the opportunity to borrow cameras and receive assistance with the mechanics at major events. “I was at the Breeders' Cup one year and photographed 14 races. That was an eye-opener. I came away with 34 pages of camera settings and guidelines. I have since invested in top-of-the-range equipment.”

Liesl has enjoyed many memorable moments around the world, but Variety Club’s win in the Hong Kong Mile in 2015 stands out. She recalled, “This was most exciting. I just knew he would win it. I very seldom take a bet, but for this race, I put $100 on Variety Club to win. I was standing among the large group of photographers near the rail at Sha-Tin and I spotted him leading in the stretch from Able Friend, a horse I’d known well from previous races. I jumped up and down so much that the other photographers shouted at me to calm down. And during this excitement, I had to get some good snaps. I’m not sure how, but I did!”

In her spare time, Liesl enjoys yachting, and she’s a member of the Royal Cape Yacht Club. With her growing international commitments, she has cut her local engagements to the big races like the Durban July, the Met, and the King’s Plate.