TIME CALLED: SIX-TIME CHAMPION JOCKEY DECIDES NOT TO RENEW HIS JOCKEYS’ LICENCE
Champions Cup victory would see him go out in style.
- Jack Milner
Love him or hate him there is no doubting the brilliance of Piere Strydom.
And finally, after some 44 years in the saddle, the maestro has decided it is time to call it quits and has announced he has not applied for his jockey’s licence to be renewed next season.
That means that it will all be over on 31 July.
“It’s been at the back of my mind for some time now, probably for five of six years,” said Strydom earlier this week. “Then I picked up the chance ride on See It Again in the Cape Derby and I stuck with him. I started to get good rides like Quid Pro Quo and then did the deal to ride for ASSM Racing, and that kept me going.
“But then it started to get more difficult to get rides.”
One other wake-up call was the injury he incurred on 31 December last year at the Vaal.
“You know you’re going to get injured at some time and when I had that fall there was a concern that I had broken my neck and have to spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair.
“Fortunately, that wasn’t the case, and I came back earlier than I should have so I could ride See It Again in the Cape Met.
“I rode quite a few winners for a while and then I started to battle getting rides at my riding weight of 58.5kg
“Eventually that hunger started to fade and in the back of your mind is always that thought that you could fall again.”
The reality is that when you battle to ride winners, the support from owners and trainers also starts to dry up. “I realised I just wasn’t there anymore.”
Also, there were changes to his medical aid costs and he is currently paying R28,500 a month for coverage. “It’s tough when you’re paying all that money and your earnings are not sustaining that expense. Then the spouse got removed, the kids got removed.
“It’s a high-risk job and I was paying through my neck.
“When I was younger and paying into the system, that carried the older guys. Now I am one of the older guys.”
So, at the age of 59, Striker Strydom has to find a new career. “In my immediate future I will work a bit for Glistian Events and I’ll see how that works out.
“My whole life all I knew was how to ride a horse. I knew what my routine was and what I had to do.
“I think it will be hard to change my lifestyle at the age of 59.
“But I need to keep busy and I need to stay in there until I broaden my horizon.”
He will be working for long-time friend Joao da Mata. “He owns horses, and does events like golf. In a way I’ll be his racing manager and a brand ambassador for them and will be looking for other options.”
Strydom says he will continue with the racing podcast that he does and in fact, will be looking to expand it. “At this stage we only do it for the big meetings but it is popular so we might expand – maybe call it ‘Overs Cadovers’.”
Strydom has ridden all over the world, has been South African Champion Jockey six times, has more than 5,500 winners and 97 (he thinks) Grade 1 winners.
And it’s not quite over yet. He has five rides at Turffontein on Saturday, four at the Gold Cup meeting on Sunday at Hollywoodbets Greyville and four at the final meeting of the year at the Vaal on Thursday, 31 July.
“I would love to win the HKJC Champions Cup on Royal Victory and go out in style.”