The Hollywoodbets Work Riders Series Worthy Winner

Three wins from four rides were enough to see Louis Burke walk off with the R12,000 first prize for finishing top of the Hollywoodbets Work Riders Series, which was contested over five legs from November to March.

The 29-year-old rode for the Justin Snaith stable and opened up the series by bringing Rafa Bay home 0.40 lengths ahead of Luke Coleman on Flying Finley over the Hollywoodbets Kenilworth 1100m on 19th November.

A fortnight later he was back in the winner’s enclosure when piloting Elsinore to a narrow success over 1000m, again seeing off Coleman, this time by only 0.20 lengths. The expected hat-trick of wins was scuppered in the third leg, despite Burke aboard the 1-3 favourite Wild Applause. Bazile Nkunzi rode a good race to get the 20-1 shot Indebe Mayibuye home ahead of Siphiwo Feni and Burke.

However, Burke wrapped up the series with one leg remaining when he scored on Dawn’s Early Light around the turn at Hollywoodbets Durbanville, his third winner with Snaith and second in the series for owners Greg Bortz and Gina Goldsmith.

Burke didn’t ride in the final leg, won by Godfrey Sigenu on Stu’s Girl and had enough points (36) to watch from the sidelines.

Aviwe Bikwe finished second with 24 points, Coleman (22) third, Nkunzi (21) fourth and Ben Feni (19) fifth. Their respective prize monies were R6,000, R4,000, R2,000 and R1,000.

The victorious Burke paid special mention to the Snaiths for the role they played in his Series win. “Chris is a massive part of my success and has been showing me the ins and outs of horsemanship, while going through the phases with Justin, I have learned more with him in one year than I have in my whole life. My support bases have also been so important to me, from my family to my grandparents to friends from all over.”

Riding master Craig du Plooy has also been an invaluable player in the success of the Series.

“All the guys relish the opportunity to compete in a professional race arena and Hollywoodbets are again to be lauded for putting up the prize money and providing the platform. It creates a tremendous buzz and competitive edge for these hardworking folk who spend a large proportion of their working lives in the engine room,” said Du Plooy.

By Gary Lemke