A Hat-Trick In The Midlands
Some days at the races, one jockey’s name just keeps coming up. At Scottsville on Sunday, that name was Craig Zackey. By the time the last of the Class 3 and Stakes events had been run, he’d steered home three winners on the card — in the D Stakes over 2000m, the Class 3 over 1600m and the B Stakes over 1200m — three different races, three different trips, three different stables represented in the winner’s enclosure.
Zackey has built his career the traditional way: through the South African Jockey Academy, graduating into the saddle and steadily climbing the ranks to become one of the country’s most reliable big-race riders. He’s a Hollywoodbets Durban July winner and has four Grade 1 victories on his CV, the kind of résumé that explains why trainers up and down the KwaZulu-Natal midlands keep putting him up on their better horses.
Two For The Kannemeyer Yard
Two of Sunday’s three winners — Hah Lah Lah in the B Stakes and Educator in the Class 3 — carried the colours of Dean Kannemeyer’s stable, a yard that has quietly built a strong record at this circuit. Hah Lah Lah, a lightly-raced three-year-old, had been building nicely before a blip in his last start at Greyville; back at Scottsville and back in Zackey’s hands, he found his form again. Educator, already a Greyville winner back in May, picked up exactly where he left off, backing up that win with another at the bigger Scottsville track.
The third leg of the treble came aboard Day Two, trained by Gareth van Zyl’s yard, who had been knocking on the door with a string of competitive placings before finally getting his nose in front in the D Stakes.
What A Treble Means
For a jockey, riding three winners on one card isn’t just a good day’s work — it’s a sign of being in the right place, on the right horses, at the right time, race after race. For the stables involved, it’s validation that the horses they’ve been nursing through their preparation are coming to hand. For everyone at Scottsville on Sunday, it was simply a good story to take home: a jockey, three yards, and an afternoon that kept delivering.
If you’re following today’s Scottsville card, the full racecard and form guide is at cfox.co.za/predictions.
