Hollywoodbets Durban July: Rachel Venniker to make history as first woman to ride in famous race

South African jockey Academy graduate Rachel Venniker will make history on Saturday as the first woman to ride in the Hollywoodbets Durban July.

She might have achieved this feat last year but for a freak accident that left her unable to take part in the race.

“We were in the stalls, nearly ready for the gate to open, when my filly just reared up and I hit my head on the top of the gate.

“They said it was whiplash and I was booked off for two weeks. I was devastated,” she said.

Trailblazer says that making Durban July history is no big deal

Riding the gelding Without Question, owned by Justin Snaith, Venniker said the fact that she is the first female jockey to compete in the Durban July is not something that she focuses on. “It’s not a big deal,” she said in a very relaxed way.

And it’s precisely that temperament that may assist her to make history if she pips her rivals to the post and crosses the finishing line first.

Local hero

On the back of her recent success at the Met in Cape Town, where she came third, Venniker said she is confident that things may go well on July 6 when she competes in Africa’s Greatest Horserace.

Jonsson Workwear owner Nick Jonsson is her sponsor. “I first met his father Benjy at the Jockey Academy. Everyone loved him, so I was so proud when he (Nick) agreed to sponsor me,” she said.

Venniker rides for the Michael Roberts stable.

Rachel Venniker keeps making history

Earlier this year she flashed past the post and won Saudi Arabia’s Invest Saudi International Jockeys Challenge Stakes making history overseas. She became the first South African female rider to win in the desert Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the first South African female to defeat male rivals such as Ryan Moore (whose mount ran third) and former Australian legend Damien Oliver (fifth).

Having just completed her apprenticeship a month ago It was Venniker’s first trip out of South Africa and her first big-race win as a fully-fledged jockey

The value of the race – (US) $400,000 or R7,63m – is more than the purses of the WSB Met and the Hollywoodbets July combined.

She rode British bred Cliffs of Fury, owned by Saudi Refaei Sanat Alghuraban and trained by Nawaf Fawaz.

Venniker has been on the back of a horse since she was four years old, is born in KwaZulu-Natal and lives at Summerveld. Both her parents were show jumpers and she simply wanted to follow in their footsteps.

In a male-dominated world, Rachel is unafraid of the dangers and challenges being a jockey can bring. She did say she has a few false teeth, and other injuries but would not change it for the world.