KNYSNA NEWS - A racehorse part-owned by a Knysna resident is competing in South Africa's premier horseracing event, the Durban July, held today, Saturday 6 July.
Natasha Sturdy hopes Royal Victory, which has already won two Grade 1 races in Johannesburg this season, the Premier's Champions Challenge and the Summer Cup, will become the first racehorse to register an historic treble by winning the Durban July.
Royal Victory's trainer, Nathan Kotzen, who is based in Durban, has nurtured the racehorse into an incredible performer.
"Nathan always said he would be a top horse from day one and he has been proved right; it's been like a magic carpet ride and I am hanging on to the back of it and loving every minute," Natasha said.
Her husband, Chris, bought her a share in Royal Victory after a national yearling sale in March 2021.
A buyer had made a successful bid for the horse at the sale but pulled out of the deal around the time Kotzen had stabled the horse in Durban.
About a month later, Kotzen, left with a horse without an owner, put out an advert on his stables' WhatsApp group - which Chris was part of - saying, "would anyone like to buy a share in this one?"
'Very cheap'
Chris, on behalf of his wife, and Johannes-burg-based business people invested in the yearling, which Chris said had fetched
R90 000 at the sale, "which was very cheap".
Following eight months of training, Royal Victory, aged 2, took part in its first contest in 2022, a maiden race, featuring racehorses that had not won an event. The horse came second, and won its next maiden race.
"We were very lucky, he was a diamond in the rough," Natasha, a team leader at a Knysna branch of a store that sells pet supplies, said.
Chris and Natasha went to Durban to see her horse run in one of its early races.
"We then knew he was a very, very good horse, and he's improved with age," Chris, who is in the sports betting industry, said.
"Up to now he has had 18 runs and he's won five times and been placed eight times (in the first three) - and he's been running in the top races.
R4,86m
"The total prize money he's earned so far is four million and eight hundred and sixty thousand rand.
"We're overcome with emotion - it's such a big deal. Things like this don't normally happen to people like us.
"It's an amazing experience - we never dreamed we'd own a share in a horse that's so magnificent.
"There are some horse owners who've spent millions over a number of years trying to find a (Durban) July runner, and we've done that with only the second horse we've bought into.
"You can't even say it's a dream come true because it's hard to believe we have a July runner. The Durban July is the pinnacle of South African horseracing."
In 2020, Chris bought Natasha a small share in a racehorse, Queen Theodora, for Christmas, after which he met trainer Kotzen.
The horse, he said, "had a lot of injury problems. She came second, third, and was retired and went to to live happily ever after on a farm".
Chris, Natasha, and their two daughters, Robyn, 22, and Pippa, 17, a Grade 11 pupil at Knysna High School, flew to Durban from George on Monday 1 July to attend the Durban July.
(Middle) Chris Sturdy, (third from the left) Natasha Sturdy, and their two daughters, (left) Robyn and Pippa.
Funding studies
Royal Victory's earnings have helped the couple to put Robyn through university. She's studying to become a primary school foundation phase teacher at Varsity College in Cape Town.
The family is holidaying in Durban ahead of the Big Day.
"Some of the horses running in the July are owned by the Ruperts and the Gary Players, and Natasha's name is in the race card with them - owned by Natasha Sturdy, who works at Absolute Pets. We are the goldfish in the racing world - they are the big fish," Chris said.
Natasha Sturdy with the Champions Middle Distance Horse and Champions Older Horse trophies Royal Victory won at the recent 4Racing Highveld Awards in Johannesburg. Jockey Muzi Yeni was on board for both those feature wins.
"But whether you own 100% of a racehorse or a smaller share, the feeling is exactly the same."
Humble and optimistic
Natasha is both humble and optimistic about Royal Victory's chances of adding the Durban July to its list of achievements.
"We couldn't be more proud of Royal already but we appreciate we are up against the best horses in the country, and this is the one every owner, trainer and jockey wants to win.
"We have to respect them all but I know he will run his heart out for us, and if all goes to plan, we can do this," she said.
Guiding Royal Victory again, this time in its most notable race to date, will be Durban-born Muzi Yeni, a jockey who has won numerous Grade 1 races in his long and distinguished career.
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