SA Jockeys to follow: who delivered profit for punters in 24-25?

As the new SA Horse Racing Season gets into full swing this Spring, The Punter is taking a look back at the 2024-25 Season. Last week’s article looked at SA’s racehorse trainers to follow, and whether punters could have made a profit from playing wins on every runner from a single stable last season. Now this week, let’s take a look at the jockeys – the results are just as fascinating and eyebrow raising! Read on below for the list of SA Jockeys to follow who would’ve made you a profit by placing a R1 win on all their runners for last season from 1 August 2024 – 31 July 2025.

Firstly, here’s some overall observations on SA Jockeys to follow:

• These stats show what your unit profit would be on a level stake wagered (R1 on a win) for all rides by a particular jockey
• None of SA’s Jockeys returned a profit from putting R1 to win on all their rides at every racetrack across the country
• Jockeys did however show a profit at certain racetracks for R1 win on every runner
• Jockeys who did return a profit, are not necessarily the ones getting the most rides, winning most races, or earning the most from stakes. In fact, quite a few of the profitable jockeys are those who bring home big outsider winners, at times from quite low win strike rates overall.

Ok with that said, let’s check out the data:

The Punter’s Analysis

Let’s begin in KZN, where at Scottsville S’manga Khumalo is the only jockey that would’ve turned you a profit from backing all his rides (at a level stake).

His stats at this track were particularly impressive: with a 41.2 unit profit delivered from a win strike rate of 24%. The Gareth van Zyl jnr stable was the engine of that success, with a few wins earlier in the season for Tienie Prinsloo as well. Incidentally, those were the two stables returning the highest unit profit for trainers to follow at Scottsville.

At Greyville Turf, Sean Veale (33.2) and Muzi Yeni (27.4) both returned handsomely, followed by Craig Zackey (16). On the poly, Veale also tops the boards with a 45x return on backing every ride, also showing decent strikes rates for wins (23%) and first-3 finishes (45.8%).

Serino Moodley is also well into the green on the poly (37.1 unit profit), followed by Kabelo Matsunyane (10.6) and Tristan Godden (4).

Overall in KZN, the only two jockeys returning unit profits from all rides in the province were Sean Veale and S’Manga Khumalo, however that is due to strong performances particularly for Veale at Greyville (both Turf and Poly), and for Khumalo at Scottsville, not across all tracks.

Gauteng jockeys to follow at Vaal and Turffontein

The standout performance on the highveld must surely be from Callan Murray, who returned a whopping 81.7 unit profit at the Turffontein Standside track in particular. What makes this all the more impressive, is the strike rates for win (31.4%) and first-3 finishes (51%) at the standside track.

Ryan Munger also returned a handsome 33.5 unit profit (albeit from a lower win strike of 17%), followed by now-retired Piere Strydom (17.7 unit profit).

‘Striker’ Strydom also returned a profit at the Turffontein Inside Track (17.6), where he was the only jock to do so, also landing a 26% win strike rate at this tight, challenging track.

Standout Vaal Classic jockey performance

At the Vaal Classic, Ryan Munger tops the boards with probably Gauteng’s second most impressive stats behind Murray’s at the Standside. Munger’s Vaal Classic unit profit was a healthy 36.3, backed by top strike rates for wins (30%) and first-3 finishes (57.5%). Craig Zackey’s stats at the Vaal Classic are also commendable, with a 14.1 unit profit backed by healthy strike rates for wins (25.9%) and places (61.8%).

Malesela Katjedi was the only other jock to turn a profit at the Vaal Classic (18.2 units), albeit with a lower win strike rate of 8% suggesting he brought home a handful of big outsiders.

At the Vaal Turf a different set of names emerge, each returning sizeable double-digit unit profits and average win strikes: Jarryd Penny (64.6 unit profit /  17.9% win strike rate, Philasande Mxoli (45.5 units, 12.6% wins), and Kaiden Brewer (18.5, 13.3%). It’s likely those three jocks brought home some serious outsiders at the Vaal Turf.

Overall in Gauteng, besides now-retired Strydom, Ryan Munger was the only other jock to maintain his unit profit across all tracks in the province, and it’s an impressive one: 62.3x your money on a level stake wagered on all rides, driven largely by top performances at Turffontein Standside and the Vaal Classic. Also, decent overall strike rates for wins (20.5%) and first-3 finishes (44.6%).

The Punter is glad to have tipped his winners on a good few occasions having identified Munger as an under-the-radar performer.

Jockeys to follow at Kenilworth and Durbanville

At Kenilworth it’s the raiding Gavin Lerena who topped the profit board, with a 13.2 unit return alongside handy strike rates for wins (20.6%) and first-3 places (54.3%). Given that many top jocks are based in Cape Town, this is a commendable return for a raiding jock, with Lerena also returning a province-wide unit profit of 16x for all Western Cape rides.

The only other jock to return a profit at this track was appy Brevan Plaatjes, who brought home a few runners at value prices for a 11.6 unit profit from a level stake wagered on all rides. Plaatjes was also the top apprentice nationally last season with 31 wins (11.1% win strike rate).

At Durbanville, raider Sean Veale topped the boards with a handsome 45.2 unit profit, but from just a 7.6% win strike rate, showing he brought home a few serious roughies.

Other jocks in the green at the country course were Brett Crawford stable jock Louis Mxothwa (11.4) and Craig Zackey (6.4), both for win strike rates in the mid-teens.

Jockeys to follow at Fairview

It’s not the names you’d expect at Fairview Turf, with Eldin Webber returning a whopping 82.5 unit profit, but with just a 6% win strike rate, so those were huge roughies. Yuzae Ramzam is the only other who returned a profit from backing all rides (18.8x your stake on all rides), albeit with a similarly low win strike of 7%.

Interestingly, Fairview Poly yields the longest list of profitable jocks for any of our SA tracks. The two jocks with double-digit unit profits are Calvin Habib (14.5) and Muzi Yeni (12.3). What catches the eye about Yeni’s more performance, is the excellent strike rates for wins (38.5%) and first-3 places (53.9%). It seems Muzi has transferred that excellent Flamingo Park sand form of years-gone-by to the Fairview Poly!

So how might these stats be useful for punters?

• It reveals a track bias for certain SA jockeys to follow
• It shows which jockeys to watch for big outsider strikes
• It gives some indication of which jockeys could be followed consistently. Bear in mind, that some jockeys make this profit list out of only a small number of winners at big odds, so you may find yourself outlaying often in the hopes of only an occasional winning strike.

It’s important to note that last season is in the past. Things change, SA Jockeys to follow change with time, and the past is only a guide for the new season, with new dynamics to consider.

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