Khumalo is the first black South African champion jockey and will be riding Rain in Holland in tomorrow’s event.

Picture: Supplied

One of South Africa’s top jockeys, S’manga Khumalo says there is a lot of excitement ahead of the Durban July taking place tomorrow.

Khumalo is the first black South African champion jockey and will be riding Rain in Holland in tomorrow’s event.

This time last year Khumalo delighted his followers by winning the July on 16-1 chance, Sparkling Water and speaking to Robert Marawa on #MSW said he is confident he can do something similar.

Obviously I’ve done a lot to get where I am and a lot of hard work has gone into it. There is a lot of early hours in the morning with the horses to make sure they are in shape to compete. Leading into this year’s event I feel very confident. I’ve only been on this horse twice and we have won both times and we are going for our 3rd group 1 running. We have achieved a lot together in a short time and it’s just a question of how to pace the race and when to attack. She is doing really well and I was very impressed with the final run before tomorrow.

Khumalo also spoke about the sport as a whole and he hopes his achievements can rub off on others.

The sport is very hard and people can break under the pressure. If I can help one and they have to just listen because I have been there and done that, so I have the experience to share with them. They need to know that their turn will come and they have to shine when it arrives to them, like what I have done so far. The more positive you think, the better you will perform. Horses can sense the emotions of the jockey and you have to in sync to succeed.

Scroll up to listen to the full interview.

This article first appeared on 947 : A lot of excitement ahead of Durban July: S’manga Khumalo