THE champion apprentice of South Africa, Chad Little, received another accolade yesterday (Sunday) when he was awarded the Johnny McCreedy Floating Trophy as the leading apprentice in KwaZulu-Natal.

The presentation took place during the race meeting at Clairwood Racecourse and was made by Mr Roy Moodley, Steward  KwaZulu-Natal Racing Chapter.

The coveted trophy was donated a few years ago by the late Johnny McCreedy, a former trainer and jockey, to celebrate more than 50 years in the racing industry.

The presentation highlighted the  achievement of Chad Little who steered home 36 winners from 530 rides during the 2001/2002 racing season, placing him sixth on the KwaZulu-Natal jockey table for the period.

The only jockeys to ride more winners in the province than Little during the season were Kevin Shea (77), Stuart Randolph (65), Gavin van Zyl (53), Jeff Lloyd (52) and Robbie Hill (44).

The other KwaZulu-Natal apprentices to hold their own among the seasoned riders in the province were Ian Sturgeon who finished in 15th position with 24 winners and Nathan Danster who was 16th with 20 winners.

Both Chad Little and Nathan Danster have been awarded their honours blazers by the Racing and Equestrian Academy, Little for having ridden more than 50 winners in his three years as an apprentice - the first apprentice to achieve this since "MJ" Odendaal in 1983 - and Danster for having been invited to ride in the International Apprentice Race in Macau. He finished in the placings in two races at that race meeting.

On the national scene, the battle for the South African Champion Apprentice title was a nail-biting affair between Chad Little and Marco van Rensburg and was only decided at the final race of the season in Gauteng where Little rode one more winner than Van Rensburg who finished the season with a tally of 35.

Chad Little will be relocating to Gauteng while another KwaZulu-Natal apprentice, Leon Govender, will move to the Western Cape to ride for Glen Kotzen.

The top 10 apprentices on the national apprentice log last season were: Chad Little (36), Marco van Rensburg (35), Ian Sturgeon (24), Wayne Agrella (21), Nathan Danster (20), Morne Winnaar (20), Louis Nhlapo (19), Kevin Derere (17), Tyron Langdon (15) and Petrus Ndhlovu (15).

The standard of the riders emerging from the Academy at Summerveld near Durban over the years has been of the highest international standard with South African jockeys having made their mark against the world's best. Riders like Michael Roberts who also became champion jockey of Britain, Basil Marcus, Jeff Lloyd, Robbie Fradd, Felix Coetzee, Anton Marcus, Anthony Delpech and, more recently, Johnny Geroudis.

The Academy has also produced outstanding riders who have remained in this country like Kevin Shea, Piere Strydom, and Rhys van Wyk and the institution has been lauded by many overseas racing officials and personalities over the years as the best of its kind in the world.

Issued by:  Gill Simpkins