Africa-Press – Mauritius. A five time South African champion trainer and a man that earned the tag of ‘The Sun King’ for his extraordinary feat of winning the Gr1 Summer Cup six times in seventeen renewals, iconic horseman Geoff Woodruff takes up a new challenge when he departs for Mauritius next week.
The British-born Woodruff, who turns 65 on 11 October, saddled over 70 Gr1 winners and more than 200 graded stakes winners in an illustrious career that spanned over three decades.
He started out as an assistant to Peter Skinner in England for 9 years and then moved to South Africa and worked for local master Ralph Rixon for 6 years. In 1988 Geoff took out his licence, starting with a modest 14 horses.
But that early attack included the likes of Star Effort and Pas De Quoi and Terrance Millard’s son-in-law was a big league competitor literally from day 1!
‘The Guv’, as he is affectionately known in local racing circles, relocated to Cape Town from Randjesfontein in 2020 and handed the reins to his long-time assistant and daughter Lucinda from the start of this season.
The young lady has made her Dad proud, having already saddled her first winner from only a handful of runners. “It’s a very exciting venture and an ambitious concept with big plans to race in various international jurisdictions.
Carol (my wife) and I are looking forward to the exciting challenge,” he said, confirming that a similar opportunity had arisen in Saudi Arabia. “From a lifestyle perspective, we opted for Mauritius over Saudi and the island’s location also lends itself to launching raids into Dubai and Hong Kong.
”
He explained that their brand new training centre was in process of construction, with 150 boxes already built.
“The tracks are being laid out and I will be contributing to the specific design on arrival.
”
With exports to Mauritius from South Africa relatively straightforward, Geoff has already purchased yearlings to be shipped to the island.
“We are aiming at buying quality horses here that could be competitive internationally.
”
In another interesting move, South African-born Derreck ‘DD’ David, a past Mauritius champion and Hall Of Fame rider, will be joining the new team.
“I am very happy to be able to team up with Derreck again. We enjoyed terrific success earlier this century and worked very well together,” said Geoff.
We asked the veteran about his surfing and ability to communicate in French. “Look, I am not a surfer. It’s not a fun hobby in Cape Town waters, anyway! I’m probably more of a beach walker, as such. And I did French at school and thus have the basics. So I am sure I will pick that up as we go along!”
