Cape Town - Some members of the racing community want punters’ favourite Rainbow Bridge to win today’s Sun Met race.
Rainbow Bridge belonged to Chris Gerber, the son of rugby legend Mickey Gerber, who died last year as a result of heart failure after contracting malaria on a fishing trip.
According to a close friend, Paulo Do Carmo, if Rainbow Bridge wins “everyone will be celebrating and in tears. There will be a tribute”.
The gelding’s last win was in the week of Gerber’s death which reduced the racing community to tears.
Do Carmo described Gerber as “the most positive guy you’ve ever met. He lived life to the max and no one in the horse industry can say anything bad about him. He was a great guy”.
When Gerber died, the tributes poured in.
Trainer Mike de Kock commented: “Chris’s loss is incalculable. He was that kind of man, a man who cannot ever be forgotten, who cannot ever be replaced. We’ll be having memorials for him years from now, when his memory will remain as strong as ever and his influence on all our lives will still be felt.”
Alec Laird, his trainer of choice, noted: “It was an honour to know Chris as a sportsman, a racing partner and a close friend. He played fair, he was a man among men.”
Gerber, who founded Moutonshoek Stud in 2003 with partner Bennie van der Merwe, was 53 when he died.
They bred a number of top performers including Undercover Agent, winner of the CTS Mile at Kenilworth on Sun Met day in January last year.
Rainbow Bridge, trained by Laird, is undefeated in four outings and won the G3 World Sports Betting Matchem Stakes last time out.
Gerber, a qualified chartered accountant, described himself as a manager for Engen’s One Stop chain.