Today's Turffontein races are held in memory of the Hennenman air disaster of 12 April 1988 where thirteen jockeys, five race officials, two owners and one trainer tragically died.
As Gary Lemke stated in his article, "It's important that all these committed and passionate racing folk are remembered and a big thanks goes out to the organisers of the Turffontein meeting. It's on days like these where the actual racing results are secondary to the big picture."
Read Gary's article, The Highs and Lows of Racing right here on Formgrids. In part his article is a dedication to the tragic air disaster in 1988.
From the Sunday Times article of 13 April 1988 entitled "The day we remember Hennenman":
"It was Tuesday April 12 1988, and the passengers were returning to Johannesburg after taking part in a race meeting in Bloemfontein.
"The meeting was due to have been held the previous week, with the racing party booked to travel on a scheduled South African Airways flight. But when rain forced the racing to be postponed, SAA couldn't accommodate a booking change and a plane was specially chartered to transport jockeys and officials to Bloem - and back again.
"Later, the logbook of the aged Dakota of United Airways revealed it had not been properly serviced and maintained. Fuel leaked and a fire started in the starboard engine, later spreading to the fuselage."
![Pic Hennenman Memorial Turffontein jpg]()
The Hennenman Memorial at Turffontein