It’s a fact that apprentice jockeys have been in short supply at Kranji since a large chunk left for other shores to hone their craft, but the temporary setback is only a small kink when stacked up against the greater good of boasting better homegrown jockeys in Singapore one day – and such benefits are already being reaped.
The void left in the junior ranks came about a year ago when the Singapore Turf Club decided to place our budding riders with trainers overseas, mainly Australia and New Zealand under the Racing Development Fund in order to gain further experience.
Hideyuki Takaoka’s rookie Mohd Jailani was the first of his batch to leave last February, taking up a posting in Adelaide with Morphettville trainer Jon O’Connor. More were to follow suit, but subsequently, they all went to New Zealand, namely Darren Danis, Syahir Abdul, Sazali Ramli, Khalid Marzuki, Ruzaili Yatim and Firdhaus Rafi.
Suddenly three and four-kilo claimers were missing from the roll call at Kranji. As a comparison, there was a total of 34 apprentice jockeys in 2015, which dropped to 27 the next year, and it’s been whittled down further to only 15 this year.
Of course, besides those who left, some have graduated to the senior ranks like A’Isisuhairi Kasim and Shafiq Rizuan while others have simply hung up their boots to pursue other interests.
Singapore Turf Club’s riding master Damien Kinninmont reassured that it was a given the industry would feel the pinch for a while, but the long-term benefit of eventually welcoming much more professional apprentice jockeys back in our midst far outweighed the short-term inconvenience.
And the returns have already begun to be recouped with Jailani the first to come back two weeks ago, the winner of 10 races under the Australian riding name of “Jai Mamat” – five in provincial tracks and five in the country – in 150 rides while Zy Nor Azman (who, however, did not come under the programme) should be following into Jailani’s footsteps soon.
“The boys are doing very well in New Zealand. Jailani is already back with Takaoka and should be riding at Kranji very soon,” said Kinninmont.
“Zy has spent the longest time in New Zealand – around 2 ½ years – and has won 26 races in around 350 rides. As it is, he will still claim four kilos if he returns to Bruce Marsh now.
“He has his first Group 1 ride at Ellerslie this Saturday on a horse called Smedley for trainer Clayton Stevenson. It’s in the Auckland Cup.
“When he comes back in the near future, he will definitely give the apprentice ranks a good shake-up.”
Kinninmont’s pride was palpable when he spoke of the cohort’s achievements under those foreign skies, especially Firdhaus who made headlines for the wrong reasons not too long into his new indenture. Steven Burridge’s apprentice jockey celebrated one lap too early on a horse called Locally Sauced at Hokitika in January, and was later slapped with a lengthy suspension.
“Firdhaus rode another winner today which brings it to eight. He has certainly bounced back from that day he showed a lack of judgement with a first, second and third at his first three rides from a five-week suspension,” said Kinninmont.
“It goes to show those boys are still learning and can make mistakes, but the message is that it’s okay to make mistakes as long as you learn from them and don’t repeat them, and above all, come out better and stronger - and Firdhaus is a shining example of that.
“The rest are also doing well, like Ruzaili, or Smiley as he is known, who has ridden four winners in around 75 rides, Darren and Khalid have ridden two winners each in around 40 rides for both and Syahir is on two winners from 85 rides.
“Currently, Nurshahril Nordin will be the next one to go. He is going to Lindsay Hatch in Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia and we are now working on his visa.
“As you can see, the programme has taken a long time to hit the ground running but it is paying dividends now. With Jailani back here and Zy soon to return, our numbers will go up again, but the more significant benefit is not so much the quantity but the quality.
“Those kids left here raw and unexposed to race-riding two to three times a week and around different tracks and they will come back much more proficient and skilled.
“Here I’d like to thank all the trainers who took them on board, but also the riding masters they came under the tutelage there, namely Noel Harris who looked after the boys in the north and Will Harnett who looked after those in the south.
“A big thank you also to Matthew Barnsley, the Licensing Welfare Officer at New Zealand Racing. He is based in Wellington but he was the one monitoring their progress.”
