Jockey needed to conquer fear of horses
STALLONE Lee Naidoo is not a morning person. Yet, he stumbles out of bed at 4.30am, six days a week, and has done so for the past three years.
The 21-year-old apprentice jockey believes it is a small sacrifice to make for the privilege of living the dream his father could not.
“It takes a lot of courage because there’s pressure — mental pressure and physical pressure.”
The young man from Chatsworth is trying to make a name for himself in Cape Town racing circles.
The early mornings are to attend to his latest steed and take it out for practice rides on the track.
Though not easy, the life of a jockey is worth the single moment of glory that comes with winning a race, he said.
“There’s this feeling of satisfaction, of all your hard work paying off in a split second. Nothing can come close to that.”
Naidoo’s life in horse racing has been in the making for a generation. His father, Lee, said he originally wanted to be a jockey himself.
“My dad was a horse-racing enthusiast, so, from a young age, we used to go to the races,” said Lee.
“I also applied to be a jockey but they turned me down. At the time it was difficult to get in, being Indian.”
Lee carried his love for the sport into adulthood and continued the tradition of visiting the horse races with his wife and two sons — Naidoo and Canton, 19.
Naidoo thought back to a family trip four years ago: “We used to go to Greyville and Clairwood a lot. My parents wanted my brother to try out but he was too big. One of the riding masters suggested that I try out.”
Naidoo said it worked out for the best because he had a genuine interest in horse racing.
His father agreed. “Canton is not so much into the sport but we thought, because of his size, that he would be suitable.” However, a riding test proved he wasn’t.
Naidoo said his acceptance afterwards into the South African Jockey Academy was the beginning of an adventure.
“I don’t think I’d touched a horse before I went to the academy.”
When he finally did, for the first time, it was “scary but nice”.
One of the most important lessons he had to learn was to overcome that fear.
“Normally, horses are playful. But these horses are amped up because they’re on a special kind of feed, so they’ll be doing things like ducking or rearing up.”
If the rider is afraid, it makes the animals even more antsy.
“You can’t be scared. If you’re confident and you feel like you’re in charge, the horse can feel it,” said Naidoo.
He officially began racing last year and has won 29 races so far, the most recent being at Kenilworth, Cape Town, two weeks ago.
He has also lost some. “It’s not nice, it’s not a nice feeling.”
He has fallen off horses. “The one time, I tore a ligament in my knee.”
Each time, he gets right back on “because you really want to do this and you miss it so bad, you overcome that fear.”