Ozzie’s Back

Ozzie Noach is back in South Africa

Ozzie Noach (photo: hamishNIVENPhotography)

Ozzie Noach (photo: hamishNIVENPhotography)

With our riding ranks severely depleted over recent months, it will be music to trainers’ ears to hear that Cape-based jockey Oswald Noach is back from Hong Kong.

Ozzie had his last ride on South African tracks on 18 July 2015, riding a four horse card at Kenilworth. He then jetted off to spend a year as a work rider in Hong Kong. “Vince Curtis’ son Mitchell works over there and put in a good word for me. I’ve always wanted to travel, I’m still young and don’t have too many responsibilities, so when the opportunity came along I grabbed it with both hands.”

The Hong Kong Experience

Oswald was primarily assigned to the Andreas Schultz string and learnt a lot during his Hong Kong stint. “It was really good experience to see how they do things. It’s a different level altogether. It is actually a bit overwhelming to begin with, but the Hong Kong Jockey Club are very accommodating and really look after you well.”

“Work riding is a specialised job there and they do things fairly differently to what we are used to. Hong Kong have specialised grooms or Mafoo’s who do the tacking up, grooming and general stable work and they do the majority of work with the horses themselves. As a work rider, you are assigned a number of horses in the yard (usually 5 or 6 per person) and it is your sole job is to make sure your horses are brought on and worked correctly every day.”

“Everything works like clockwork and you have to make sure you get your work done in time. The track opens at 4am, the lights go on at 4:15 and you have to be off again by 8:30. At 8:45 the tracks are closed and the track maintenance teams take over. There are 3 tracks and dedicated track managers for each. Because of the humidity, the tracks need to be intensively managed and they need to put down 37,000 gallons of water per day to prevent the tracks getting too hard. If they get heavy rains there is a danger of the tracks being washed away, so they put a roller over the track and ‘close’ the grass. They work on those tracks all day long – you can still hear the tractors going at 11 o’clock at night.”

“In terms of their racing, everything is very strictly run in terms of security and controls. All horses have to have a barrier trial before they are allowed to race. If they lose their starting stall certificates or are scratched for any reason, the horses have to have another barrier trial before they are allowed to race again. There are pre and post race vet checks on every horse and it is very rare that horses scratch. They also do not tolerate any delays at the start and any horses that cause problems at the pens immediately have their certificates revoked.”

“The racing industry and the HKJC in particular is one of the biggest job creators in Hong Kong and they give back a huge amount to the local community in terms of sponsorships, charities etc and it’s very prestigious to be associated with racing. There is a waiting list for people who want to become owners.”

“It was a great experience. I learnt a lot, met a lot of new people and made great contacts all over the world. At the end of the season, you get a report on your work and your conduct from your stable. I got a good report, so the HKJC said I can come back any time I like and it’s nice to know that opportunity is available. However, I really missed race riding – something that would be difficult for me to get into over there – so I decided to come home for now. I know the industry is tough in South Africa, but I am really looking forward to getting back into the swing of things.

About Ozzie

Ozzie Noach (photo: hamishNIVENPhotography)

Ozzie has a deft touch with young and sensitive horses (photo: hamishNIVENPhotography)

Ozzie initially went to the Jockey Academy for their Equestrian course, but followed in the footsteps of the likes of Gavin Lerena, by swapping over after a year and pursuing a career as a professional jockey instead. His first win came in a 1200m Novice Plate at Clairwood Park, riding Million Rand for Julie Dittmer on 7 November 2004.

Ozzie came to racing via his passion for riding. As a young boy, his enthusiasm and natural talent caught the eye of an equestrienne in Joostenbergvlakte who recommended him to Malan du Toit and Ozzie spent a lot of time helping Malan break in horses. Oswald is known for having a quiet, assured touch, making him favoured by trainers with nervous or fractious horses, or those wanting to show young (or even established) horses the ropes with a quiet, confident ride and he has been entrusted with some very special horses over the years.

Asked if he has any particular favourites, he answers “I’ve ridden such a lot of talented horses.” Included in his list are Winter Solstice, Past Master, Ebony Flyer, Legislate, Secret of Victoria and Brown Penny (who he now owns as a riding horse). While he doesn’t often get to ride the big horses on race days, it is still a privilege to play a small part in the career of horses like those.

Oswald returned to the track on 16 August at Kenilworth. His riding weight is 53kgs and he will be making himself available to ride at Cape Town and Port Elizabeth. He says, “I’m not attached to any particular stable, so I’m happy to ride for everybody and then just hope for a little break here and there.”

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