By Sharon Zhang, Singapore Turf Club
Apprentice jockey Faiz Khair finally scored his first win on board Maximilian in the $30,000 Class 5 race (1700m) on Saturday after eight months of riding.
The 28-year-old Singaporean began riding in January this year after he was granted a one-year licence for the season, alongside two other new apprentice jockeys, Akmazani Mazuki and Fahmi Rosman.
While Akmazani has since opened his account and Fahmi has placed seven times in nine rides, Faiz had only two thirds to show for at his previous 76 rides, including two of his earlier rides (Sun Ace and Rusty Rust) on Saturday.
The winless drought did dent Faiz’s confidence a bit, but he believed that good things come to those who wait.
“Now I finally know how it feels like to cross the finishing line first. The win brings up your confidence,” said Faiz, who graduated with a NITEC (National ITE Certificate) in Digital Audio and Video Production.
“It’s a relief now that I got my first winner. I wasn’t chasing for a winner but it’s always good to get my first one.
“To me, this is a learning journey and putting what I learn into practice is more important.
“I want horses to run well too, but it was only when my ride (Conflagrance) for (trainer) David Kok ran third last week that I thought ‘I can make horses run for me too’.
“I never thought of giving up. I continued to do what I needed to do and improve myself along the way, until the first winner comes to me.
“It’s also nice to get my first win just before my three weeks of (National Service) reservist duty next week.”
Born in a non-racing family, Faiz started out as a syce in October 2015 after his father chanced upon a job advertisement for the STAR (Singapore Training Academy for Racing) Programme in the papers.
While working as a syce, he also took another six months to learn to ride properly at the riding school (Singapore Turf Club Riding Centre) before he obtained his track rider licence in November 2016.
After riding track work for the first time, Faiz decided that he wants to become a jockey.
“When I hopped onto a horse at trackwork for the first time, that kind of sparked the fire in me,” said Faiz who has two younger sisters.
“Actually, I rode a pony in Johor Bahru before many years ago when I was there on a holiday, but I thought they (ponies and thoroughbreds) were the same at first, except for the difference in size.
“It’s the adrenaline rush when a horse sprints, and I also want to put the skills I have learned to good use.
“I want to thank my boss Desmond Koh and CT (Kuah Cheng Tee) for giving me most of my rides and also (former jockey) Noh Senari for giving me feedback to improve my riding.
“My family supports me a lot and my father comes to the races almost every week, but I was too nervous at the winner’s circle just now, so I wasn’t looking out for him!”
Faiz’s patience paid off after Maximilian ($51) came off a handy run to hold off favourite Ksatria (Vlad Duric) for a three-quarter length win. The winning time was 1min 46.24 secs for the 1700m on the Polytrack.
It was not an easy win given the seven-year-old son of Highly Recommended overraced early and hung out badly in the straight.
“The horse was a bit keen and the pace was too slow for him, so I don’t want to hold him and brought him to the front slowly in the back straight,” he said.
“He settled down once we hit the front and travelled nicely, though I had to push him at the turn.
“He was also hanging out quite a bit in the straight, so I tried my best to straighten him when I saw Duric coming. After that, he just kept on going.”
Other than his master trainer Koh, Kuah had been a big supporter of Faiz since he made his debut.
The local handler had been supplying him with rides regularly, hoping to see Faiz in the winner’s circle, but he did not expect Maximilian to bring up the young apprentice jockey’s first win.
“I was very surprised. With the light weight (49.5kgs after half-a-kilo claim from Faiz), I expected him to run third or fourth,” said Kuah of Maximilian, who ran third at his first start for him last month after transferring over from Young Keah Yong.
“I wanted to support him with this lightweight ride. He’s a hardworking kid who rides trackwork for me.
“I told Faiz to go forward from the outside barrier (6), hoping that he could finish the race off.
“Ksatria is the stronger opponent, if he gets him, then that’s it, but Faiz did well to hold on. The owner (Tan Aik Pheng) was cheering very loudly for him too!”
