Singaporean Mahadi Taib spent his childhood days at the stables at the Bukit Timah racecourse, where his father worked as a syce. He first joined former trainer Buang Abu Bakar, the father of ex-STC trainer Mohd Yusof, as a syce at the age of 17.

After completing his National Service, Mahadi continued to work as a syce for Yusof and New Zealand trainer Paddy Busuttin at Bukit Timah. Mahadi joined trainer Michael Clements in 1998 where he gradually rose to the rank of a stable supervisor, before obtaining his assistant-trainer’s licence in 2009.

Since then, he worked with various trainers including Theo Kieser, Young Keah Yong, David Hill and John O’Hara before moving to Jason Lim’s stable to work in the same capacity in January 2022. In June 2022, Mahadi was granted stabling facilities in Singapore.