A jockey races horses as a profession and he/she starts out as an apprentice jockey and after successfully riding a certain number of barrier trials will receive an apprentice license that will allow him/her to start riding in races.

Apprentice Pavithran who hails from Perak aspired to be a jockey even while he was still at school. Once he completed his secondary school education, through the recommendation of an uncle he worked as a syce with trainer Kevin Coetzee for a year.

As a syce or stable hand his duties include grooming horses, feeding them and leading them to be raced. Unfortunately due to a minor accident he had to go on medical leave for a month and during this time his position was replaced by another person.

Next Pavithran got the opportunity to work with Sandy Shaw at the Spelling Station at Tanjung Rambutan where horses are sent to relax after a hard season. Here Pavithran groomed the horses and took them for walks at the paddock. He also learnt how to ride a horse with the guidance of Sandy Shaw.

 His keen interest and dedication towards his work revealed the great potential he had in horse riding which caught the attention of Sandy Shaw who recommended him to work as a track rider at Richard Lines’ stable at Selangor Turf Club.

After a year and a half he got the opportunity to go for training to New Zealand in 2016.  He trained at Ballymore Racing Stable under the guidance of former MRA champion jockey Noel Harris  for two years before returning home. Though he was unable to obtain his apprentice license he was able to acquire some new skills and confidence in handling horses.

When he returned to Malaysia, his friend N. Varmah, an apprentice jockey managed to get him to work with trainer Charles Leck and also attend the Selangor Turf Club apprentice school.  

With the guidance of Charles Leck, Pavithran obtained his apprentice license when he completed 30 barrier trials. After riding in a few races he was able to experience the first win in his career. “I just followed the instructions given by Charles Leck as Bangalore was in pole position to jump out and push to the front and the horse responded very well to win,” said Pavithran with sheer joy at his accomplishment.

He is very thankful to his mentor Charles Leck for entrusting him with the four year old Australian mare by Ruwi which was a firm favourite  that lead all the way from pillar to post victory in a class 5(B) over 1200m on September 5^th 2020.

At the Selangor Turf Club apprentice school Pavithran learns about healthy living such as the need of a balanced diet to maintain an ideal weight of less than 50kg and physical fitness which is required to handle the horses with weights that ranges from 450 – 600kg.

Apart from this the races of the apprentice jockeys are also replayed to detect the mistakes as well as the strength of the races they have raced and discuss on how to make sound judgements to avoid errors in future.

Pavithran is thankful to all the people who had taken an interest in his life and motivated him along his journey in the horse racing industry. “I will continue to meet up with the challenges and hope one day to win the Jockeys’ Premiership title,” said this 23-year old ambitious lad who is all focused on becoming a full-fledged successful jockey.