Leading apprentice Lyle Hewitson has had a fairytale career to date and can add another chapter as his 100th winner in the professional ranks coincided with his first ever ride overseas.

Hewitson won a race for Arabian horses on Sunday in the UAE. He thus followed the example of fellow South African Jockey Academy pupil, Kersley Ramsamy, who rode a winner in his first overseas ride in France on October 16.

Hewitson and the Mauritian-born Ramsamy flew over to the UAE last week ostensibly to take part in Sunday’s finale of the Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Apprentice World Championship race in Abu Dhabi.

Hewitson discovered upon arrival only riders who had won one of the qualifying races, which are staged at intervals through the year in various parts of the world, can take part in the finale.

However, the trip was far from being a waste of time as he attended the press conferences and workshops put on for all of the invited visitors. He was also able to take time out to ride work for Mike de Kock at Meydan in Dubai.

Then came the cherry on the top. Former South African-based trainer Ernst Oertel learnt Hewitson was to be in attendance on the night of the Apprentice World Championship meeting and offered him a ride in one of the supporting races on the card.

Hewitson’s subsequent victory was all the more remarkable in that he did not have an opportunity to ride his mount work during the week. When he climbed aboard in the parade ring it was the first time he had ever sat on an Arabian horse. His mount, a seven-year-old grey entire named Ibn Harmany Al Zobair, was a battling maiden running in a handicap event over 1200m against winners. Furthermore, the horse was 2kg under sufferance on official merit ratings. Lastly, Hewitson was up against some of the best jockeys in the world, the like of Silvestre de Souza, Royston French, Richard Mullen, Fernando Jara and Tadhg O’Shea, all of whom had ridden in plenty of Arabian races.

He said about his preparation for the race, “I watched a replay and got feedback from previous jockeys. Arabians seem to be a lot more temperamental, so it’s important to have them in the right frame of mind to get the most out of them. You almost have to be more kind to them in your demeanour. However, with saying that, they take a strong and a hard ride. Mr Oertel left the race to me. He let me know about the horse and after that I played it by ear and took the race as it came.”

Hewitson jumped from a low draw and got his mount handy before sitting still and showing his usual fine balance. He began riding the blinkered grey from 600m out. Enough fuel had been reserved to enable the horse to produce a sustained finishing effort. The race developed into a ding-dong tussle between Ibn Harmony Al Zobair and Richard Mullen’s mount, a five-year-old mare called Extra Hope. However, Hewitson’s hard driving kept the former’s nose in front.

Later Ramsamy did the SA Jockey Academy equally proud. Ramsamy is the current East Cape Champion Apprentice. He rode the Eric Lemartinel-trained four-year-old colt Snaffy into third place in a conditions event for Arabians over 1600m. He had to overcome a wide draw and his horse was a whopping 17kg under sufferance with the best weighted horse according to official merit ratings. The ultimate winner of the Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Apprentice World Championships was Dylan Dunn of Australia. His mount, the Jean de Roüalle-trained four-year-old grey colt Qader, romped to a 7,25 length victory. Fittingly, the horse was owned and bred by Sheik Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who is the deputy prime minister of the UAE, minister of presidential affairs and a member of the ruling family of Abu Dhabi.

Hewitson has not won any invites yet for the win, but felt it would open some doors.

He summed up the trip, “ I met great people and made new friends and work related contacts. The experience was amazing in all aspects. I also really enjoyed seeing the professional set up of Mike de Kock’s Dubai yard and being able to work some great horses at a wonderful training establishment.”

By David Thiselton