David Thiselton

NOORESH JUGLALL’S passing has been difficult to accept for many in racing but in the aftermath South African industrymen all had similar sentiments about a man whose professional approach never compromised his humble nature and polite and friendly demeanour. 

Juglall’s best achievement in South Africa was riding the Ormond Ferraris-trained Cherry On The Top to Triple Tiara glory.

He also rode two Graded winners for five-times national champion trainer Sean Tarry and the latter said, “Nooresh was affiliated to our yard from his early days as an apprentice at Clairwood and I was very fond of him because of his mannerisms. He was kind, polite and humble but at the same time was very strong, he had an aura about him. He had the world at his feet and is a massive loss to the industry and it is a tragedy for his family. You can’t put it in words and it happening to a salt of the earth person who added value wherever he went makes it even harder to accept. As a rider, to have been entrusted by a trainer of the stature of Ormond Ferraris while an apprentice to partner a Triple Tiara winner says it all. The two Graded winners he had for us were aboard The Mouseketeer and Purple Diamond and were the pinnacle achievements of both horses’ careers, so he must have given them perfect rides (Grade 2 Emerald Cup and Grade 2 Durban Golden Horseshoe respectively).”

SA Jockey Academy (SAJC) principal Graham Bailey recalled, “He was goal driven, hard working and well mannered so there was no doubt from the word go he was going to be successful. He signed his race-riding papers at the end of 2009 and within three months had ridden his first winner on the Roy Magner-trained Shine The Gold on March 16, 2010. It is an extremely sad time and he is a huge loss to the industry and an incredible loss to his family.”

Juglall was selected by the Mauritius Turf Club for enrollment at SAJC and they covered the costs. He was SA champion apprentice in 2011/2012 and 2012/2013 and broke the record for the most winners by an apprentice in a season in the latter term, 101. That was also the season of his Triple Tiara success.

Donovan Dillon was two years behind Juglall at the Academy and said, “We rode together in an apprentice international in Qatar, I was riding for South Africa and he was riding for Mauritius. We went out for dinner together on all three nights and became good friends. He was a humble down to earth person but no pushover, a true champion.”

Juglall was particularly close to contemporaries Keagan de Melo and Tristan Godden and the latter pair were distinctly  emotional during the guard of honour held at Hollywoodbets Greyville on Sunday.  

Juglall rode many winners for the Mike and Adam Azzie yard and they said, “The Azzie Racing Team pays tribute to a remarkable young man with the determination to not only become a champion jockey but more importantly to make a statement that a ‘small town boy’ can achieve anything with the right mindset, credo, self-belief and ambition. From the very beginning, Nooresh made it apparent that he was on a mission, not only for himself but for his family and his country, both of which were always paramount in his heart and mind.”  

Legendary jockey Piere Strydom rode against Juglall in Mauritius and said, “I didn’t get to know him well on a personal level but he was the sort who would open up to anyone, a very friendly and likeable person. He was a very good rider but what was so nice about him was after an interference issue he was always humble and never aggressive. He had a nice gentlemanly spirit.”

Mauritian Georgie Buchanan, a KZN-based racing owner, is very saddened. She recalled Nooresh arriving in his red jodhpurs to ride work for the Corinne Bestel yard as an apprentice at Clairwood. She said, “I said you must have got those from Mauritius and from that day we always had a chat in French whenever we saw each other. He then went up to Johannesburg and we lost touch but I go over to Mauritius quite often and it was so exciting to bump into him at the training track on occasion and catch up. Then his little big brother Tejash (younger but bigger than Nooresh) arrived and we said we must put him on Blaze Of Silk. We were thrilled when he finished third. But it was very exciting when we put him on again a couple of months later. Nooresh was in KZN and traveled up to Scottsville especially to watch his little big brother and he won the race! “

Juglall rode successfully in Singapore from 2014 to 2019. 

He is the reigning champion jockey in Mauritius.