OFF THE RECORD #135

God Loves a Trier!
Calvin Ngcobo’s Journey Home

Frustration and disappointment run deep in jockeys’ lives, even when you’re at the top of the tree. Those who lose their footing, but hang on to the branches and find the strength to start climbing again, deserve respect and recognition.

For some young jockeys, the journey ends after two or three years in racing’s wilderness. Most start as promising claimers, with support from trainers and a string of winners, followed by the rude awakening of life as a fully licensed jockey and the uphill battle to earn a living.

There are some who accept that a career in the saddle isn’t going to work and move on to something else. Others, like Calvin Ngcobo, simply refuse to give up. They belong to the group of riders who bite the bullet, find additional ways to use their skills and keep carving out a place for themselves in the game, wherever the opportunity takes them.

Calvin rode 66 winners as an apprentice before coming out of his time in 2018, a tally that suggested there was plenty more to come. Instead, he has managed just 10 winners in the eight years since.

The early promise was real. As an apprentice, Calvin represented South Africa at the Prix Longines Future Stars meeting at Chantilly in 2016, where he finished second and fourth. A year later, he followed colleague Diego De Gouveia to England for a spell at the British Riding School in Newmarket.

On his return to South Africa in 2018, Calvin’s career was on an upward curve in Cape Town when he suffered serious injuries to his wrists and spine, keeping him on the sidelines for more than two years.

A break in positive momentum is a bane most jockeys have to live with at certain junctures, and in 2023 Calvin decided to seek a fresh start by following another injury-hampered jockey, Mpume Mjoka, to the stable of Kevin Coleman in County Tipperary, Ireland.

Both are now back home – Mpume edging his way back to prominence in Cape Town and Calvin riding work every day in Gauteng. His efforts were rewarded with a winner for Mike and Mathew de Kock at the Vaal last week.

Calvin believes his time in Ireland and subsequent spell in the UK made him a better rider – something readily apparent in the professional way he handled an inexperienced first-timer in that Vaal race.

He explained how riding work, and race riding in Europe helped shape him before his return to South Africa earlier this year, starting with his time at Kevin Coleman’s yard:

“This is a small stable with lots of attention to detail, and we got to know the runners very well. Mr Coleman gave us a few rides, and I rode a winner at both country tracks, Navan and Bellewstown.

“I also had the rare opportunity to ride in a couple of races at The Curragh on big days and compete against top riders including Seamie Heffernan and Dylan Brown McMonagle. They were welcoming and helpful. Seamie and Chris Hayes walked the track with me before my first ride, and it was a privilege to compete at such a famous venue.”

He also mentioned an interesting detail about McMonagle, who is the stable jockey to Joseph O’Brien:

“Dylan was a champion boxer as a youngster. He and some of the other guys do a lot of sparring to stay fit. They use a punchbag in the gym. That’s a good way of getting rid of frustration too.”

Calvin was privileged to meet Aidan O’Brien in the jockeys’ room at Bellewstown, and through his friendships with Heffernan and Wayne Lordan was added to the pool of work riders rotated through morning shifts at O’Brien’s Ballydoyle and on other occasions at his son Joseph’s yard at Owning Hill.

He recalled: “Joseph’s stable is just 15 minutes away from the Coleman barn, and Ballydoyle is a further 15 minutes away, so I often had the chance to ride work for both O’Briens on fast-work days.”

He said Aidan and Joseph are every bit as serious and professional as their public personas and social media profiles suggest, with the same work ethic. But they also live up to something their fans often marvel at – they know and communicate with every work rider by name.

“Aidan has a massive string, and his horses go out in four or five groups every day. There is a board with all the horses’ names on it and the riders allocated to every horse. The schedule is carefully prepared by the assistant trainers in consultation with the boss, so he knows exactly who is dealing with which horse.

“Everyone uses walkie-talkies, clipped to the riders for instant communication, but they also want direct, personal feedback when you return with your horse after pace work, just like we do in South Africa.”

Calvin left the Coleman stable in 2024 for an opportunity with leading UK trainer Ralph Beckett at Kimpton Down, southwest of London. It was around this time that his fellow South African, Eric Ngwane, hit the headlines with his exuberance at Longchamp as the groom of Beckett’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner, Bluestocking (Camelot).

Calvin said: “I got to ride Bluestocking on the work track, as well as champions like You Got To Me (Nathaniel) and Starlust (Zoustar). It is simply amazing to sit on horses like that.”

While his spell with Beckett lasted only six months, Calvin believes it was a turning point in his career. He said: “In the UK, when you are employed in a racing stable, your duties include everything from grooming, work riding, mucking out stables, travelling with runners to racetracks and even assisting with minor injuries. Mr Beckett is a stern taskmaster.

“This was an incredible learning experience, mainly because you get to spend most of the day around specific horses. You are also on their backs a lot longer, because most UK trainers, including Mr Beckett, send their horses on long walks a few times a day. You get closely involved with your horses, get to know them inside out and learn from them.

“One only realises how much there is to learn from these wonderful animals when you spend quality time with them every day. They have individual habits and quirks, and there is a fine line between allowing certain behaviour and setting boundaries. When they trust you, they come back to you.

“Every horse is different. Once you understand one horse, you become more patient and you know that the next horse may need something completely different. You learn not to rush them, but to give them time and work out what makes them tick. That is something I took with me from England and something that helps me with every horse I ride now.”

As a groom and work rider, Calvin was earning the equivalent of about R30,000 a month after tax and deductions in England, but felt a pressing need to ride in races again. He knew that returning home would make it even harder to secure good opportunities. The log-leading jockeys invariably secure the plum rides and, with the smaller horse population and reduced fields, as many as 20 jockeys have to compete for the six or seven available mounts per race, on a typical card.

He said: “I do not get paid to ride work and I have to travel to Randjesfontein and back home to Alberton every morning, so it’s not easy. Everything comes down to getting race rides from trainers. But that is the plight of most jockeys, and I am committed to proving myself and applying what I have learnt.

He concluded: “I am single, I avoid social media and I focus on my riding and making a breakthrough. One has to knuckle down and do what you have to do, needing faith and a bit of luck. God loves a trier!”