Tshepiso Matsoele is fighting for his dream. The 24yr wants to re-join the South African Jockey and Equestrian Academy, at Summerveld in Kwa-Zulu Natal. We need to go back a few years to find out why he left the Academy, and to understand some of the hardships he has faced along the way…

In October 1992, Tshepiso was born at home in Pretoria. The youngest son of a domestic worker, Tshepiso was lucky enough to grow up with his mother, living with her, where she worked. His mother’s employer, a Mrs Cronje, not only paid for him to attend Witkoppen Primary School, but also encouraged her son to form a friendship with Tsephiso. The two boys spent many years playing together, and as they grew up, Tshepiso was noticeably smaller than young Tinus Cronje, and all his other same aged class mates. Tinus and his mother had seen advertisements for the Jockey Academy, and encouraged Tshepiso’s mother to apply, and helped her with every step of the application. They also paid all the required entrance fees, as well any incidental costs during the process. They were all thrilled that Tshepiso was accepted, and even paid for his entire first year’s fees at the academy. It was the big break he needed, to escape the disadvantaged background that he had come from. Tshepiso recalls, with a bit of a shake in his voice, that Mrs Cronje passed away shortly after that, after a long battle with cancer. Her son Tinus subsequently immigrated to the UK, and Tshepiso regrets that they have lost contact.

But this immense “leg up” in life opened so many new doors for him – some of them, he admits, were a tad overwhelming. It was in his second month at the Academy, February 2010, where one of the teachers, Dawn Lindsay, recognised that he was battling to adapt, and took Tshepiso under her wing. It was a terribly scary time for him, trying to adjust to the new lifestyle, especially the mass dining hall, where all the apprentices had their meals together. It did not help that Tshepiso is a very shy fellow, and has trouble speaking out when he is unsure about things. He had also never even touched a horse prior to joining the Academy, but he absolutely loved playing with the township dogs as he grew up. With him, in his “year” at the Academy, were Julius Mariba, Kegan de Melo, Julian Smitsdorff, Stallone Lee Naidoo and Denise Lee, who have all gone on to graduate as fully fledged jockeys, and have produced some impressive results all around the country.

Tshepiso recalls that they all got up to some sort of mischief in their first year. He chuckles as he remembers the day that he, Julius Mariba and Stallone Naidoo decided to go into the paddocks, one afternoon, and jumped onto three of the Academy schoolmaster horses, with just halters and NO skullcaps. They got caught red handed, and after a very stern lecture, they were all “grounded” for two whole months – apparently quite a hefty penalty for the Academy “inmates”! He told me that he has never sat on a horse, subsequently, without a proper helmet on, and after seeing a particularly nasty fall with one of the show jumpers, he has become a bit of an advocate for the wearing of protective head gear when riding. Paul Gadsby was one of the riding masters at the time. Tshepiso recalls Mr Gadsby as being very strict about how the apprentices groomed their horses. He wanted all the manes on the right hand side, and the horses to be thoroughly cleaned. If any apprentice failed to present their horses in the correct manner, or if they were late, Mr Gadsby did not allow them to part take in the lesson that afternoon. Any apprentice that was excluded from those lessons was completely mortified, and so they tried even harder to impress Mr Gadsby. Tshepiso says he values those lessons, both on and off the horses, because it developed a strong sense of discipline in him, for which, he says, he will be forever grateful to Mr Gadsby. Paul Gadsby has since left the Academy and has started training racehorses again, from the Ashburton Training Centre near Pietermaritzburg.

When Tshepiso finally signed his indenture papers to become a licenced Apprentice Jockey with the National Horseracing Authority in 2011, his first ride came at the Vaal Racecourse, on a horse called Swing Away, trained by Bertie van der Merwe. It was a rather inauspicious start, as he finished down field, in 7th place. He was incredibly nervous, and says most of the pre-race activities, in the Parade Ring and canter down are a vague blur. But once those gates on the Starting Stalls opened, he says the nerves just evaporated, and he “felt like a champ”. His dreams were alive, and he was living them! In his fourth ride as an apprentice, he earned his first stake cheque, finishing 4th aboard the Colin Scott trained Void, at the now defunct Clairwood Park Racecourse, in Durban.

On 9 April 2012, Tshepiso rode his first winner – always a huge milestone for any jockey. He recalls every detail of the moment with vivid accuracy, except the actual race itself, because he was unusually nervous that day. The horse was, rather appropriately, named Look After Me, and was trained by Yogas Govender. Tshepiso recalls that it was a Clairwood Park meeting, and he knew that a fellow apprentice, Cheswick Jourdaan was riding in the race too – it was an Apprentice Only race. Tshepiso held Cheswick in very high esteem, and felt he was the rider to beat. The next part that he can recall clearly is being congratulated by his fellow apprentices at the pull up! Auto pilot kicked in during the race, and he only realised he had won quite a way after the finishing post! All jockeys remember their first winners with great nostalgic recollection, as it is always a pivotal moment for them.

Tshepiso rode another 6 winners in the next few months, but soon grew very disillusioned. He rode work every morning, under the guidance of the Academy Riding Masters, but the rewards and rides were few, in spite of his hard work. He reached a stage where riding became a chore, and no longer excited him, as it had once done. His last ride was in May 2013, and during that month, the Summerhill School Of Excellence came to the Academy to do a presentation on their course and curriculum, which was based at the Summerhill Stud itself. Tshepiso had become desperately unhappy and unmotivated at the Academy, and decided to accept the scholarship he was offered to attend the School Of Excellence. While it felt like the right thing to do, he recalls that he felt instant regret, and wondered if he had done the right thing for his future.

Once at Summerhill, Tshepiso immediately impressed the school principle, Heather Morkel, who sensed he needed some encouragement. He flourished with her guidance, and Tshepiso’s eyes were opened to a whole new side of the racing industry. He saw foals being born, handled the stud stallions, helped to break in many youngsters, and most importantly built some everlasting friendships. It was at Summerhill that he met one of his role models, a fellow student, Kabelo Pitori. Kabelo was a few years older than Tshepiso, and still to this day, remains one of the people that Tshepiso calls for life advice. At the 2014 Summer Cup Race meeting at Turffontein, Tshepiso remembers that Kabelo arrived in a white BMW, and he told Tshepiso that it was the “fruit of hard labour”. When Tshepiso asked if he could sit in the driver’s seat, Kabelo told him with a wink, “No son, not today – you need to work hard enough to get your own”. Tshepiso says he will never forget that moment – it strengthened his resolve to succeed!

After leaving the Summerhill School Of Excellence, Tshepiso went home to his mother, who now lived in Alexandra, near Sandton. She was barely making ends meet, but he didn’t even notice, and started partying and not contributing towards living expenses. He lost his way completely for a few months, and then his mother kicked him out and told him he can only come back when he had a job.

The reality of being homeless really hit Tshepiso hard, and the desire to ride racehorses sent him on a path to Turffontein Racecourse. He decided to become a freelance work rider at the training centre on the course. He rode a lot of work, for a meagre income, and free accommodation. This is when I met Tshepiso myself – he stayed in our staff accommodation, at Gary Alexander Racing Stables. His afternoons were free, so he spent a lot of time with me, helping to ice legs, nebulise and change horses in the mechanical horse walker. In the beginning I found him still to be a little arrogant and disinterested – like he was just going through the motions. One morning we were schooling youngsters through the Starting Stalls, and he was not listening to his instructions. (Now to be perfectly honest, I do not recall this moment at all, but Tshepiso says it was the biggest turning point for him, in his career.) Apparently I had been looking at my cellphone, and I looked up at him and said: “You need to get your life back together”, and the walked away without even a backward glance. I do remember a huge change in Tshepiso’s work ethic and attitude, but it was only during the interview for this article, that I heard what the catalyst was. A humbling moment for me, that such a flippant remark had had such a huge effect, on this young man.

We developed a very good working relationship, and he started to become far more productive in all aspects of his life. It was during this time that he told me about his aspirations to be re-accepted to the South African Jockey Academy. Dean Alexander tried several times to get him readmitted, but all attempts were unsuccessful. I mentioned that other youngsters had started at the Racing Trust’s Work Rider’s Program, run by James Maree, and gone on to be accepted into the Academy, who have very strict acceptance criteria. I urged him to this route, but he was stubborn and really not keen at all. But some gentle nagging from me got him to start attending the bi-weekly training sessions, at the Work Rider’s School. His riding technique improved immensely over the next few months. In addition, he has former five-times South African Champion Jockey, Mark Khan, riding with him at the Alexander yard, guiding him and refining his personal riding style. I left the Alexander yard myself, in November 2014, but kept in constant daily contact with Tshepiso at the training tracks.

In January 2016, we had a mini celebration, as Tshepiso was granted his Work Rider’s licence, and was therefore once again able to ride in races, albeit only in the restricted Work Rider’s races. Lyle Hewistson and Diego de Gouveia also went through this same Work Rider’s program, and in January 2016 were accepted to become fully licenced Apprentice Jockeys, and are now riding in open races!

In the 11 rides that he has had since 2 February 2016, Tshepiso has had 1 win, and earned another 6 place cheques – that is quite an impressive strike rate! His dream of being a licenced jockey is still his greatest motivation. He is hoping to be once again accepted into the Academy, to complete his apprenticeship. Both myself, and Kabelo Pitori, remain his biggest supporters, and our hearts swelled with pride when he had his first winner back on 22 March 2016, aboard the Gavin van Zyl trained Truly, who is owned by Mr A. Crabbia. We really look forward to seeing Tshepiso fulfil his dreams one