Cool by the pool – Jose De Souza enjoying Mauritian hospitality
Jose de Souza knows he has some big boots to fill in Mauritius this weekend, but overawed he is not by the weight of expectation.
The 34-year-old Brazilian is one of 12 jockeys invited to the International Jockeys’ Weekend, but one week ago, his name was not even in the line-up – but phonetically, it was.
The Malaysian-based hoop gladly accepted a last-minute call-up by the Mauritius Turf Club to replace fellow Brazilian Silvestre De Sousa, who pulled the pin at the eleventh hour.
Not as well-known as the former No 1 Godolphin jockey or other Brazilian jockeys like Joao “Magic” Moreira in Hong Kong or Manoel Nunes in Singapore, de Souza has nonetheless carved his own niche area, Malaysia, a country he knew precious little about when he first landed there in 2011.
Just like de Sousa, de Souza was once one of the many expatriate jockeys eking out a living in England after finishing his apprenticeship (which he began in 1997) in Sao Paulo, doing mostly trackwork and travelling miles across the English countryside just to take one ride in Windsor or Wolverhampton.
In eight years (2002 to 2010) when he rode mainly for 1991 English champion trainer Paul Cole, de Souza was just your average journeyman, slotting in on British racecards on the odd occasion and basically heading nowhere.
Enter ex-Dubai trainer Aditiyan Selvaratnam in 2010, the fairy godfather of sorts who would turn his riding career on its ear.
Jose De Souza
Newly licensed by the Malayan Racing Association in 2009, Selvaratnam needed a jockey to kickstart his career in the South-East Asian capital of Kuala Lumpur. Having known de Souza during his England days, he got on the phone and quickly lured the Brazilian over.
After a slow start, the South American jockey did not take too long to win the notoriously fickle Malaysian racegoers over – a similar crowd to their Mauritian counterparts – “Good riders, you stay. No good? Go home.”
At a time when popular expats like Noel “King” Callow, Martin Wepner or Mark Gallagher ruled the roost on the Malaysian circuit, not to mention local champs like Azhar Ismail and Jai Shankar making it a very air-tight dominion, de Souza has done extremely well to break into the arena. Four years on, he is on cusp of his first Malaysian title.
“I went to Malaysia as an unknown, but the racing and its people there have been very good to me. I won my first career Group 1 race in Malaysia and now I have five of them,” said de Souza, whose first Group 1 success came aboard Top Spin in the Selangor Gold Cup in 2010 and his most recent the Coronation Cup (his second) on Good Baby in Ipoh only two weeks ago.
“I ride mainly for Richard Lines and Frank Maynard these days and I have to thank those two trainers for their support all these years. Without them, I wouldn’t be where I am now.
“I am now close to winning my first title as I am 24 wins clear of Jai Shankar and there are only seven racedays left. I’ve worked hard for this and I’m really proud of this first premiership title.”
Not only is de Souza all but home for the ultimate prize, but he also did it in style by rewriting the record books. Last Sunday, he broke the Malaysian record of 69 wins held previously by former Cape-based Martin Wepner (2006) with a horse called Waterfall in Kuala Lumpur to hit 70 wins.
The best position he finished on the premiership before was second to Eirwan Khalid in 2012, his title hopes having faded following an untimely injury.
The Malaysian champion-elect will carry the Brazilian flag at this weekend’s IJW at the Champ de Mars racecourse, a track he will ride on for the first time, but deep down, he feels more “Malaysia boleh” (patriotic chant that means “Malaysians can do it”).
“Malaysia is my home now. I will carry on riding there until they kick me out in a wheelchair,” he joked.
“Yes, I will ride for Brazil, but at the same time a part of me will be riding for Malaysia too.
“I’ve heard many good things about this competition in Mauritius and I’m very excited to get a chance to be part of it this year.
“I know some of the jockeys like Ahmed Ajtebi during my time in England and Rye Joorawon who rode in Malaysia a few times, but I don’t know much about the rest – just like with the horses.
“I can only hope for some luck at the draw and the track itself over the weekend – and of course, hope to ride at least one winner.”
Follow all the action on Tellytrack (Dstv 239) on Saturday and Sunday.
www.mauritiusturfclub.com
