‘Put your boobs on your knees and act like a boy’.
That was the instruction to pioneering Zimbabwean apprentice O’Meara Chiedza Rusike in the build-up to her opening SA ride at Hollywoodbets Scottsville on Sunday from legendary former champion Garth Puller.
The 22 year old, Zimbabwe’s first black female apprentice, rode Magari on Sunday for former champion jockey Garth Puller.
O’meara in the ring at Hollywoodbets Scottsville on Sunday with Lyle Hewitson who rode the Puller stablemate (Pic – Candiese Lenferna)
“All the girls are at a slight disadvantage. So I told her to put her boobs on her knees and act like a boy. And don’t play with the crop. Girls are obviously physically less stronger than boys, and they often let the horse underneath them get the better of them,” said Puller, who added that being a jockey was a game of the body and mind.
“She was a bit unlucky on Sunday. She took a bump and almost came off. She has a good attitude and work ethic and has a great chance of going on with it from here,” added the veteran, who has given many young apprentices an early opportunity.
O’Meara has already ridden a winner in her homeland. Orphaned at a young age, her journey to the racetrack started in 2016 when her adoptive father showed her an advertisement in the local rag from December of the previous year.
She told the Sunday Mail in a report that she knew this was a path she was meant to explore, “Being a jockey was a calling because I knew nothing about it, except for Zimbabwe’s big race, the OK Grand challenge”.
She rode her first race in December 2018.
Her adoptive father Perseverance Ganga is proud of how far Rusike has come.
“I am happy that she is now living her dreams,”he adds.
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