AFTER FIRST WIN – APPRENTICE JAWANI FORBES TELLS HIS STORY

KINGSTON, Jamaica - IT has been a turbulent three years for jockey Jawani Forbes. With the weight on his shoulders, the young apprentice could not hide his emotions after riding his first career winner aboard the Colin Ferguson-conditioned Hunter’s Ridge on Saturday, July 16, 2022.

“I’m lost for words at the moment. There is so much going on with me and this win is the best way to get things together. I have had many setbacks along the way but I am here standing in the winners’ enclosure as a winner,” said Forbes, with tears in his eyes.

Hunter’s Ridge came from behind horses to win the native-bred five-year-old and upwards Cecil Chambers Maiden Condition event coming down the straight (1,000m) course. Hunter’s Ridge won by 4¾ lengths in a time of 1:03.2, beating Jnr Jones (Roger Hewitt) and Run Jaya Run (Odeen Edwards).

 “This win means more than a million dollars to me. I just have to keep on carrying down my weight, keep fit, and have manners and principles going through the work, and hope for the best. I rode this horse the other day and I knew that he bled during the race; and from I saw that he now had first-time Lasix, I knew that he was going to be a winner. I was 100 per cent sure about the victory today,” Forbes said.

Forbes didn’t have things as easy coming into the racing industry looking for work as a jockey. Forbes, who grew up mostly on his own, had to struggle along the way to becoming an apprentice on September 29, 2018.

“My mother ran away when I was seven months old and my father left me with other people, and I was all about the place. One day my father carried me and left me with my uncle who was a groom but I ended up going back home as it was very rough for me. I was 13 at that time.

“I came back to the track where I had to be boxing around and sleeping on gambling tables. I ended up in problems, and some serious encounters with people, plus I didn’t have any birth paper so it was difficult to get work at Caymanas Park.

“I didn’t give up. I worked hard and I eventually got my papers and got into the industry as an apprentice rider. That’s when my dream began as I have always wanted to become a jockey — and I got the chance to be one, then I was a man despite my young years,” the always expressive Forbes said.

Things got worse for the young man on January 5, 2019, when he was caught with an electrical device, more popularly known as a battery, at the starting gates. As a result, Forbes was given a two-year ban and a fine of $250,000 by the First Instance Tribunal of the Jamaica Racing Commission (JRC). He was found guilty of breaching the rules of the JRC as it relates to having in his possession or using an electrical device on a horse.

“I got caught up in the line as within the first five months of my career I got a suspension, and that situation really set me back tremendously in the game. I did my time and I came back to the sport but I was treated badly by many as I got fired on numerous occasions because the battery thing set a bad reputation for me.

“That, however, didn’t stop me from trying; I just kept on working and working. The ban taught me many things about people and how to deal with them but most importantly, it taught me about life itself, as nothing beats time.

“I love racing because that is all I have and I don’t know what I would do without the sport. I give thanks as well [for] the trainer, owner, groom, and all the connections of Hunter’s Ridge for the ride. They put their trust and belief in me, and I respect that. Thanks to my supporters as well and I will continue to do the hard work,” Forbes ended.