Zaki hopes to ride in races again soon

After a longer-than-expected time out nursing a broken right forearm suffered in a race fall in July, underrated Malaysian jockey Mohd Zaki is glad to be back in the saddle.

But he will only be riding trackwork, for a start.

The likeable 42-year-old Kelantan native hopes to get the clearance to ride in races when he sees his doctor in two weeks’ time.

After doing “light work” in trainer Shane Baertschiger’s stables for about a month, he was cleared to ride trackwork and hopped back aboard his saddle on Thursday.

Taking it easy as advised, he cantered just two horses, increasing the regimen to four on Friday and six on Saturday.

Overall, he felt great – as good as new – and could not wait to resume riding in races.

He is one of 12 local jockeys granted a full-year licence for the 2023 Singapore season, which kicks off on Jan 7.

“My arm has fully recovered, the bone has healed already. I am 100 per cent fit,” said Zaki.

“But the doctor allowed me to ride in trackwork first. He asked me to wait a little longer.

“I am seeing him again in two weeks so, hopefully, I can get the clearance to ride in races again.

“I have been struggling for five months, so much that I felt like crying.

“At first, I thought I could resume riding in two to three months, like in most such cases, but the healing took a little longer than expected.”

Zaki fell from Happy Heart in Race 6 at the Kranji racecourse on July 31.

He could not remember much of the incident, but the Stipendiary Stewards’ report said that Happy Heart “clipped heels and blundered badly approaching the 1,100m, resulting in the rider being dislodged”.

Initially, he thought he was fine. He could get up and walk. But the pain soon came.

He was taken by ambulance to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, where an X-ray showed that his right forearm was broken.

Surgery, in which a plate was inserted to hold the broken bone, was performed the next day.

During his time out, Zaki walked a couple of hours daily in his Johor Bahru base to keep fit. He has maintained his weight at 50.5kg.

As he stays near the Johor immigration checkpoint, he walks across the 1km-long Causeway to Singapore and takes the taxi to the Kranji stables, where he works for Baertschiger.

His journey starts from 2.45am and he reaches the stables at 4.30am.

He was very grateful to Baertschiger for paying him his salary even when he was sidelined.

“Otherwise, I would be struggling. Life would have been very tough without an income,” said Zaki,who rode eight winners, 15 seconds and 10 thirds from 129 mounts in 2022.

Besides Baertschiger, fellow-jockey Matthew Kellady and many others who supported him, Zaki was also thankful to the Singapore Turf Club for the one-year licence and the Ministry of Manpower for renewing his employment pass.

“I am lucky to be able to continue riding in Singapore. I thank all the people who supported me and also my wife and my family, who stood by me when I was down during those five months out,” he said.

With his light weight – an asset in race riding – and his noted front-running style, Zaki can expect life to get better once he is cleared to ride in races again.

Hopefully, as soon as possible, he wishes.