Simon scores first win

Apprentice jockey Abinith Simon’s grin was ear to ear at New Plymouth on Saturday after recording his first win in the saddle aboard Amira D'Argento in the Denis Wheeler Earthmoving (1600m).

Hailing from Bangalore, India, Simon was proud to have made his mark in New Zealand.

“It was a lovely feeling and I couldn’t be happier,” he said. “I am thankful to Taui Johnson (trainer) for giving me that ride and keeping me on her. It is a thrill leaving home and doing that in a foreign country.”

Simon had the one prior ride on Amira D'Argento, finishing runner-up behind Pegasus and premiership-winning jockey Craig Grylls, and he was rapt to go one better on Saturday.

“She ran second at Te Rapa where I got beaten by the best jockey in the country,” Simon said. “She definitely showed that she had the ability to win that race.

“I was confident that she was going to do something special. The ground was really testing, so I did have my doubts, but she just outclassed them and ran a super race.”

Simon first got involved with horses in his homeland, helping his uncle, who was a trainer.

“I was on school holidays and I went to spend some time with my cousins,” he said. “My uncle was a trainer, and I didn’t know anything about horses back then, and he asked me if I wanted to go around and look at the horses.

“I popped around to his barn and saw all these horses lunging and I thought it looked interesting. I started mucking out boxes and wanted to learn more about horses and I started riding. Once I started riding, I couldn’t stop and when I was getting better, I thought it might be time to think about becoming a jockey.”

In a bid to further his career, Simon decided to come to New Zealand, initially working for Te Aroha trainer Peter Lock before he transferred to Cambridge trainers Roger James and Robert Wellwood, for whom he is apprenticed.

“I came to New Zealand in December 2022, and I worked with Peter Lock before I moved to Roger James because I was getting the chance to do my apprenticeship,” he said. “I have been here for three years and it has been fantastic.”

While working his way through his required trial rides to become an apprentice, Simon said Wellwood encouraged him to ride in the amateur jockeys’ series, and he is glad he followed his employer’s advice.

“Robert Wellwood recommended I ride in the amateurs while I was getting my trial rides done, and he said it would be good experience because they go a lot slower in the amateurs and it would be good for me to find the gaps, see the space and see how the pace of the race is,” Simon said.

“I think that was a game changer because it gave me the confidence to go out on the track and perform. I had fun riding in the amateurs, I had two placings.”

Upon becoming an apprentice, Simon accepted a place in the Elite Jockey Programme (EJP), and he said he is learning plenty in the course.

“I finished my trial rides and I got in the EJP, which I have been involved with since June, and it has been going well,” he said. “It is a great programme, and it has really helped me gain confidence in many areas.”

Simon is enjoying working for James and Wellwood and said it is a pleasure to ride for the Cambridge stable.

“The horses that they have are brilliant,” he said. “They have beautiful attitudes, they perform well, they are nice and fit horses, and they are a pleasure to ride.

“I have plenty of favourites, but one favourite of mine is Repeat Performance. He is a Pierro out of Repeat, and he is a wonderful horse. He is just so fluent in the way he works and travels nicely, I couldn’t ask for a better ride.”

While Simon was savouring his win on Saturday, so was his family, who partied into the day and night following his victory.

“They sent me a video of them partying on my behalf because I won,” he said. “It is awesome being many oceans away and being able to put a smile on their face, it just makes me really happy.”

Simon is hoping he can continue his winning momentum into Cambridge’s synthetic meeting on Wednesday, where he is set to ride Epilogue in the Saddlery Warehuse 1300 and Lady Iris in the TCL Earthworks 970.

“I am looking forward to those rides,” he said. “Lady Iris is running up against Pink Gin, who just beat her last time, but her sectionals were really good and over 970m with four kilos off her back, I think she should run a really good race.”

Simon is loving life in New Zealand, and he is looking forward to continuing to build his life in his adopted country.

“I would definitely love to call it home,” he said. “I think it is a very beautiful country. I have enjoyed my time here except for in the winters when it is really cold and frosty, but when the sun comes out it is beautiful.”