Bangalore student first Indian girl to win US jockey licence

Banglore Mirror

Bangalore, 04 April 2011: Aparna Das Battula, who worked under Hall of Famers in a Kentucky academy, recently came third at a major American equestrian tourney.

 

Aparna Das Battula, 23, found it difficult to cope with riding and college, but managed, thanks to support from her friends

 

She has represented Karnataka thrice in speed skating and roller hockey competitions, but believes that they can’t hold a candle to horse racing, “the thrill that comes from handling a living machine.”

 

Having trained at the North American Racing Academy (NARA) in Lexington, Kentucky, and become the first Indian woman to get an overseas jockey licence, Aparna, now 23, is still a work in progress. She started to train for horse racing only when she was in her second year in college. Her father, she reveals, has given her a year to make her dream of becoming a professional jockey come true or else revert to her studies.

 

The jockey fraternity in India is thrilled after Aparna won her jockey’s licence in the US two-and-a-half weeks ago. Sinclair Marshall, president, Jockeys Association of India, said, “We are extremely proud of her. It is very difficult for a girl to go to another country and achieve this. We were very impressed with her even when she used to practice here. We wish her all the best for her future.”

 

Aparna said that sports have always been her first love since childhood. “My passion was speed in any form. But I had never thought I would get into horse riding. Throughout my training in US, I faced many ups and downs, but I kept trying.
My future plan is to become a successful professional jockey.”

 

She recalls her moment of epiphany at the Bangalore Turf Club a few years ago. “After my second-year degree exams, I went to Bangalore Turf Club with my mother. At that point, I wasn’t really excited. Just as I was about to cross the training track, security personnel held us back saying we had to wait till the horses passed. A few seconds later, I saw two horses whiz past us. I just about managed to make out the riders on top of them. I went blank with awe,” she gushed. Thereafter, the entire activity in the race course - the horses nervously prancing about, the dust, the whip cord-like jockeys, the whirl of activity - took on another meaning. She became a convert to equestrian sport.

 

However, at the Bangalore Amateur Riding Institute (BARI), adjacent to the turf club, where she soon enrolled, it was not easy convincing Captain Gautam Surender, the main trainer. “At first, he didn’t think I was serious enough, but he eventually did after my first couple of spills from horses which I still think he deliberately set up for me to see if it was going to change my mind,” Aparna recalled. She looked forward to riding every day. “It was just too exciting. I started to connect emotionally with the horses and all I wanted was to work with horses for the rest of my life.”

 

She spent a couple of months working on her basics at BARI before riding actual race horses. “It was difficult to cope with college and riding. But with help from friends, I was able to deal with it,” she said. Her parents were supportive, but her father, considering the type of opportunities available in India for a woman jockey, cajoled her not to discontinue her studies.

 

As her training progressed, Aparna realised she was made for bigger things. She knew she had to train under an international expert. She started looking for schools online and came across jockey Chris McCarron’s NARA, a two-year programme. “I applied for it and got it. Through NARA, I had the opportunity to work with some of the best trainers during my internship. I worked with Hall of Fame trainers Todd Pletcher, Jonathan Sheppard and Kip Elser,” she said.

 

Soon, she was travelling to different tracks and races. “It has been physically and mentally exhausting. I met a Jamaican trainer Aubrey Maragh along the way, and he decided to help me get started. I participated in my first race at Gulfstream Park, where some of the best jockeys ride for the winter, and I finished third,” Aparna said. The future looks bright.