Anaas after clinching a treble with a win on That’s My Baby in a strong A Stakes race (Candiese Lenferna Photography)
Apprentice Anaas Mosaheb scored his first treble at Hollywodbets Greyville last Friday night (28 August) and the Mauritian youngster was a whisker away from adding to that tally in the penultimate race of the night when his mount Grand Appeal failed by 0,25 lengths to fetch the also running-on The Swansong.
Confidence plays a big part in jockeyship and Anaas is full of confidence at present, saying, “I don’t know what is happening, but horses are just running for me at the moment. I feel I have been getting that little extra because of my improvement in using the stick with my left hand. I have been practicing the change of hands and the use of the left hand a lot on the equisizer. It has been helping a lot. I know when to use it, because I have watched a lot of videos of great jockeys like Keagan de Melo and Richard Fourie and you can see when they do it the horses change legs and quicken. You can watch and see some of the races I have won is especially because of my left handed use of the stick. I have been practicing to be as neat as I can with the left hand, so that there is no difference between it and my naturally stronger right hand.”
A good example was last Friday night on the 25/1 outsider, the Kumaran Naidoo-trained Galactic Beauty, who had no right to win on form. Anaas’s late change of the whiphand to his left hand saw her finding the little bit extra she needed to beat the fancied Future Prospect by 0,30 lengths.
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Anaas has had 17 wins to date, 16 in South Africa and one in Mauritius, but is yet to win a black type race.
However, The A stakes race he won over 1400m on the Sean Tarry-trained That’s My Baby last Friday night was as good as a black type race such was the quality of the field.
He said, “You need to have soft hands for that mare, because she usually pulls a little bit in a race. As soon as you grab her mouth she will just pick her head up and you will be unable to stop her. Mr Tarry told me to not do anything after jumping, to just come out softly and then find a position. I also went to talk to Keagan de Melo, because I know that he used to ride this horse and would be able to tell me how to get the best out of her. He gave me some tips and I did it in the race and it worked nicely. I had soft hands all the way and she traveled beautifully. When I pressed in the straight she just gave me her best.”
That’s My Baby has a tremendous record at Hollywoodbets Greyville and clearly loves the track, so her odds of 16/1 were generous. She made full use of her gender allowance to beat a top class field by 3,30 lengths.
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Anaas had ridden a Tarry horse for the first time the previous day at the Vaal, finishing third on the 14/1 shot Space Mission.
He has another ride for the five-times champion trainer this Friday.
Anaas has been around racehorses since he was a toddler. He used to sit on the shoulders of his father at the always jam-packed Champs De Mar racecourse meetings.
He was taught the basics of riding by a man called Ibrahim Nazia, who initially worked horses on a road, because he did not have a normal track. However, he later moved to a proper equestrian centre.
Anaas was subsequently accepted into the Mauritius Academy and thereafter he moved to the Guy Desmarais Training Centre in Floreal, where he rode work for various trainers.
At the age of seventeen he had his first ride in a race on 19 August 2023.
He said, “I rode in only 21 races in Mauritius and had one win (on Whipping Boy) and one place. I did not get any of the best horses, but had good results from limited opportunities.”
He continued, “I then put in the application for the South African Jockey Academy (SAJA) and thankfully I was accepted. I’m very grateful to be here today.”
He revealed, “I worked hard and learnt quickly, because I am chasing just one goal and that is to be Champion Jockey like my Idol Nooresh Juglall.”
Mauritian Nooresh Juglall was a twice South African apprentice champion who famously won all three legs of the Triple Tiara on the Ormond Ferraris-trained Bridget Oppenheimer-owned Cherry On The Top while still an apprentice. He went on to ride with great success in Singapore but during the Far East island’s off season in 2021 he passed away in tragic circumstances after a horrific incident in a race at Champs De Mar.
Anaas said, “He was the jockey who pushed me into racing. I never talked to him, but just from watching him he inspired me so much and that’s how I fell in love with racing.”
Anaas has always based his riding style entirely on Nooresh’s.
He said, “I have built slowly but surely and am now seeing the results.”
He said he was very happy with his progress and having only started out here in February he has quickly become an apprentice to follow.
Anaas’s immediate goal besides being champion apprentice is to establish himself in South Africa and earn enough to bring his wife and parents out here.
However, he has big ambitions and concluded, “Further in the future I want to roam around and ride in every racing country including Hong Kong … one day I want to be over there.”
