Sabah girl, 13, is world’s youngest horse trainer
Published on: Monday, November 30, 2020
By: R Gonzales
Tuaran: A 13-year-old Sabahan is jockeying her way into a field seldom explored by her peers.Isabelle Lonjuing Sayeed (pic) received recognition from the Royal Sabah Turf Club (RSTC) as the world’s youngest racehorse trainer, beating Baily Rogerson from New Zealand who started out her professional career at 16 in 2017.
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The teenager from Penampang obtained her professional trainer and agent licence from RSTC on Nov 26.
“I started riding horses in Glenora Stables in Kinarut at the age of five under the guidance of my grandfather and trainer Susan Douglas and her daughter Claire Mosun,” she said, Saturday.
“Earlier this year, I trained at the Kuala Lumpur Academy of Polo with my mentor Peter Abisheganaden.”
She had also established the first women’s polo team in Sabah, El Venato Polo Team, after playing for the Sabah Polo Association.
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“I am aware that the road is not easy, but with the support from my family, I am ready to face any challenges,” she said.
Meanwhile, Douglas said Isabelle had undergone an intensive course on every aspect of horse training before she took the RSTC’s trainer licence test.
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It was understood that RSTC Race Director John Gorton was the examiner who issued the licence to Isabelle.
Gorton was a top jockey in the United Kingdom before he returned to his home country South Africa to train, as well as pioneering horseracing in Mongolia and China.
Isabelle is scheduled to undergo training with trainer champion Bob Baffert in the US in next summer.
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