Each winner made me happy - an interview with Sertash Ferhanov, our 2018 champion jumps jockey   

Sertash Ferhanov has been working in Czech horseracing for 4 years. This season was his most successful so far. He not only had 22 winning rides and won the championship over fences, but he also won four Category I races, and earned his title as a jockey for riding 50 winners in his career. Sertash Ferhanov was not in the Czech Republic at the time of this interview, but he was happy to agree to share with us his impressions of the 2018 season, and other things, in a telephone conversation.

 

Which country and which training centre are you in right now?

I’m in France with trainer [Guillaume] Macaire. I wanted to get some experience abroad, after the end of the season. [veteran Czech jockey] Jirka Kousek made the contact for me. I’m very happy about it, and I’m very grateful to him. I like it here – it’s a completely different world. The training centre is by the sea, and near to the Spanish border. The nearest racecourse is Pau, which is about 4½ hours away.

 

I’d be interested to know how many horses you ride out every day for trainer Macaire, and when you might return to the Czech Republic.

I ride three or four horses per day, and I spend an hour and a half to two hours out with each horse. I have an agreement with Mr Vocásek that I will give him a call in February, and then we’ll discuss exactly when I’ll return. It will depend what kind of winter we have, and whether it’s possible to train the horses.

 

Let us turn to a different page, and deal with the season that has come to an end. Since you were successful in everything, including winning the championship, I think you have to be pleased.

Yes, I certainly am. I’d be crazy if I wasn’t pleased. Nevertheless, there were races that didn’t turn out well, and that is why I want to gain experience from older colleagues and from abroad. That’s why I’m in France. Another thing is that I got some good horses to ride during the season. The horses in our training centre were very well prepared, and working with the Vocásek family has been working out very well. I’d lke to thank the Vocáseks and all the other owners and trainers for the opportunities they’ve given me to ride in races.

 

What was the most pleasing thing for you in the course of the season? Which winners meant most to you?
Each winner made me happy and means a lot to me. I like to win. All the wins on Famous Valley, of course – including the race when he gave me my 50th winner. Then there was the win on Amadeon in the Elektrizace železnic Gold Cup at Prague Velk
á Chuchle, and the win on Tiara Man in the Popler Memorial Stakes on Velka Pardubicka day, and also the win on Saul in the Gold Brooch Stakes for 3-y-os at Pardubice. And of course I have to mention the win on Delight My Fire in the Velká slušovická.

 

You had your third ride in the Velka Pardubicka, and this time you finished in 10th place on Pareto. Had you been hoping for something more in the race?
Yes, before the race, I’d been thinking we might get to the winning post in the first seven, and win some prize money. But after the Irish Bank [obstacle no. 5] I already knew it wasn’t going to happen. Pareto’s a very good steeplechaser and jumper, but he’s short of class for such a big race. He can easily win lower category races, or races in Poland.

 

In your home training centre in Němčice [just outside Pardubice], there are a number of very good jumpers. Is there a horse among them that could be aimed at the Velka Pardubicka in the future?
Yes, Amadeon. I’ve been telling Mr Vocásek that he should be aimed at crosscountry races at Pardubice next year, and gradually he’ll be pointed towards the Velka. He stays well, and he has a very good finish.

 

Can we go back into the past, because I’m also interested in how you found your way into Czech horseracing. And another question is whether you rode in races over fences before you came to us.
My career over fences didn’t begin until I came to the Czech Republic. Before that, I rode in Hungary, but I had ever greater problems with my weight, and so I gave up flat racing. Trainer Sandor Ribárszi’s horse Falcon Wing ran at Pardubice, and I asked the Czech boys if they didn’t know about a job for me. I contacted Mr Vocetka, who at that time had some horses in the Pohoří training centre [just east of Prague
]. That came to an end, and I spent some time with Mr Vocetka. Then Radek Man found a job for me, and Mr Vocásek sent for me. Then my brother Beysim came here. Then I was with Mr Váňa and with Mr Holčák, for whom I had my first ride in the Velka. That was in 2015, and I fell. And a year later I went back to the Vocásek family’s training centre.

 

I have to admit that there was a time when I used to follow horseracing in Bulgaria regularly, but that was a long time ago. Can you tell us something about the present-day situation in Bulgarian horseracing?
In Sofia there’s the national racecourse with a nice track for flat racing and for trotting, but races were last held there in 2008. There are some trainers there, including one who worked in England. But nowadays there are only some races in villages, and they are more like a parody of real horseracing. The trainer that I was talking about prepares horses for owners who run them in Hungary, Serbia, Croatia and Poland. They have some horses purchased at Newmarket. There’s a functioning Bulgarian Jockey Club, and there are quite a number of people working with racehorses there. It’s a great shame that there is no normal racing there. Unfortunately, there’s currently no prospect of an improvement.

 

The end of the year is approaching, and in a few months the new season will begin. Do you have some targets for it?
I’d like to get a place in the Velka Pardubicka. In the last two years I got an offer of a ride in September, and we’ll see how it goes next year. I’d also like to defend my jockeys’ championship.
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This interview by Michaela Zemanová first appeared on the Fitmin/Turf web pages at the end of November 2018. Translated by Robin.

Photo of Sertash Ferhanov on Amadeon. Photo by Petr Guth.