The South African Jockey Academy called Gavin Lerena’s parents with an offer.
It was the first chance he had gotten at the acclaimed five-year program. Following his grandfather, his father, his uncle, his whole family into racing, Lerena enrolled in the apprentice program and took an instant hit. Denied. Lerena was relegated to the equestrian side of the school. Show jumping, dressage, eventing. Like caging a tiger.
After six months, the school called home.
“We’ll give him a chance, when he gets too big, he gets too big.”
He never got too big.
“My family tried to keep me away from it but once it’s there…” Lerena said. “I actually didn’t fit the criteria. They had two sections, equestrian and the jockey side. I went in as an equestrian. I was too big, they measured my weight, my shoes, my bones. I was blessed, after six months, they saw that this kid, it’s all he wants to do. They gave me an opportunity. They called my parents. The rest is history.”
Today, Lerena tries to make history.
The South African jockey rides South African-bred One Stripe in the Grade 1 Manhattan, the 12th race on the 14-race Belmont Stakes buffet. Twenty-three years after fighting for a spot on the jockey side of the jockey school, the 40-year-old is still going strong.
“I was exercising horses before I went to the academy in the morning. That’s all I ever wanted,” Lerena said. “I was very thick skinned. I knew. ‘Whatever happens, I’m going to be a jockey.’ I never had another thought in my mind. Since then, all the guys who they eventually let come on board, those were the ones who succeeded, the ones who really wanted it. I love it. I love it.”
Emulating his heroes Piere Strydom, Anton Marcus and of course, Frankie Dettori, Lerena has built a stellar career in South Africa, securing apprentice championships, two national championships and traveling to England, Hong Kong, China, Mauritius, Dubai and now Saratoga.
“Piere Strydom was my number one,” Lerena said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a jockey in the world ride like him. He was just phenomenal, his balance, how he could get horses to run, not a big whip rider, all in the hands. I used to look up to him.”
Do you ride like him?
“I ride like Gavin Lerena,” he said. “We all have our own styles. I’ve taken a little bit from everyone, but I have my own style. Cool, calm and collected. Let the horse do the talking, let the horse tell me where he wants to be. If they have speed, use the speed. If they can’t master the speed, wait for him. It’s like driving a car, you’re just trying to save petrol. That’s race riding. I don’t think you can learn it. I think you can feel it. Feel what your horse wants to do. The horse is the bottom line.”
One Stripe is as thick a bottom line as any horse in Lerena’s career.
They joined up after Bernard Fayd’Herbe got hurt in early 2024. Owner Rikesh Sewgoolam reached out to Lerena to see what he was doing the following weekend. They won the Grade 3 Winter Nursery at Kenilworth in May and three in a row later that season.
The skein included the Grade 1 Cape Guineas and the Grade 1 King’s Plate over older horses. Imported to the U.S. and handed over to trainer Graham Motion, One Stripe finished fifth in the Woodbine Mile, and 13th in the Breeders’ Cup Mile before winning an allowance race at Gulfstream in December.
Lerena ventured here for the first time to guide the son of One World to a tough-trip second, beaten a neck, in the Pegasus Turf at Gulfstream in January. John Velazquez guided the 5-year-old to a second behind Zulu Kingdom in the Maker’s Mark at Keeneland in April.
Now, Lerena returns.
“I’ve ridden good horses but he’s special. His turn of foot, his acceleration is phenomenal,” Lerena said. “This horse has done wonders for my life, helping me see the world. It’s always been a dream to ride in America and thanks to One Stripe we are here.”
He nearly wasn’t.
Lerena broke his left ankle in a fall and missed the Maker’s Mark. He wasn’t missing this one.
“I’m upset I missed the ride on him the last time,” he said. “I thought he was only going to run in August, so I was in the boot, walking around. One Stripe ran and a couple of days later, they said Graham was thinking about running him on the 6th of June. The hyperbaric chamber, the red-light therapy, the works. I said, ‘I’ll be back. I’ll be back.’ It was a quick turnaround. And now we’re here.”
And what would it mean to win a Grade 1 at Saratoga?
“A dream come true,” Lerena said, flexing his left ankle from a picnic table in the jocks’ room backyard. “I always set bigger goals, to ride a Group 1 in America…”
Lerena drew a giant check mark in the Saratoga air.
“Make it happen,” Lerena said. “Make it happen.”
Just like jockey school.
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