Local jockey champ jets off to Japan
After riding his 264th winner, the Kearsney College Old Boy will return to Japan for another three-month stint.
KEARSNEY College Old Boy, Lyle Hewitson will leave for another stint in Japan after he was crowned the South African champion jockey for the 2020/21 season after riding 264 winners.
“I’m feeling proud and privileged to have been crowned once again and am looking forward to another stint in Japan,” he said.
He returned to South Africa last year from the country, where he made an instant impact. The 23-year-old said he’d returned to SA as a more experienced and mentally smarter rider after his time abroad.
“My stint in Hong Kong and Japan really gave me a dimension of invaluable experience that I have tried to build on. I’m looking forward to returning to Japan for three months,” he said.
The well-spoken, determined and respected jockey has had a meteoric rise through the ranks due to many years as a work rider, as well as coming from a family steeped in the racing industry.
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“My dad, Carl, was a jockey and is currently a trainer. My mum, Samantha, is a competitive rider and keen polocrosse player, so I grew up with horses. In Grade 7 I had my heart set on becoming a jockey, but it was only in Grade 10 that it became reality,” he said.
After playing 1st X1 hockey and cricket and matriculating from Kearsney College in 2015 with five distinctions, the all-rounder was accepted at the Jockey Academy.
“It was a massive learning curve. Riding in Hong Kong was difficult and I battled to find my feet. But my upbringing and the grounding I had at Kearsney helped me get through that tough time,” said Hewitson.
He endured a 140-race drought before getting off the mark in Hong Kong, and was then able to turn the barren spell into a bountiful one in Japan, scoring on his first day of elite level racing there.
“Japan is a beautiful country. The food is great and the people are even better. The language barrier can be difficult but I managed to get around it,” he said.
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