Andrew Fortune in action in 2017. Picture: JC Photographics
Former champion jockey Andrew Fortune has never done anything by half. The ink was barely dry on his new riding licence – granted after a long, contentious application process – when he revealed his plan to regain the crown.
It’s a wildly ambitious idea for a 57-year-old who hasn’t ridden competitively since 2017, but Fortune isn’t known as the “Comeback King” for nothing.
History shows he bounced back from drug addiction and umpteen suspensions – for a litany of rule infractions – to become champion jockey in 2009. He said this week he has been “in recovery” from addiction for 18 years.
He won his title as a heavyweight jockey – no easy task as bookings were limited – while hectically travelling from racecourse to racecourse, not only riding winners but delivering inspirational talks on beating substance abuse to groups in all corners of the land.
That fighting spirit endeared him to racing fans – along with his uncommon talent to get horses to run fast. And, of course, there was his bubbly personality, quick wit and gift of the gab in an interview.
Such qualities, combined with a short fuse, often carried him into stormy waters, notably with the National Horseracing Authority (NHA). Even after he hung up his saddle and became an assistant in wife Ashley’s Vaal training yard, Fortune was seldom far from controversy.
In 2023 the Fortune family emigrated to join a training operation in Australia, and the exploits of The Candyman – one of his other monikers – began fading into fond legend.
But, out of the blue, he was back in South Africa announcing his intention to regain his riding licence. The NHA and many other sceptics chortled at the cheek; after all, our Andrew had filled out a tad.
The NHA’s initial refusal to grant a licence was never spelled out but might have had to do with the perils of weight loss in middle age, Fortune’s history of medication abuse and his notoriously outspoken manner.
But the man’s remarkable never-say-die attitude, his vows to change his ways, his demonstrable weight loss and the appeals of fans eventually wore down officialdom. A “very good meeting” was held on Monday between all interested parties, he said.
He did not seem much bothered by the tough conditions laid down by the NHA – not least having to pay an astonishing R500,000 fine for admission of guilt for past statements construed as discrediting racing, with only half of it suspended for five years. Another sanction was that he not accept rides at below 58kg for the time being. He was warned his behaviour would be “closely monitored”.
“They done what they had to do,” Fortune said in a YouTube interview with owner Joao da Mata this week. “If I put myself in their shoes, I’d probably have done the same thing.”
He continued: “I’ve got to get a little bit humble… I’m going to change my attitude… I’m going to the races in a suit, dress well, look the part, and we’ll take it from there.”
If all goes well, the championship challenge will start with the new season in August, by which time he hopes to be at peak fitness and able to ride at 55kg “without sweating”. Strong support is likely to come from prominent and influential owner Laurence Wernars, who backed Fortune’s cause.
The moment fans have been waiting for might come at the Vaal on Tuesday next week, with a couple of bookings. Thereafter, the Friday night meeting in Durban is in his sights.
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