The international jockey meet at Mauritius is an annual event which has been attracting some serious talent from all over the globe for years. The Mauritius Turf Club organizes this even year after year and the weekend marks the end of the season as well. The picturesque racecourse is a sight to behold with a beautiful hilly range as the backdrop. The racecourse is a hub of racing activity and tens of thousands throng the Mauritius racecourse to witness its biggest racing extravaganza.  Upcoming stars as well as seasoned campaigners from France, Chile, South Africa, Brazil, Singapore, Ireland, Australia, Mauritius and of course India will all be competing over the two-day weekend racing. The format is a simple one - Eight races will be held on each day over the weekend, with a simple point system awarding maximum points for winning a race and a few points for the minor placing as well. The jockey with the highest cumulative total over the weekend is declared the winner.

This year a young and immensely talented jockey - Akshay Kumar is representing India. Akshay is coming off a record-breaking monsoon season at Hyderabad, where he drove home 51 winners in the season, breaking PS Chouhan’s previous record of 48 winners. The numbers themself hugely justify the country’s faith on the young Hyderabad champion. In previous years, top jockeys such as  A Sandesh, P Trevor, Suraj Narredu, PS Chouhan and Imran Chisty have all won on the sandy Mauritian shores, and Akshay Kumar has a pretty significant legacy to uphold and enhance.

The draws for rides for the 13 international jockeys are done by random computer method, and Akshay had seven rides in the day and each of them very competitive and he also was up against more experienced international riders. He was astride the overwhelming favourite in the first race of the meet, but was beaten to a close fifth. The young jockey it would seem needed the experience to figure out the rather unique nuances of the compact and very curvy Mauritius track, and proved his worth in the very next race!

Going out at 10/1 in the 2nd race of the day, Akshay rode a copybook race as he settled his mount Amritsar in a handy second spot well behind the tearaway leader and travelled beautifully till the home turn at which point Akshay took over the running. Akshay rode out powerfully and kept the momentum going successfully holding the field at bay. It was a convincing by a decent margin. The significant expat Indian community in Mauritius were extremely vociferous in their appreciation, and the young jockey was given a rousing reception.

It seems romantically prophetic that his first international winner was called Amritsar. The young, upcoming jockey felt truly patriotic whilst waving the tricolour on the Mauritian track. He now finds himself in rather august company. Indian racing fans can expect an update on his progress for Sunday. Hopefully Akshay adds to his solitary win on the day and gives the racing buffs a lot to more to cheer. Indiarace.com congratulates jockey Akshay Kumar for his first international success and wishes him more success today.