After more than a decade living in his adopted country, Vicky Rahmit fulfilled his dream of training a winner as a solo trainer when Sefton scored at Ashburton on Sunday.
A six-year-old by Iffraaj, Sefton was Rahmit’s first runner in his own right at the local Timaru meeting earlier this month, where the gelding finished a strong third fresh-up behind Ruby Sunrise.
In the hands of Brandon May, Sefton closed the $8.30 fourth favourite in the Agraforum Comcat (1600m) and was patiently ridden at the tail of the field through the running. Still at the rear turning for home, Sefton began to descend down the centre of the track and powered over the top of Reverberations to score by a neck at the post.
Rahmit was delighted with the result, particularly as he enters the next phase of his career.
“This was always my dream right from the beginning,” he said.
“He ran well at Timaru, so I just planned from there to race yesterday, and he won really nicely.
“I would like to also say a special word for Johnathan Parkes and his family, fly high brother you will always be remembered.”
Initially trained by John Bary, Sefton won two of his 16 starts before joining Rahmit, both over staying distances.
“A Mauritian guy worked up there and he rang me one day, saying that John Bary was cutting down his team. He mentioned that Sefton was a good horse, so I worked out a deal with John and bought him,” Rahmit said.
“He’s a very nice horse. I had another one, a three-year-old, in the beginning when I started training on my own but unfortunately he went in the wind, so it was good to have this one. I have Rahul Beeharry and my brother (Vickash Rahmit) also with shares in him.
“There is a race in Cup Week that I would like to go towards, but I will give him a couple of days off and then focus on getting him there.”
Originally hailing from Mauritius, Rahmit has been involved in the South Island racing industry for a long period of time, working for John and Karen Parsons before stepping into partnership with South Canterbury trainer Bruce Tapper in the 2021/22 season.
The pair trained 30 winners over the following two seasons, headlined by the efforts of Specialty, a winner of the Gr.3 Barneswood Farm Stakes (1400m) and Listed Dunedin Guineas (1500m), alongside a game fifth in a star-studded edition of the Gr.1 New Zealand 2000 Guineas (1600m).
Rahmit returned to North Canterbury last term to join forces with the Parsons, adding a further 16 winners to his credit, but headed back to Timaru recently with an exciting solo mission ahead of him.
“I was in partnership with Bruce for two seasons then moved up to Parsons because I’d previously worked there for six years,” Rahmit said.
“I was there for seven months, but things weren’t working out, so I came back to Timaru and I am very grateful to Bruce for giving me the opportunity to train on my own, as well as work for him. I’m Bruce’s stable foreman and we train our horses together on the same property.
“I think it was a great move for my career, so I’ll just take it from here and it was great to get that result early on.
“I just have Sefton for the moment and I’ll be looking for another in the future, but I am in no rush, maybe next year.”
Life in New Zealand is well-suited to Rahmit, who started his career in racing back in Mauritius, initially as a jockey.
“I started my career in Mauritius riding in races, but I was a bit heavy, so becoming a trainer became my dream. It took a bit of time, but now I’m here,” he said.
“I gave up riding and just work on the ground, which is good as I feel I can see more than when I’m riding.
“New Zealand racing has provided a lot more opportunities for me than in Mauritius, I really enjoy it here.
“I’ve been here for 10 years and New Zealand people are just amazing, I love the country and it’s like home for me now.”
