Consistency, Hall Mark of Rajendra

C Rajendra is a name synonymous with achievement. The pint sized dynamo has been excelling in the saddle season after season and has been the champion jockey at Mumbai and Pune for an incredible 25 times! This is a record that will be hard to beat given the level of consistency with which one has to perform.

It is not just that Rajendra has only accumulated winners with a single minded pursuit; he has also consciously strived to have his say in the bigger plums. Rajendra made his mark in graded race aslo. Though he has ridden as a retainer right through his career, the restriction of being a retainer has not prevented him from winning his share of big races whenever opportunity came knocking on his doors. In his formative years, he rode almost exclusively for trainer Imtiaz Sait and in the later years, enjoyed a long and fruitful association with leading owner Shapoor Mistry.

What keeps Rajendra going is his hunger for more. Rajendra is not easily satisfied and this fact explains his zest for winning the championship as well as big races. At a time when most jockeys of his caliber would have been choosy by riding only few races, Rajendra readily obliges most trainers if he can help out. Rajendra also has the uncanny knack of spotting winners and this to a large extent has helped him to select his mounts which have resulted in high percentage of winners to runners.

Being at a tidy weight has also helped Rajendra as he is not limited to riding only at mid-weight category. He is at ease both on bottom weights as well as those who are assigned to carry back breaking weights. On the odd occasion that he has lost the championship, it is due to the fact that he has missed the season due to an injury. Rajendra, who became a full jockey within a year of getting his license in 1993, has not looked back since then. After being a champion apprentice jockey twice, Rajendra has made the jockeys championship his exclusive preserve.

Rajendra has had big winners in other racing centres in the country as well though he prefers to race on the home tracks for the simple reason that he wants to be sure of what horses he rides as well as the opposition which helps him to perform to expectations and also select winners with amazing regularity.

Consistency indeed is the Hall Mark of Rajendra.