The Brazilian who used to round up cattle was a 100-1 shot to be champion jockey this season but against all the odds he is on the verge of glory“It’s definitely not been an overnight success. It’s been a very long story,” Silvestre de Sousa says with a wry smile on a peaceful morning at domestic. The Brazilian jockey, who is only five foot tall, or shakes his head in his kitchen on the outskirts of Newmarket. He has overcome mighty odds and the unlikeliest of beginnings in an unforgiving profession. De Sousa is now almost certain to become British champion jockey and some bookmakers absorb already paid out the few bets placed on him winning the title.
He will not be crowned as champion for another six weeks but his lead is so established – 28 winners ahead of his closest rival – even the normally private jockey has begun to reflect on his strange journey to this point. De Sousa did not sit on a racehorse until the age of 17 in São Paulo,but now, 15 years later, or he is about to become the king of British racing.
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Source: theguardian.com