Aamilah Aswat’s eyes are bright and wide with wonder as she describes the ultimate thrill of being airborne on a racehorse.
One day, Aamilah hopes she will experience it for real in the Grand National. She is 18, full of hopes and dreams, and her determination to be a success – and, potentially, a pioneer – in racing is without limits. If you are going to have aspirations, why shouldn’t they be to ride in the world’s greatest race?
First, though, she has an incredible opportunity – to use a racing phrase – to get herself ‘up and running’; on Thursday, Aamilah will ride in the Markel Magnolia Cup, an event for amateur female riders at Glorious Goodwood that is growing in importance each year.
The significance of the latest running for Aamilah is huge.
Five years ago, she watched Khadijah Mellah not only become the first jockey to wear a hijab in a competitive race but actually win the Magnolia Cup.
Aamilah Aswat has set her sights on one day riding in the pinnacle of racing in the Grant National
The 18-year-old will first take part in the Markel Magnolia Cup, an event for amateur females
She was the first student ever selected for the inaugural Scholarship programme in August 2021 at the Riding A Dream Academy
That success was the catalyst for the Riding A Dream Academy to come to life. The aim behind the venture was to give young people, aged between 13 and 16, from ethic communities and disadvantaged backgrounds a route into racing.
Aamilah, who first learned to ride at St James’s City Farm in Gloucester aged six, went into the Riding A Dream Academy and became the first student ever selected for the inaugural scholarship programme in August 2021.
To now find herself competing in the Magnolia Cup, following in the footsteps of her inspiration, is almost too much for her to put into words. She is proof that the Academy from which she has graduated continues to thrive.
‘Yes, the nerves are kicking in and it feels so intense,’ says Aamilah, who will ride a horse called Jungle Run for Newmarket trainer Tom Clover in the Magnolia Cup. ‘I’ve always loved being around horses, right from a young age.
‘Everything goes back to riding a pony for a first time and that feeling of going fast. I remembered watching Frankel when I was little but I also remember hearing about Red Rum from my granddad and being fascinated.
‘I was obsessed with the Grand National and I still am. I’ve been to Aintree and my passion is definitely jump racing but this is something incredible for me and I’m so grateful to have this chance.’
To prepare for this task, Aamilah has been put through her paces at the Cotswolds yard of Kim Bailey, a Gold Cup and Champion Hurdle-winning trainer and a hugely respected figure, as well as galloping Jungle Run up Newmarket’s famous Warren Hill.
So impressive has her progress been, Bailey recently felt compelled to allow her the chance to ‘school’ on of his string – when horses are given the chance to jump hurdles as part of their education.
Aamilah has been put through her paces at the Cotswolds yard of Kim Bailey to help prepare
She is following in the footsteps of her inspiration in the sport, Khadijah Mellah, who won the event five years ago
She has made her intentions for the event to be ‘hopefully just the start’ of her career known
‘I had schooled a racing pony but doing it with a proper horse over a proper obstacle was something else,’ Aamilah says. ‘It’s a feeling like no other. You get to just before the hurdle, at speed, and you know you are going over.
‘When the horse lifts off, it literally feels like you are flying. It feels so intense, that sound as their hooves flick the top of the hurdle. It just feels like you are gliding through the air, it’s so, so cool.
‘In that moment, it feels like time is standing still. I did it twice that morning, I followed (King George-winning jockey) Gavin Sheehan up the gallops. I just wanted to do it again and again and again.’
If life pans out as she hopes, there will be plenty of more opportunities and it would be wonderful to think this young woman can show that anything is possible if you are prepared to follow your dream.
‘I remember watching Khadijah winning and I remember all the publicity about what she had done,’ Aamilah says. ‘She was a huge inspiration for me and I remember thinking: ‘I want to be like her’. I’ve wanted it from a young age.
‘Horses connect people together, don’t they? You meet so many people through them. Hopefully this is just going to be the start.’
