Latham has plenty of overseas experience already, having left to ride for Herman Brown in Dubai shortly after graduating from SAJA in 2007 and then riding for three seasons in Ireland for Ger Lyons. He also had a short stint in Mauritius last year.
Latham had a few rides in the UK during his three season stint in Ireland and among them was a win in the Gr 2 Temple Stakes over five furlongs at Haydock in 2011 aboard the remarkable Edward Lynam-trained Sole Power, who as a seven-year-old this year increased his career tally of Gr 1 wins to four after winning both the King’s Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot and the Nunthorpe at York.
The closest Latham has come to thoroughbred Gr 1 glory was when finishing a head back in third on Sole Power in the Gr 1 Prix De L’Abbaye over five furlongs at Longchamp in 2011.
However, he does have a Gr 1 win to his name in purebred Arabian racing, landing the HH The Presidents Cup in Abu Dhabi on a horse called Dynamite in 2008. He made a bit of history in the process as Dynamite became the first locally bred horse to win the prestigious event.
The win in that race attracted the attention of legendary Irish jockey Johnny Murtagh, who then recommended Latham to Lyons.
Latham rode 113 winners in his 2008-2010 stint in Ireland with a high of 44 winners in 2009. He had three winners in the UK in that period.
Latham rode over 100 winners as an apprentice and received a lot of support from Mike de Kock, which brought him a victory in just his second year of race riding in the Gr 2 Gold Vase aboard Wise Son in 2006 and in that same season he also won the Listed Flamboyant Stakes on the top class De Kock-trained Bold Ellinore.
Latham’s other Graded successes in South Africa have been in the Gr 3 King’s Cup on the Glen Kotzen-trained Moscow Rising in 2007, the Gr 2 Senor Santa Handicap in 2012 on the Herman Brown/Frank Robinson-trained Antious and the Gr 2 Post Merchants on the Michael Roberts-trained Mike’s Choice in 2012.
He is hoping to be based around Newmarket in the UK next year. Jockeys ride seven days a week in the UK and spend a lot of time on the road travelling to the many racecourses, so every one of them has an agent. There are more than 35 jockeys’ agents over there and a rider’s success is partly determined by their astuteness in finding competitive rides.
Latham has a British passport as his father Kevin, who now lives in Hillcrest, was born there.
Latham said upon returning from overseas a few years ago that race riding in Ireland and Britain was generally easier than over here, “The horses are bred to handle softer going and are also fitter. They don’t train them faster, but rather further. The average horse that is race fit will have two hard gallops over a mile per week and on the other days will canter over a mile. They are consequently easier rides than the ones over here as they are not as tuned up. Generally the horses train themselves and will let us know when they are ready to race.”
Picture: Keegan Latham (Nkosi Hlophe)
