Alishba Mohsin, 21, first went to the races as a seven-year-old with her father, whose friend owned an entire stable of racehorses at the Lahore Race Club (LRC). As captivating as the pomp and pageantry on display were, she was truly fascinated by the horses and the people riding them.

It would be another five years before she would get to mount a horse. Asked by her father to find a hobby during her summer holidays, Alishba — on the cusp of teenagerdom — opted for riding. It helped that her parents were encouraging and the family had the means to pursue it.

This quickly turned into a love affair and, by the age of 17, says Alishba, she started riding in earnest, with her eyes set on competing in the races. After acquiring approval from those in-charge, including LRC Chairman Ahmed Makhdoom, she started working as a riding apprentice.

In this, Alishba had the support of mentors, including former champion jockey Aftab Chaudhry, who also took over the role of her riding mentor. Her stature and physique, standing at 5’4” and weighing around 45 kgs, was also ideal for a jockey. As a schoolgirl, adds Alishba, she played multiple sports, from football to swimming and racquet sports, which also helped build the strength to take on this exacting sport.

Alishba Mohsin is not resting on her laurels as the first and only Pakistani woman to ride in and win a horse race…

“I would get to the race course around 6am to provide track workout to a couple of horses,” she tells Eos in a phone interview. She then moved up to gate practice, after being cleared for it by track in-charge Wahed Akhtar, who also provided his horse for the workout.

It didn’t matter to her that she was the only female at the track or one of a handful of women present on race days amid a sea of men. “While there will always be people who will say stuff such as riding in races is not for women, no one has ever said anything to me. Instead, I have received encouragement and support,” she insists.

SETTING RECORDS

Having put in the hours and shown her proficiency with the reins, Alishba became the first female to ride at the races in October 2021. But there was a spanner in the works: in her first ride of consequence — in which the horse had a real chance in the race — she was switched as the rider at the last minute. Alisbha says it was over concerns raised by either bookmakers or punters, worried that her riding might adversely impact the horse’s performance.

But that didn’t deter her and, in December 2021, she would get her maiden win, riding bay mare Magical City to victory over a five-furlong race and becoming the first Pakistani women to win a professional horse race.

She achieved this while still a schoolgirl. “I had given my school exams earlier in the same week,” she says, adding that she plans to continue studying. Currently, she is enrolled in a business programme at a university in Lahore.

While Alishba wants to pursue riding and chalk up more wins, she acknowledges that horse racing in Pakistan isn’t the most rewarding or reliable of professions.

While winning big races can be lucrative, Lahore horse-owner Khwaja Atif tells Eos that most riding boys and apprentices are reliant on trackwork for a stable income, which can vary from Rs25,000 to Rs50,000 per month, depending on the amount of work put in.

Shahid Mannan, a former champion jockey who is now a trainer, says jockeys can earn upwards of Rs50,000. “But major earnings depend on winning races, which is a highly variable number and one that is in favour of jockeys,” he continues. “After five wins, an apprentice becomes a riding boy, and after 33 wins, a riding boy is promoted to a jockey,” Mannan adds.

It is also a dangerous profession, with falls part of horse racing. However, first aid provision is usually poor and jockeys have minimal support in terms of health insurance, while injuries can sometimes be fatal or career-ending.

INJURY AND RECOVERY

The worst falls are in the middle of the race, where horses are often running in a close bunch at speeds around 60 kilometres per hour, as happened with Alishba last year.

A collision of the legs of her horse and another saw her horse toppling over and flinging Alishba towards the inside railing. She broke her collar bone and was forced to go on a three-month sabbatical.

For a lot of riders, a fall can be a deadly blow to their confidence. But instead of taking a step back, Alishba decided to double down. She convinced her parents to let her travel to Doncaster in the United Kingdom for a three-month training at the National Horse Racing College, which has produced, among others, record-breaking female British jockey Hollie Doyle.

“Our day would start at six in the morning and finish at eight in the evening,” she says of that experience. Such institutes put the trainees through the ringer, with trackwork mixed with horse management, such as grooming horses and managing the stables, part of daily duties.

Alishba says that while she had to work very hard, it was a rewarding experience. “There, I learned a lot, such as the functional aspects of horse riding, including of the tack — such as which bridle is most appropriate for your horse, or when to use a cross noseband etc,” says Alishba. “I also learnt how to pace the horse, knowing how to hold it back to go all-out in the final stretch,” she continues, before adding: “I realised I was not even holding the reins properly.”

THE BIG LEAGUES

Having recovered from her injury and improved as a rider, Alishba has now set her sights on bigger achievements.

One of the horses that she has been giving trackwork to is Moni Queen, a three-year-old thoroughbred bay filly, who will compete in the ‘1,000 Guineas of Pakistan’ race. Also known as the Fillies’ Derby, this carries a prize money of Rs2 million and is one of the most prestigious events of the racing calendar.

While it is a long shot, she hopes that her commitment and dedication in trackwork will convince the filly’s trainer, Rashid Latif — a man who she says has been a source of encouragement — to take that chance on her.

At the same time, Alishba understands the reluctance on part of owners and trainers. “It is a very costly business and prized horses can cost anywhere around two million [rupees] or more, and it is not easy to trust someone relatively inexperienced with it,” she says. It is a huge investment, if you factor in the monthly expenses of maintaining a horse, she continues.

The only way to recoup such an investment is by betting big bucks on the horse — and winning. “But the volume of betting means that women, or even apprentice riders, are unlikely to get the chance to ride in such races,” says Alishba.

But not many people expected a woman to ride in a race, to say nothing of winning one. With more than two dozen races already under her belt and a stint in the UK, the young woman of Lahore is determined to chalk up new achievements, while doing the thing she loves: galloping atop a horse.

The writer is a member of staff.
He can be contacted at hydada@gmail.com

Published in Dawn, EOS, June 22nd, 2025