We meet a few hours before his flight back to Denmark at the Ngong Racecourse, a place that feels like home to Ramadhan Wako.
Before moving to Denmark to work with horses that are almost twice the size of those he was used to in Kenya, Wako was a rising jockey in these very stables. His fortunes changed when friends already working in Denmark’s racing industry recommended him for a position abroad, opening the door to an opportunity he describes as life-changing.
Wako’s journey with horses started after he completed his information technology diploma at Chuka University. Although he had grown up around the Ngong Racecourse, where his father worked in the stables, it was only after he graduated that he considered a career in horse racing.
“My dad wanted me to continue studying, but I had friends who had finished school and were better educated, but were struggling to find jobs. I didn’t want to join that bandwagon. I reminded my father that he had raised us through working with horses, and it was a path my heart naturally leaned towards.”
Wako was taken to Nakuru, where he started his tutelage under veteran horseman Joe Muya.
Muya introduced him to the basics of dealing with and taking care of a horse. It took him three months before he had his first ride on a horse. Eight months later, he joined trainer Oliver Gray, under whom he eventually earned his jockey’s licence.
The transition was far from easy. “I weighed only 45 kilogrammes, which was too light even for a jockey,” he recalls. “The ideal weight is usually between 49 and 51 kilos. Strong horses would easily pull me off balance, and it took about three months before I could properly control them.”
Wako entered competitive racing as a Claimer 5 rider, the lowest rank in horse racing’s apprenticeship system. The rankings are determined by race victories, with riders progressing through the levels before qualifying as full-fledged jockeys after achieving 30 wins.
“It was tough to get wins. The horses were fewer than the jockeys, so it was hard for an apprentice like me to get to a race. In a meeting of six races, I would only get a single ride. The better horses were usually reserved for the established jockeys.”
It took him eight months to net his first win with a horse called Class Action, which was under Gray’s saddle. He was getting more opportunities to race because jockeys were finding better opportunities abroad and leaving chances for rookies like him.
After that first win, he recorded five more wins in two years. “Many experienced jockeys were leaving for Dubai and Sudan, which have a vibrant racing scene. Others were going to European countries such as the Netherlands and Denmark. The more they left for these jobs, the more opportunities opened up for us locally,” he says.
During one of the races, he got on a coquettish horse that most riders avoided because of its jumpy nature. He lost control of the horse, and it took off the reins from his lead and bolted out.
The horse and rider had a serious fall, which got Wako hospitalised.
“I hurt my back and developed a serious issue with my backbone. I had to leave work and go home to rest. Once you ride a horse, however, it is very addictive. I came back before I was fully healed. Whenever I rode a strong horse, I could still feel the pain.” Despite the injury, he continued racing and steadily climbed through the ranks. As more jockeys left Kenya, he found himself receiving more rides and accumulating more wins. Before long, he had progressed to Claimer 2 status.
His perseverance paid off in 2024 when he won the Kenya Guinness Cup and finished a close second in the Kenya Lager Cup. By this time, there were very few jockeys left in the stables and at every race meeting. He began getting multiple rides during competitions and became one of the busiest riders on the local circuit.
Then came the call from Denmark. “My friends in Denmark reached out to me. There was a vacancy for a horse handler, and they recommended me. In Denmark, horse racing is at a more advanced level, so they needed someone who was experienced.”
In May 2025, Wako relocated to Denmark.
Although he is a qualified jockey, opportunities for Black riders remain limited, he says. Instead, he works mainly as a groom and horse handler, preparing racehorses before and after competitions, exercising them and managing difficult animals.
“The jockeys are mostly white. Our job is to prepare the horses for riding. We handle errant horses and work to tame them, and we also do light exercise rides every day. The biggest challenge is the weather. Denmark is much colder than Kenya.
Of his stay in Denmark, he says, “I cannot complain much. It is, however, hard to settle, especially if you have never ventured abroad. I get a lot of stares, especially from children who have never seen a Black person before.
“When you get into buses, people don’t want to sit next to you, and sometimes others move away from you. It is strange, but you get used to it. I am used to being double-checked everywhere I go. This is a stereotype because of my skin colour, but I am pretty much used to it.” But it is not all bad.
“Compared to what I was earning in Kenya, the pay here is good. I am earning 20 times what I was being paid in Kenya. I work nine hours a day and get one day off every week.
“The food is almost similar to Kenyan cuisine. The biggest difference is that instead of maize flour, I use sweet corn flour, which is imported from Pakistan,” he says.
For Wako, the biggest lesson has been learning to embrace a different way of life.
“Life is generally affordable if you live like the locals,” he says with a smile. “If you convert every expense into Kenya shillings, you will never enjoy yourself. When you go to Rome, you live as the Romans do.”
