Taiyuan, 28 May (Xinhua) -- Li Fangge is not good at words, and when asked why he can win so many horse racing championships, he only said three words: by feeling.
Nineteen years ago, Li Fangge, who had just finished junior high school, came to work as an apprentice in a garment factory in Fengtai, Beijing. One day, three months later, he received news from his home in Yichang, Hubei Province: he had passed the horse racing jockey exam. With the unknown and longing, Li Fangge, who grew up in the countryside and has never even touched a horse, stepped into the horse racing circle.
Starting from basic work such as feeding horses and cleaning the stable, to training horses and being a strategist, Li Fangge learned step by step from scratch and enjoyed every day with horses. From trainee jockey to jockey, Li Fangge took only a year and a half, and he was the first in his class.
"Jade Dragon Divine Lake" is Li Fangge's first partner after joining Yulong Horse Industry. In 2016, "Jade Dragon Divine Lake" won the first race after coming to China, but did not achieve the desired results in the following race, and his temper became short-tempered, and many jockeys were helpless against it.
"The coach gave it to me to try it, it was difficult to ride at first, as soon as it got on the horse, it had a tantrum, jumped and jumped, but it was not good to run."
Horses are afraid of heat and like coolness, so Li Fangge went to training half an hour earlier than everyone, and every day at four thirty in the morning, he took the "Jade Dragon Divine Lake" to walk on the empty runway, communicate with it, and talk with it. "Slowly, the horses relaxed and got back to form", and together they won nine headhorses in four years.
"No matter what kind of horse it is, as long as you are patient with it, you will get good feedback."
Every year from May to September, Li Fangge will come to Youyu County, Shanxi Province to fight for "Fast and Furious" on horseback. This small city in northern Jinbei lies between Jinmeng and lies under the wind of the Maowusu Desert, but because of the hard work of generations, it has changed from a "barren land" to a "stuffed oasis".
On May 13, the 2023 Yulong International Horse Racing Open sounded the gong, and Li Fangge and his "talented" partner played in the first race. Located in the 11th big outer stall, they landed at the end of the line as soon as they came out of the gate, drowning in the dust rolled up by the horse's hooves. Li Fangge did not panic, led the "talented" to suppress the inner road, and fought hard to catch up.
The "winner", who had been in first place from the start of the race, did not slow down in the slightest, and until the last corner, the three-position lead seemed to have made the victory unsuspenseful. In the last 100 meters, when all the horses were short of breath, the "talent" buried in the herd of horses was like a wild leap out, rushed out of the circle with light steps, and was the first to cross the finish line amid a boiling cheer.
Coach Srigulen said that Li Fangge has a good mentality and can stabilize even when the position of the game is not dominant and after the first half. "The rear is a characteristic of 'talent', so the front is retained to let it relax and run, without pressing too hard."
Lee Fangge knew that the "talented" back-end acceleration ability was very strong, but he was pleasantly surprised to have this kind of performance in the first race. "I love the feeling of overtaking them one by one, which means I don't have the ability to rely only on horses, which is very different."
The victory stemmed from the meticulous observation and absolute understanding of the horse in ordinary times, as well as from Li Fangge's accurate judgment at key moments. "A horse is not a machine, it can't be accelerated all the time. Be good at observing the horse's breathing, so that it has a buffer and ventilation space. Finding the opportunity to go inside the corner saved a lot of time and distance, and in the final sprint the horse in front was slowing down, and my horse was accelerating all the time, so I ran out. ”
Opportunity, in a flash.
"Being bold and careful is a necessary quality for a jockey." Li Fangge said that the horseman's brain must turn particularly fast, "When there is a position to grab, you must immediately give instructions to make it, indecision will miss the opportunity, every detail will affect the final result." ”
Tap, da-da, da-da... In early summer afternoons, the crisp and pleasant sound of horses' hooves echoes under the blue sky. There are always a few mischievous horses who want to take advantage of this leisurely time to play with Li Fangge for a while, rubbing their heads from time to time. He smiled and patted the horse taller than himself and said, like a child, more coaxing.
In the past 20 years in the industry, Li Fangge has participated in thousands of competitions, and he has already cultivated a normal heart in the face of winning and losing. "I just did my best to ride every race, and I didn't think I had to win. Horses are real athletes. ”
Of the seven races on the day of the gong race, Li Fangge won three of the first horses, and the big winner naturally attracted much attention. Faced with appreciation and expectations, Li Fangge smiled coyly and responded modestly: "Good luck this time, there are still many good horses in our stable, and they all have a chance."
Bathing, grooming, leading the horse back to the shed, at the end of the day's cycle, Li Fangge changed his clothes and came to the stand of the horse farm. There was a fog of dust on the horse farm, which was the staff repairing the runway, and Li Fangge said: "If it weren't for horse racing, I would probably be working in Beijing, and we basically do the same there." ”