Pesi Shroff (b. 1965) is a former

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Associated with India * of or related to India ** Indian people ** Indian diaspora ** Languages of India ** Indian English, a dialect of the English language ** Indian cuisine Associated with indigenous peoples o ...

champion

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase (horse racing), steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used ...

. He has ridden 5,614 races and won 1,751 of them, including 106 classic races and 29 Derbys. Born to a

Parsi The Parsis or Parsees () are a Zoroastrian ethnic group in the Indian subcontinent. They are descended from Persian refugees who migrated to the Indian subcontinent during and after the Arab-Islamic conquest of Iran in the 7th century, w ...

family, he began his career at 16 years old when he was licensed to ride by the

Royal Western India Turf Club Royal Western India Turf Club Ltd. (RWITC) is an exclusive Indian sports club for horse racing, established in 1800. Which runs the Mahalaxmi Racecourse in Mumbai and the Pune Race Course. History The Royal Western India Turf Club has a his ...

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

in 1981. He won his first race on ''My Squaw''. Pesi had a long association with Indian liquor baron

Vijay Mallya Vijay Vittal Mallya (born 18 December 1955) is an Indian businessman and a former politician. He is the subject of an extradition effort by the Indian Government to return him from the UK to face charges of financial crimes in India. His last ...

having been a retainer for him for several years. Apart from Mallya, he has also ridden for leading owners of the Indian turf like M.A.M. Ramaswamy, Deepak Khaitan, and Khushroo Dhunjibhoy . To date, he is the only jockey to have piloted eight

Derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...

winners at the

Mahalaxmi Racecourse The Mahalaxmi Racecourse is a horse racing track in Mahalaxmi neighbourhood of Mumbai. The track is oval shaped with straight chute, spread over approximately of open land in the heart of Mumbai city. It was created out of a marshy land know ...

, Mumbai and has ridden a classic winner in each of the five major racing centres of India. On 31 October 2004, he retired from the profession to become a trainer. Pesi is married to childhood sweetheart Tina (sister of Karl Umrigar) with whom they have had two children, Yohann and Anya. He also likes to play golf and is a

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

fan.

Career wins as a jockey

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shroff, Pesi 1965 births Living people Indian jockeys Parsi people from Mumbai Sportspeople from Mumbai