EX-RIDERS FUJII, SAM BOUND BY SAME FATE

Both paraplegic since horrific race and trial falls, former Kranji jockeys compare notes

- Michael Lee

Kanichiro Joe” Fujii rode against Sam Subian 38 times at Kranjji.

They never fought out a 1-2 finish, but their scoreline reads a 2-2 draw two for Fujii at his first stint in 2007 with Sam levelling up at the Japanese’s second visit in 2016.

At a time when Noel King” Callow stole the show in 2007 and arch-rivals Vlad Duric and Manoel Nunes hogged the 2016 season, Sam and Fujii did their best to find their place in the sun.

Theirs was actually more a friendly rivalry as they both rode a lot for trainer Hideyuki Takaoka.

Eight years later, a career-ending and life-changing drama would reunite them.

Both were robbed of their livelihoods after they became paralysed from the chest down following horse fall-induced spinal injuries.

When A” would denote the best quality in horseflesh, like a Kranji Stakes A, they now share the same alphabet to grade their paraplegia in this case A being the worst: No motor or sensory function.

After spending most of their lives on their two feet, then on four, speeding around at 65kmh, both men are today wheelchair-bound.