Judith Jaeckle of Victoria finished third overall in the 2023 Mongol Derby. Image: Kathy Gabriel.
Victorian rider takes third place in the world’s toughest horse race
The Mongol Derby, the world’s longest and toughest horse race, has been thundering across Mongolia’s steppe for the last ten days. In one of the closest ever races, a Victorian based rider, Judith Jaeckle, took third place.
Based on the ancient horse messenger system used by Genghis Khan, in a country where the horse is king, at 1000km the Derby is the toughest test on the planet for equestrian endurance riders. Whilst horses are changed roughly every 35km, at checkpoints strung out throughout the country, riders must endure being in the saddle for up to 200km a day and face the challenges of riding over twenty-eight different semi-wild horses – from the animals’ varying temperaments and bucking abilities and the inevitable falls and mishaps that happen along the way to navigating through challenging terrain, including giant sand dunes and freezing mountain passes.
The thirteenth edition of the Mongol Derby kicked off on 2 August and looked set to be a firecracker from the outset, with 42 riders, from eleven different nations, competing for the prestigious win. Day one saw Spanish rider Xavier Ferrer riding at the front of the pack for most of the day, but he wasn’t in the lead as evening fell, having had a reversal of fortune when he abruptly parted ways with his horse enroute to HS3 (horse station 3) – resulting in him having to hitch a ride back to HS2. This left German rider Judith Jaeckle at the front of the race as night fell.
Judith Jaeckle getting ready to ride. Image: Kathy Gabriel.
Over the next eight days Judith was never far from the front of the race and showed true horsemanship skills by never having to redraw a horse (new to the race this year, every horse station was a ‘lotto’, meaning riders had to ride the horse they were given, rather than picking a horse themselves, testing their horsemanship all the more. You could however choose to ‘redraw’ a maximum of three times in the race, if you didn’t like the look of the horse you were first given).
Erdene-Ochir Uuganbayar, winner of the August 2022 Mongol Derby, was a host at one of this year’s horse stations. Image: Kathy Gabriel.
The real battle of the race would come on its final stretch, as Swedish rider Linda Hermann, who’d been in a game of cat and mouse with Judith over the previous days, finally managed to overtake the German rider to take the lead…but only just, and it certainly wasn’t a two horse race. Hot on the ladies’ tails was American marine Matthew Perrella, who’s navigation prowess and luck-of-the-draw, with some seriously fast race horses, now put him in contention for the win.
As it came down to the last two horse stations, Linda would find herself deep in a bog. Luckily her and her horse were fine, but it was a very tense moment and a vet team was dispatched before her horse was cleared to continue. This slowed the Swedish rider down, and allowed Judith and Matt to both gain ground, riding on very fast horses. It was down to the wire, but Linda was able to make it to the final horse station in the lead, clear the vet check (these checks happen at every check-point to ensure all horses are ok and they haven’t been ridden too hard), and remount on a fresh horse. The win seemed hers, as long as her horse passed the final vet check at the finish line.
Riders walking horses, with Omer Hayat Khan in foreground. Image: Shari Thompson.
But Judith and Matt had other ideas and had reached the final horse station almost within eyesight of Linda. They both changed horses swiftly. With Matt on one of the most feral and fastest horses on the course, he crossed the finish line shortly after Linda, with Judith a mere few minutes behind him.
With bated breath everyone waited for Linda’s vet check to clear (a penalty would lead to her losing the win), but finally the news came that her horse’s heart rate was below the 56bmp required and the win was hers. Matt and Judith cleared their vet checks shortly after crossing, with Matt claiming second place and Judith third.
Not only was the race an incredible success for all those involved, but it also helped raise a huge amount of money for charity. The Mongol Derby to date has raised over $1 million for charities, with each rider asked to raise funds for good causes, including the race’s official charity partner Steppe and Hoof, whose objective is to support the herders and their animals and work to save the unique traditions that are part of the Mongolian nomadic lifestyle as it comes under fire from climate change and urbanisation.
Judith Jaeckle was raising money for Victorian based Racing Hearts Therapy, which gives retired racehorses a new perspective by re-training them and, if suitable, gives them the possibility to work as therapy horses.
For more details on the race visit www.equestrianists.com
Source: Press release / New Chapter Marketing
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