Mira and Sára Ribárszki, twin daughters of Hungarian trainers Sándor Ribárszki and Orsolya Molnár, have started life as jockeys at Kincsem Park in Budapest
Hungary: A good pedigree is fundamental in horse racing, so perhaps it shouldn’t surprise anyone that two very well-bred youngsters have been making headlines in Hungary this spring.
There’s no Galileo or Dubawi in their bloodlines, but that’s not the right angle. Mira and Sára Ribárszki are the 17-year-old twin daughters of two successful Hungarian trainers, Sándor Ribárszki and Orsolya Molnár, and they have made a promising start within the family business as amateur jockeys.
Sára was quickest off the mark, winning a six-furlong handicap at Kincsem Park in Budapest – named in honour of the nation’s legendary 19th Century mare – on her first ride in public on May 7.
Although Mira has yet to break her duck she nevertheless finished in front of her sister on her debut in the saddle the following week.
Sára’s breakthrough success was notable for another reason, as she rode the whole race without stirrups. “In the stalls my horse Galiaspeed was leaning on my left leg, and when he jumped away my foot came out of the stirrup,” she says.
“It was a short race, so no time to get the stirrup back, so I kicked the other foot out and rode like that. I trusted my horse and we did it together.”
The day had already been one of fraying nerves for the twins’ mother Orsi Molnár, and the sight of her daughter riding without stirrups certainly didn’t make things any easier. Molnár, who separated from six-time Hungarian Derby winner Ribárszki when the twins were small, has held a training licence since 2008 and has 58 winners to her name.
However, all that racetrack experience doesn’t help when the spotlight is so close to home. “My first emotions were not about Sára winning, but just to get her back safe after the race,” says Molnár. “I worry about the girls – I’d prefer them behind a computer rather than race-riding.
“I’ve told them not to commit themselves to racing, as I want them to carry on their studies. They go to a Catholic grammar school in the city and I hope they will go on to university and study veterinary science or something similar.
“I suppose Mira takes more after her father and Sára is more like me. They are both tough cookies when they want to be, though.”
The family name has already made headlines far beyond Hungarian racing through the exploits of the brilliantly fast sprinter Overdose, the ‘Budapest Bullet’. He was unbeaten in 12 races for Ribárszki including the G2 Goldene Peitsche at Baden-Baden, although he is probably more famous for the race he won and then didn’t win, the G1 Prix de l’Abbaye at Longchamp in 2008.
Overdose was out of the gate like his nickname suggests and covered the five furlongs in near-course record time, but jockey Andreas Suborics was unaware that a false start had been called following a stalls malfunction.
Many of the runners were pulled up before halfway and the race was declared void, but the freewheeling Overdose had burned himself out and couldn’t take his chance when the race was re-run a few hours later.
Sára and Mira were too young to recall Overdose in great detail but they remember the ponies on whom they learned to ride, almost before they could walk, and those ponies – quite old now – are still a daily responsibility for the twins along with the other occupants of Molnar’s yard.
“We spend a lot of time with our horses,” says Mira. “Before school and after school, and at weekends, we have plenty to do at the yard and the horses are such a huge part of our lives.”
Sára nods in agreement, deflects the obvious question about which twin is the better rider – “I couldn’t say, Mira and me are different. Perhaps I’m a little more forceful, but that doesn’t make me better” – and looks ahead.
“I don’t know yet whether Mira and I will pursue a career as jockeys, but we certainly want to work with horses one way or another,” she adds. “Who are our racing heroes? Mum and Dad, of course!”
Twins are quite rare and rarer still in competitive sport, and the Hungarian Jockey Club’s chief starter and historian Botond Kovacs is willing to bet quite a few forints that these are the first jockey twins whose parents are both licensed trainers.
The benchmark for twins in the saddle is Michael and Richard Hills, sons of trainer Barry, who had long and successful careers and won all five British Classics between them. The Ribárszki girls are just starting out, have a very long way to go to even begin the task of emulating the Hills brothers, and – especially if their anxious mother has her way – may have different paths to take in any case.
But like most 17-year-olds, their future is bright. Whatever it holds, the presence of Sára and Mira in the jockeys’ room at Kincsem Park is a welcome confirmation of one of the essential doctrines of the sport. Blood will out.
• Visit the Kincsem Park website
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