Chad Little’s clawback from the brink of the abyss of a wasted life drifting aimlessly from one day to the next, has been nothing short of remarkable.
Video and text by Andrew Bon
The former multiple champion apprentice’s unsteady future was on a downward spiral to oblivion, until he got a few proverbial kicks in the rear that he has somehow converted into his own mini miracles. At the age of 40, Chad realizes that he has been thrown a last lifeline with the news this week that he will be allowed to ride again.
This after a five year suspension handed down by the National Horseracing Authority at an Inquiry held in Johannesburg in September 2019.
The penalty followed a urine specimen taken at the Vaal on 11 July 2019, which was found to contain methamphetamine, which is a banned substance.
The story starts when Alfie and Dale Little welcomed a fiery bundle of joy into their lives on 30 August 1984 and a brother for the now Scotland-based, Lester.
Grandfather Bennie Little, an internationally successful jockey, and five times SA amateur boxing champion, had ridden Tiger Fish to victory in the Durban July for the Oppenheimers 25 years earlier.
Dad Alfie was a racing man – a trainer and then agent to top jockeys Willie Figueroa and Piere Strydom over the years, before joining Phumelela. So racing was coursing through the young Chad’s veins from the day he was born. Next week, Racevolt in powered by Playa Bets – South Africa's Luckiest Online Sportsbook, present " THE LIFE and Times of CHAD LITTLE."
CHAD LITTLE