A solitary pair of black patent leather boots stands outside the stables, away from the horses’ reach, freshly polished and waiting for Sarah Borg to slip them on.
Stepping out into the sun, Ms Borg smiles shyly as her horse, Ollie Fliptrick, snorts loudly and stomps its feet exposing the nerves of the two of them before the race.
“It took me two years to persuade my mother to let me race again,” she says, slipping on her red and white riding kit, with S. Borg embroidered on her trouser leg.
Lying critical in a hospital bed on February 1, 2009, after falling off her horse Silence Caresse during a race, few dared believe Ms Borg would ever ride again, but horses have been the 24-year-old’s healing power.
She was 22, and the only female flat-racing jockey competing at the Marsa racetrack when the accident happened. She suffered severe head trauma that left her family and friends wondering if she would pull through.
The fall was captured on photos and video, but whenever she sees it she feels detached and cannot associate the motionless person on the track with herself.
She had spent two weeks in intensive care, before being transferred to the neurosurgical ward – her recovery took months, before she could lead an independent life again. And even now, there are still moments in life that have been completely erased from her memory.
“I remember nothing of the accident, not even my time in hospital. If I hadn’t seen the newspaper cuttings I wouldn’t believe it. When I see the video, I never go ‘Oh my God that’s me’. I cannot relate to it,” she says, venturing softly towards Ollie, which is harrumphing in its stable and ready to bolt.
No amount of soothing noises from Ms Borg can calm it down and she avoids stroking its muzzle, having just escaped being bitten that same morning. The horse is so feisty that her helper, Mario Ellul, fondly referred to as Slice, has to take the horse down to the track himself or it will bolt.
“It’s a naughty horse and is always edgy before a race,” Ms Borg says, concealing her own nerves and pumping adrenaline behind her quiet demeanour.
Slated among the top three favourites for last Tuesday’s Mediterranean Derby, Ms Borg, the only female jockey in the race, is keen to win and even though she did not land a good placing, she was happy she could compete.
“I live for the horses,” she says, adding she was exhilarated when she returned to the track a few months ago.
This passion is what persuaded her mother Grace, former Maltasong chairman and Exotique proprietor, to overcome her worst fears and give in to her daughter’s pleas.
“It was the most difficult decision I had to take. But I knew that if I stood my ground she wouldgo to Sicily where our friendshave stables and race there. Ihad no choice but to give in,”Mrs Borg says, admitting shehad contemplated selling herdaughter’s five horses after the accident.
Mrs Borg was torn between not wanting her daughter to ride again if she lived, and knowing deep down that the horses would be the therapy her daughter needed to recover.
After the accident, it was as if she was a newborn and in the first two years she had to relearn how to eat, speak, walk and drive.
Her parents were soon taking her to Marsa to watch the races, and though she does not remember, her family say that since she had been riding from when she was seven, horses were the one thing that came naturally to her.
The family now celebrate two birthdays – the day Sarah was born on June 25 and the day of her accident on February 1.
“For Sarah, horses are not just her passion, but her life,” Mrs Borg says.
However, watching her daughter race is the hardest thing and even though she turns up at the racetrack before an important race, Mrs Borg concedes she can never watch it: “I turn my back to the track and my heart stops; I cannot breathe.”
Unlike her daughter, Mrs Borg has never dared watch the video of the accident.The accident has dealt a partial blow to her daughter’s memory and Mrs Borg also believes she landed a different daughter in the process.
She laughs as she recalls how before the accident her daughter never attached any importance to money as long as she could get her designer dress. “Now, she looks at the price of everything all the time, even if it’s a loaf of bread. She’s become more meticulous, more active in sport, and I dare say more outgoing. She also eats more heartily than before,” Mrs Borg muses.
Asked if it was hard to get used to these new characteristics, Mrs Borg says she just accepts it and is grateful to have her daughter with her.
“I’m just content she’s here... and thank God for every second of Sarah’s presence.”