Jockeys

In a post-race horseback interview on Derby Day, a leading jockey spoke about the National Jockeys Trust quest to secure funds for injured jockeys and their families. The Punch asked top rider Stephen Baster to tell us more.

Every jockey wants to win a Melbourne Cup. But the thrill of making it across that line first is something only a select few will ever experience. I’ve been lucky enough to start in six Melbourne Cups with my best finish being third on Mahler for Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien in 2007. Unfortunately I don’t have a ride this year. For the majority of Australia’s 840 professional jockeys, the Melbourne Cup – and the kind of prize money that comes with it – is the exception, not the rule.

We don’t do this job just for the money. If we did, the thousands of other races that take place each year wouldn’t attract much of a field. And we certainly don’t do this job for the security or the health benefits. It’s a tough industry and full of dangers.

Continue reading "Every single day, we jockeys take the punt of a lifetime" »

Having a punt on the gallopers is a great Australian pastime. But even on a losing streak, all most of us have at stake is money.

The men, and increasingly women, who keep the industry going by saddling up at racetracks across the country day-in and day-out are gambling with much more.

Today is National Jockeys Celebration Day, the one day on the national racing calendar that is all about those people who risk their lives on the track.

Continue reading "You punt with a fiver, jockeys gamble with their lives" »

Ray Silburn’s fall didn’t look good, and it wasn’t. Dislodged from his mount at a small-time meeting at Canberra’s unimaginatively named “Thoroughbred Park” racecourse in February, 2005, the champion local jockey was left a quadriplegic after being crushed by the weight of his 500 kilo quadruped.

“One minute I was in a race, the next I was looking up at a ceiling,” the jockey said at the annual National Jockeys Trust Lunch on Thursday, which The Punch attended. “I just wanted to move my arms so I could hug my two kids.”

Silburn’s wife left him shortly after the fall. “I experienced deep loneliness. It was very hard. I put on a brave face but deep down I was in a lot of pain and hurt. There are things you just don’t understand with the way your life has turned out and how some people treat you.”

Continue reading "Greedy governments should pitch in for the little guys" »

As you check the form for today’s Melbourne Cup, spare a thought for some of the jockeys who won’t be taking their place in the field.

They all have great experience, have shown extreme courage under pressure and a determination to succeed that does their profession proud.

Sadly they are also among the scores jockeys who suffer career-ending injuries every year.

Continue reading "On Cup Day think about the jockeys that aren’t there" »