Well it’s been a tough couple of weeks to say the least; getting around on a horse is second nature to me but getting around on crutches has been really hard to get used to, especially when I’m forced to watch horses that I was riding three weeks ago in preparation for good races being ridden better by other jocks.
The last thing that I want to do is have a sook though, so I’m not going to bore you with what could have been.
Instead I’m going to tell you about another area of my working life that I’ve been relishing in recent weeks. I left school at age 14 and that hasn’t left me with much to work with academically, but to make matters worse I also suffer from a learning disability called dyslexia which has held me back at times; not many people in racing would know that I have that affliction, although many people have it, it’s not something that you tell people when you’re first introduced.
It is however relevant for this blog as writing and getting involved in media work is actually helping me to improve my condition. You’re probably wondering how I manage to write something that sounds as good as these blogs do (yep, a bit of self praise goes a long way), well put it this way, if you read my first draft for each of them you’d realise that it takes me a few goes for me to knock these into shape (a good editor always helps to!).
I am finding that exercising the creative part of my life through little video skits, articles in The Age, and these blogs is really helping me to make the most of my situation. It’s helping me to keep working away at something that I am really passionate about and hope to one day make a career out of, and that creative exercise is also showing me that my condition is only going to hold me back as much as I let it.
Dyslexia is not something that I moan about, I never have, it’s just something that you learn to live with. Often people struggle with negative situations in their lives in a negative way though, they get down on themselves, sad, lonely, depressed or even down right angry, but I’ve been brought up with the attitude that no matter how bad things are going in my life, there is always someone in a worse position and so with that in mind just be grateful for what you’ve got and forget about what you don’t have.
Two weeks ago I attended a National Jockey Trust luncheon at Mornington races where people continually approached me and went on and on about how tragic it was now that I would miss the Spring Carnival because of my broken foot – I had to ask myself, don’t they know that it’s on again next year? – it’s unlucky but it is hardly a tragic situation.
Sitting on my table to help give everyone in the room a big dose of perspective was the quiet but beautiful Louise Cooper, a victim of a tragic race fall at Edenhope last year.
As a result Louise may never walk again because of that fall the mother of two has had her life turned upside down. I have never once heard her complain though, and she could so easily, so really how could I ever whinge about a broken foot! Give me a spell!
Being out of the saddle has kept me off the race track but it has also opened up so many more opportunities; I have attended exclusive Spring luncheons, interviewed key players of the Spring, made appearances on TV and I’m writing pieces for newspapers and blogs, all of which I have thoroughly enjoyed. As I said earlier, this is definitely the path I want to take advantage of with my time out of the saddle, networking to make opportunities wherever I can. Not only can this help me in the future but it can also benefit me later on in my riding career, the people I now meet are major players in our industry whom also own horses.
So while things aren’t going exactly as planned I am still grabbing the bull by the horns and giving it my best shot, and I bet (not on a horse though!) that Louise Cooper will be doing the same as she progresses through her rehabilitation.
BYRACINGFORTHEFUTUREFILED
Monthly Archives: October 2012
Pulling the wrong rein
As a jockey, there’s nothing quite like the feeling when you realise that you’ve chosen the wrong horse, especially when it flies past you in the middle of a race…
That gut wrenching feeling that runs through your body when out of the corner of your eye, you see your opposition passing you under double grips and realise that that could have been you racing to victory.
Although a part of me was rapt for the connections of this particular filly, I couldn’t help but doubt my ability to judge a good horse and repeatedly asked myself on the way home, “where did I go wrong?”
Thankfully I haven’t experienced this feeling too many times in my riding career but I couldn’t escape it at Moonee Valley on September 15. I had been put into a sticky situation with two stables that I ride a lot of work and races for entering talented fillies, Love For Ransom and Big Chill, for the same race; in most cases this isn’t a bad spot to be in, but making the right decision in this case could be the difference between a Group 1 win and another tough spring.
I’d won on both fillies and had been riding both in track work and trials, and both were trained by trainers that I have built strong relationships with, so making the call either way was never going to be easy. Both horses in my opinion were going great leading up to their first-up run, Big Chill being a winner of the Breeders Stakes a G3 in SA, & Love For Ransom having won its only start at Sandown on a heavy track.
Appearance wise Love For Ransom was the standout, her winter coat was almost gone and she was starting to glow, but I felt that she would be better once she got out over 1400m and further. This is when I fell into the trap; I made my choice based on the race at Moonee Valley and the filly that I thought had the best chance in that race, rather than look forward longer term with where the next target would be. I chose to ride Big Chill as I felt that she would be far better off at 1200m, a much speedier type.
How wrong I was.
Both fillies drew wide barriers and both Glen Boss, who picked up the ride on Love For Ransom, and I took our girls back int he field. Big Chill and I landed in the perfect position behind midfield one off the rail, while Love For Ransom possied up last. I was travelling well until the 700m when I got badly hampered for a couple of strides and nearly fell, while Love For Ransom casually made her way to my outside and began what would be a winning run.
Big Chill and I regrouped and finished a respectable 7th, but Love For Ransom was the talk of the town and the new favourite for the Group 1 Thousand Guineas after her freakish turn of foot and amazing win. Great work C Symons, another group one slips out of your fingers!
Now this isn’t the first time nor will it be the last time this sort of thing will happen to me or another jockey, but it can be a real kick in the guts for a rider because the chances are that once another good jock gets on board and wins, you’ll never get back on. No doubt I’ll be watching Love For Ransom head out to contest the Thousand Guineas and kick the ground that I’m not on her back.
My foot brings me to another awkward moment which has put me on the sidelines for the Spring Carnival, if picking the wrong horse is a 50/50 chance, what happened to me at Sale races last week is surely 1million / 1!
I was minding my own business packing my bags into the boot of my car after a long and unsuccessful day at Sale when I was struck down by a crazy young hoon; OK maybe I’m exaggerating, but as an older, responsible, adult jockey, I can label this particular apprentice in this way. I won’t name names, let’s just say I won’t be Saddler-ing up for a while!
So there I was putting my race gear into to back of my car when out of the corner of my eye I saw a car backing towards me at speed. At first I thought it must have been a joke, but I soon realised that it wasn’t and that the car wasn’t going to stop. I jumped into the back of my open boot to safety but couldn’t get my left foot out of harms way; the car then ploughed into the back of my car and crushed my foot at the same time.
After some choice words and a lot of pain the end result was four broken bones in my foot and a plate inserted into my foot to hold it all together. It could have been a lot worse had I not jumped into the boot though and I may have broken both legs, so you’ve got to look on the bright side.
Although this could not have happened at a worse time with spring on my doorstep, I’m going to try and make a positive out of this negative and put my energy into developing my media and creative career, something that I am really keen to pursue when I eventually retire from riding.
So I’m sure you will see me at some point over the carnival, but maybe in front of the camera instead of on a horse’s back; hopefully I’m still worth watching!
Tracking toward a sunny spring
Thanks to all of you that read and responded to my last blog, I was overwhelmed by the positive feedback that I received.
With a couple of feature race wins already under my belt, it’s time to move on and look forward to what I am hoping will be my best Spring Carnival yet. My association with Physic Mick and Second Effort couldn’t have come at a better time and hopefully we can team up for more spring wins.
I just wish that the spring weather would arrive though, I cannot wait for the rain and cold weather to disappear (I’m over it). Working outdoors 24/7 can take its toll, and being dripping wet, covered in mud, and freezing your arse off in thin silks can become depressing.
Jockeys aren’t the only ones sick of the rain though, the tracks are tired and are in need of some sun.
You will see big changes once the tracks get firmer with better quality horses winning more often and more consistency the pattern and pace of races. Heavy tracks have the potential to knock the fluff out of horses and can have a negative impact on their campaign especially if they cop a heavy track early on when not completely fit; running at 1200m first up on a heavy 10 can almost be equivalent to a 1400m or even a mile race.
It’s important for jockeys to have a really good knowledge of the surfaces they ride on and personally I walk the tracks that I ride on 90% of the time. Normally I just walk the home turn and the straight, but often I take one of the apprentices on a lap if they’ve never ridden there before.
During the day if I have a break between races I’ll walk it again to check if it has changed. My win on Count The Diamonds (Aug 8) is a perfect example of why this is important, I walked it before the race and found a lane and I went straight there off the bend and won.
Craig Williams is a genius with track walking and he always finds the best going because he puts the time in to walk. He’s a great judge of ground and when in doubt it pays to follow Craig’s lead.
I love riding at Caulfield wet or dry, it just seems to play well for me. Sandown has been another good track and most of my success has been there, Flemington has been a bit of a tough track for me when its wet and I hate riding there on wet days; it can walk like a dead 5 and ride like a heavy 8, the grass profile and soil profile is different and this all comes into play when the rain arrives.
I hope you’re all as pumped for the spring as I am, and let’s hope we all get plenty of winners in the next fortnight.
The dreaded tarred brush
BYRACINGFORTHEFUTUREFILED
By Chris Symons
Follow Me on twitter @cdsymons
It’s been a disappointing start to season 2012-13 for all jockeys in Victoria with the confronting story of racing corruption and fixed races airing on the ABC’s Four Corners earlier this week.
Unfortunately these negative reports seem to always surface at the beginning of our major carnivals. These latest allegations, whether they are eventually proven to be true or false, will have a massive negative impact on our industry as a whole; they tarnish the reputation of all jockeys nationally, not just the select few named in media reports.
I have personally worked my arse off for 12 years to get to where I am today, and have made sure that I have earned a reputation of honesty and always trying my best in the saddle. I have never been approached or involved in any corrupt behaviour. I prefer to put pressure on myself to ride to the best of my ability rather than the possibility of an extra earn, and when I think that I have got a ride wrong I get really hard on myself; no one likes to make a mistake in the saddle and I hate the feeling that I have let people down, whether it be the owners, trainers, or just the bloke at the pub that’s had a flutter on my horse.
This doesn’t just apply to me though, I strongly believe that all jockeys riding in our industry would answer the same way if you asked them as well.
No doubt that corruption happens from time to time, it does in anything where big money is involved, and from what I’ve seen in my short 30 years on this planet whenever money is involved it can bring the worst out in people. Greed, desperation and selfish behaviour comes out whether it’s in sport, business, or even a family feud, and a few bad apples can often ruin the barrel.
The last thing we as jockeys need after all this is to be riding with doubt running through our heads during a race because to put it frankly, our job is dangerous enough. Doubting yourself or second guessing a move in a race because of what people might think means that you take your eye off the ball, and as most football fans know, its the player that takes his eye off the ball that usually gets hurt the worst.
All jockeys make mistakes in races no matter who you are, no one is perfect. You might go to the inside when maybe you should of gone to the outside, you might take a position too far back in the run when you should have been closer to the speed, and God forbid if you get caught three deep on one, punters will be screaming at the TV or over the fence that “You shoulda got in!”, and connections will be fuming, because as we all know, everything is so easy from an arm chair.
At least we have time on our side, and time is always the great healer. We as jockeys and more widely as a racing industry, need to gain the confidence and trust from our supporters and keen racing enthusiasts as well as the once a year spring punters and racegoers, because at the end of the day we are entertainers and as a group we need to put on the best show in town.
To those that don’t agree with me or that have still believe that racing is corrupt, I urge you to get to a major day of the spring carnival and I guarantee you’ll change your mind; it’s our time to shine and I’ll bet you will see every jockey riding to their absolute best to get a piece of the carnival action.
What a season it’s been. As per usual full of ups and downs for a jockey like me, but I’m always trying to focus on the positives and to ride 100 winners for the fifth time in sixth years is a great personal result. Hitting that 100 win mark is always one of my many goals that I set myself at the beginning of every season, so it was a relief being able to do it once again finishing up with 101 across the state and 40 in town; the latter a personal best.
Obviously a lot of hard work and countless hours on the road helped me to achieve that goal, but those hours mean nothing without the loyalty of owners and trainers that support me and the relentless job of my manager, as well as the support of my wonderful family. No jockey ever underestimates the sacrifices that his or her family makes, riding horses for a living is not a job that comes with no risk, and early mornings and weight battles add to the strains on jockey’s families, so to my family and those of my fellow jocks I say thanks for the support.
I’m really looking forward to the 2012/13 season and have already been plotting my attack (on and off the track) this spring.
Away from the saddle I’m involved in many different projects that I will no doubt mention in later blogs; at 29 years of age I have become more aware of life after riding and so I am planning and working on some initiatives to help secure that future.
The plan for season 2012-13 will be to branch out more and start networking with trainers and owners a lot more because I feel that in the past I have ignored this to some degree and that it has definitely cost me valuable rides. I admire someone like Craig Williams with the way that he conducts himself and his business, he is an outstanding role model for all jockeys in this country and I’m really going to try and model myself off him.
Don’t worry though, I’m not going to lose my silly, cheeky edge, (not that I have much control over it anyway) and I’m always thinking of new ways to stump after race interviewers on TVN, or journo’s that ring up for an interview, jockeys want to entertain on the track, why can’t we entertain off it as well?
Although it is only early August I am starting to look towards the spring and at horses I might be riding, even horses that I’d like to put my hand up to ride as well, not only here in Australia but overseas too with all of these imports arriving on our shores for the cups.
The life of a jockey becomes very cut throat during the spring and although we jockeys might all be friends and comrades, that doesn’t stop anyone from trying to get under your neck to steal a good ride, it is an eat or be eaten business and sometimes you’ve got to chase hard and put your case forward for a ride, even if it comes at the expense of a fellow rider.
No doubt your still aware that I’m chasing my first group 1 win which is hopefully just around the corner this spring. It has hung over my head for a while now and I won’t be letting anything stand in my way if I can get one.
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