Tsaikos back in the hunt
STAN Tsaikos feels like an 18year-old again, both mentally and physically.
The 39-year-old Geelong jockey is in the middle of his second return to racing.
His first came last year following a six-year hiatus after breaking his back.
His second started in March, returning from almost 12 months out of the saddle after an incident in the barrier ended with spiral fractures in his leg.
But this time around Tsaikos is feeling as good as ever.
His is brain sharp, his fitness perfect. The only thing missing is a winner.
“It’s good to be back. I haven’t ridden a winner yet but I’ve come close a few times, so I really want to get that monkey off the back,” Tsaikos said.
“I know there are some trainers sitting back and they’re waiting for me to get a result. I am riding well and I’ve had people say to me ‘ you’re giving them every chance’, I am just not getting the next level calibre of rides yet.
“But I know I am back and I’m riding as good as ever. I feel like an 18-year-old again.
“Just because I’ve had six years off doesn’t mean I’m starting from new.”
Tsaikos returns to Moonee Valley today for the second time since his return.
He will ride Lord Durante for local trainer Simone Ferchie.
And while riding in the country is OK, it’s the city where every jockey wants to be legged up.
“I rode my first ever city winner at The Valley. It was wonderful to be back and the welcome back from my colleagues and the support has been phenomenal,” he said.
“Jockeys are a good bunch of guys and we are all doing the same thing. We all want a winner, want results.”
Tsaikos knows he has to do the hard yards, especially early on in his return.
In the whirlwind of racing you quickly become an unknown after almost seven years away from the sport.
“It’s very competitive,” he said.
“I am travelling around and looking for that work. My manager and I are building up a good rapport with trainers.
“The other week I went to Warracknabeal for one ride, ran second. I have to do the hard yards to get back to where I want to be.
“The amount of riders that have come into Australia and come through the ranks in the last six years . . . it’s like an 80 per cent increase.”
Tsaikos recalls the initial fall at Donald in July 2009. It was innocuous as they come, but the injury turned out to be serious.
“I was returning to scale, it was just one of those silly falls. It was low impact, it wasn’t at a great speed,” he said.
“I landed awkward, I kind of landed on my head and wrenched my neck.
“The injuries weren’t severe, but it was the complications from the fall and after that fall that led me to taking the break I had.”
Tsaikos spent some time out of the saddle and pursued some other avenues, but couldn’t shake the urge to ride.
“I got in a comfort zone (during my break),” Tsaikos admitted.
“I was a normal person again. I could eat, the fluids were full in my body and I never got sick.
“My motor runs 10kgs lighter (as a jockey), I’ve got no fluid in my body, no fat in my body.
“In the time I had off I didn’t have to see a doctor once, so I guess that speaks volumes in itself.
“But the love of the horses got me back. Working with horses is just the most amazing thing ever, it’s just beautiful.
“I still get that nice feeling when I am on a horse’s back, educating it, riding it, talking to it, keeping it calm.”
Tsaikos puts his second se- rious injury, a broken leg, down to nothing more than bad luck.
“Someone asked me if I questioned my comeback because of what had happened. I said, ‘No, not at all’,” he said.
“I’ve never been smashed up in the barriers to remember it before and there is always a first time for everything. I’ve been in barriers since the age of 14, so I’ve had a pretty good run I’d say.
“It’s not about how hard you fall, it’s about how quickly you get back up.”
A stringent return to work preparation at Geelong race course, which was set out by Racing Victoria, had Tsaikos feeling as good as ever as he prepared for his return to the saddle.
The talented hoop, who was crucial in the preparation of globetrotting sprinter Shamrocker when working with Danny O’Brien, knows his time in racing is now limited.
The next few years are just about making sure every post is a winner.
“It only takes one good horse to get your name back in lights,” he said.
“I’m just waiting for it to come. I’m just making sure I keep working hard to get that opportunity.
“You never know what’s around the corner.”