Harley returns looking to forge new career
JOURNEYMAN jockey Martin Harley is back in Australia and looking to forge a new riding career in Queensland.
The Irishman, who has called Ireland, England, Hong Kong and Melbourne home, is a five-time Group 1 winner.
He kicked off riding in the Sunshine State at Doomben and Gold Coast on Saturday.
Harley boasts being legendary trainer John Gosden’s goto man and is a Royal Ascot Group 1 winner, as he looks to establish himself in the Queensland ranks.
The 33-year-old almost pulled a rabbit out of the hat in his first metropolitan ride at Doomben on Saturday, running third on outsider Gaius after making the dash up the highway from the Gold Coast, where he rode earlier.
After riding in Melbourne in 2019, Harley returned to England to take up a job for Gosden, but says his appetite for winners paved the way for a move back to Australia. “It has been really enjoyable riding out for John Gosden but I have been having 45 or 50 winners a year, compared to the 90 or 100 I have been used to,” he said.
“With my fiance being from Brisbane, we were always going to make the move back here at some stage, so we thought this would be a good tester to see if something can fall my way.
“I always wanted to work for (Gosden). With the background he has of training good horses … it was a no-brainer going back to work for him.
“I rode some nice winners for him in Group 3’s and the like, we never got the Group 1 together which I really wanted to do, but all in all it was a good experience.”
Having ridden around the world, Harley says he knows what it takes to succeed and admits the embarrassment of riches Down Under played a role in his move.
“We definitely keep an eye on Saturday racing here when we are in Europe,” Harley said.
“Even the likes of Mr Gosden watch what is going on here on Saturdays … his old horse Uncle Bryn just won the Cranbourne Cup, I used to ride him in trackwork and he was a decent yardstick back then.
“You can see why owners here come with proper money to buy those horses over there because the money here is so strong.”